Delegates to the 32nd biennial convention of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO met at the Concourse Hotel in Madison on September 19 and 20. At this convention, we build power for workers through the state federation by engaging union leaders and union members on issues that matter most to working families. Delegates elected new federation officers with President Stephanie Bloomingdale re-elected as President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO and Marcos Alfaro, USW Local 125, elected Secretary-Treasurer. New members of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO Executive Board were elected and the new board was sworn in by Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Dallet.
Union members are hitting the streets to talk with union members about the importance of the upcoming November 8, 2022 midterm elections. Join our Labor 2022 voter education and mobilization program at upcoming canvasses and phone banks as we go door-to-door and make phone calls to talk about the issues important to voters. As we build momentum for a pro-worker agenda at the local, state and federal level, we mobilize our members to vote to protect our freedoms as workers to advance our rights at work.
Working people are launching the largest organizing drive in history to defend the fundamental freedoms that all Americans cherish. Between now and Election Day, we’ll talk with thousands of voters about restoring our democracy and protecting the freedoms we value. Join us at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.
Labor Day 2022 was one for the history books in Wisconsin! Working people celebrated across the state with picnics, parades, car shows, and celebrations in Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Kenosha, Green Bay, Neenah, Oshkosh, Wausau and Superior/Duluth.
After marching through the streets of Milwaukee, union members gathered at the Summerfest grounds to hear from President Joe Biden, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Governor Tony Evers addressed the crowd.
Pam Fendt, President of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council kicked off the event introducing AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.Milwaukee Laborfest and the Presidential event ran smoothly with great success thanks to all the efforts of Milwaukee Labor Council President Fendt and her team.
Laborers Local 113 member Eduardo Marquez introduced President Biden and explained how being a union member has helped his family. Marquez praised Biden for spearheading the bipartisan infrastructure law which will “create so many jobs for laborers and other workers to repair our bridges, water systems and many other things.”
“It’s an honor to have President Joe Biden, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler join Wisconsin union men and women on Labor Day,” said Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale. “We proudly welcome President Biden to Wisconsin to honor workers and celebrate all the labor movement has done to improve lives and workplaces. We look forward to continuing to work with the Biden Administration to uplift working families and build our American middle class with strong unions.”
While in office President Biden has passed historic advancements that will create jobs, raise wages, and help Wisconsin workers get ahead such as the bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act to boost our manufacturing supply chains, putting a union member in charge of the Department of Labor for the first time in our nation’s history, strengthening the National Labor Relations Board to support workers and so much more.
To loud cheers, President Biden pledged to continue to fight for labor unions across the country, saying “the middle class built America. Everyone knows that and unions built the middle class.”
On Labor Day and every day, we honor the achievements of working people and we pledge to continue to work with the White House, Governor Evers, and all elected officials to advance the rights and freedoms of all working people in Wisconsin and America.
The Wisconsin labor movement is ready to fight to protect the freedoms of all workers. As public support for unions continues to see historic highs, the time is now to organize, mobilize, and win for workers.
Resurgent Labor Movement Empowers All Workers
By Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO
This Labor Day, as we enjoy the day off that has become a cherished American part of our late summer calendar, let’s take a moment to reflect on the history this holiday commemorates and role our resurgent labor movement is playing going forward. By the late 1800’s, the Industrial Revolution had transformed society in both positive and negative ways. Productivity had skyrocketed, but this material abundance came at a heavy price for the workers who made it possible. The average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks for wages that barely fed a family. Children as young as 5 or 6 worked dangerous jobs in mills, factories and mines. Workplaces for people of all ages were often unhealthy and unsafe.
To address these intolerable conditions, workers joined together in labor unions, acting collectively to improve the lives not only of union members, but of all working people. Things often taken for granted today represent hard-won victories achieved by union workers of an earlier generation. Wisconsin’s labor movement was instrumental in the passage of ground-breaking legislation that transformed the lives of working people, from a law in 1887 mandating safety improvements on factory machinery that had needlessly maimed so many people, to child labor laws, workers’ compensation and unemployment compensation.
Equally important, the freedom to stand together in unions gives us power to demand a fairer share of the wealth that our labor produces. Once regarded as little more than expendable cogs in the machinery of the industrial economy, union workers have rightfully claimed our role as essential partners in the creation and preservation of American prosperity. This history of worker empowerment and its role in building and sustaining America’s middle class is what we celebrate on Labor Day.
Today, as workers are leaving their jobs in record numbers in the so-called “Great Resignation”, it is an appropriate moment to look at the role unions are playing going forward. U.S. Census Bureau data show that the steady decline in the middle class’ overall share of income over the last fifty years closely parallels the decline in union membership. As the noted U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis observed, “We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few; but we can’t have both”. But now, a growing number of working Americans are seeking to reverse this trend by coming together to organize a union. A recent Gallup poll shows nearly three-quarters of Americans approve of labor unions, the highest level since 1965. Workers are organizing at a pace not seen in our country since the Great Depression.
That’s good news for everyone. Greater union density means higher wages for both union and nonunion workers. Unions support strong families with better benefits and job protections. Being in a union boosts civic participation. By actively communicating about issues and candidates, members equip ourselves to make informed choices on Election Day.
For millions of Americans, labor unions are the key to a better life. By empowering working people and preserving and reinvigorating our country’s middle class, unions provide a vital, living foundation for our democracy. That’s something worth celebrating this Labor Day.
Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, released the following statement welcoming President Biden and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh to Wisconsin on Labor Day:
“It’s an honor to have President Joe Biden and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh join Wisconsin union men and women on Labor Day,” said Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale. “We proudly welcome President Biden to Wisconsin to honor workers and celebrate all the labor movement has done to improve lives and workplaces. We look forward to continuing to work with the Biden Administration to uplift working families and build our American middle class with strong unions.
“While in office President Biden has passed historic advancements that will create jobs, raise wages, and help Wisconsin workers get ahead such as the bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, putting a union member in charge of the Department of Labor for the first time in our nation’s history, strengthening the National Labor Relations Board to support workers and so much more.
“This Labor Day, as we take time to celebrate with our coworkers and loved ones, we honor the achievements of working people and we pledge to continue to work with the White House, Governor Evers, and all elected officials to advance the rights and freedoms of all working people in Wisconsin and America.”
As we head into Labor Day weekend, we wanted to make sure you had all the information necessary to celebrate working people and the accomplishments of the labor movement with friends, family and coworkers.
Sign up to volunteer with our Labor 2022 political mobilization program at wisaflcio.org/mobilize.
If you are planning to celebrate Labor Day with President Joe Biden, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler in Milwaukee, the parade will kick off at 10:30 a.m. from Zeidler Union Square Park. Summerfest Grounds will open at 11:00 am. Pack light as there will be a security screening for all attendees at Summerfest.
2022 has been a banner year for unions. Workers across our nation are coming together to demand better. Wisconsin workers are organizing new unions and taking brave action to secure strong collective bargaining agreements. This year’s Gallup poll once again found public approval of unions at record highs of 71%. We have the most pro-union President and White House Administration in recent history. As we celebrate the dignity of workers this weekend, we double down on our efforts to organize for the future, advance workplaces, and protect the freedoms of all working people.
The dedicated nurses at UW Health have made the difficult decision to strike on Sept. 13-16 for quality patient care and recognition of their union. Nurses will deliver the official 10-day strike notice today. UW nurses care for us, our neighbors, our loved ones and family members during our time of need. They save lives and have been on the frontlines of the entire pandemic. The strong majority of nurses at UW Health have been calling for union recognition for nearly three years. The UW Health administration refuses to recognize their union.
As UW Health nurses prepare to strike, show your solidarity:
Respect the nurses’ picket line. Don’t cross it, join it! Walk beside nurses Sept. 13, 14 and 15, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Strike HQ is outside the First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive in Madison.
Attend UW nurses’ big rally and march on Tuesday, Sept. 13 outside the First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive in Madison. Rally starts at 4:30 p.m. and march starts at 6:00 pm.
UW nurses used to be members of SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin, but in 2014 management used Scott Walker’s union-busting Act 10 as an excuse to end union recognition. Since then, nurses have been calling for union recognition so they can best address a dangerous crisis of understaffing, cuts, turnover, exhaustion, and burnout, all aggravated by the pandemic.
Stand alongside UW nurses as we call for quality healthcare, good jobs and union rights for all working Wisconsinites.
