john,

Here is your weekly news from the Texas labor movement.

Labor Day Weekend is Here. Let's Celebrate Together.

Labor Day Weekend—a holiday for celebration and solidarity. All across the state, cities, unions and locals are hosting events to honor working people and the labor movement. Are you attending one, john ? Find a Labor Day parade, picnic or event near you.

Labor Day isn’t just a day off—it’s a reminder that when working people come together, we’re powerful. What better way to commemorate Labor Day, and everything working families have achieved, than to spend the day with our union community?

Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, Building Trades Praise Plan to Raise Wage Floor for Harris County Contractors

The Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation and Texas AFL-CIO today praised a first-of-its-kind program to require Harris County contractors to pay at least $15 an hour for construction work funded by county taxpayers.

Harris County Commissioners Court approved the worker provisions moved by Commissioner Rodney Ellis and will study further the initiative’s application across different departments.

The plan is called Opportunity Builds Harris County. Ellis said the upgraded wage floor is needed to attract a strong workforce as the county continues to rebuild in the long-term wake of Hurricane Harvey. Besides the $15 an hour wage on county building construction jobs – the first such prevailing wage floor by a county in Texas – the plan includes a portal to apprenticeship programs and other initiatives to recruit people into the construction trades and provide for safety on the job.

“This county win on community workforce development and worker protection provisions is a big step forward for Harris County workers,” said Hany Khalil, Executive Director of the Gulf Coast ALF. “ Labor and community may have brought the proposals forward but it was the county leadership that set for a vote the $15 an hour prevailing wage on county construction jobs; a job portal that connects workers to job opportunities and apprenticeships; and improved labor conditions and worker safety.”

“The working people who build our county will benefit greatly from this historic agreement on community workforce development and worker protection,” said Paul Puente, Executive Secretary of the Houston Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council. “Thank you to the Commissioners Court for its partnership in advancing opportunities, workforce training and safety protections for everyone who is looking to make a career in construction in Harris County.”

Linda Morales, Organizing Coordinator for the Gulf Coast ALF, said, “Our county leadership saw the need to rebuild stronger after Hurricane Harvey. Tuesday’s Commissioners Court vote proved that with progressive leadership at the helm, workers have a better shot at safety and a wage of $15 an hour.”

“This is a huge step forward,” Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said. “It just makes sense that the Harris County initiative to rebuild infrastructure provides a fair shot for working families in the region. We are proud of the Gulf Coast ALF and the Houston Building Trades for working with allies to advance the Opportunity Builds program and appreciate the Harris County Commissioners Court’s commitment to working people. This is a classic win-win.”- Read More

Texas AFL-CIO Condemns Another State Attack on Immigrant Families

In response to the State of Texas leading a multi-state "friend of the court" legal brief calling for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to be canceled, potentially subjecting "Dreamers" to deportation, the Texas AFL-CIO issued this statement:

Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy and Secretary-Treasurer Montserrat Garibay issued the following statement condemning an amicus brief filed on behalf of Texas and other states by Attorney General Ken Paxton against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program:

Now more than ever, we demand that our state's top leaders stop fanning the flames of hatred and instead focus on meeting the needs of all Texans.

Texas residents in the DACA program work hard, pay taxes and help build our state. We know. Texas AFL-CIO membership and staff include DACA recipients who fight alongside co-workers and communities to make Texas a better place.

Our state's leaders can read the writing on the wall: Texas is changing. Actions by Gov. Greg Abbott and indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton seek to sow division among Texans to keep the focus off their failed policies. Are we really reopening the issue of the right to public education for all Texans? Are we really targeting DACA recipients for deportation? When it comes to opportunity for all, Texans deserve better than a double-time march to the past.

Texas needs leaders who will advocate for comprehensive reform that solves immigration problems, not the low road of wall-building, rule-rigging and scapegoating.

Striking CWA Members Push AT&T Southeast to Reach Deal

Thanks to the dedication of CWA members across District 3 who stayed strong on the picket lines throughout a historic four-day unfair labor practice strike, CWAers reached a “handshake deal” with AT&T Southeast on Tuesday on a new collective bargaining agreement for more than 20,000 AT&T employees in nine states.

Workers across the district walked out at midnight on August 23 because AT&T was not bargaining in good faith and failed to send representatives to the bargaining table with the authority to make decisions. In a separate action, CWA members in South Florida initiated an unfair labor practice strike on August 22 after the company disciplined members for wearing union memorabilia and for participating in activities that are protected under the National Labor Relations Act.

“CWA members’ spirit and solidarity over the last four days showed the company that we would not back down until they bargained with us in good faith,” said CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt. “This was a historic strike that showed the power that working people have when they join together.”

The action by CWA members was the largest private sector strike in the south in a decade.

Texas Unions Highlighted in National Labor Publication

Ahead of Labor Day, Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy got a national forum to discuss the exciting things happening in our state's labor movement. As you may have heard once or twice so far, Levy argues that Texas is not an anti-union state, but an unorganized state, and programs the state labor federation is pursuing are so far proving him right.

Actions aimed at building a larger base of young workers, promoting registered union apprenticeships, offering hands-on training for labor leadership, advocating for full workplace rights for immigrant workers and aiming to lift up low-wage workers drew emphasis in Levy's interview with Labor Press, an online publication based in New York.

The reporting that "Texas is widely considered an anti-union state" is not without evidence, but the assessment is getting more wrong by the day. - Read the article

A Must Netflix Watch - American Factory

This deeply moving documentary has it all - profits over workers, cultures clashing, politics, and union avoidance tactics. Click HERE to watch the trailer

Song of the Week - '16 Tons' - Tennessee Ernie Ford

Country musician Merle Travis wrote “Sixteen Tons” in 1946 about the plight of coal miners in his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. However, the U.S. government considered it possibly seditious and placed Travis on a watch list because it claimed the song supported organizing workers.

Fast forward to 1955, when Ernie Ford was approaching the zenith of his career. Travis — a close friend and label mate at Capitol Records — was scheduled to appear on his live show.

Merle Travis opted out at the last minute because the government came in and told NBC that Merle Travis could not sing these songs and included in the songs he couldn’t sing was ‘Sixteen Tons.' Merle Travis refused to be on the show because he refused to be told what to sing.

Ford’s response was epic. Ford had his arranger, Jack Fascinato, take the TV band and put an arrangement together, performing it live. The government became even more horrified to learn Ford planned to record the song.

Click Here to Play

In six weeks, it became the fastest-selling single in the history of the music business. At the end of two months, it was being touted as perhaps the biggest selling song ever. Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded it because he wanted Merle Travis to make the money.

Ford said its portrayal of coal miners making low wages, working long hours and trying to get out of debt is timeless and resonates with people around the globe.

Have a Happy Labor Day! Never forget this long holiday weekend has been brought to you by the blood, sweat, and tears of the labor movement.

Visit us at www.texasaflcio.org | Facebook | Twitter
Text TXAFLCIO to AFLCIO (235246) to join our text action team. (Message and data rates may apply.)