Texas AFL-CIO

THE VOICE OF LABOR IN TEXAS

We are teachers, firefighters and farm workers, actors and engineers, pilots and public employees, painters and plumbers, steelworkers and screenwriters, doctors and nurses, stagehands, electricians and more. We believe that people who work make Texas work and that together, we are better.

 

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Featured Stories

Solidarity Sit Down at American Airlines

Texas AFL-CIO Stands With Airline Catering Workers

58 UNITE HERE-represented airline catering workers and their supporters were arrested on Tuesday morning after participating in a nonviolent act of civil disobedience outside of American Airlines’ new corporate headquarters.

Texas AFL-CIO COPE Endorses Special Election Candidates

 State Federation OPPOSES Proposition 4

The Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (COPE) announced endorsements for Nov. 5 special elections and a constitutional proposition vote, setting the stage for stepped-up labor participation in the 2020 election cycle.

News Release: Statement by Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy on the Retirement of Senator José Rodríguez

"From his first day in office, José Rodríguez has been a courageous leader in the Texas Senate.

Texas AFL-CIO Statement on Permian Basin Shootings

Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy and Secretary-Treasurer Montserrat Garibay issued the following Labor Day statement on the deadly shooting spree in the Permian Basin:
 

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Get Involved. We Need Your Voice

Every Texan who is willing to work hard and do their part deserves a fair shot to get ahead. 

It's time we hold politicians accountable and demand they stand up for policies that help working families.

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Fair Shot Agenda

Fighting for Texas Working Families 

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Sign the 2019 Union Pledge

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Our Campaigns 

What We Care About

Workplace Rights

We are at a moment when a fighting union organization could kindle the imagination of millions of workers and inspire a new labor movement.

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Support Working People’s Freedom!

Working people must come together to defend our rights and fight for a fair economy that works for everyone.

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Better Pay and Benefits

There is something fundamentally wrong with our economy. The rich keep getting richer while working people are working longer hours just to make ends meet. Despite year after year of increased productivity, we are not sharing in the fruits of our labor.
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Sign the Petition: Raise the Wage in Texas

The state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour condemns hundreds of thousands of working people to poverty, costs taxpayers and shuts out business customers. It is high time for Texas to join 29 other states in raising the minimum wage above a federal level that has become a victim of congressional gridlock after decades of bipartisan support for a decent wage floor.

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Trade/Manufacturing

A strong manufacturing sector is essential to our nation’s economic success and to our ability to raise wages and provide family-supporting jobs. But decades of devastating trade policy and attacks on unions have taken their toll.

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NAFTA Needs to Work for Working People

Renegotiations of the failed North American Free Trade Agreement are underway and the recently released objectives are vague and unambitious. Sign the petition calling for a new NAFTA that prioritizes working people.

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Immigration

Since our nation’s founding, immigrants and refugees have enriched the fabric of our communities, our workforce and our labor movement.

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Our Campaigns 

Read the Report

Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2019

PowerTools

A resource for union members and organizers.

Defend and Resist

A toolkit for organizers and advocates on workplace raids and audits.

Member Spotlight

Sam Tijerina • IUEC Local 31

"I know that it’s not just about me. It's about fighting for everyone no matter what their situation is.”

Areli Zarate • Texas AFT 2048

Our union has kept me going. It has given me hope.

Paul Arebalo • IATSE 205

Being in a union means I have a voice. Whether it's regarding safety, pay or even work practices, my voice will be heard and that's one of the greatest rights I can think of.

Francisco Luna • Ironworkers Local 263

"I proudly construct buildings in DFW. My union helped me better my immigration status and apply for U.S. Citizenship."

Cheryl Eliano • AFGE District 10

The labor movement means solidarity.

Savanna Marvets • UA Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286

I believe plumbing and pipefitting experience gained through my local union allows me to make a living wage.

Recent News

How a Gig Worker Revolt Begins

Until last week, Li Zilles was one of the many nameless and faceless contractors toiling in the bowels of the internet, providing online services that might have been mistaken for the work of artificial intelligence.

The job: to transcribe audio files for the start-up Rev.com, churning out texts without clients ever knowing the name of the transcriber.

This was a lonely existence, and not an easy one. The pay, even though the work was full-time, was little enough that food stamps became necessary.

Workers Deserve a Say in Automation

When the global economy shifted in the late 19th century, working people were the first to adapt. They moved to cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio, and worked long hours in unsafe factories. They drove the Industrial Revolution and changed the nature of work forever. When it became clear that employers were exploiting their productivity, the labor movement formed to protest abuses like sweatshops, child labor, and poverty wages.

How Workers Are Fighting Back Against Big Tech

On September 13 more than a hundred activists participated in a bicoastal protest at Palantir’s two headquarters, in New York City and in Palo Alto, California. The intent of the protest was to bring awareness to the tech company’s involvement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which Palantir provides with data-mining software that’s been used to screen undocumented immigrants and plan raids.

Workers Deserve a Say in Automation

When the global economy shifted in the late 19th century, working people were the first to adapt. They moved to cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio, and worked long hours in unsafe factories. They drove the Industrial Revolution and changed the nature of work forever.

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