AFL-CIO Daily Briefs: Shuer; Young Worker Town Hall; USW; AFSCME; Safe Public Transit and AFT.

Message from President Liz Shuler

• We need more leaders who are out there speaking up for change and fighting for it in the ways that working people are doing all around us. Leaders who understand that people are fed up with corporate greed, and are fired up and ready for change.
• There is a wave of union activism spreading across the country. Student educators at the University of California, workers at Amazon warehouses, young people at Starbucks, and workers at REI and in the cannabis industry are all fighting back and winning.
• There are so many opportunities in front of us, and we need to make the most of them. We need to take risks, ask for more, try new things and get out of our comfort zones.

Join the AFL-CIO's Young Worker Town Hall on May 26

We are in an unprecedented moment of young workers rising up and taking action in their workplaces across industries nationwide. They're seizing this moment and building the future of the labor movement.

The town hall, hosted by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham (AFT), will be held in Minneapolis, where young workers have led a series of successful organizing drives over the past two years.

RSVP Here

USW Members Build Union Power and Keep America Rolling at Bridgestone Tires

Despite living in a "right to work" state, more than 90% of the 800 hourly workers at the Bridgestone plant in Morrison, Tennessee, are dues-paying members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1155L. USW members at the tire factory take pride in their work, lifting up a new generation of union members who come after them. Local 1155L is also facing the challenges of today's economy head-on, fighting for fair trade rules, safety on the job, and decent wages and benefits with their employer.

Jamie Martinez (not pictured) is one of many union activists in Local 1155L, and they serve on the union's Civil and Human Rights and Next Gen committees. A six-year member who drew inspiration from the USW's inaugural Next Gen conference three years ago, they said: "It wasn't until I set foot in that conference that I understood the magnitude of what I was involved in….It takes hard work, dedication and solidarity. Solidarity more than anything else."

AFSCME Local in Kansas City Secures Large Wage Increases

Public service employees who work for Kansas City, Missouri, celebrated last week as their union, AFSCME Local 500, and city leaders signed a new contract. The collective bargaining agreement sets a citywide minimum wage of $16 an hour for seasonal and part-time workers, and $17 an hour for full-time workers. It also includes an average wage increase of 12.6%, plus a longevity pay bonus for workers with five or more years working at the city.

"This is a step in the right direction," Local 500 President Reginald Silvers told KSHB. "The goal is recruitment, retention and training, and we have solved some of those problems with these negotiations. Local 500 is grateful and appreciative."

Researchers Show Human Operators Essential for Safe Transit Despite Rise in Automation

On Thursday, Carnegie Mellon University's Traffic21, a transportation research institute, released important research that concludes human operators are essential to safe public transit service even as autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies emerge and are considered for deployment. The research makes a significant contribution to the growing debate around development and deployment of AVs.

"This report demonstrates what is human about delivering safe public transit to communities," said Amanda Ballantyne, director of the AFL-CIO Technology Institute. "It reaches powerful conclusions about the indispensable role of frontline transit operators in the face of emergent automated vehicle technologies." The AFL-CIO Technology Institute was launched in 2021 to advance a new, multifaceted approach to innovation that centers workers and union job creation.

Daughter of AFT Member Advances Career with Union Plus Free College Degree

Christine Jones had tried college before, but between the tuition, cost of books, and gas to and from class, it just got to be too expensive. "Even with student loans or financial aid, it's still a lot of money to pay out of pocket," she said. Then, Jones' mom, a member of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in Houston, told her about the Union Plus Free College Benefit. An academic adviser from the program helped Jones determine which of her prior community college credits would transfer toward her degree. "It was pretty easy, and I didn't have to start all the way over," she said.

Jones graduated last June with an associate degree in business management, which she plans to use to help advise others starting or growing their own businesses-knowledge she's already using on her own lash extension business. "I'd recommend [the Union Plus Free College program] for anyone who wants to get an education and doesn't want to deal with the stress of paying for classes and books," Jones said. "You need to look into this because it's a good opportunity." Jones is also considering getting her bachelor's degree through the free Union Plus Free Bachelor's Degree Completion Program.

Visit FreeCollege.UnionPlus.org.

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