john,

As I sat just a couple of feet away from Civil Rights icon; Georgia Congressman John Lewis, it was surreal that we were learning about our history directly from a person who helped shape that history!  In June of 2016, I was honored to be invited by a group of amazing, young community leaders to sit with Congressman Lewis for an hour long conversation, before the Heritage Dinner in which he was the keynote speaker.

The setting was simple, a small ballroom in the hotel, our chairs in a circle.  We listened, as he spoke about the Civil Rights movement; the challenges, the struggles, the discrimination they faced.  He juxtaposed those same challenges against the progress made since the ‘60’s, the Obama Presidency and the realization that we were still facing many of the same issues, in spite of the progress, including the attacks on voting rights.

The conversation soon turned into a dialogue, as Congressman Lewis began to entertain questions from the group. After some great discussion, one person pointed out that there were some in the group that had been advocating to withhold their vote in the upcoming elections in protest and his thoughts on that. Immediately another in the group spoke up, addressing Congressman Lewis directly, “You were going to call for a boycott yourself…”. Congressman Lewis responded without letting her complete her sentence, as he chuckled, “I see you’ve done your homework, and yes, I was going to…” Congressman Lewis continued, as he knew what this young leader was referring to.

A 2020 Washington Post article written at the time of Congressman Lewis’ passing, talks about the March on Washington in 1963, when John Lewis, a young Civil Rights activist and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; otherwise known as SNCC, was invited to speak at the march. After a copy of Lewis’ speech was leaked to the media, organizers of the march as well as other speakers approached Lewis, pleading with him not to go through with the speech as written.  They felt the speech was too controversial, inflammatory, too radical.  But it wasn’t until the President’s team spoke with Lewis asking him to reconsider his remarks, that ultimately convinced Lewis to modify his speech. Even at the young age of 23, Lewis was already a veteran of the civil rights movement, he had the respect of Dr. King and of labor leaders and march organizers; A. Phillip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. He also had the attention of high-ranking elected leaders and law enforcement. It was the highest-ranking elected official; President Kennedy himself, who was upset with the very beginning of Lewis’ speech. Lewis was planning to open his speech by declaring that SNCC would not be supporting President Kennedy’s civil rights bill because it did not go far enough to protect people from police brutality.

As Congressman Lewis continued to address the young leader from Phoenix, he spoke so calmly, so deliberately as he recounted, “The President’s staff was vetting all of the speeches for the march that day and they asked me to modify my words, to tone down the rhetoric and I did. You see, I did it for the Movement.” He paused for a moment, both making direct eye contact and with full attentiveness, said, “What you need right now are victories!” And at that moment, you could’ve heard a pin drop. 

As I felt that there were probably a thousand thoughts going through all of our minds, not one word was being spoken. After the momentary silence was broken and we finished our conversation with Congressman Lewis, we were able to take a few group photos with him and thank him. It was truly an amazing hour! Though John Lewis may have modified his words those many years ago, he never modified his commitment to the movement and neither should we.

In solidarity,

Fred Yamashita
Executive Director
Arizona AFL-CIO

2022 AFL-CIO Member Survey

The National AFL-CIO wants to know what issues are important to you-- good jobs, a strong economy, secure rights, and more.

Please let us know by taking our brief survey, and share it with your friends, family, and coworkers.

Arizona AFL-CIO Labor Day Breakfast

After a two year hiatus it is my honor to invite you to join the Arizona AFL-CIO as we celebrate Labor Day with a breakfast on Friday, September 2nd, 2022. Yet again we find Arizona the center of attention of national politics; as always, with your support, we will deliver for Arizona’s working people.

The breakfast will begin at 8am at the UA Plumbers & Pipefitters Hall at 3109 North 24th Street in Phoenix. Individual seats and sponsorships are available for you and your your local to take part; checks can be made out to the Arizona AFL-CIO, or we can take payments via paypal at the link below. For more information, please email [email protected].

Labor in the Pulpit 2022

Last year, members of the Arizona labor community took part in Labor in the Pulpit over Labor Day weekend, where we spoke with faith communities about our shared values. This year, we’re hoping to reach more people than ever, from even more traditions, and we proudly invite you to take part by signing up below.

Sign up to volunteer for Labor 2022

The Labor 2022 program is where union members contact other union members about the importance of voting for Arizona's Labor's endorsed candidates. We know that when we have these important conversations with voters, we can win elections. By talking to union households about our shared values, we can elect champions for Arizona's workers and in turn, make real progress for working people. Sign up today to join our Labor 2022 program.

"Proud Union Home" Signs

Don't leave all your union pride at work and make sure to bring some home! The Arizona AFL-CIO will soon make available yard signs that confidently state "Proud Union Home" in order to make sure you state an advocate for unions even after work. We appreciate all your support and home you bring your union pride home!

Please email our Political Director, Joe Murphy, to reserve your Proud Union Home sign at [email protected].

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler Calls for Student Load Forgiveness

"We call on the Biden administration to do its part to assist borrowers hampered by crippling debt. Organized labor was built on the foundation of creating a pathway to the middle class for everyone, but skyrocketing student loan debt has become an insurmountable obstacle to achieving this goal. The Biden administration’s decision to continue to pause student debt has made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many borrowers, but these borrowers still live with the uncertainty of not knowing when they will need to drastically alter their finances in order to begin repaying their loans."

Elections Matter!: What Working People Are Doing This Week

“A look at what the various AFL-CIO unions and other working family organizations are doing across the country and beyond. The labor movement is big and active—here's a look at the broad range of activities we're engaged in this week."

Starbucks Is Ordered to Reinstate Fired Activist Employees

" A federal judge on Thursday ordered Starbucks to reinstate seven employees who were fired in February after they spearheaded efforts to unionize the branch in Memphis where they worked. The workers, who refer to themselves as the Memphis Seven, were fired after the company said they violated safety and security policies. Judge Sheryl H. Lipman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee gave Starbucks five days to rehire the employees in response to the lawsuit filed by M. Kathleen McKinney, the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board."

Why Unions Oppose a Deal to Boost Health-Care Worker Pay

“A powerful labor union and California’s hospitals are closing in on a deal that would allow hospitals to put off meeting seismic safety standards that will cost them tens of billions of dollars in exchange for significant boosts in minimum pay for certain health care workers. The proposal, however, has set off alarm bells for five unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers in the state’s health care industry. They quickly assembled a coalition that fired off a letter Tuesday to state leaders to strongly oppose a legislative deal that would extend seismic safety standards set to go into effect for California’s hospitals in 2030.”

Railroads Back Plan Calling for 24 Percent Raises but Workers Wary

“The major freight railroads signaled they’re ready to negotiate a new deal with their workers based on a presidential report that calls for 24 percent raises, but the 12 unions involved in the stalled talks covering 115,000 workers still haven’t commented on the recommendations. The group that represents BNSF, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX and other railroads in the talks said Wednesday said even though the report issued by the Presidential Emergency Board that Joe Biden appointed last month calls for higher raises than the companies had proposed they want to reach an agreement to avoid a strike.”

Young TikTok Creators Organize Campaign Against Amazon to Support Workers' Union Demands

“A group of TikTok creators said they refuse to work with Amazon until the demands of the Amazon Labor Union are met. The union, which current and former employees formed independently in April 2021, has asked for a variety of changes, including: a $30-an-hour minimum wage, better working conditions and a halt to what it alleges are the company’s union-busting tactics. The influencer campaign, which launched officially on Tuesday and is known as “People Over Prime,” consists of 70 TikTokers with a total of more than 51 million followers, according to its website.”

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