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64th Texas AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention - Resolutions

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64th Texas AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention

 

Resolutions Committee Report

 

Aug. 3, 2023

 

The  Resolutions Committee at the 64th Texas AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention recommends approval of the following resolutions, identified here by titles and resolved clauses:

 

  1. STRATEGIC ORGANIZING & GROWING THE TEXAS LABOR MOVEMENT 

 

BE IT RESOLVED that the Texas AFL-CIO will convene affiliate union leaders and organizing directors to discuss future efforts to support new organizing, for example:  

  • Explore opportunities to expand organizing
  • Facilitate multi-union trainings and blitzes to grow organizing capacity within our unions in addition to implementing the National AFL-CIO Organizing Institute three-day training
  • Assess research needs of affiliate unions and utilize AFL-CIO research capacity to assist in organizing campaigns
  • Develop a menu of options for supporting organizing campaigns through Texas AFL-CIO communications capacity
  • Explore opportunities for Texas AFL-CIO Field Staff to support affiliate organizing in key regions across the state; and 

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Organizing Committee will work with the Texas AFL-CIO to develop an organizing initiative aimed at increasing union membership in our state both in existing and in new workplaces and that state federation staff will work with affiliates to develop goals and support affiliates in meeting those goals with research, training, and tools; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that delegates will do their part to grow a bigger, more powerful movement by assisting the federation’s efforts to support internal organizing, new external organizing, and the broader worker fight-back including efforts to raise wages, strengthen our freedom to organize, and increase public support for unions.

 

  1. Building the Next Generation of Labor Leaders

 

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Texas AFL-CIO is enthusiastically committed to building our role in Training and Leadership Development, and will assign staff to create and implement comprehensive education and training programs for Texas union members to foster solidarity, build activism, and enhance the programmatic work of the Texas AFL-CIO;

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the goals of the Training and Leadership Development program in helping to build and shape a bigger, broader, and rising labor movement in the state of Texas, will include, for example:  

 

  • Renewing the Texas AFL-CIO Ruth Ellinger Labor Leaders School, a year-long comprehensive leadership development program for rising leaders in the Texas Labor Movement;
  • Political training and boot camps to help members understand the forces that are shaping their lives and what is necessary to be able to change those forces through political action;
  • Continuing collaboration with the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute and others to build a new corps of trained organizers in Texas; 
  • Develop and deliver training and programs, with guidance from the Texas AFL-CIO Racial Justice Task Force, to increase understanding of the issues connected to racial justice in our unions and our communities and provide effective outlets for action; 
  • Provide training on basic union leadership skills such as grievance presentations, parliamentary procedures, running a meeting, volunteer recruitment, etc.; and
  • Help coordinate and support education programs of other union organizations, such as affiliates, local central bodies, constituency groups and the AFL-CIO. 

 

  1. Approve the Texas Immigrant Workers Project

 

  NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that delegates to the 63rd Texas AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention approve creation of the Texas Immigrant Workers Project, an expanded immigration program that will advocate for immigrant workers and assist immigrant workers who seek union representation in their workplace;

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that delegates will partner with allies to expand our citizenship program to include help with applications for work authorization along with naturalization; to offer citizenship and workers’ rights classes; and to open our union halls to these and other actions, consistent with the labor movement’s mission, that aim to elevate the labor and human rights of immigrant workers; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, delegates continue to endorse comprehensive federal immigration reform legislation that includes a path to citizenship and provides immediate protections for the current undocumented population.

 

  1. Climate Jobs Resolution

 

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, delegates to the Texas AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention  direct the Texas Climate Jobs Project to use available resources to ensure that federal climate and clean energy funds are applied to  high-quality union jobs that will provide family-sustaining wages, safety measures, and benefits workers deserve.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, delegates to the Texas AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention direct the Texas Climate Jobs Project to also prioritize and support the deployment of clean energy industries that utilize the skills and expertise of Texas unionized oil and gas workers to help ensure these emerging sectors consist of high-quality union jobs. 

 

 

 

  1. Buy American Resolution

 

BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the Texas AFL-CIO will work to maximize the creation of American jobs and restoring economic growth and opportunity by supporting the spending of taxpayer funds on products and services that both create jobs and help keep Americans employed;

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, the Texas AFL-CIO seeks to have our public officials commit to purchasing only products and services that are made or performed in the United States of America whenever and wherever possible with any funds provided by the American taxpayers; AND

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, as the Texas AFL-CIO, we seek to have our public officials commit to publish any requests to waive these procurement priorities so as to give American workers and producers the opportunity to identify and provide the American products and services that will maximize the success of our nation’s economy.

 

  1. Make I-T Right / Make IT Right

 

BE IT RESOLVED on behalf of the membership of Transport Workers Union Local 556, that Southwest Airlines Make IT Right by: 

 

1. Immediately improving Southwest Airlines Crew Scheduling software, infrastructure, phone systems, and process to meet the demand of a growing operation and to support Flight Attendants - and communicating these modernization plans and timelines to the Flight Attendants;

 

2. Investing in Crew Support Systems, including automated systems to release Reserve and Line Flying Flight Attendants from Deadheads;

 

3. Providing hotel rooms to Flight Attendants within 60 minutes of reaching their destination on an unscheduled overnight and adjusting duty time until a hotel is secured;

 

4. Modernizing the antiquated reserve system and not requiring 24-hour availability;

 

5. Raising wages, recognizing the ever-increasing cost of inflation and the undeniable value Flight Attendants provide to Southwest Airlines;

 

6. Establish a TWU 556 task force that will allow a representative at the Network Operations Center from the TWU Local 556 Executive Board, or designee, as a point of contact when Flight Crews are directly impacted and/or harmed by extreme Irregular Operations;

 

7. Make each Flight Attendant whole, who suffered a loss of pay due to no fault of their own (commuter pulls) in a good faith effort by Management to restore trust and faith in their employer due to Southwest Airlines' continued failure to modernize and invest in technology;

 

8. Increasing staffing of the Inflight Crew Scheduling department and raising the wages of Crew Schedulers, so they may support Flight Attendants and ensure compliance with Federal Aviation

Regulations; and

 

9. Making substantial improvements to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and robustly negotiating a Tentative Agreement that rewards the Flight Attendants.

 

  1. Permitting Reform: Help America Lower Emissions and Create Jobs!

 

Be it resolved, that the Texas AFL-CIO and its sister organization Texas Climate Jobs Project urge Congress, the current Administration, and Texas political leaders to:  

 

·       Reduce the amount of time it takes to get state and federal clean energy projects built; the debt ceiling agreement included timelines to complete environmental reviews, but we still need to make sure all parts of the process are working efficiently and protecting union jobs and our environment, 

 

·       Ensure robust and early labor and community engagement; agencies and project sponsors should have proactive, early and continuing engagement with the communities most impacted by local, state, and federal projects,

 

·       Work with Texas coalition partners such as the Advanced Power Alliance and other trade & community groups employing & advocating for clean energy workers to urge the Texas Legislature in 2025 to pass legislation that raises energy efficiency goals at private utilities for the first time since 2011 and that encourages the addition of more storage technology to the Texas grid, 

 

·       Work with our Congressional delegation to secure federal funding from the 2022 IRA to facilitate buildout of projects to create a more robust and resilient Texas & national grid, 

 

·       At the federal level, prioritize projects working on energy infrastructure that include Project Labor Agreements to ensure prevailing wages are being paid and worker safety is protected, and preference should be given to local and regional projects involving federal dollars that include Project Labor Agreements where feasible, 

 

·       Make federal agencies more efficient by establishing an interagency dispute resolution procedure and allow the reuse of prior environmental assessments if the project conditions haven’t changed, 

 

·       Allow transmission lines to be permitted and built much faster by giving FERC greater authority to permit, site, and allocate costs for large scale transmission and/or require that regions be able to transfer significant power between regions, 

 

·       Work in a bipartisan manner to enact needed changes to our federal energy

infrastructure permitting process, and both parties should come to an agreement on reforms

that can pass both the House and Senate and be signed into law.

 

  1. Remove Louis DeJoy

 

  Therefore Be It Resolved, that the Texas AFL-CIO calls for the removal of Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General of the United States.

 

 

 

  1. Advanced technologies

 

  Be it resolved that the Texas AFL-CIO supports implementation and development of advanced technologies in Texas.

 

  Be it further resolved that we support advancing our interest in the energy sector, manufacturing, and construction industries.

 

  1. Union Labor at Large Events

 

   Be it resolved, all Texas AFL-CIO and affiliates’ large events will be staffed by union labor. Union organizations will contact IATSE and other trades, such as IUPAT, to ensure that their event is represented.

 

  1. Notice to Endorsed Candidates Regarding Union Labor

 

  The Texas AFL-CIO will commit to send all endorsed candidates information on Local Union Affiliates that provide labor for rallies and events. They will encourage those candidates to support union labor in all fundraising and other events.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lee Medley (USW), Co-Chair; Suzan Gentry (CWA), Co-Chair; Traci Dunlap (Education Austin/AFT); Matt Gonzales (LIUNA); Wayne Lord (UA); Rachel Magee (IATSE/Austin CLC); Renda Marsh (TWU); Linda Morales (ALF); Brent Payne (ATU); Roy Sanchez (AFSCME-HOPE); Jeanne Schulze (AFGE); Resha Thomas (SEIU Texas); Paul Thompson (El Paso CLC); and Mark Young (USW).

 

 

 

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