Recent Press
- Ceremony Sunday to honor WV workers who died on the job
- Statement from WV AFL-CIO President Josh Sword regarding Senate Bill 841
- A statement regarding Senate Bill 841 to cut unemployment benefits
- Cutting Earned Unemployment Benefits is Wrong
- WV AFL-CIO devastated at sudden passing of former President Kenneth Perdue
- A statement from West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword regarding Senator Joe Manchin’s decision to not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate
- Join a Labor Day Celebration!
- Ceremony Friday to honor WV workers who died on the job
- Teamster Members Unanimously Authorize Strike At Coke
- The PEIA Cost Shifting Bill (aka SB 268)
- Public Employee Representatives to Discuss Sweeping PEIA Legislation
- Union leaders’ statement on Senate PEIA bill
- Workers Will Rally for Fair Treatment at Italian Opera-Themed Tecnocap Celebration
- 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
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West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword congratulates West Virginia’s Gayle Manchin on being selected by President Biden to co-chair the Appalachian Regional Commission:
“From her early years as an educator to her past decades leading a variety of organizations -- including those focused on 21st century job creation, children and families, and healthy lifestyles -- Gayle has dedicated her career to helping West Virginians succeed, and would bring tremendous insight to the Appalachian Regional Commission,” Sword said. “Most recently, I have witnessed first-hand her tireless work as a founder of Reconnecting McDowell, a public-private partnership to help revive McDowell County, which has struggled since the strong downturn of the coal industry. She understands the challenges the residents of Appalachia face, and will address them head-on.
“I am extremely hopeful the Senate will quickly confirm her nomination.”
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While Governor Jim Justice is loosening restrictions on bars, restaurants and retail facilities in the state, the West Virginia Legislature continues to operate under a cloak of darkness, locking out the public without offering even an online opportunity for participation.
“As representatives of working families throughout West Virginia, the West Virginia AFL-CIO and its affiliates cannot sit idly by and let the legislative majority trample the rights of West Virginia citizens,” WV AFL-CIO President Josh Sword said. “We understand the critical need to observe social distancing requirements in order to keep everyone safe, but the legislative majority is using these personal contact limits to shut down interaction with the public altogether.
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Teamsters at AHF voted by more than 92% to ratify the Company’s offer today, ending an approximately year long dispute. The last offer was rejected by a vote of 93% on February 23. 2020. The new offer includes a total raise of $2.05 over the life of the contract, including retroactive pay back to February 2020 when the offer was rejected. Additionally, the new contract keeps employee health insurance premiums at low increases. The new agreement term is four years, which includes the prior year of 2020.
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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.”