Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

 

Tefere Gebre’s American journey: From refugee camp to labor leader

Gebre was still a boy when he was forced to flee Ethiopia, a country that suffered political turmoil and famine during the 1980s.

Trump’s Power to Fire Federal Workers Curtailed by Judge

A federal district judge in Washington struck down most of the key provisions of three executive orders that

Executive Paywatch: The Gap Between CEO and Worker Compensation Continues to Grow

CEO pay for major companies in the United States rose nearly 6% in the past year, as income inequality and the outsourcing of good-paying American jobs have increased. According to the new AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch, the average CEO of an S&P 500 Index company made $13.94 million in 2017—361 times more money than the average U.S. rank-and-file worker.

‘We Are All Immigrants’

Tefere Gebre came to the United States in 1984 as a teenager. He and four friends had left their home in war-torn Ethiopia and walked nearly 500 miles across the desert to a refugee camp in Sudan.

Mortgages for Union Families

Union Plus Mortgage Company is owned by the AFL-CIO Union Privilege and a group of unions.

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Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2018

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Recent News

The 8 Most Important Labor Stories of 2018

1. Janus dealt a heavy blow to labor—but public-sector unions didn’t crumble overnight.

In June, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in Janus v. AFSCME—and it was just as bad as everyone feared. In a 5-to-4 decision, the court found that public-sector unions violated the First Amendment by collecting so-called fair-share fees from workers who aren’t union members but benefit from collective bargaining regardless.

Union Sues Trump Administration for Making Government Employees Work Without Pay

A federal employee union sued the Trump administration Monday over the government shutdown, claiming it is illegal for agencies to force employees to work without pay.

Autoworkers Ready to Fight GM Over its Callous Layoffs

Last week was a bad week for autoworkers and the future of our domestic industry. On Nov. 26, General Motors (GM) announced its decision to halt production at the Lordstown, Ohio, and Hamtramck, Mich., assembly plants, idling thousands of workers.

Progressive Marriott Union Contract Could Have Ripple Effects

A series of settlements hammered out over the past few weeks between Marriott and its striking workers in Boston and seven other cities are ushering in groundbreaking benefits that could set a precedent not just for the service industry but for workers nationwide.

The Boston agreement, reached after workers spent more than six weeks on the picket lines, marching and chanting in the wind and rain and snow, includes a roughly 20 percent increase in wages over 4½ years, a 37 percent increase in pension contributions, and six weeks of paid maternity leave, plus two weeks for spouses.

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Lyndon Baines Johnson Signs the Medicare Bill

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