We are appalled over the events of a few days ago but we hold out hope. We mourn, but we believe in a better future. We “pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”
Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy commended U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and the other 12 Democratic members of the Texas congressional delegation for proposing a temporary boost for unemployed Texans.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to start reopening Texas businesses lacks critical elements that would protect Texans who are required to return to their work premises, Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said today.
The Texas AFL-CIO today called for Texas to presume that front-line working people who contract COVID-19 should receive Workers' Compensation benefits.
When employers carry Workers' Compensation insurance in Texas, benefits are available if an employee injury or death occurs on the job, but not away from the job. Texas law already presumes that First Responders who contract a respiratory illness did so on the job. That legal presumption leads to benefits unless evidence arises that another off-the-job factor caused the illness.
Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy statement on Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Orders today on plans to reopen Texas during the coronavirus pandemic:
“Today’s announcement by Gov. Greg Abbott answered next to none of the pressing questions working people have about how a reopening of the state will protect them and how Texas will help preserve their livelihoods as the coronavirus moves through our population.”
As the coronavirus threatens Texans, the Texas AFL-CIO today called on political and business leaders to take actions suggested by front-line union workers who face elevated risk of becoming ill.
"Texans looking to steer clear of the coronavirus and safeguard their families know that protecting working people protects communities," Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy, joined by representatives of several unions, said at a news conference.
The path to the presidency runs through the labor movement. And with the full force and unmatched reach of our political program, we are ready to pave that road for our friend Joe Biden.
The AFL-CIO, the country's largest coalition of labor unions, endorsed Joe Biden for president Tuesday, with the organization's top official vowing to wage an aggressive effort to help him defeat President Trump. Union officials cemented their support for the former vice president in a vote of the organization’s general board, joining a long roster of influential labor groups backing the presumptive Democratic nominee.
New data released by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union shows that among the grocery store workers it represents, 10,000 have been infected by or are known to have been exposed to coronavirus and 68 have died from it. At least 3,257 have been infected with the virus, the union estimated on Friday. UFCW represents workers in large grocery store chains like Kroger, Albertson's, and Supervalu. Union President Marc Perrone said in a news conference on Wednesday that the cases have increased by 200% in five weeks.
