AFL-CIO Blog

  • Top 14 Things You Should Know from the Death on the Job 2025 Report
    Top 14 Things You Should Know from the Death on the Job 2025 Report Ahead of Workers Memorial Day, the AFL-CIO released its 34th annual “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” report, a comprehensive analysis of the state of workers’ health and safety at the national and state levels. Workers are dying and being injured on the job, and the Trump administration and DOGE are putting them at greater risk by enacting policies that will create deplorable working conditions, according to the report. “Every worker has the fundamental right to come home safe at the end of their workday. But for too many workers, that basic right is under attack,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO. “Workers fought and died for generations for the health and safety laws and protections we have today, and this year’s report shows we need to do even more. The Trump administration and DOGE are gutting the federal agencies that hold bosses accountable for endangering workers, firing the federal workers who monitor and research health hazards, indicating that they will repeal crucial worker safety regulations, and giving billionaires like Elon Musk the power to access and even manipulate OSHA whistleblower records. We can’t bring back the thousands of workers lost each year, but we can fight to prevent more devastation to working families across this country and demand that the Trump administration reverse course.” “This year’s ‘Death on the Job’ report once again shows that, as in every crisis, the crisis of worker mortality is hitting Black and Latino workers the hardest,” said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. “It is unacceptable that employers are continuing to fail all workers, and especially Black and Latino workers, by not providing them the safety measures and resources they need to stay safe on the job. Enough is enough. The AFL-CIO is fighting the scourge of workplace mortality, and we will not rest until the number of workers who die on the job is zero.” Here are 14 things you need to know from the 2025 Death on the Job report:
    1. 385 workers died each day from hazardous working conditions. 
    2. 5,283 workers were killed on the job in the United States. 
    3. An estimated 135,304 workers died from occupational diseases. 
    4. The overall job fatality rate decreased to 3.5 per 100,000 workers. 
    5. Workers of color die on the job at a higher rate: Black and Latino worker job fatality rates are disproportionate compared with all other workers and they continue to remain high. 
    6. Employers reported nearly 3.2 million work-related injuries and illnesses, a decrease from the previous year. 
    7. At least 55 workers died from heat on the job, a 28% increase from 2022; fatal and nonfatal data are an undercount of the real problem. 
    8. Workplace homicides continue to be a significant problem, even though they decreased 12.6% since 2022; workplace suicides increased 5.2% from 2022. 
    9. Separately, unintentional overdoses at work decreased nearly 5% from 2022 to 2023, due to increased attention paid to and efforts to combat the opioid crisis. 
    10. The rate of serious workplace violence injuries has increased to 4.3 per 10,000 workers. 
    11. Musculoskeletal disorders from repetitive motion injuries continue to be a major problem, accounting for approximately 28% of all serious work-related injuries and illnesses in private industry. 
    12. Underreporting of all workplace injuries and illnesses is widespread—the true toll of work-related injuries and illnesses is 5.2 million to 7.8 million each year in private industry. 
    13. Chemical exposures continue to plague working people, leading to debilitating, life-threatening diseases that are totally preventable. 
    14. The cost of job injuries and illnesses is enormous, estimated at $174 billion to $348 billion a year—an undercount of the real impact on society, families and communities.
    The report also suggests solutions to these problems—actions that can be taken to improve these numbers. Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 04/23/2025 - 15:43     — Apr 23
  • Service & Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW Members at National Grid Approve Contract with 4% Annual Wage Increase
    Service & Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW Members at National Grid Approve Contract with 4% Annual Wage Increase Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. Some 1,200 National Grid employees, members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1049, who work in Long Island’s natural gas and power plants, voted 590–90 to approve a new contract. The successful vote ends a monthslong contract negotiation period during which workers were on the verge of a strike multiple times. The new four-year contract includes a 4% yearly wage increase across the length of the contract, a reduction in out-of-pocket health care costs, and improvements in 401(k) and life insurance policies. “This is an agreement that I have been able to endorse. The negotiating committee as a whole has endorsed this new agreement,” said Pat Guidice, the union’s business manager. “It’s a good agreement.” “From the moment negotiations started, our membership’s well-being was our foremost priority,” Guidice said. “We’re pleased to see that our membership voted in favor of the new deal.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 04/23/2025 - 08:59 — Apr 23
  • Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers in Georgia and North Carolina Speak Out at DPWL Public Hearings
    Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers in Georgia and North Carolina Speak Out at DPWL Public Hearings Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. As part of a nationwide series of Department of People Who Work for a Living (DPWL) events taking place this month, the Georgia State AFL-CIO and North Carolina State AFL-CIO held public hearings last week to discuss how cuts to federal funding and jobs have impacted local residents. Workers in Warner Robins, Georgia, and Asheville, North Carolina, bravely spoke out about how attacks on federal agencies by Elon Musk’s DOGE are threatening their local economy, jeopardizing critical funding for important social services we all rely on, and putting the most vulnerable in danger. Local lawmakers and union leaders attended the events to hear this powerful testimony and speak about what we can do to fight back. Rep. Austin Scott (Ga.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) were both invited to listen to the concerns of constituents from their respective states, but both failed to make an appearance. “Those patients that I get up and take care of every day, that's what's important to me,” said Lori Hedrick, a nurse at Mission Hospital in Asheville. “These Medicaid cuts that are being proposed [are] going to be devastating to so many of them. We're just going to experience an overload, a much worse staffing crisis. Emergency room wait times, that's going to become even worse.” “It’s not a political job that I do,” said Abby Tighe, a former probationary worker at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who spoke at the Warner Robins hearing. “It’s not a political job that anyone at the CDC does. We are here to serve the American people, and we should be supported by the executive branch and by the legislative branch to do that work.” Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 04/22/2025 - 09:59 — Apr 22
  • Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Amalgamated Transit Union
    Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Amalgamated Transit Union This is the next post in our series that will take a deeper look at each of our affiliates. The series will run weekly until we've covered all 63 of our affiliates. Next up is the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). Name of Union: Amalgamated Transit Union Mission: To fight for the rights of transit workers and promote mass transit. Current Leadership of Union: John A. Costa is the current international president of ATU. After the tragic death of ATU International President Larry Hanley in May 2019, Costa was elected by the ATU General Executive Board. He was elected international president in 2019 and re-elected in 2022 by delegates at the ATU International Convention. He had served as an international vice president since 2010. Previously he was chair of the ATU New Jersey State Council from 2008–2010. A native of Newark, New Jersey, Costa launched his career in organized labor at NJ Transit in 1981, joining ATU Local 819. In 2001, after serving his local in various capacities, he was elected president—a position he held for three consecutive terms before moving on to become chair of the ATU New Jersey State Council and then ultimately ATU international vice president. He also previously served as vice president of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO and vice president of the Essex-West Hudson Labor Council. He lives in Monmouth County, New Jersey, with his wife and has two daughters and three grandchildren. Yvette Trujillo serves as international executive vice president, and Kenneth R. Kirk serves as international secretary-treasurer. Current Number of Members: Over 200,000. Members Work as: Metropolitan, interstate and school bus drivers; paratransit, light rail, subway, streetcar and ferry boat operators; mechanics and other maintenance workers; clerks, baggage handlers, municipal employees and other occupations. Industries Represented: Transit and allied workers in the United States and Canada. History: As industrialization advanced in the United States in the late 1800s, more and more workers needed transportation and workers to run that transportation. Mass transit workers in the early days largely worked with horses that pulled streetcars. The drivers often worked 18-hour days while the horses worked four hours a day or less. The harsh treatment, lack of benefits and low pay planted the seeds for the rise of ATU. Early on, there were numerous attempts to form a union of transit workers, but efforts had little success until 1888, when Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, led efforts to organize the streetcar workers. In 1892, the first convention of what would become ATU was held in Indianapolis.  Although the year after the first convention was challenging, the union became a beacon of hope for transit workers. Within that first year, 28 local divisions were formed and the first Canadian local was chartered in 1893. Seven years later, membership had reached 8,000. In the years that followed, ATU continued to expand rapidly amid an era of strikes and violence. The stronger the organization became, the more impact it had. ATU not only pushed for labor reforms such as the six-day workweek and the eight-hour day, but championed technology and rules that made mass transit safer for both workers and riders. Current Campaigns: The ATU-COPE political action committee is the voice of transit workers, school bus employees and over-the-road bus workers at all levels of government. The Government Affairs Department is dedicated to protecting the jobs and working conditions of all ATU members; it monitors legislation impacting transit, school bus and intercity bus transportation at the federal and state levels.  Community Efforts: In pursuit of its values and mission, ATU has community partnerships with a wide variety of organizations, including the AFL-CIO; BlueGreen Alliance; Coalition for Smarter Growth; Good Jobs First; Industrial Areas Foundation; International Transportation Learning Center; Jobs to Move America; Jobs With Justice; People’s Action; PowerSwitch Action; Sierra Club; Transportation Equity Network/Gamaliel; Transportation for America; Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Transit Riders for Public Transit; Transit Workforce Center; U.S. PIRG; and Working America. The Black Caucus is dedicated to the empowerment of all working men and women within ATU. The Women’s Caucus takes on the issues that women face daily, finding collective solutions. The Latino Caucus upholds the rights of Latinos and others to fully develop their cultural traditions. The International PRIDE Caucus serves as a gathering place for members who identify as LGBTQIA+ and allies, providing networking and team building across different properties, roles, levels, races, abilities and ethnic backgrounds. ATU publishes a blog, the ATU Dispatch member newsletter, and In Transit, a quarterly magazine covering labor and transit news from the United States and Canada, the activities of the international union, and feature stories about local unions and members. ATU provides training and education for members. The ATU Disaster Relief Fund helps members affected by tragedies. ATU sells merchandise in its online store. Learn More: Website, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, Bluesky, Threads Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 04/21/2025 - 12:00 — Apr 21
  • You Made This Possible: The Working People Weekly List
    You Made This Possible: The Working People Weekly List Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List. Unions Form Pro Bono Legal Network for Federal Workers Targeted by Trump: “‘We are still operating as though there is a rule of law,’ Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said of the network’s intent to bring individual cases through the administrative board process. ‘We are suing when things go awry, but we are watching closely to see that the rule of law holds.’” AFL-CIO Plans Nearly 400 Events to Protest Government Overhaul: “The AFL-CIO will launch nearly 400 events nationwide over the next two weeks in an effort to push back on the administration’s changes to the federal government. The events are organized under the AFL-CIO’s Department of People Who Work for a Living campaign—a shot at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Some of the events, beginning during this two-week congressional recess and going until April 28, will be rallies outside federal agencies and protests outside lawmakers' offices. But the centerpiece will be 19 ‘field hearings,’ according to Eddie Vale, who is consulting with the AFL-CIO. Workers from across different unions and sectors will be able to share their stories and solutions to the Trump administration's cuts.” ‘You Made This Possible’: Labor Organizers Submit Twice the Signatures Needed to Put Bargaining Ban to Voters: “Labor groups submitted some 320,000 signatures Wednesday, more than double the number required, in their effort to repeal an anti-union bill passed by the Republican-led Legislature this year. The overwhelming number makes the union’s Protect Utah Workers campaign the largest signature-gathering campaign in state history. Union members lined up Wednesday morning to unload and deliver about 20 bankers boxes of signature packets to the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office before gathering outside and singing ‘Solidarity Forever,’ a popular anthem of trade unions.” U.S. Labor Groups Sue Over ‘Ignorant’ Cuts of Programs Fighting Child Labor Abroad: “Shawna Bader-Blau, the executive director of the Solidarity Center, a non-profit working in more than 90 countries to improve worker standards and conditions, said the cuts reduced the organization’s budget by 20%, in addition to 30% cuts through USAID cuts. ‘It’s a devastating, huge impact. The Solidarity Center is very often in countries where they are the only external support for trade union organizing and the advancement of worker rights. If we have to leave, we’re not replaced,’ said Bader-Blau. ‘It’s critical to the American economy that American workers not be forced to compete with extremely exploited workers in other countries, up to and including forced and child labor in supply chains.’” Unions Sue to Reverse Trump’s Dismantling of Labor Mediation Agency: “The AFL-CIO, the United Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Government Employees and nearly a dozen other unions joined in the suit, saying cuts to the agency endanger both workers and the economy. The cuts stem from a March 14 executive order that calls for a near-elimination of the agency and six others in the interest of the president’s government-slashing agenda led by the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).” SMART Union Demands Return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Worker Illegally Deported by Trump: “The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART) is calling on Americans to contact their representatives and senators to demand the Trump administration facilitate the immediate return of a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national legally living in the U.S. with no criminal record, was arrested by ICE agents in Baltimore last month on accusations of being an MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia, who hasn’t been charged or convicted of any crime, has since been detained at the Center for Terrorism Confinement, a maximum-security prison accused by human rights groups of torture and due process violations.” Chicago Teachers Reach Contract Deal for First Time in More Than Decade Without Strike: “For the first time in over a decade, Chicago’s public school teachers have a new contract without a strike or threat of a walkout. The four-year agreement includes pay hikes, hiring more teachers and class size limits. While negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and the district didn’t escalate this time, there was unprecedented turmoil surrounding the unusual yearlong talks. The drama included the school superintendent’s firing, the entire board resigning and historic elections that tested the union’s power.” Commercial Actors Union Reaches Agreement on New Labor Contract: “The labor union representing around 133,000 commercial actors and singers reached a tentative agreement with advertisers and advertising agencies for a new collective bargaining agreement. SAG-AFTRA and the Joint Police Committee announced their tentative deal April 12 after the union extended its contract deadline several times. SAG-AFTRA said in its statement that the agreement would go up to the union’s national board for review and then to a ratification vote for members.” Over 200 Hennepin County Physicians Certified as First to Unionize in Minnesota: “Around 250 doctors at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) have been certified as the first unionized resident and fellow physicians in Minnesota, according to union officials. The physicians are represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local of the Service Employees International Union (CIR/SEIU), who said the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services made the certification on April 3.” Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 04/21/2025 - 11:41 — Apr 21