Undermining Our Democracy: The Working People Weekly List

Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s this week’s Working People Weekly List.

Op-Ed School Vouchers Don’t Just Undermine Public Schools, They Undermine Our Democracy: “Trump wants to siphon billions of dollars from public schools to fund private and religious school vouchers. It’s an idea that’s bad for kids, public education and our democracy.”

Workers Want a Green Economy, Not a Black Environment: “To justify withdrawing from the Paris climate change accord, President Trump said during his press conference today, ‘I was elected to represent the city of Pittsburgh, not Paris.’ From terrible experience, Pittsburghers know about pollution.”

Trump Helps Republicans Revive House Bill That Weakens Unions: “The AFL-CIO was particularly outraged by the provision that said voters who stayed home for union elections would be counted as casting a ‘no’ ballot. ‘If political elections were held in this fashion, virtually no one would have been elected, because the number of people who stay home, leave ballot sections blank or vote for someone else outstrips the number of votes officeholders receive,’ the AFL-CIO wrote in response to a pro-ERA op-ed.”

In Texas, S.B. 4 Is an Attack on All Working People: “A powerful new video from the Texas AFL-CIO shows that the state’s new ‘show your papers’ bill, S.B. 4, isn’t just an attack on immigrants, but an attack on all working people. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed S.B. 4 into law last month. In response, many communities and organizations, including the Texas AFL-CIO, are choosing to fight back.”

13 Ways the Trump Budget Hurts Working People: “There are tons of analyses and numbers that could keep economists busy for days, but the bottom line is President Donald Trump’s budget will have negative effects on the lives of everyday Americans. Here are some of the most notable examples of a budget that betrays working people….”

A Memorial Day Message from Will Attig, Iraq War Veteran and Union Veterans Council Executive Director: “I want everyone to take a second to reflect on what Memorial Day means to you. As a member of one of the hardest-hit Infantry units in Iraq, this day means a lot to me. It represents the 51 names memorialized on a wall at Fort Campbell, Ky. Those names represent 51 comrades, friends and brothers whom my unit lost during Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom, they are but just 51 names out of a list of 1.1 million American veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice.”

St. Louis Plumbers Go Above and Beyond to Save Kitten: “Union plumbers, members of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA) Local 562, responded to a service request at a hospital with a plumbing problem. But this call was a little different, a 6-week-old kitten had fallen into the drain and gotten stuck. Alan Glosemeyer and Chad Beckmann responded by tirelessly working to save the kitten.”