AFL-CIO president lauds organizing by low-wage workers

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_5147

LOS ANGELES - In yet another mark of the AFL-CIO’s new emphasis on supporting low-wage workers – often those unprotected by labor law – in their campaigns to organize, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spent a two-day swing through California lauding car wash workers, home health care aides, domestic workers and day laborers for their success in self-organizing.

In Los Angeles, where the car wash workers, organized by the Steelworkers, signed two more contracts with car wash companies, and in Sacramento, Trumka stressed that labor must be there with support for this new type of workforce and must accommodate itself to its needs.

“The courage of these carwash workers gives us hope and inspiration,” he told an L.A. press conference on Feb. 21. “These workers have shown all working people that when we stand together for what is right, we can solve problems and secure a better life.

“And when they build a better life for themselves, they lift standards for other workers, they lift their entire communities and their voices make their companies better. The success here today is not an end, it's one step on a journey to strengthen the voice of working people and our communities.

“This should be the headline: Carwash workers make history in L.A.,” he stated.

FULL story at link.