America's Work Force Union Podcast

In August 1989, CWA chief steward Gerry Horgan was struck and killed by a replacement worker driving through a picket line during the NYNEX strike in New York. He was a Marine, a volunteer firefighter, a mountain rescue team member and a family man who gave everything for working people. Since that day, CWA members have worn red on Thursdays in his honor. August 15 marks the 37th anniversary of his death. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast — part of the Labor 132 series presented by the National Labor Office of Blue Cross Blue Shield — CWA District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews traces the history of the Communication Workers of America from its 1947 founding through landmark contract wins, barrier-breaking leadership elections and the member relief fund that removes one of management's most reliable bargaining weapons. He then tells the full story of Gerry Horgan and what wearing red on Thursdays has meant to the CWA family over the past 37 years. Visit cwad4.org for more.

More than 30% of union election wins never produce a first contract. Not because workers gave up. Because employers face no real punishment for running out the clock. The BAC has two active situations in California and Florida, where employers have been delaying for two years with zero consequences. On today's Trades Day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers President Timothy J. Driscoll discusses the PRO Act, the Faster Labor Contracts Act and why the arbitration provision critics call government overreach is simply a necessary guardrail. He also addresses AI's growing impact on construction design and engineering, what responsible data center siting requires from developers, why the administration's immigration enforcement is a deliberate wedge strategy that has swept up BAC members with valid work authorization in ICE raids and why congressional efforts to expand independent contractor status are moving in exactly the wrong direction for workers. Visit bacweb.org for more.

Two conversations that connect the fights of the past to the fights happening right now — one tracking the policy battles shaping transportation workers today and one tracing the 200-year labor history that explains why those battles keep coming. Transportation Trades Department President Greg Regan discusses the TTD's concerns about newly confirmed TSA Administrator David Cummins, who has said collective bargaining inhibits airport security workers and plans to expand privatized screening from approximately 20 airports to 200. Regan also addresses a bipartisan bill to fix the Railroad Retirement Board's ability to pay out earned benefits to railroaders who have contributed to one of the world's healthiest pension systems and a September 30 surface transportation funding cliff that would simultaneously cut off roads, bridges, Amtrak, commuter rail and public transit funding — at a moment when Amtrak is posting record ridership and revenue as proof that infrastructure investment works. Then, Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga traces Ohio's labor history through his own family story — a grandfather who survived the 1940 Willow Grove Mine explosion in Belmont County, a father who served as president of a United Steelworkers local in the 1960s and a debt he said his family owes entirely to the United Mine Workers of America and the United Steelworkers. He covers the 1890 founding of the UMWA in Columbus, William Green's authorship of Ohio's workers' compensation law and the defeat of Senate Bill 5 in 2011 by the same 62-to-38 margin that defeated right-to-work in Ohio in 1958. He closes with what the current organizing surge among young workers means for the movement's future and why getting from a successful union vote to a first contract remains the most urgent labor law reform priority. Visit ttd.org for more from the Transportation Trades Department and ohioaflcio.org for more from the Ohio AFL-CIO.

His mother took three buses every morning to clean houses in the suburbs. His father worked every job he could find until he landed his first union contract at an aluminum mill on Chicago's southwest side. Then Fred Redmond's family started going to a doctor's office instead of the free clinic. That is why the labor movement is personal to him — and why he has given more than 50 years to it. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond joins for the first Friday with Fred of August as part of the Labor 132 series. He shares the story of his parents' journey from sharecropping in Mississippi to union membership in Chicago, reflects on his proudest moments with the United Steelworkers, including organizing rubber plantation workers in Liberia and surviving strikes at Reynolds and Alcoa, and explains why union popularity is now at its highest point in 70 years. Visit aflcio.org and explore the AFL-CIO's labor history timeline.

Columbus just landed Electra's $850 million EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric aircraft manufacturing plant at AirPark Ohio, is building a $100 million early childhood learning center on a former jail site and generated 6.5 million union building trades work hours at Google facilities alone last year. And the American Federation of Labor was founded downtown in 1886. On today's Trades Day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, C/COBCTC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Dorsey Hager delivers his monthly update covering Intel's continued ramp-up, upcoming public hearings for two major gas-powered energy centers that will supply data center campuses in Fairfield County and Asheville, a new project labor agreement for the $100 million Franklin County early childhood learning center, the state of Ohio's data center conversation at the local government level and what happened when building trades members brought brick walls and concrete finishing to the Ohio State Fair. Visit columbusconstruction.org for more.

The Screen Actors Guild was founded in 1933. AFTRA was founded around the same time. For nearly 80 years, they tried to become a single union and kept falling short of the 80% supermajority required by both constitutions. Then, in 2008, employers used the gap between them to restructure primetime scripted television in ways that stripped members of their health insurance. By 2012, the two unions were one. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast — part of the Labor 132 series — SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland tells the full story, from the very different founding cultures of SAG and AFTRA in the 1930s through the McCarthy era, Ronald Reagan's complicated labor legacy, the 2008 employer maneuver that finally made the cost of disunity impossible to ignore and what the merged union has built in the 14 years since. He also addresses the AI fight, now the most urgent focus of SAG-AFTRA's resources, and explains why the strength of the merged union is exactly what that fight requires. Visit sagaftra.org for more.

He joined the laborers in 2014, has been sober since 2009 and spent years working in addiction treatment before the trades. Now he is one of three recovery specialists covering approximately 22 LIUNA locals and up to 12,000 members across Massachusetts through the LEAN program — Laborers Escaping Adversity Now — the first program of its kind in the Laborers union when it launched in 2018. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Massachusetts Laborers' Benefits Fund recovery specialist Jonathan Ashwell discusses how the LEAN program works: cold outreach to members with substance use claims, presentations at every apprenticeship class, a hotline, vetted treatment access that gets members into care quickly and personal in-person follow-up a week after placement. He also addresses the construction industry's suicide crisis, LIUNA General President Brent Booker and General Secretary-Treasurer Michael F. Sabitoni's national push to reduce stigma and why the peer support model — a union brother who has lived the same life reaching out to another — is the most effective tool available. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988. Visit mlbf.org for more.

In 2003, the Teamsters celebrated their 100th anniversary and discovered they had almost no institutional record of their own history. Previous administrations had discarded materials that should have been preserved. That realization launched a 20-year effort that has now produced teamsterhistory.org — more than 27 unfiltered, unedited oral history interviews with the people who lived through one of the most turbulent and consequential periods in American labor history, from 1975 to 1999. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast — the first episode of Labor 132, presented by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association National Labor Office — Teamsters veterans Bret Caldwell and Brian Rainville discuss the launch of teamsterhistory.org, the history of the Teamsters Archives at George Washington University and an interview project that captured participants from across the full political spectrum, from TDU founder Ken Paff to General President James P. Hoffa, all in their own unedited words. General President O'Brien's decision to let the unflattering material stay in, Rainville said, is what made the whole thing possible. Visit teamsterhistory.org to explore the interviews and download full transcripts.

Two conversations that cut to the heart of what workers and retirees are navigating right now — one about what happens when an employer decides union members are expendable, and one about finding the right healthcare coverage when the landscape keeps shifting. The University of Maryland, College Park, laid off more than 80 workers earlier this summer. More than 80% were union members. The university's nearly billion-dollar endowment went untouched. So did the president's $1 million-plus annual salary and the multi-million-dollar coaching contracts for coaches with losing records. And almost immediately after the layoffs were announced, the university lifted its hiring freeze. AFSCME Local 1072 President Todd Holden, union steward Sarah Eppley and laid-off member Sarah Grun describe what happened, why the local filed 40 grievances covering workers laid off while on FMLA, pursuing grievances or active in union organizing and how to sign the AFSCME toolkit letter to the University System of Maryland at afscmemd.org. Then, BCBS NLO Executive Director Merrilee Logue and BCBS Association Medicare market analyst Duncan Lawson discuss a Medicare Advantage landscape that has become more complicated for union retirees to navigate. For the second consecutive year, more than 2 million Medicare Advantage consumers had their plans terminated and even more saw their benefits reduced. Logue and Lawson explain which plans and regions have been most affected, why Medicare Advantage remains the most popular retiree coverage option despite the changes and what union members approaching 65 need to know to find coverage that fits — including how to work with a broker, check union fund coverage and take advantage of special enrollment periods. Visit afscmemd.org for more on the AFSCME Local 1072 fight and bcbs.com/MedicareAdvantage for Medicare Advantage resources. Follow @BlueLabor on LinkedIn and X for updates from the BCBS National Labor Office.

She did not grow up thinking about roofing. She spent years in other work before deciding she wanted real pay, real benefits and a real career path. A woman she knew had gone through Hire360 and told her to look into it. She did. Now she is an apprentice with Roofers Local 11 in Chicago, and she is not going back. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Donetta Thomas tells her story of entering the building trades through Hire360, the Chicago workforce development organization that connects women and people of color to union construction careers. She walks through what Hire360's pre-apprenticeship program actually does to prepare people for the trades, what life on a roof in Chicago really looks like and what she would say to any woman or person of color who is sitting on the fence about making the move. Visit hire360chicago.com to learn more about Hire360 and rooferslocal11.org for more on Roofers Local 11.

Today's episode of the America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two conversations that cut to the heart of what it means to be a worker in America right now — one focused on who keeps people safe and one on who makes the decisions that shape their lives. First, National Nurses United President Jamie Brown and NNU Assistant Director of Health and Safety Jane Thomason discuss a workplace safety crisis that most Americans never see. Healthcare workers account for approximately 73% of all nonfatal workplace violence injuries in the United States, nurses are five times more likely to be assaulted at work than people in any other industry and the actual rate is dramatically higher because most incidents never get reported. Brown and Thomason make the case for the Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act, which would mandate safe staffing ratios and workplace violence prevention programs at hospitals receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding, and address chemical and environmental hazards nurses face daily, including antineoplastic drug exposure, post-COVID disinfectants and wildfire smoke entering hospital facilities through filtration systems not designed to stop it. Then, IAM Union retired International President Tom Buffenbarger delivers his monthly independent labor voice segment covering three significant stories. Boeing's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, is meeting directly with machinists, reinstating union advisory channels and committing to keep manufacturing in Puget Sound, representing what Buffenbarger calls the most meaningful cultural shift at the company in years. Tariff uncertainty, rather than tariff levels, is causing profitable companies to lay off manufacturing workers because the planning horizon has disappeared. And the One Big Beautiful Bill is structured to remove an estimated 11 to 12 million people from Medicaid through administrative burden and shift SNAP costs to states in ways that will reduce benefits for children, veterans and working families. Visit nationalnursesunited.org for more from National Nurses United and goiam.org for more from the IAM Union.

The conventional wisdom says union contractors cost taxpayers more on public projects. A peer-reviewed study of 128 Sacramento County public works projects completed between 2018 and 2022 found the opposite: union contractors were associated with 5 to 6 percent lower costs and 14 to 22 percent faster completion times than non-union contractors. On today's trades day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, NorCal CIC Policy and Research Analyst Dr. Larissa Petrucci walks through how the study was built using California's publicly available certified payroll data and hundreds of public records requests, why the statistical methodology ensures the findings are genuinely about union contractor status rather than other variables and what building trades councils in other states can do right now to push for the data transparency that made this research possible. Visit norcalcic.org for more.

Over one million federal workers lost collective bargaining rights by executive order. For the second year in a row, a union member in Congress has added bipartisan language to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act to start reversing that for 770,000 Department of Defense employees. And IFPTE just organized approximately 200 NOAA fisheries workers in Hawaii. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, IFPTE President Matt Biggs discusses the Norcross NDAA language and what happens next in the Senate reconciliation fight, why stripping DoD collective bargaining rights harms rather than protects national security, the SAVE Act's voter registration barriers and what the numbers on voter fraud actually show and an organizing surge producing more requests for union representation than IFPTE has organizers to handle. Visit ifpte.org for more.

Two sheriff's deputies in Union County, South Dakota, had a yard sign for the losing candidate on their property. Three weeks after their sheriff won his election, they were fired in a letter citing the at-will employment law and no stated cause. They were in the middle of negotiating their first union contract when it happened. The county's lawyer had argued against including just cause language in that contract just weeks before the firings. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, AFSCME Council 65 Labor Representative Jordan Deffenbaugh discusses the Union County case, the active response campaign including petitions, rallies and appeals to the governor and attorney general, a pattern of conduct concerns at the sheriff's office that predate the deputy firings and why he believes this situation could spark a broader organizing surge in Southeast South Dakota, where union density currently sits at approximately 2.7 percent. Visit afscme65.org for more.

70 percent of Boston's greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. Boston hospitals consume four times as much energy as other city buildings. And a technology that already exists, installed by trained workers already on the job, could dramatically reduce both figures. It's called mechanical insulation. On today's trades day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Mechanical Insulators LMCT Executive Director Pete Ielmini discusses a Commonwealth Beacon investigation into energy consumption at a Boston hospital and what it means for the broader push to make mechanical insulation energy audits mandatory. He also covers the Hale Building at Brigham and Women's Hospital as a model of what properly designed construction can achieve, the gap in inspection requirements that allows new buildings to be completed without the insulation they were supposed to have and the status of the Federal Mechanical Insulation Act in the Senate with December's end of Congress deadline approaching. Visit mechanicalinsulatorslmct.com for more.

Columbus Metropolitan Library workers filed for their union election in December 2025, waited six months and faced weekly anti-union emails from administration the entire time. On July 7, they voted yes with 86 percent approval. OFT filed a demand to bargain the same day. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper joins us fresh from the AFT convention in Washington. She discusses the federation's growth to 1.875 million members, why she calls it the fastest-growing union in the country, the five fightback pillars shaping AFT's strategy, and the convention resolutions on school funding and child labor accountability. She also breaks down what is at stake in Ohio's governor, Senate and Ohio House races this fall and where to find the OFT voter guide. Visit oft-aft.org for more.

An organizer showed up for a first meeting at a sawmill in rural Mississippi and was handed 40 signed union authorization cards before taking a seat. Workers at Big River Sawmill in Gloster, Miss., had already organized themselves. The Van Devender family's ownership fired four workers, held captive-audience meetings, and turned the mayor against them. On June 25 and 26, the workers won anyway. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, United Steelworkers Assistant Director of Organizing Mariana Padias tells the full story of the Big River campaign, including the unusual role of Blue Wolf Capital Partners, a pro-union minority equity investor that publicly backed the workers when the owner refused to stay neutral. She also explains why the national average time to a first contract is 480 days, how companies use that window to erode worker support, and what the bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act, now before the Senate, would do to change it. Visit usw.org for more.

The Cleveland Orchestra contract expires at the end of August. Active bargaining is underway, with Local 4 having already exchanged financial presentations and delivered its first proposal. A key priority this round is relief weeks for string players whose instrument positions create real risk of repetitive stress injury over time. And four of the country's most storied orchestras are at the table simultaneously, setting benchmarks for the entire symphony sector. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, AFM Local 4 President Len DiCosimo discusses the Cleveland Orchestra negotiations, his election to the AFM international board at the 103rd convention in Ottawa and the growing threat artificial intelligence poses to working musicians, composers and lyricists. He calls on the public to support live music and human artistry with their discretionary spending, drawing a direct parallel between choosing AI-generated content over a working musician and choosing a self-checkout line over a cashier. Visit afmlocal4.com to learn more about AFM Local 4.

America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two conversations spanning American history, retirement security and a fight over who controls your Medicare coverage. American Legion Media and Communications Director Henry Howard opens with a recap of how the Legion marked America's 250th anniversary, including a reenactment of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Lansing, Michigan on July 8, the date Colonel Nixon first read the document publicly in 1776. Howard also covers the conclusion of the USA 250 Challenge, which engaged more than 3,100 American Legion family members over the past year in fitness, wellness and community service, and a historic flag escort by American Legion riders from Pittsburgh to Arlington on July 4. He then previews the August edition of the American Legion magazine, which highlights ten notable American inventions that shaped the world and honors the late Diane Carlson Evans, the Vietnam combat nurse who led the decades-long fight to establish the Vietnam Women's Memorial on the National Mall. Then, Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans State Director Norm Wernet discusses two developments directly affecting retirees and disabled workers. The first is bipartisan momentum to scrap the Social Security earnings cap following a joint op-ed from Sen. Bernie Moreno and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and what that step would do to address the 2032 Social Security funding cliff. The second is the WISeR program, a pilot AI prior authorization program now running in Ohio and six other states that is delaying and denying Medicare Advantage coverage with a financial incentive built into the algorithm to keep saying no. Visit legion.org for American Legion updates and retiredamericans.org for the full congressional voting record on retiree issues.

OSHA inspections are down. Penalties are down. The workers most at risk are afraid to speak up. And two preventable crises are claiming lives that should not be lost: the extreme heat epidemic that kills workers at dramatically higher rates if they are Latino or Black, and a growing wave of accelerated silicosis among young countertop fabricators exposed to engineered stone products so high in silica that they have been banned in Australia. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, National COSH Associate Director Katelyn Parady describes what is happening to workers right now and what workers, unions and advocates are doing to fight back. She covers the creative organizing happening at the city, state and supply chain level to address heat in the absence of a federal standard, the preemption laws being used in Texas and Florida to block rather than create protections and National COSH's preparations to call for a national ban on engineered stone as young Latino immigrant fabricators in their 20s and 30s continue to need double lung transplants and lose their lives. Visit nationalcosh.org for more.

America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two conversations that capture the labor movement's momentum heading into a consequential fall election season. First, Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga joins fresh from the AFL-CIO's 30th Constitutional Convention in Minneapolis, where delegates voted to set a new organizing target of 2 million new union members by 2032 after surpassing the previous goal of 1 million. Burga reports on a broad wave of organizing activity across Ohio spanning healthcare, construction, higher education, hospitality, libraries, museums and the arts, with recent wins including workers at Jeni's Ice Cream, United Academics of Ohio University and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He also addresses the ongoing challenge of securing first contracts after organizing wins and what Ohio workers should watch for when the General Assembly returns from summer recess and the lame duck session begins after November's elections. Then, CWA District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews discusses a ratified four-year contract for approximately 300 DirecTV customer service workers across Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Colorado, delivering compounded wage increases of 13.4% and preserving health care after workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike in April. Mathews addresses the growing difficulty of protecting health care at the bargaining table, describes a roughly tenfold increase in CWA organizing activity since COVID and details the CWA's new Fighting Oligarchy political education training rolling out across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan ahead of November's elections. Visit ohioaflcio.org for Ohio AFL-CIO updates and cwa-union.org for more from CWA District 4.

In the most recent year with available data, roughly 1,000 construction workers died from workplace accidents. In the same year, approximately 5,000 died by suicide and 11,000 died from overdose. Construction workers are approximately 16 times more likely to die by suicide or overdose than from a conventional workplace injury. And the industry is not yet treating mental health with the same intensity it brings to fall prevention. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Bill McCamley, director of the New Mexico Building Trades Wellness Coalition, discusses the wellness coalition model he believes every building trades council in the country should adopt. He shares his own mental health story, explains why peer support from workers with lived experience is the most effective tool available for reaching workers before a crisis becomes fatal, and makes the case for why contractors have a direct financial interest in funding these programs. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988. Visit nmbtwellness.org for more. CONTENT NOTE: TODAY'S EPISODE CONTAINS FRANK DISCUSSIONS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE. LISTENER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

More than 335 organizations have signed an open letter to every member of Congress calling for Medicare for All. A national day of action is planned for July 30 to mark the 61st anniversary of Medicare's original passage. And nurses say people are arriving at hospitals too sick to be saved because they put off care they could not afford. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, National Nurses United President Jamie Brown and Medicare for All Campaign Director Jasmine Ruddy make the case for why this is the most important moment for health care reform in a generation. They discuss what nurses are seeing on the hospital floor as federal cuts take effect, why Medicare for All is a fundamentally labor issue that would remove health coverage from the bargaining table and eliminate employers' ability to threaten benefits during strikes, and how unions, including the UAW and UE, are active partners in the campaign. Visit medicare4all.org to join the July 30 day of action or sign up for updates.

A nursing home company cheated nearly 6,000 workers out of wages for years. The Department of Labor sued, went to trial and won $35.8 million. Then a federal appeals court ruled that federal wage law does not cover some of those unpaid hours and told workers to go find their own lawyer in state court to recover the rest. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, longtime union lawyer Andrew Strom breaks down what happened and why it matters for working people everywhere. He explains what overtime gap pay is in plain terms, why a rule the Department of Labor has had on the books since 1968 was not enough to protect these workers, why the dissenting judge called the result unfair and why being in a union is the most practical protection against exactly this kind of wage theft.

Bloomberg Philanthropies just committed $90 million to get high school students directly into registered apprenticeship programs across 10 cities. Chattanooga got approximately $9 million of it. And UA Local 43 — chartered in 1890 and at near full employment today — is part of the team building the program. On today's trades day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, UA Local 43 Plumbers and Steamfitters JATC Training Coordinator Joe Coke and Business Manager Matt Johnson discuss how a partnership with community workforce organization Chattanooga 2.0 and IBEW helped land Chattanooga's share of the initiative, what a direct high school pathway into a registered apprenticeship program looks like in practice and how Local 43's most recent apprentice class drew 200 applications from people aged 17 to 50. With 1,300 members at near full employment, new projects added to the pipeline weekly and the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting 44,000 plumbers, pipe fitters and steam fitters needed annually nationwide, both guests described the moment as one of the brightest in the Local's 136-year history. Visit ualocal43.org to learn more.

Someone created a deep fake video of SAG-AFTRA's chief negotiator saying false things about the union's own contract during the 2023 ratification vote. Tens of thousands of people saw it before Instagram took it down five days later. It is the kind of story that explains why the fight for AI protections in the entertainment industry matters far beyond Hollywood. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland discusses a ratified 2026 contract that achieved what the 2023 strike demanded — without another strike. He walks through the contract's two-tiered AI protections covering both digital replicas of real performers and the use of synthetics — AI-generated performances with no human source — and explains the bipartisan No FAKES Act moving through Congress that could give every American a legal right in their own image and voice for the first time. He also discusses the planned merger of the SAG Producers Pension Plan and the AFTRA Retirement Fund, set for early 2028, which will provide retirement benefits to nearly 1,000 SAG-AFTRA members per year who currently earn enough across both plans to qualify but not enough in either one to collect. Visit sagaftra.org for more.

Renewables produced zero megawatts for four straight days during a recent winter storm while coal, gas and nuclear carried the full grid load. Southwestern Pennsylvania has the second-largest natural gas deposits in North America, barely tapped. And Boilermakers Local 154 Business Agent Shawn Steffee believes his region can lead the national energy and data center build-out — with a workforce ready to do it. On today's trades day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Steffee discusses the Homer City campus, where he believes a 4,200-megawatt natural gas power block is under active construction alongside hyperscale data center plans he projects could generate 3,500 building trades jobs on that site alone. He addresses community concerns about water and electricity prices, makes the case that natural gas is the only near-term solution to the grid reliability crisis and describes a Local that went five years without taking a single apprentice and is now on pace for 175 new ones — with more needed still. Visit boilermakerslocal154.com to learn more.

One carrier controlling 40 percent of the U.S. rail freight market. Monthly grade-crossing safety inspections are being reduced to quarterly. And a Long Island Rail Road strike that stopped the trains and finally delivered what two presidential emergency boards had already recommended. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen Secretary-Treasurer Brandon Elvey walks through three active fronts in the rail industry. He discusses Union Pacific's third attempt to acquire Norfolk Southern through the Surface Transportation Board, why the BRS and a coalition of rail unions and customer associations oppose it and what a 20 percent membership reduction on Union Pacific already signals about what that railroad looks like for workers. He addresses the AAR's push to reduce grade crossing warning device inspections from monthly to quarterly — a deregulatory move the BRS says contradicts 30 years of safety data. And he describes the Long Island Rail Road strike in which six rail unions working together finally forced an agreement after three years of bargaining under the Railway Labor Act. Visit brs.org to learn more about the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen.

The top 1 percent of American households now hold 31.7 percent of all U.S. wealth — the highest concentration since the Federal Reserve began tracking in 1989. Workers' wages are not keeping pace with their productivity. And the AFL-CIO just came out of what its secretary-treasurer called the best convention he has attended in twenty years. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast — the day before America's 250th anniversary — AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond discusses the Minneapolis convention's 2-million-member organizing goal, why that number is the floor rather than the ceiling and the federation's carefully calibrated position on artificial intelligence: not opposition, but a demand that workers have a seat at the table in every decision that affects their jobs. He also addresses Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger's veto of collective bargaining legislation after AFL-CIO leaders left a campaign meeting believing they had her full support — and explains the strict endorsement standard the federation has adopted in response heading into the midterms. Visit aflcio.org for more.

The first drone is expected off the assembly line this week at an Anduril manufacturing campus in Pickaway County that didn't exist eighteen months ago. Data center and power plant construction is breaking ground in Asheville. A $325 million courthouse is going up in downtown Columbus under a community benefit agreement. And the Columbus building trades are on pace to work more than 20 million hours in 2026 — more than double just three years ago. On today's trades day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Columbus Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Dorsey Hager delivers a monthly update that covers all of it — plus a nurses organizing drive at Children's Hospital, the airport expansion hitting 83 percent union, why women in Local Unions have quadrupled since 2016 and what America's 250th birthday means to a union trades leader who owes everything he has to the labor movement. Visit columbusconstruction.org for more.

Two conversations built around a single question: what does real economic security look like for working people — and who is actually delivering it? United Labor Agency Executive Director Dave Megenhardt closes out a strong program year with 1,002 job placements at an average wage of $23.58 per hour, climbing to $28.78 for workers who completed vocational training first. He discusses healthcare's continued dominance in Northeast Ohio placements, the gig-like patchwork of hours many entry-level workers still face, the cautious and still-undecided employer posture toward artificial intelligence and why the AFL-CIO's insistence on worker inclusion in AI decisions matters. He also announces the opening of a brand new Ohio Means Jobs center at 1975 East 61st Street in Cleveland — a newly renovated building replacing a Carnegie Avenue location displaced by a highway expansion project — and shares that ULA is actively hiring career transition counselors. Center for American Progress Senior Fellow David Madland presents new research showing the typical union household holds approximately $460,000 in wealth compared to $220,000 for non-union households — more than double. He breaks down why the gains are largest for Black workers, Hispanic workers and those without a college degree and addresses a new Department of Labor financial disclosure rule targeting large unions alongside the Trump administration's simultaneous retreat from corporate anti-bribery enforcement and the weakening of the DOJ's Public Integrity Division. Visit ulagency.org for more on the United Labor Agency and americanprogress.org for the full CAP wealth report.

He won an eight-way Democratic primary with nearly 38 percent of the vote — 16 points ahead of his nearest competitor. He is a union ironworker, the son of a machinist and the grandson of an autoworker, now running to unseat Rep. Max Miller in one of Ohio's most closely watched House races. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, congressional candidate Brian Poindexter returns to discuss his primary victory, why today's end-of-second-quarter fundraising deadline is the most important date on his campaign calendar and the bipartisan momentum building around Social Security reform. He also makes the case that the Faster Labor Contracts Act is a good start but is incomplete without fixing the chronically underfunded National Labor Relations Board, and discusses his role in securing a project labor agreement for the new Cleveland Browns stadium in Brook Park, expected to create 6,000 unionized construction jobs. Visit poindexterforcongress.com to learn more about the campaign.

The people who maintain the radar, navigation aids, communications equipment and automation systems that air traffic control depends on have been understaffed for years. In May, the FAA delivered a workforce plan — required by Congress — that commits to hiring 750 new technicians over two years, establishes advance-of-retirement hiring authority and draws a formal line between certified technicians and trainees. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, PASS National President Dave Spero breaks down what is in the plan, what still needs work and what a $12 billion air traffic control system upgrade means for the technicians who will maintain it long-term — including a training gap that is leaving some newly installed equipment in contractor hands because PASS members have not yet been certified on it. He also addresses why flat aviation safety inspector hiring projections over the next decade are incompatible with the emerging reality of unmanned aerial systems regulation. If you have a background in military electronics, radar or navigational aids, the FAA has an active job advertisement for ATSS technicians right now. Visit passnational.org to learn more.

Two conversations. One theme: workers fighting for what they deserve — and winning when they stand together. First, IAM Union retired International President Tom Buffenbarger joins as the independent labor voice to cover three urgent stories. A Washington Post-covered study reveals the United States spends just $4,000 on average training a skilled tradesperson against a needed investment of approximately $50,000 — and calls for a $9 billion infusion into trades training programs now, as AI-driven infrastructure expansion creates a surge in demand for exactly the workers whose apprenticeship programs were gutted, starting with Jack Welch's GE. Buffenbarger also discusses the IAM District 776 Lockheed Martin contract ratification, delivering historic wage increases for 5,000 Fort Worth workers who build the nation's most advanced fighter aircraft. And he weighs in on the Faster Labor Contracts Act passing the House, using Amazon's Staten Island workers — organized in 2022 with no contract four years later — as Exhibit A for why it matters. Then, SEIU Local 1021 Chapter President Barbra Lynn Hamilton and Union Steward Shelly Martin describe a contract fight at Vacaville Unified School District that was about far more than wages. Workplace violence reports jumped from 67 to 266 in a single year — a figure that remains an undercount because management discouraged filings. A Cal/OSHA investigation is now underway. Paraprofessionals and behavior assistants who support special needs students are going unfilled while the district ends the year 31% over budget and hires more administrators. After 200-plus members showed up to a board meeting with a strike vote, the district found money it had claimed did not exist. A two-year contract has been signed. The fight continues. Visit goiam.org for IAM Union updates and seiu1021.org for more from SEIU Local 1021.

Construction workers make up 7.4% of the U.S. workforce but account for nearly 18% of all suicides with a reported industry classification. The data on the problem is established. The root causes have never been comprehensively studied. That may be about to change. On today's trades day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Mechanical Insulators LMCT Executive Director Pete Ielmini joins from Phoenix, where the insulators are holding their national apprenticeship conference and crowning an apprentice of the year tonight. He provides a Federal Mechanical Insulation Act update — the House bill in suspension and Senate Bill 4312 building co-sponsor support with a December deadline in view — and highlights a new bill from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to fund a comprehensive study of why construction workers are suffering from disproportionately high rates of suicide and substance abuse. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988. Visit mechanicalinsulatorslmct.com for more.

On this episode of the America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two conversations that could not be more timely — one on the state of the labor movement heading into a critical political year, and one on keeping union members safe and covered during peak travel season. First, North Coast Area Labor Federation President Pat Gallagher joins fresh from the AFL-CIO convention in Minneapolis to share what he saw and heard. The convention set a bold goal of organizing 2 million new union members across affiliated unions over the next five years and featured a demonstration of AI deep fake technology so advanced that delegates could not tell a fabricated video of a real union representative from the genuine article — a sobering preview of what labor and democracy face heading into the fall elections. Gallagher also breaks down two trade policy fights: the Trump administration's Jones Act waiver extension through mid-August and what it means for American maritime dominance, and the steel dumping fight heading into USMCA renegotiation this summer, including the definitional standard — steel melted and poured in the United States — that would close the transshipment loophole once and for all. Then, Merrilee Logue of the Blue Cross Blue Shield National Labor Office and Lynn Pina of Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions join for a practical summer travel conversation every union member heading abroad needs to hear. From why domestic health plans often fall short outside the United States, to the critical difference between travel insurance and travel medical insurance, to what 24-hour global support, telemedicine access and provider finder tools mean in practice — this is the pre-departure checklist every traveler should run through before leaving the country. Visit aflcio.org for AFL-CIO updates and follow @BlueLabor on LinkedIn and X for more from the Blue Cross Blue Shield National Labor Office.

Most workers in the United States lack enforceable legal protections against workplace heat. Only seven states have standards on the books. And the federal OSHA proposal that was supposed to change that is stuck in limbo — leaving millions of workers exposed to preventable illness and death as summer temperatures climb. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, NRDC Senior Advocate Juanita Constible breaks down the state of heat safety policy, the state-by-state campaigns moving forward in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Mexico and what strong heat standards actually require beyond the basics of water, rest and shade. She also discusses how unions — from the Teamsters' landmark UPS contract win to IBEW, USW and SEIU's legislative advocacy — are among the most effective forces for getting enforceable protections on the books. For heat safety resources, visit nrdc.org and protectworkersfromheat.org.

One in five Americans lives with a mental health condition. Employee assistance programs have existed since the 1940s. And the field is now entering a third wave — one that asks not just how to help workers after they are struggling, but how to build workplaces where fewer people reach that point. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Carelon Behavioral Health Medical Director Brian Keefe traces the full history of EAPs from their origins in labor-management alcoholism programs to today's proactive whole-person model. He also addresses the fast-growing behavioral addiction crisis around legalized sports gambling and introduces Carelon's Workforce Mental Health Complete — a partnership with Lyra Health that uses AI-assisted matching to connect employees with a compatible licensed provider within a day or two, while also addressing social determinants of health, financial counseling, caregiver support and critical incident response under a single integrated platform. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988. Visit carelonbehavioralhealth.com to learn more.

Episode 122 of America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two important conversations — one looking back at the founding of the nation and one looking forward at a crisis that could reshape retirement security for 80 million Americans. First, American Legion Media and Communications Director Jeff Stoffer joins for a farewell segment after 26 years at the Legion and a partnership with AWF dating back to 2009. Built around the American Legion magazine's July issue and the nation's 250th anniversary, the conversation covers the Declaration of Independence as a revolutionary document in global governance, two books that make the case for America's founding values as a living force in the country's moral history and a call for better civic education. Jeff also introduces his successor, Henry Howard — 14-year Legion media veteran, Be the One suicide prevention campaign leader and former newspaper editor — who will carry the monthly AWF American Legion segment forward beginning next month. Then, Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Rich Fiesta delivers an urgent warning about the Social Security trust fund's projected 2032 shortfall. If Congress does nothing, more than 70 million Americans — close to 80 million by 2032 — will face an average benefit cut of approximately 22%, or $500 per month. Fiesta explains why wage stagnation since the Reagan era accelerated the timeline by 15 years, what scrapping the $184,000 earnings cap would do to restore solvency and why November's elections are the most critical near-term variable in whether Social Security gets fixed before the cliff arrives. Visit legion.org for American Legion updates and retiredamericans.org to look up your representatives' voting records on Social Security going back to 2001.

A nuclear reactor is under construction in Tennessee. A fuel fabrication facility has steel going vertical. And $10 billion in investment is projected to create up to 3,000 jobs across skilled trades, technical roles and professional positions in East Tennessee alone. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Tennessee Nuclear Network Director Bill Tindal breaks down why Oak Ridge has become the national center of the nuclear energy resurgence, what trades are needed right now — from electricians and pipefitters to instrumentation technicians — and how a workforce pipeline from high school dual enrollment through community college is being built to match the demand. He also addresses how today's Generation 3 and 4 reactor designs differ from the plants that scared the public in the 1970s and 80s and why US energy demand projections through 2050 make this a generational career opportunity, not a short-term construction cycle. Visit eteconline.org to learn more about the Tennessee Nuclear Network.

Today's America's Work Force Union Podcast brings two major stories together in one conversation-packed episode. First, UPTE-CWA Local 9119 President Dan Russell discusses the union's landmark organizing win — 2,100 University of California tech workers added to the bargaining unit, making UPTE the largest tech worker bargaining unit in the country at 8,400 members. Russell breaks down the subtle union avoidance strategy that kept those workers out for years, how high-visibility strike action brought them in and why getting organized before a mass AI rollout is now the union's most urgent priority. Then, Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper delivers one of her most packed monthly updates yet — covering AFT's bold Devices Down, Eyes Up vision for public schools, a bipartisan Ohio voucher accountability bill targeting a program that now exceeds one billion dollars annually with almost no oversight and a wave of five first contract victories, including the first KIPP charter school contract in the country. She also gives a confident update on the Columbus Metropolitan Library organizing election now underway. Visit upte.org to learn more about UPTE-CWA Local 9119 and oft-aft.org for more on the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

Twenty-nine years ago, Dave Baker was told Iron Workers Local 44 was going to build a bridge. This week, drill shaft work on the Brent Spence Bridge companion project officially began. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Local 44 Business Manager Dave Baker discusses the decades of political and funding gridlock that stalled one of the most critical infrastructure projects in the Midwest, what finally broke the impasse and what 6 million projected building trades work hours and 1,200 peak construction jobs mean for iron workers, apprenticeship programs and the Cincinnati trades community. He also shares his own story — four years working non-union before joining Local 44 in 1997 — and what the union difference has meant for his wages, retirement and family healthcare over 30 years. Visit ironworkers44.com to learn more about Iron Workers Local 44.

Workers at Trinity Health Grand Haven Hospital voted 89 to 66 to keep their union — after their employer had already illegally stripped it from them. The NLRB went to court seeking an emergency order to restore recognition while the case was litigated. Two Trump-appointed Sixth Circuit judges said no. The dissent came from a Reagan appointee. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, union attorney and Brooklyn Law School adjunct professor Andrew Strom breaks down what that ruling means, why the NLRA's four-year enforcement process makes preliminary injunctions the only real deterrent against illegal employer conduct and why the same court that gives employers automatic injunctions against workers who violate non-compete agreements refuses to apply the same logic when employers strip workers of their collective bargaining rights. Read the full analysis at onlabor.org.

Trey Martin joined the Iron Workers at 19 with no clear path to the middle class. Twenty years later, he watched his wife nearly die from two autoimmune diseases and nearly go bankrupt in the process — even with solid union health insurance. That experience, and a Congress that has failed to address healthcare for his entire lifetime, convinced him it was time to run. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Iron Workers Local 48 President Trey Martin talks about his congressional campaign in Oklahoma ahead of his Tuesday primary, the platform he is running on and why he believes kitchen table issues — wages, healthcare, public schools, congressional stock trading — cut across party lines in a way that can win in a state with a conservative supermajority. Follow the campaign at treyforoklahoma.com.

A profitable MillerCoors distributor in West Virginia is demanding wage cuts, retirement rollbacks and health insurance premium increases of up to 880%. The company is not claiming financial hardship. And 49 Teamsters Local 175 members voted unanimously to strike — and have been running 24-hour, seven-day-a-week picket lines ever since. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Teamsters Local 175 Secretary-Treasurer and Staff Attorney Luke Farley walks through exactly what Beverage Market is demanding, why it has no justification, how the community has rallied behind the striking workers and what Teamsters International is doing to put pressure on MillerCoors parent companies, whose West Virginia market share is evaporating heading into the Fourth of July weekend. Follow the strike and show your support at teamsters175.org.

AT&T Mobility wireless workers just ratified a strong new contract covering 9,000 people across 36 states — and a 95% strike authorization vote is a big reason why the bargaining committee had the leverage it needed. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, CWA District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews discusses the contract win, the CWA Worker Power Agenda built directly from responses by more than 9,000 union members and the legislative conference that sent thousands of CWA members to Capitol Hill with 17 bills and the knowledge to discuss every one of them. He also previews the double overtime legislation unveiled at the conference by Congressman Greg Casar and explains why the No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act and the Raise the Wage Act are long overdue. Read the full Worker Power Agenda at cwa-union.org.

Three years after the East Palestine derailment, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has adopted the Rail Safety Act as an amendment to the Build America 250 Act — mandating two-person freight train crews, new hazmat transparency requirements and improved defect detector standards. It is the biggest rail safety step in more than two decades. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, SMART Transportation Division National Safety and Legislative Director Jared Cassity explains exactly how East Palestine happened, why silenced wayside defect detectors were a deliberate railroad policy choice rather than a malfunction and what the legislation does — and does not — address. He also explains why September 30 is the hard deadline and what it means if Congress misses it. More information on SMART Transportation Division's legislative work is available at smart-union.org.

US employers spend $1.7 billion every year trying to stop workers from organizing. One union-busting consultant earned $7 million alone last year. Amazon spent more than $26.6 million on outside consultants in 2025. And the Department of Labor is enforcing disclosure requirements for unions while largely ignoring the same rules for companies and law firms that fight workers. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, LaborLab founder Bob Funk breaks down a new report produced with the Economic Policy Institute on the scale and structure of the union avoidance industry — from the law firms that drag out contract negotiations for years to the healthcare systems spending millions on union busters while patients wait for beds. Funk also explains how LaborLab's Persuader reports put legally required information directly in workers' hands during organizing campaigns. If you are facing a union-busting campaign, visit laborlab.us or email contact@laborlab.us.

The worker's share of Gross National Income just hit its lowest level ever recorded. Corporate profits just hit their highest share in nearly 80 years. And CEOs took home $1.24 million in raises last year while average workers earned around $50,000. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond has seen enough. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Redmond breaks down the new GNI data, the AFL-CIO's annual Executive Paywatch findings, the defeat of a federal provision that would have blocked state AI worker protections for 10 years and what organized labor is bringing to its quadrennial convention in Minneapolis — record organizing rates, court victories and a message of solidarity heading into the midterm election cycle. Read the AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report and get convention updates at aflcio.org.

Central Ohio is on pace to work 20 million building trades hours in 2026 — nearly double its 2023 record. So when Governor Mike DeWine suspended Ohio's data center sales tax exemption without warning or consultation, Columbus Building Trades Executive Secretary-Treasurer Dorsey Hager had plenty to say about it. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Hager breaks down the economic case for the exemption, the real numbers behind what data center construction is generating in local tax revenue and jobs and why the governor's decision risks sending the wrong message to developers who have other options. He also delivers an encouraging Intel update, describes record apprenticeship applications across central Ohio's building trades Locals and recaps a fundraiser for Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin. Visit columbusconstruction.org for more on the Columbus Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council.

Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga just wrapped a seven-city labor roundtable tour across Ohio — and the message from workers was the same at every stop. Affordability is the number one issue, trust in government is near rock bottom and working people are ready for something dramatically different come November. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Burga breaks down what he heard from union leaders in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron, Marietta, Columbus and Toledo, why Democratic primary turnout reached its highest midterm level since 2006 and what the Ohio AFL-CIO is doing to educate members and mobilize votes between now and Election Day. He also raises a sharp warning about Republican plans to place voter ID in the Ohio constitution — despite it already being state law — and previews what is on the agenda at the AFL-CIO national convention in Minneapolis. Visit ohioaflcio.org for more information on the Ohio AFL-CIO's election work.