AFL-CIO sets ambitious goal of organizing 2 million more workers and two labor experts discuss how this could be done

Big goals call for commitment, planning and organizing

By Don McIntosh

Liz Shuler and Fred Redmond were re-elected to lead the AFL-CIO.
| Photo courtesy AFL-CIO

The AFL-CIO held its 30th national convention June 7-10 in Minneapolis. Among the highlights, delegates re-elected incumbent leadership and passed a resolution pledging to bring 2 million more workers into unions by 2032.

The AFL-CIO is a federation of 65 unions that total 9.8 million members in all. 

In its latest annual disclosure to the Department of Labor, the AFL-CIO reported 14.8 million members, but that figure includes just under 5 million who signed up to be members of Working America, the AFL-CIO’s 22-year-old community and political organizing affiliate; those individuals aren’t represented by a collective bargaining agreement, aren’t required to pay dues, and don’t consider themselves union members.....

In the last four years, the AFL-CIO has grown by 2.4 million members thanks mostly to the re-affiliation of 2-million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the addition of seven smaller unions, most notably of professional athletes. The union share of the U.S. workforce overall has stayed about the same, dropping from 10.1% in 2022 to 10.0% in 2025. It’s estimated there are about 14.7 million union members in the United States in total, and two-thirds of those are in unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO doesn’t organize workers directly but tries to support organizing by affiliated unions. 

Besides the officer elections on Day 1, much of the convention consisted of speeches and panel discussions, but delegates also ratified without debate a series of resolutions that set official AFL-CIO policy. Those included:

• Resolution 2, pledging to initiate a mass training program to provide basic organizing skills, tactics and strategy to working people who want to organize; and to grow unions by at least 2 million workers by 2032
• Resolution 3, committing to dismantle systemic racial- and gender-based barriers to employment, prioritize the fight for pay equity especially for women of color, support access to gender-affirming health care, and center the voices of Black, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Latino, LGBTQIA+, indigenous, immigrant and women workers
• Resolution 4, demanding a pathway to citizenship for immigrant workers regardless of legal status; and calling on Congress to rescind funding for mass deportations
• Resolution 25, calling on state and federal regulators to address anti-competitive mega-mergers between major employers
• Resolution 26, opposing electronic shelf labels and so-called “surveillance pricing” by grocery retailers

How the US Labor Movement Can Revive Itself and Help Save Democracy

Stephen Lerner and Joseph A. Mccartin from These Times

The US labor movement, like the nation at large, stands at a crossroads. The next few years might well determine whether the United States fully descends into an era of electoral autocracy, where democracy has withered and authoritarianism becomes the political norm. This period is also likely to set the future trajectory of the union movement’s power and influence, as the state of democracy and organized labor have long been deeply intertwined.

For decades, the right-wing forces set on steadily eroding our democracy have worked in tandem with a pro-corporate movement that has increasingly marginalized organized labor, creating a ballooning crisis for the working class. Yet this politically hazardous moment also represents an opportunity to overcome deep-seated institutional inertia, drawing elements of a cautious labor movement out of their defensive crouch, and helping unions devise forms of struggle that might both revive the labor movement and renew American democracy.

Donald Trump’s second term has, in a way, broken a spell. For years, the pre-Trump status quo kept labor locked in a pattern of slow decline even as democracy was increasingly stifled and abridged by voter suppression, gerrymandering, filibusters, and the overweening power of organized money. But the decades-old dysfunctional status quo that gave rise to Trumpism is now crumbling under the weight of the most lawless, antidemocratic, rights-trampling administration this country has seen since the 19th century.

History suggests that fighting to defend and revive democracy in its moment of maximum peril can create a window of opportunity for labor. Past experience—in the United States and other nations—teaches us that, when unions fight to defend democracy and win, they position themselves for periods of explosive growth and increased worker power. It is imperative that the US labor movement grasp this lesson and seize the window of opportunity before it’s too late.

Moving Beyond Magical Thinking

It’s clear that the crisis facing US democracy is deepening. Over the past year, immigrants and the neighbors and coworkers who stood in solidarity with them endured murderous paramilitary occupations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and other cities across the country. The nation has been plunged into war in Iran without prior input from Congress. The president has even suggested the federal government should seize control of the upcoming midterm elections from the states.

He's going to need more Sharpies

Guide to the Evangelical mind

I love the smell of death in the morning...

“Morticia’s” bloom draws a crowd to URI

Kristen Curry

Thousands of visitors from across southern New England made their way to URI's Horridge Conservatory in June for a glimpse of Morticia, the University's resident corpse flower.

After watching and waiting for months, the University of Rhode Island’s Horridge Conservatory was the busiest site on campus in June, with lines twisting and turning full of visitors eager to catch a sight–and whiff—of URI’s resident corpse flower (Titan Arum). More than 4,000 guests from across southern New England were able to witness the rare and unusual occurrence.

The plant began blooming the night of June 16 with the conservatory extending its hours to the public on Wednesday, June 17. With assistance from URI Master Gardeners and some night-owl helpers from the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, Greenhouse Manager Ben Robbins and student assistant Daniel Meservey fielded visitors and inquiries far into the evening, to allow as many people as possible to experience the unique horticultural happening. The conservatory stayed open until 2 a.m. with help from Niels-Viggo Hobbs, Linda Forrester, Rachel Dahl, Amy Santiago M ’26, Kathryn Pagano and Anne Ita Sykes.

Rhode Island man contracts rare tick-borne illness

RIDOH Confirms a Case of Rare Tick-Borne Viral Infection (Powassan)

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is reporting a confirmed case of the tick-borne Powassan virus disease (Powassan) detected in a Rhode Island resident. This resident is a male in his 60s who lives in Providence County. He began experiencing symptoms of Powassan in May. He was hospitalized but is now recovering at home.  

“With summer now here, we all need to be thinking about tick prevention measures when outdoors,” said Director of Health Jerry Larkin, MD. “Repel and reduce your exposure to ticks, check your body for ticks, and be sure to remove ticks if you find one on yourself, a family member, or a pet. Ticks are tiny. You may not be able to feel them or spot them right away. The sooner you find and remove them, the better your chances are at preventing the serious health issues caused by illnesses like Powassan and Lyme Disease.” 

This is Rhode Island’s first case of Powassan since 2024 and the ninth case overall since it was first reported in Rhode Island in 2016. Powassan is a tick-borne disease that is found mostly in the Northeast and the Great Lakes region of the U.S. and in eastern Canada. Over 397 cases of Powassan have been reported in the United States in the past 10 years (2016-2025). 

Trump is fighting the green energy revolution. He'll lose.

Market forces are stronger than MAGA.

Paul Waldman

Something historic happened in May: For the first time in American history, more electricity was generated in the United States with solar power than with coal.

While natural gas remains our largest electricity source, the crossing of the lines between solar and coal — one representing the future and one the past — is something we may look back on as one of the key moments in the planet’s transition to green energy.

We don’t know whether someone told Donald Trump about this milestone, but if they did, he wouldn’t have been happy. Since taking office, he has waged an all-out war against renewable energy, not just making it more difficult to create and use clean power, but pouring taxpayer money into fossil fuels.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that though Trump has done significant damage to America’s green energy industry — and given us more pollution, higher costs, and more insecurity in the bargain — that industry continues to grow.

There is a global energy revolution underway, and Trump’s efforts to slow it down are destined to fall short.

What’s the likely next move after the executive order on childhood vaccines?

Trump and Bobby's continued war on vaccines

Jess Steier, DrPh

If you follow vaccine policy closely, you've probably learned to brace yourself on Friday afternoons. Just as the weekend rolls in, my team has a standing bet on the night's bombshell: guessing what gets pulled, which committee gets gutted, and which stack of evidence gets quietly waved away while the reporters log off. It started as a dark joke but stopped being funny a while ago. 

The pediatric childhood schedule fight has largely gone quiet since March, when a court froze the administration's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) overhaul, even as the Friday personnel churn rolled on. Now all the chips seem to be back on the table. 

That habit of bracing—of trying to guess what’s coming next—is one my father would have understood. He was a gambler who also taught me chess, and two of his lessons have stuck with me. From the card table: Play the player, not the cards. What someone is holding matters less than who they are and what they want you to believe. From the chessboard: Think a few moves ahead, because the move that decides a game is rarely the one that looks like it’s doing something.

Lipstick on a weak argument

Both have been on my mind since the White House published an executive order on Friday, May 29, titled “Realigning United States Core Childhood Vaccine Recommendations with Best Practices from Peer, Developed Countries.”

“Executive order" has come to signal something swift and unilateral, already in force before you can respond. This one plays on fear without earning it. Read only the cards, and there's not much here. The order tells the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its ACIP to review a federal “scientific assessment” (a December-ordered report comparing the US childhood schedule with those of peer nations) and consider updates to the childhood schedule. 

On its own, the order does not change any recommendations, not to mention there’s no functioning ACIP to act on it right now. It also makes a point of stating that vaccines across all categories should remain covered without cost-sharing by private insurance, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Vaccines for Children Program. For now, the schedule recommended by the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics as of 2025 remains in effect. 

Whodunnit?

How to "deal" with Iran

 

Journal of the American Medical Association published COVID vaccine study Bobby Jr. tried to kill

Study suggests 2025-26 COVID vaccine cuts emergency, urgent care visits by half

Laine Bergeson

A new study suggests that the 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccine helps protect against serious illness by reducing the risk of hospitalization and emergency department/urgent care (ED/UC) visits, adding protection for a population with significant existing immunity from previous infections and vaccinations. 

The study, published today in JAMA Network Open, found that adults who received the updated vaccine were about 50% less likely to require ED/UC treatment for COVID and 55% less likely to be hospitalized than those who did not receive the vaccine.

Booster augments previous immunity

For the study, researchers led by a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed data from more than 111,000 adults across 253 EU/UCs and 179 hospitals in seven states from September through December 2025. They compared patients who tested positive for COVID with those who tested negative and identified whether they had received the 2025-26 vaccine.

Overall, vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-related ED/UC visits was estimated at 50%. Protection against hospitalization was 55%.

Watchaug Pond declared OK after harmful algae bloom

Low algae levels and no toxins detected

Missed opportunity: We could have sold
"Watchaug Green" samples as souvenirs

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) have lifted the recommendation to avoid recreational activities at Watchaug Pond in Charlestown. 

The harmful algae bloom (HAB) caused by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) has cleared. Recent water testing laboratory results show algae levels are low and no toxins were detected at multiple locations, meeting safety guidelines. 

RIDOH and DEM are advising people to avoid contact with Cunliff Lake at Roger Williams Park in Providence due to harmful algae blooms (HABs). Water samples were collected by DEM and tested by RIDOH’s State Health Laboratories. 

All recreation, including swimming, fishing, boating and kayaking, is high risk to health and recommended to be avoided at this location. This HAB is caused by blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which are naturally present in bodies of water. HABs can produce toxins which can be harmful to humans and animals. 

Americans' ability to afford health care falls to 5-year low

Losing ground

By West Health Institute

Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan

Share of U.S. adults who are "Cost Secure"
dips below half. Credit: West Health-Gallup
Center on Healthcare in America

New research released from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America finds that fewer than half of Americans (49%) are considered "Cost Secure," meaning they can consistently afford health care and prescription medications when and where they need them, the lowest level recorded since West Health and Gallup launched its Healthcare Affordability Index in 2021.

In the past year alone, 2.8 million Americans dropped out of the Cost Secure category, unable to keep up with rising health care costs. The new data largely extend last year's downward trends, with continued declines in affordability evident among traditionally vulnerable populations, including Black and Hispanic adults and lower-income households.

"The fact that fewer than half of Americans can reliably afford health care should alarm every person, policymaker and health care leader in the country," said Tim Lash, president of the West Health Policy Center.

"Millions of Americans are being priced out of health care because costs are rising faster than their ability to pay. Without meaningful reforms that better address health care delivery, high prescription drug prices and rising insurance premiums, Americans will continue to struggle and affordability will only continue to deteriorate."

Health care spending is on the rise in the U.S., reaching $5.3 trillion in 2024, a 7.2% increase from the prior year and growing more than twice the rate of overall inflation (2.9%). Hospital prices climbed 3.4% in 2024, the fastest increase since 2007, while prescription drug spending rose 7.9%.

More reasons why Bobby Kennedy Jr. must go

‘Unsettling’ Accounts of HHS Leadership Fuel Calls for RFK Jr. to Resign

Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams

While public health advocates have sounded the alarm about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. since senators confirmed President Donald Trump’s “profoundly unqualified” nominee to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services over a year ago, The New York Times’ reporting on his job performance at HHS sparked fresh calls for his resignation.

HHS “affects the health of 340 million Americans and provides healthcare to 40% of the population through Medicare and Medicaid,” explained the Times, which interviewed a dozen people who have had contact with Kennedy as secretary and other department employees. His nearly 16-month tenure has already featured a measles outbreak that killed two children in Texas last year, the recent hantavirus cases among cruise passengers, and the ongoing Ebola crisis in Africa.

As the newspaper detailed:

Mr. Kennedy has shown little interest in managing the details of work in his department, according to multiple colleagues. Instead, they say, he is single-mindedly focused on his top priorities, including food recommendations and pesticide exposures, and hunting for evidence to support his long-held beliefs that vaccines are harmful.

That'll teach him!

Priorities, a continuing series