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International Labor Organization Fights Gender-Based Workplace Violence and Harassment International Labor Organization Fights Gender-Based Workplace Violence and Harassment AFL-CIO Eight years ago, women union leaders and activists began campaigning for the International Labor Organization to tackle gender-based violence and harassment at work. Last week, at the ILO’s 100th anniversary, workers, governments and employers voted overwhelmingly to approve a binding Convention on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. This victory is a testament to the power of trade unionists organizing around the globe. It’s also a reflection of the profound need for tools to address the harassment and violence too many workers, particularly women workers, face as a daily reality. The ILO is a tripartite institution, meaning workers have a seat at the negotiating table. Led by our spokesperson Marie Clarke Walker from the Canadian Labour Congress, worker representatives from around the world spent the past two years negotiating strong, inclusive language that ensures all workers have meaningful protection from violence and harassment, particularly gender-based violence and harassment. You can check out the full convention here, and a supplemental recommendation that further clarifies the obligations spelled out in the convention here. Some highlights include:
- Establishing that everyone has a right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and every country that ratifies the convention will "promote and realize" that right.
- Protecting all workers, regardless of their contractual status, in both the formal and informal economy, as well as interns, apprentices, jobseekers, job applicants, volunteers, terminated workers and employers as individuals.
- Ensuring protections not just in the physical worksite but in the broader world of work—such as work-related trips and social events, places where workers are paid, rest or use sanitary and washing facilities, employer-provided accommodations and during the commute.
- Addressing violence and harassment committed by or against third parties.
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Requiring each national government that ratifies the convention to:
- Adopt an inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach for the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work, which should be developed in consultation with workers and their unions.
- Enact both preventative measures and access to remedy, including gender-responsive, safe and effective complaint and dispute resolution mechanisms, support, services and remedies.
- Identify sectors, occupations and work arrangements that leave workers more vulnerable to violence and harassment.
- Promote collective bargaining as an important tool to address violence and harassment.
- Provide specific protections for women and other vulnerable groups.
- Require employers to take steps to prevent violence and harassment, including developing a workplace policy, providing support and training and identifying and addressing workplace hazards in consultations with workers and unions.
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Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Machinists Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Machinists AFL-CIO Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the Machinists. Name of Union: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Mission: To work for members to preserve and grow the IAM on the basis of solidarity and justice, and to strive for a higher standard of living for people who work. Current Leadership of Union: Robert Martinez Jr. is the 14th international president of IAM. Martinez is a U.S. Navy veteran who began his career in labor in 1980. That year, he joined IAM Local 776A in Fort Worth, Texas, where he worked as an aircraft assembler at Lockheed Martin. In the ensuing years, he served in various positions in the local before being appointed to the IAM Safety and Health Department in 1995. In 1999, he was named the Southern Territory Education Representative. That position was followed in 2002 by appointment as special representative and in 2003 with Martinez being named as general vice president for the Southern Territory. Dora Cervantes serves as the general secretary-treasurer and IAM has eight general vice presidents: Gary R. Allen (Western Territory), Sito Pantoja (Transportation), Mark Blondin (Aerospace), James Conigliaro (Eastern Territory), Rickey Wallace (Southern Territory), Stan Pickthall (Canada), Brian Bryant (Headquarters) and Steve Galloway (Midwest Territory). Current Number of Members: 600,000. Members Work As: A wide range of trades in many industries. Industries Represented: Aerospace, airlines, transportation, railroad, federal government, automotive, defense, woodworking, health care and several other industries. History: In 1888, 19 machinists met in secret in a locomotive pit in Atlanta to vote to form a union. The next year, 34 locals were represented at the first Machinists convention, with Tom Talbot being elected Grand Master Machinist. With the granting of the first Canadian local, the union officially became the International Association of Machinists. Membership at this point was about 4,000. A few years later, in 1892, IAM negotiated its first collective bargaining agreement with a railroad company. In 1895, IAM joined the American Federation of Labor. Top issues that IAM faced in the early decades were wages, length of the workweek and number of hours worked per day. IAM had significant success on all three fronts and by 1905, there were more than 750 locals and membership was approaching 300,000. Membership would continue to grow, peaking at more than 1 million members in 1968. In 2013, IAM celebrated its 125th birthday. Current Campaigns/Community Efforts: The IAM is engaged in high-profile organizing campaigns for some 40,000 flight attendants and fleet service workers at Delta Air Lines and for Boeing workers in Charleston, South Carolina. IAM works with Guide Dogs of America to provide trained guide dogs to blind people. IAM2020.org is the IAM’s new initiative to involve members in the union’s 2020 U.S. presidential endorsement process. The IAM Addiction Services Program helps members and their families struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction. The Machinists Disaster Relief Fund assists members affected by disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires. The IAM Free College Benefit helps members and their families attain higher education. Decisions & Choices provides guidance for workers who are laid off. The IAM Veterans Services Program helps connect veterans with training and services. The William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center is a facility that provides for the complete range of educational needs of IAM members. The IAM Journal is the award-winning magazine published by the union. Activate L!VE is the IAM’s live hosted weekly talk and interview show on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. iMail is the IAM’s twice-weekly email newsletter. Learn More: Website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram. Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 06/25/2019 - 09:27 — Jun 25
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AFL-CIO Trade Tour: Demand Better in New NAFTA AFL-CIO Trade Tour: Demand Better in New NAFTA AFL-CIO AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) hosted a series of town hall meetings in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan this week, where he talked with working people about NAFTA and what working families need from a new deal. Here are highlights of the trade tour from Twitter:
We’re here in #Pittsburgh ready to kickoff the @AFLCIO #TradeTour with @RichardTrumka at @PFT400! Join us online: https://t.co/4Byps36I4Y pic.twitter.com/ev0rN28r4n — PA AFL-CIO (@PaAFL_CIO) June 17, 2019
Are you watching the Pittsburgh #NAFTA #TradeTour Town Hall tonight? Here’s a message from President @RichardTrumka #1u 📺: https://t.co/5Ow5EJF7oD pic.twitter.com/imKFH6wrWO — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 17, 2019
38,000 jobs have been lost in this area due to bad trade! @Darrinkellypgh @AFLCIO @RichardTrumka @PFT400 #Pittsburgh #TradeTour pic.twitter.com/2eiMjbVfSH — PA AFL-CIO (@PaAFL_CIO) June 17, 2019
If a trade deal is good for our workers, we will support it. If it is give aways for the rich we will oppose it. - Nina Esposito-Visgitis #tradetour #nafta #1u pic.twitter.com/7an3ggJriu — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 17, 2019
.@steelworkers VP Fred Redmond, “CEOs and Corporations are rigging the economic playing field and exploiting workers across borders.” @AFLCIO @RichardTrumka #TradeTour pic.twitter.com/RjP4eR1gsK — PA AFL-CIO (@PaAFL_CIO) June 17, 2019
“Right now, this agreement does not work for workers! Bad trade deals devastate communities and our economy.” President @Rwbloomingdale @AFLCIO @RichardTrumka #TradeTour pic.twitter.com/WZUsn3zwt6 — PA AFL-CIO (@PaAFL_CIO) June 17, 2019
AFL-CIO NAFTA #TradeTour stop in Pittsburgh where President @RichardTrumka says tell Congress NO VOTE ON THE NEW NAFTA until working people are prioritized in the agreement. @steelworkers @AFLCIO @PaAFL_CIO pic.twitter.com/AYoD7AzvQv — Tamara Lefcowitz (@TLefcowitz) June 17, 2019
The proposed new #NAFTA will include even more giveaways to Big Pharma a d other corporate special interests. #tradetour #1u pic.twitter.com/vY16HCsm5d — Richard Trumka (@RichardTrumka) June 17, 2019
NAFTA has stymied the economic growth of workers in Mexico. Latino workers have suffered under this bad trade deal. @AFLCIOLatino @AFLCIO @RichardTrumka @LCLAA #TradeTour pic.twitter.com/JYXNY2yIa0 — PA AFL-CIO (@PaAFL_CIO) June 17, 2019
Here’s what you missed tonight in Pittsburgh. #NAFTA #TradeTour #1u pic.twitter.com/NsIE6SJrCQ — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 18, 2019
Goodbye Pittsburgh 👋🏼 Onward to the next leg of the #NAFTA #TradeTour in Ohio, see you later today? #1u pic.twitter.com/s2Cyb9ESLS — Richard Trumka (@RichardTrumka) June 18, 2019
Morning, Ohio! President @RichardTrumka is kicking off day two of the @AFLCIO’s #TradeTour with a worker roundtable in Youngstown. #1u pic.twitter.com/nPsWElbLFD — John Weber (@jmatthewweber) June 18, 2019
We’ve known that #NAFTA was detrimental to communities across the country and we know that the new NAFTA will be too. 🔊Take a second and hear how detrimental it will be. #tradetour #1u pic.twitter.com/UEQlgXDSFQ — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 18, 2019
Harriet Applegate, Executive Secretary of North Shore AFL-CIO kicking off our second stop on the #NAFTA #TradeTour #1u pic.twitter.com/P0uu3Lut0A— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 18, 2019
Tim Burga, @ohioaflcio President “we remember the debate 25 years ago and saw a trade deal based on hope. Now we take no joy in talking about the devastation that #NAFTA caused.” #TradeTour pic.twitter.com/qdym33Vpkb— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 18, 2019
.@RichardTrumka speaking in Cleveland for the last stop of #TradeTour Day 2: “Let’s be clear about something. NAFTA isn’t broken. It’s working exactly the way it was meant to. It was written to enrich corporations at the expense of working people.” #1u pic.twitter.com/ftizz4Keog — John Weber (@jmatthewweber) June 18, 2019
It’s not just about the number of jobs we lost. It’s about those people, our sisters and brothers and our communities who were devastated. Lives changed for the worst. Families who may have never recovered. #NAFTA #TradeTour pic.twitter.com/MLAjbABiNO — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 18, 2019
Q: what does effective enforcement look like? A: 1. Mexico has to be able to enforce their own laws. 2. Agreement has to be able to be enforced 3. Being able to stop the product from coming into the country at the border until violations rectified. #NAFTA #tradetour pic.twitter.com/A4yIrafeWb — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 18, 2019
We need to pass the #PROact and here’s what it does. #NAFTA #tradetour pic.twitter.com/OpG7VREe85 — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 18, 2019
We just wrapped up in Cleveland. We were reminded tonight that this #NAFTA #TradeTour is about the impact on our people. We must continue to fight for our people, we can't afford another bad deal. #1u 📺Watch the recap: pic.twitter.com/vW8qXdeg4o — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 19, 2019
At Northwest Ohio Building Trades in Toledo, @RichardTrumka convenes #TradeTour roundtable and calls on Congress to not vote on NAFTA agreement until it’s fixed to protect American workers. pic.twitter.com/FlGPDH3oxC — Ohio AFL-CIO (@ohioaflcio) June 19, 2019
We’ve got to hold our elected officials accountable and call them on their BS. #NAFTA #TradeTour #1u pic.twitter.com/DjNHD11GnN — AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 19, 2019
Daryl Newman, @MetDetAFLCIO President welcoming everyone to the #NAFTA #TradeTour town hall. #1u pic.twitter.com/JGvJuVFGzM— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 19, 2019
.@uawregion1a Director Chuck Browning thanks everyone for attending tonight’s #NAFTA #tradetour Town Hall pic.twitter.com/EeYzIBZ5AA— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) June 19, 2019
President @RichardTrumka rounds out the @AFLCIO’s #TradeTour at @UAWRegion1A in Detroit. #1u pic.twitter.com/aXeKndrtV9 — John Weber (@jmatthewweber) June 19, 2019
Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 06/20/2019 - 12:58 — Jun 20 -
A Better Trade Deal: The Working People Weekly List A Better Trade Deal: The Working People Weekly List AFL-CIO Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List. Strive for a Better Trade Deal: "The North American Free Trade Agreement has been nothing short of a disaster for working people. For a quarter-century, Michiganians have watched as corporations shuttered plants, raided pensions and steadily eroded communities that had come to embody the promise of the American Dream. NAFTA is a disaster. But it was no accident. Politicians and corporate executives saw trade as a way to further tilt the economy in their favor. They sold out jobs and livelihoods here at home and sacrificed workers' rights abroad. Nothing was off limits so long as they could sniff out fatter profit margins." Passaic County Central Labor Council Encourages Education with Awards for High Schoolers: "Last night I was a part of something so truly amazing I am still having a hard time putting it into words. And for those of you that know me, words are usually my thing. There is so much that I am grateful for and want to share. It was an incredible night and to me, it was more than 100 years in the making." Save Our VA!: What Working People Are Doing This Week: "Welcome to our regular feature, a look at what the various AFL-CIO unions and other working family organizations are doing across the country and beyond. The labor movement is big and active—here's a look at the broad range of activities we're engaged in this week." ‘State of the Unions’ Podcast: Union Proud: "On the latest episode of 'State of the Unions,' Julie and Tim talked with Pride At Work Executive Director Jerame Davis as the AFL-CIO constituency group celebrates its 25th anniversary. They discussed the progress made by LGBTQ working people over the past quarter-century and the work still left to be done." Governor Murphy Signs ‘Panic Button’ Bill to Protect Hotel Workers from Assaults, Harassment: "Hundreds of hotel workers, union leaders and elected officials gathered at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City today to witness the signing of a bill requiring hotels to equip certain employees with 'panic buttons' for their protection against inappropriate conduct by guests." Pride Month Profiles: Irene Soloway: "For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our first profile this year is Irene Soloway." Stop the War on Working People: In the States Roundup: "It's time once again to take a look at the ways working people are making progress in the states." Get to Know the AFL-CIO's Affiliates: "Throughout the year, we've been profiling each of our affiliates. Let's take a look back at the profiles we've already published." Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Fire Fighters: "Next up in our series, which takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates, is the Fire Fighters." The TWU Celebrates Its 20th Organizing Victory!: "The TWU organizing machine is in full swing. Under this new leadership, the Transport Workers union has just won our 20th new worker organizing drive. We continue to grow and thrive across the entire transport sector. Since 2017, our membership has increased from 137,000 to 151,000." Economy Gains 75,000 Jobs in May; Unemployment Steady at 3.6%: "The U.S. economy gained 75,000 jobs in May, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage growth of 3.1% was lower than last month's 3.4% and, a downward revision of 75,000 for the job numbers for March and April signals that the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee needs to inch down interest rates." AFL-CIO President Hosts NAFTA Town Halls in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania: "The president of the nation’s largest labor union announced Tuesday that he will hold a series of town halls about 'union members’ struggles under NAFTA, and what working people want to see from the administration’s proposed USMCA [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement].' The AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka will travel to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan over the course of three days in mid-June to speak with union members as the President Trump administration pushes Congress to ratify his replacement for the much-maligned North American Free Trade Agreement." Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 06/18/2019 - 16:42 — Jun 18
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Pride Month Profiles: Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen Pride Month Profiles: Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen For Pride Month, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ Americans who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights. Our next profile is Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen. In the early 1970s, Steve D'Inzillo was the business agent for New York City's Motion Picture Projectionists Local 306, an affiliate of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). He had built a reputation as a maverick and had a particular passion for expanding civil rights. He wanted women to gain equal footing in the local, but the prospect was daunting. For women to win respect and acceptance in the union, they would need both the skills to do the job well and the toughness to deal with the small-minded men that opposed women's inclusion. D'Inzillo found the right women to challenge the system with Jeanne Laberge and Ruth Jacobsen, a lesbian couple who were willing to fight for their rights. Laberge had a union background and loved the idea of taking on the status quo. Jacobsen had been a "hidden child" during the Nazi occupation of Holland. In 1972, D'Inzillo sponsored Jacobsen's apprenticeship and she got her license a year later, making her New York City's first female "booth man." Laberge also applied and was admitted to the trade in 1974. D'Inzillo watched the women on the job and in the union hall and was impressed at how well they supported each other. Jacobsen and Laberge soon proposed that Local 306 sponsor a pre-apprenticeship program for women. D'Inzillo eagerly agreed. Many of those who signed up for the program were the sisters, wives and daughters of booth men, and they were paid less to work in lower-skilled jobs. Laberge spoke about the success of the program:
We got several licenses out of that first class. It was the first crack of having not just fathers and sons in the trade. We were into the feminist thing. We had the union change how they addressed the letters, to get rid of 'Dear Sir and Brother.' The men could be pretty derisive at meetings, so our women's group dealt with their disruptions.
Laberge and Jacobsen were the proximate cause for Local 306 adding sexual orientation to its anti-discrimination policies in the late 1970s. After working with the women for years, the local's membership had no interest in excluding them. The local also began to regularly make contributions to lesbian and gay charities, and supported three gay members who were sick from AIDS. This early success led D'Inzillo to ask Jacobsen to join the local's executive board, but she wasn't interested in board politics. Laberge, on the other hand, was enthusiastic about it and joined the board herself. Soon after she started a local newsletter, writing most of the articles. She became D'Inzillo's right-hand woman as he rose up the ranks of IATSE. He twice ran for the national presidency and was elected to be an IATSE vice president, with Laberge by his side the whole time. During his time as a leader in IATSE, Laberge said D'Inzillo was the only person at national conventions who pushed proposals that dealt with larger social and political issues, and she was a key part of those efforts. Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 06/18/2019 - 11:30 Tags: LGBTQ Rights — Jun 18