Have you heard? (Our podcast, that is.)

If you haven’t subscribed to our “State of the Unions” podcast yet, you’ll want to stop what you’re doing and go listen.

Every other Wednesday, podcast co-hosts Tim Schlittner and Julie Greene sit down with someone connected to workers—whether a union member, community partner, politician, columnist, policy specialist or labor leader—to tackle the ideas and issues facing the labor movement. This week I was lucky enough to be their guest, and you can check out our conversation here.

We got the chance to discuss work in the tech sector, the future of work and women’s strength in the labor movement. We also explored how, in the #MeToo era, a union contract can be one of the most important answers to workplace sexual harassment. We talked about innovation and change in the movement, too—as I said in the episode:

I don’t necessarily believe all the scare tactics that we’re hearing through reports saying we’re going to lose the 75 million jobs in 12 years, but with automation and robotics and artificial intelligence, there’s no doubt there’s going to be massive change going forward and probably faster than previous industrial revolutions. So I guess the question is: What is the labor movement going to do to keep up with that change, and how are we going to be modern and flexible and nimble…enough to represent the needs of workers as they transition to the jobs of the future?

Listen to the whole discussion here. Better yet, subscribe to and rate and review “State of the Unions” wherever you find
your podcasts.

In Solidarity,

Liz
——-
Liz Shuler
Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO

 

It’s Equal Pay Day

It’s Equal Pay Day and I need your help.

Americans are working harder and longer than ever, but wages remain too low for millions of families to make ends meet. The lack of basic labor protections makes it nearly impossible for many workers to balance the demands of job and family.

At this very moment, we have the opportunity to advance legislation—more than 20 years in the making—that will help close the pay gap between women and men. We need you to take action to ensure that the U.S. Senate passes the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7).

Add your name in support now.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) in January, passed the House of Representatives last week and is headed for the Senate. First introduced by DeLauro in 1997, the bill would begin to close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act by:

  • Increasing penalties for wage discrimination and assuring that employers determine wages through the factors of experience, training and education rather than sex.
  • Directing federal agencies to collect data on compensation discrimination and share it publicly.
  • Barring retaliation against women who seek information on pay disparity in their workplace.

I need you to take action and add your name in support. Please click here to add your name.

In Solidarity,

Liz
—-
Liz Shuler
Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO


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