Recent Press

Charleston, WV - In an effort to support McDowell County, the West Virginia AFL-CIO has donated $6,500 to the Council of the Southern Mountains, a community action agency helping low-income families achieve self-sufficiency in the southern part of the state. The donation will aid in building new housing in the county. The new housing development is part of the “Reconnecting McDowell”project.

“We saw this as an exciting opportunity in assisting McDowell County to provide quality housing that is desperately needed for its residents. We were very fortunate to have partners such as AFTWV, Delegate Moore and The Council of the Southern Mountains in providing money for completing the water line for the new homes,” said Kenny Perdue, President of the AFL-CIO.

Amid discussion of national debt, taxation and job funding, the West Virginia AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) is speaking out about the impending loss of unemployment insurance benefits.

Unless Congress passes an unemployment benefits extension before Jan. 1, many West Virginia families will lose their only sort of income.

West Virginia organized labor created a new independent fundraising arm in an attempt to fight the flow of outside money affecting federal elections in the state.

The West Virginia AFL-CIO created the new federal political action committee "Honest West Virginians" in late June, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. The group of labor unions and other affiliated organizations felt it had no choices in creating the PAC, said AFL-CIO treasurer Josh Sword.

Charleston, W.Va. - At their annual convention, which ended thursday, West Virginia AFL-CIO delegates re-elected Kenneth Perdue as president and elected Josh Sword as secretary-treasurer, both for four years.

Perdue, a sheet metal worker, was elected to his third term. Sword, a former political director for the American Federation of Teachers in West Virginia, was appointed as secretary-treasurer earlier this year. Both were elected by acclamation.

Charleston, W.Va. - Across the country and here in West Virginia, thousands of people turned out over the weekend in support of Wisconsin public employees. Minority Democrats in the state Senate there are trying to stop a bill that already passed the Assembly and would take away most collective bargaining rights. Union officials here say that bill is part of an ugly pattern.

West Virginia AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue says that the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and the economic problems that started on Wall Street make it easy for some people to demonize the unions.