AFL-CIO

Campaigns

• I'm Standing with Hostess Workers

  Hostess workers are being scapegoated because they are standing up to corporate greed. Hostess' executives are now blaming workers for poor decisions they made that drove Hostess into the ground. What’s happening here is a classic Wall Street tactic—blame the little guy so that they can cover their greedy corporate policies that are gutting the middle class. Sign our pledge to stand with Hostess workers and against the tide of corporate greed wrecking our economy.

  19,783 of 20,000 Signatures

  Created by AFL-CIO
• "Right to Work" is Wrong for Michigan

  Recently, with over 22,000 protesters outside the Indiana Statehouse, Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a so-called “right-to-work” bill into law. Here in Michigan, a group of extreme Lansing politicians are trying to pass a similar bill. Let’s call this what it is – a blatant power grab by corporate special interests that will give more profits to greedy CEOs at the expense of our jobs, our retirement security, and our kids’ future. It’s not often that we agree with Gov. Snyder, but during recent testimony on Capitol Hill, Snyder said "right-to-work" is “a very divisive issue,” and that “I don’t believe it’s appropriate in Michigan during 2012.” With Michigan’s unemployment rate at 9.3-percent, we can’t afford to waste time on controversial policies like "right-to-work", which have failed to create jobs in other states.

  10,484 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Todd Cook, We Are The People Michigan
• Don’t Let Georgia Politicians Silence Workers and Our Communities

  Extreme legislators in Atlanta and their corporate donors are trying to ram through a series of bills to attack workers’ rights and weaken the ability of local communities to determine what works best for them. At the heart of these bills is an attempt to intimidate workers. But it goes far beyond that. They would increases penalties for free speech activities, like picketing, put new, burdensome requirements on small businesses and workers, and tie the hands of local communities to keep local officials from deciding what works best for them when dealing with their workforce. Tell your legislators to oppose these measures and focus on creating good jobs and strengthening Georgia’s economy instead.

  723 of 800 Signatures

  Created by Charlie Flemming, GA AFL-CIO
• UW-Madison Chancellor Ward Said What?

  Students at UW-Madison union have been calling on UW-Madison administration to cut the university’s contracts with the company. When students asked UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward if he'd stand up for workers' rights and for my co-workers and I, he told them that he would not support “these workers, not today.” Ward’s comments are terrible and they also ignore recommendations from the the UW-Madison Labor Licensing Policy Committee and a recent report from the Workers’ Rights Consortium—an organization UW-Madison is affiliated with—that found Palermo’s Pizza violated labor law, retaliated against us for trying to form a union and illegally fired workers. Tell UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward you won’t tolerate his comments.

  10,638 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Raul de la Torre, Palermo Workers Union
• Not One More Deportation

  In the fight for a commonsense immigration process, we’re up against a patchwork of broken policies and Congress that’s stalling. In the meantime, this holiday season and every day, families need relief. No matter their status, families should be together during the holidays. Every day, about 1,000 families are separated by deportations, often under questionable law enforcement practices. Dads who have a broken taillight are getting pulled over and deported, forced to abandon their children. Mothers walking on the streets in their states are racially profiled and sent to countries they haven’t lived in for decades, worried they may never see their children again. And even U.S. citizens are being deported. This week, the Department of Homeland Security welcomed Jeh Johnson as its new secretary. Secretary Johnson could stop the deportation policy the Obama administration has been practicing, giving real hope to new American families. DHS is tearing families apart because it’s following the Obama administration's self-imposed and arbitrary deportation quotas. Those quotas are keeping families apart for the holidays and turning DHS’s attention away from keeping us safe from real threats.

  47 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Rachel LaBruyere, AFL-CIO
• Don’t Let the Obama Administration Cook the Books for Outsourcers

  The Obama administration is proposing a pretty awful idea. They want to let notorious outsourcers, like Apple and Nike, be classified as “American manufacturers” regardless of where they make their iPhones or Air Jordans. If this change goes into effect, it could have huge consequences for all of us. These changes would make it easier for corporate outsourcers to hide how they’ve exploited bad trade deals to outsource millions of jobs, undermine environmental laws, weaken workers’ rights around the world and make corporate CEOs even richer. Sign the petition to tell the Obama administration and the Office of Management and Budget, which is taking comments on the rules right now, that cooking the books for corporate outsourcers is bad for working families here and abroad.

  5,183 of 6,000 Signatures

  Created by Celeste Drake
• Taxi Drivers in Montgomery County Need a Raise, Better Working Conditions

  Taxi drivers, like me, who work in Montgomery County, Md., work 16-hour days, but many of us struggle to feed our families because of the tens of thousands of dollars in fees we have to pay to companies like Barwood. Many drivers barely make minimum wage and can be fired without cause because we have no protections on the job. But we’re fighting back. We are pushing for the Montgomery County Council to pass a Passenger and Driver Bill of Rights that would lower fees to ensure drivers are paid a living wage, provide drivers with basic workplace protections, make sure customers receive the highest-quality service at lower prices and regulate companies like Uber. Not surprisingly, lobbyists for companies like Barwood and Uber are trying to stop this, so they can keep more money in the pockets of their CEOs. That’s why we need Montgomery County residents to tell County Council members they support a Passenger and Driver Bill of Rights. Sign the petition now to tell Montgomery County Council members you want them to support the drivers’ push for a Passenger and Driver Bill of Rights, so that taxi drivers can support their families and provide the best service to customers.

  80 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Peter Ibik, Montgomery County Professional Drivers Union
• Hold Rep. Fitzpatrick Accountable

  Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick ran for office on a jobs platform. But since getting elected, he has done nothing to address our jobs crisis. Instead, he voted to slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And then, he wasted months on the manufactured debt ceiling crisis—forcing cuts that will kill jobs. Rep. Fitzpatrick needs to be held accountable for his actions. So we’ve created an accountability petition we’re delivering by hand on Aug. 18. Will you add your name?

  703 of 800 Signatures

  Created by Mary Dunne, Bucks County Central Labor Council
• Verizon: Stop Killing the Middle Class

  This weekend, the New York Times reported that wages as a percentage of national income are the lowest they’ve been since 1965, and falling. What that means is that virtually all of us who are lucky enough to have jobs are being underpaid, while corporations rake in obscene profits. And as we’ve all seen, big corporations are failing to re-invest their profits in creating good jobs we desperately need—they’re sitting on cash. Take Verizon. In the past four years alone, the company made more than $19 billion in profits—and compensated its top five executives more than a quarter of a billion dollars. Yet this highly profitable company is using Wisconsin-style tactics to try to extract $1 billion in concessions from 45,000 of its workers. That's $20,000 for every family. Verizon’s unionized workers have been more than willing to come to the bargaining table and negotiate. But Verizon has been coming up with one excuse after another—and refuses to bargain seriously. So at midnight Sunday, 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike. Verizon needs to know that we stand with these workers—and we won't stand for their Wisconsin-style tactics. If we allow highly profitable corporations like Verizon keep leading a race to the bottom in American wages, our country’s middle class may not survive. By going on strike, these corageous workers aren’t just standing up for themselves, but for all of us.

  95 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Manny Herrmann, AFL-CIO
• Stand With Sugar Workers

  For generations, the sugar beet industry has been the lifeblood of Northwest Minnesota’s Red River Valley. Sugar workers have always stood shoulder to shoulder with American Crystal Sugar and farmers to protect and advance the sugar industry. Together, the workers, company and growers have helped to build the local economy, support families, and made communities flourish. Now, American Crystal has put all of this in jeopardy by locking out workers. Sign our petition telling CEO Dave Berg: Don’t turn your back on the community!

  1,643 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Shar Knutson, Minnesota AFL-CIO