The AFL-CIO endorsed Hillary Clinton on Thursday after holding out until primary voting was over.
“Hillary Clinton is a proven leader who shares our values,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Throughout the campaign, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to the issues that matter to working people, and our members have taken notice. The activism of working people has already been a major force in this election and is now poised to elect Hillary Clinton and move America forward.”
The labor federation’s presidential endorsement requires a two-thirds majority of its general board. On Tuesday, one of Bernie Sanders’ major union endorsers had shifted its support to Clinton:
“Bernie is not going to be the nominee. Hillary Rodham Clinton will be,” [Communications Workers of America president Chris] Shelton said. “And whatever you think of Secretary Clinton — I happen to think she was a damn good senator from New York and that a lot of the hostility against her is attributable to out-and-out sexism and to the ‘vast right-wing conspiracy’ — she is the candidate who is running against Donald Trump. And brothers and sisters, we must stop Donald Trump from becoming president.”
● As Alaska's Don Young sides with big business, his union allies weigh forsaking him for a Democrat.
● Dying to work:
The incidents couldn't have been more different. One occurred in a busy Boise neighborhood and emergency responders swarmed to the scene. The other occurred in a dairy farm manure pit in the tiny Jerome County town of Hazelton.
In Boise, crews from the city's fire and police departments teamed with Ada County Paramedics and the Ada County Highway District to free three men who had been buried alive in a trench collapse. In Hazelton, a dairy worker lay in the manure pit for 10 hours before his body was pulled from the scene. In the end, two of the Boise victims and the lone Hazelton victim were dead. The cases of all three are now receiving significant attention from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
● American seafood has its own forced labor problem.
● The AFL-CIO statement on the Orlando massacre:
For the LGBTQ community, clubs like Pulse are a space where people can feel safe and be their true selves. Sunday’s horrific act is a reminder of how fragile that safety can be. While we have made undeniable progress toward equality, too many in our country still face derision, discrimination and violence. These flames of hatred have been fanned by those in public life who want to marginalize an entire group of people for political gain. It’s despicable and it must stop.
But this was more than just an attack on the LGBTQ community. The victims were overwhelmingly young and Latino. Sunday’s massacre was an assault on everything our movement stands for: equality, justice, solidarity and inclusion.
It was also an extraordinarily difficult situation for our first responders, who had the traumatic job of sorting the dead from the living, effectively working in a war zone. We thank the police, firefighters and health care providers who saved lives and continue to care for the injured. We will stand with them in the trying days ahead.
● Teachers take on student discipline, and take aim at racial disparities and the school-to-prison pipeline.