Black and Latina women are driving labor union growth in the U.S. amid a decades-long decline in membership. In 2023, Black women’s union membership rate notched a slight bump from 10.3% to 10.5%, while Latinas went up from 8.5% to 8.8%.
Within unions — spaces once largely dominated by white men — leaders say they are pushing women of all races and men of color to take on leadership roles and incentivizing women to join previously male-dominated industries.
As the economy opened up to women a half century ago, one in three working women was an office employee. As the clerical workforce grew by leaps and bounds, so did a sense of injustice among the women, leading to the founding of the 9 to 5 Movement.
Young people in the labor movement want to bargain on climate issues in contract negotiations.
In light of the youth-driven surge of union drives at Starbucks, Amazon, Apple and elsewhere, the AFL-CIO – the main US’s labor federation – is facing growing pressure to undertake a bolder effort to help today’s burst of unionizing expand far faster
Over the course of the pandemic, the vast majority of essential workers were women. The vast majority of those who lost their jobs in the pandemic were women. And now the vast majority of those organizing their workplaces are women.
While Ms. Shuler's moving up the AFL-CIO hierarchy has been the favored route to the organization's presidency, Ms. Nelson will be counting on her elevated profile as an outspoken leader of a militant union if she runs against her.
With issues like pay, benefits, paid sick time, paid family leave, minimum staffing levels, schedule flexibility, mental health, and workplace safety becoming increasingly urgent in the pandemic, women have emerged as union leaders as never before.
Liz Shuler will serve as the nation’s top union official until summer 2022, when the AFL-CIO’s 50-plus affiliates can gather for their annual convention to vote on a permanent successor.
A plan of a committee convened by the AFL-CIO, Teamsters and Service Employees International Union aims to encourage police union members "to speak up and take action if fellow members are violating their professional oath or abusing their power."
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