Political Action

Now that we've settled up our taxes with Uncle Sam, what would tax reform that actually works for working people look like?

Kelly Ross is Deputy Policy Director at the AFL-CIO.

"We need to have more revenue and it needs to come from big corporations and the wealthy. Clearly we have a problem with the current system which is that it's broken. It's rigged and too many big corporations get away with not paying really much of anything. And the wealthy likewise."

The political revolution Senator Bernie Sanders envisioned and helped build as he ran for President lives on in Our Revolution. Former CWA President Larry Cohen heads an effort by Our Revolution to build a winning mass political movement around working class issues.

Jobs and economic issues for sure - but also linked to other vital issues affecting working people.

SAG-AFTRA, the California Federation of Labor and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor have joined together in demanding that Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) engage in good faith bargaining with its on-air employees who face unfair treatment by the company.

Immigrants rights groups Tuesday delivered 11,000 petition signatures to Governor Cuomo calling for him to take action on behalf of immigrants. The groups want Cuomo to advance policies to protect immigrant families in the face of Trump's anti-immigrant agenda.

There are specific pieces of legislation Cuomo could support, including the Liberty Act, and the DREAM Act.

The AFL-CIO is praising the U.S. Commerce Secretary's decision to examine whether China meets the market economy test. AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka says that a thorough assessment is necessary to "ensure American workers are competing on a level playing field."

Trumka says a fair analysis of the facts will reaffirm that China's extensive government involvement "merits 'non-market economy' treatment so that the U.S. can properly address dumped, underpriced goods and services that hurt U.S. workers and producers."

The AFL-CIO is opposing Supreme Court Justice nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch.

In a letter expressing its official opposition the labor federation told U.S. Senators that wages have been stagnant for decades because of the imbalance of power between working people and corporations. And the labor federation believes that Gorsuch would be "a corporatist justice – perhaps the most corporatist justice since Justice Powell." 

No one should live in fear for simply going to work. Yet, for many immigrants, this is the harsh reality under President Trump’s increasingly aggressive deportation actions, which threaten California immigrant workers, employers and our state’s economy.

On the April 4th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination there will be "Fight Racism, Raise Pay" protests in two dozen U.S. cities.

Fight For $15 and the Movement For Black Lives are joining forces for the protests.

The actions will include thousands of workers, civil rights leaders and elected officials marching to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis demanding higher wages.

It's a cause that Dr. King himself fervently believed in.

With Trumpcare defeated nurses say it's time to go for real single payer universal Medicare for all style health care. Because even with the Affordable Care Act still in place there are still millions of people without health insurance.

National Nurses United/California Nurses Association Co-President Deborah Burger says her union is supporting a legislative effort in California that would create universal Medicare for all healthcare.

Here's a handy online tool hat will help you track Trump administration actions affecting workers and the economy.
http://www.epi.org/policywatch/

It's the Workers Rights and Wages Policy Watch launched by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). EPI says their new tracker will help shine a light on policy actions that have big effects on working people but are often little noticed when they happen.