Labor Jumps Full Force Into Organizing And Mobilizing
Entering her second full-term as AFL-CIO President, Liz Shuler laid out big plans for the nation’s labor federation over the next five years. Accepting her re-election, unopposed, at the AFL-CIO Convention’s opening session in Minneapolis, Shuler set a target of organizing two million new union members over the next five years—the term to which delegates unanimously elected her and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond. “And that’s a floor, not a ceiling,” Shuler declared.
"We've seen that workers in every industry are looking to join a union as they see prices skyrocket, wages stagnant and safety standards reduced," said Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga. "This is all happening as President Trump carries out the largest assault on worker rights and collective bargaining in history. Worker solidarity is our only path to reshaping an economy that rewards hard-working Ohioans, not just the billionaire class."
Understanding that policy begins at the ballot box, Shuler also set a goal to significantly increase labor participation in the 2026 elections from 14 million votes to 16 million votes. And to safeguard the vote this year against Trump’s many threats to free and fair elections the labor federation plans to put 50,000 “election protectors” in the field.
“We are the only institution with the power to meet any challenge,” she declared. “We defend our democracy….we give people hope, and we get shit done.