Archive for category: Press

Dear friends:

Do you know how much more the nation’s top CEOs made compared to their workers last year? Twenty times more? Fifty times more? One hundred times more?

Actually, the average S&P 500 CEO made 285 times what the median worker made in 2024, a 7% increase over the prior year with a whopping $18.9 million each in total compensation on average.

As if this vast inequality wasn’t bad enough: at a time when many workers are struggling to pay our bills, President Trump just handed America’s CEOs another massive tax break with his budget reconciliation bill, or as we like to call it, the “big, ugly bill.”

And we all know how Trump is paying for this gift to billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg: by making gigantic cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and other services we need—cuts that will slash hundreds of thousands of jobs in our communities.

The CEOs listed in the AFL-CIO’s Executive Paywatch report will be able to skip out on paying a combined $738 million in income taxes, thanks to the big, ugly budget reconciliation bill. How does that break down for workers?

That money could pay for:

• Medicaid health care for 81,028 working people;
• SNAP food assistance for 328,877 working families; or
• School lunches for 925,508 students.

Read the AFL-CIO’s 2025 Executive Paywatch Report to see the numbers for yourself.

During the peak of union membership in the 1960s, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was just 21-to-1. If we want to level the playing field and make sure workers earn their fair share, everyone needs the opportunity to join a union.

The wealthiest CEOs in America are profiting from the Trump administration’s policies while workers are fighting for their lives. In fact, last week, the Trump administration’s Department of Labor proposed repealing 60 rules that currently protect worker safety on the job.

The Trump administration called these rules “obsolete” – but we know better. Corporations will not protect workers from harmful substances or pay home health care workers minimum wage without someone there to make them. Women and minorities will be disproportionately impacted by these rollbacks. Contractors will no longer have to ensure adequate lighting at construction sites. Mine workers will have no guarantee of ventilation standards.

Another proposal limits OSHA’s reach, prohibiting employers from prohibiting, restricting or penalizing employers for “inherently risky professional activities that are intrinsic to professional, athletic, or entertainment occupations.” Whether you are a dancer, an electrician, or zookeeper, the DOL’s proposed rule changes put all of our lives at stake.

However, we can and will fight back — unions can continue to bargain for important safety provisions, hold our federal and local government’s accountable through legislative and legal action, and as a constituent, you can fight union busting by asking Congress to pass the Protect America’s Workforce Act.

Here in Illinois, the General Assembly passed the Workers’ Rights and Safety Act, which could limit the impact of these rule changes for our state. This act would prevent state agencies from weakening safety standards below those set by federal law as of January 2025. The bill is now waiting for the Governor’s signature – stay tuned for updates.

In solidarity,

Tim Drea and Pat Devaney

You can read the rest of our August newsletter here. 

Dear friends:

The Fourth of July is around the corner– a day for celebrating our independence, freedom and reflecting on our nation’s values of democracy and equality. We are also wrapping up Pride month at a time when many LGBTQ+ workers are facing unprecedented attacks.

For many of us, we are watching the news and questioning how our core, American values are suddenly hanging in the balance. Working families across Illinois are facing increased costs due to Trump’s reckless economic policies. They are watching the Trump administration roll back policies that keep us safe and healthy, while they fire the federal workers who enforce those that remain. Many are wondering how, since January, our country has moved so far from the principles of freedom and democracy enshrined in our constitution nearly 250 years ago.

At a time of widespread backlash against LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights, it is especially important that we are leveraging our union power at the bargaining table to fight for workplace justice for all workers. As we get ready to celebrate our independence, let’s also remember the LGBTQ+, immigrant, and all workers who are still fighting for basic dignity in this country.

If you are wondering how you can support your colleagues, we recommend resources from Pride at Work and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) to ensure we consider the diverse needs of all workers. We all have a role to play in creating a fair and just workplace — whether it is ensuring we have inclusive contract language and healthcare for our LGBTQ+ siblings or providing reliable information and resources as many workers, regardless of their documentation status, face threats of deportation.

The American labor movement has always stood for, and will always fight for, the basic dignities and freedoms that our country was built upon. Every day, workers demonstrate their freedom to organize by fighting back and winning. In fact, after AFGE, AFSCME, SEIU, IAM, and NNU sued the Trump administration over a union-busting executive order, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction ruling that the Trump administration likely violated the law by stripping nearly a million federal employees of their union rights. This is a huge win for workers — demonstrating that the collective power of working people can and does work to uphold the law.

Fundamental freedoms like the right to organize are what our country, and our state, are built upon. While times are challenging, the labor movement is standing strong and upholding the nation’s core values as we fight for basic freedoms like family sustaining wages, the right to a safe workplace, dignity for all workers, and so much more.

In solidarity,

Tim Drea and Pat Devaney

P.S: Will your holiday cookout be #unionmade? Find everything you need for a union made Fourth of July here.

Read the rest of our July newsletter here.

Dear friends:

Today is Workers’ Memorial Day.  Each year, more than 5,000 workers die from job injuries and 135,000 more from occupational diseases. That’s nearly 340 workers every single day.

Across Illinois today, working families will gather to honor the fallen and renew the fight for safe jobs. This Workers’ Memorial Day, we also honor the life of AFFI Local 2 member Captain/EMT David Meyer, who died last week while fighting a garage fire in Chicago.

But we’re not just remembering those we’ve lost — we’re demanding action to protect the living. Most workplace deaths are preventable, and our leaders must be empowered to do whatever is possible to prevent them.

Instead, the federal government is failing us.

Last month, the Trump administration took a sledgehammer to worker safety by gutting the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)—laying off more than 1,000 employees, shuttering research centers, and stalling life-saving rules. This is a direct assault on the American workers who rely on these agencies to enforce safety standards to ensure that they return home to their loved ones after a hard day’s work.

NIOSH keeps workers safe by studying workplace health concerns, from chemicals to machinery. NIOSH’s work has saved countless lives: their research into 9/11 first responders has improved protective equipment for all firefighters and other first responders. Its data supports OSHA and MSHA regulations — the very rules that ensure you aren’t breathing in asbestos or losing your hearing to unsafe machinery.

We’re seeing the consequences. The Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) paused a new silica dust rule vital for coal miners because NIOSH no longer has the resources to help implement it. Make no mistake, these cuts will cost lives.

Today, on Workers’ Memorial Day, you can take two quick actions to fight back.

First, you can call your members of Congress to demand the restoration of NIOSH’s funding and staff. 

Second, the Illinois AFL-CIO worked with State Senator Robert Peters to introduce SB1976, the Illinois Workers’ Rights and Worker Safety Act. This bill would ensure that no matter what reckless decisions are made in by the Trump administration, Illinois will uphold the hard-fought federal workplace protections that have existed for decades. More than that, it allows our state to raise the bar on safety, not lower it.

E-mail your state representatives and demand they support SB1976 here.

Here’s the truth: a safe job isn’t a luxury. It’s a right. And when that right is stripped away, working people die. Illinois can lead the nation by saying no to dangerous deregulation and yes to real, enforceable worker protections.

We owe it to every worker who never made it home and to every worker still fighting to stay safe on the job. Because we are not just fighting for better laws. We are fighting for our lives.

In solidarity,

Tim Drea and Pat Devaney

Read the rest of the updates from our April newsletter here