Recent Press
- A celebration of former WV AFL-CIO President Jim Bowen's life Sunday
- A statement from Mike Caputo regarding the passing of Jim Bowen
- Former WV AFL-CIO President Jim Bowen Passes Away
- This Labor Day weekend, celebrate the momentum of working people
- A statement from West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword regarding the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
- Ceremony Thursday to honor WV workers who died on the job
- 2022 AFL-CIO Convention - In Memoriam
- IUPAT DC 53 HOLDING PROTEST MONDAY
- WV AFL-CIO Holds 30th Constitutional Convention
- United Food Operation Food Drive Kickoff Friday
- A statement from West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword on Senator Joe Manchin’s position on the Build Back Better Act
- IUPAT DC 53 Hosting Open House for National Apprenticeship Week
- Honor and Celebrate the Labor Movement this Weekend
- Teamsters at Bluefield WV Coca Cola Distribution Center Reach Agreement for a New Contract Avoiding a Strike
- A statement regarding the passing of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
- Union members will rally Thursday to urge Sen. Capito to support PRO Act
- Teamsters at Bluefield WV Coca Cola Distribution Center Reject Contract
- Rally for Viatris/Mylan jobs Tuesday
- Public Employees Launch Legal Challenge of Paycheck Bill
- Josh Sword: West Virginia workers need PRO Act (Opinion)
- Workers Memorial Event | Wednesday, April 28th
- Statement from West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword on Sen. Joe Manchin’s Co-Sponsorship of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act
- WV AFL-CIO: Gayle Manchin knows Appalachia
- WV AFL-CIO: Legislative leaders using COVID restrictions to shut out public
- Teamsters at AHF Products Ratify Agreement
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The loss of these jobs is a devastating blow affecting more than 1,500 employees, their families and their communities. In the face of this massive pandemic, we need manufacturing facilities like Mylan more than ever in our region. As a delegate and senator-elect, I will do everything within my power – including working with our legislative delegation, the governor, our representatives in Congress, and the United Steelworkers, which represents Mylan employees -- to convince company officials that closing this facility is the wrong choice.
I will urge Senators Manchin and Capito to bring us together as a SWAT team to quickly address this. We’ve weathered four years of empty promises from the White House about jobs that have never come to West Virginia. It is my hope that Governor Justice can leverage his close personal relationship with President Trump to work on reversing the economic freefall our state has been experiencing at the hands of billion-dollar corporations and help us save these Mylan jobs. I also expect that Senator Manchin will be reaching out to President-elect Biden’s administration to provide assistance moving forward.
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Under the cloud of this pandemic, union leaders across West Virginia have been compelled to cancel or drastically alter annual time-honored Labor Day events, but they ask that all residents take a moment to recognize what the labor movement has meant to workers and their families in the quest for fair wages, good benefits and a safe workplace.
“This coronavirus has been very challenging, to say the least,” West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword said. “But the labor movement has responded with passion and dedication, fighting nonstop for worker protections despite the failure of some in our state and federal governments.
“That’s what the labor movement does and will continue to do.”
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Representatives of correctional officers at the state and federal levels joined together during this 36th annual National Correctional Officers and Employees Week to honor the professionalism, dedication and courage exhibited daily by the men and women working in West Virginia correctional facilities.
“Correctional officers and employees face grave danger daily, but the current pandemic has brought unexpected and unprecedented risks that they are handling bravely, with professionalism,” said Dan Doyle, National Vice President of the American Federation of Government Employees.
Elaine Harris, international representative for the Communications Workers of America, which represents officers and employees within the state correctional system, noted, “In addition to working to preserve public safety in the traditional sense, these officers must also be concerned with carrying COVID-19 home to their loved ones and communities. It’s a lot to ask.”
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We are inviting the press and public to join us via Facebook Live at noon on Tuesday, April 28, as we honor the 22 workers lost on the job in 2019.
“While we can’t gather in person as we have in the past, the West Virginia AFL-CIO will hold the 32nd annual Workers Memorial ceremony live on our Facebook page,” West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword said. “This pandemic has shone a much-needed spotlight on the tremendous risk those in essential professions are facing and the need for stronger worker protections. But the sad truth is so many in the workforce have always faced life-threatening situations.”
On April 28, unions of the AFL-CIO throughout the country will observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job, and to call for action to make workplaces safe.
“We will continue to work tirelessly in hopes that one day no one is risking their life to make a living,” Sword said. “And until every workplace is 100 percent safe, we should take time to honor and remember those who were injured or lost.”
WHAT: 32nd Annual Workers Memorial Ceremony
WHEN: Noon, Tuesday, April 28, 2020
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The West Virginia AFL-CIO has rescinded its endorsement of Justice John Hutchison for a seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Following the release of the state Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the so-called “Right to Work” law, which was created solely to undermine and weaken unions, and Justice Hutchison’s concurring opinion, the WV AFL-CIO Executive Board and its Committee on Political Education’s executive committee held meetings today and unanimously voted to withdraw the endorsement.
“Justice Hutchison approached our organization and met with many members, seeking our endorsement of his candidacy and our support,” WV AFL-CIO President Josh Sword noted. “Despite his statements both to us and in his concurring opinion that he values the work of unions, his vote to concur with the politically motivated decision in support of the state’s ‘Right to Work’ law made clear to us that he has put the interests of out-of-state corporations over the interests of West Virginia working families.
“The leaders of the West Virginia AFL-CIO and its affiliates can in no way support such a candidate.”