Vote 'No' on Prop. A: 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.

He Will Vote No on Proposition A: “In our next election we will be able to vote no or yes to Proposition A, ‘Right to Work.’ I sure hope voters will give it a lot of thought in which way they are going to vote. In right-to-work states you don’t have to belong to the union where you work. But I’m sure that when the union negotiates a new contract, those nonunion members will get the same raise, the same new benefits as union members.”

Messenger: Dishonest Campaign Tries to Pit Union Workers Against the Middle Class: “It suggests that Proposition A, which Missourians will vote on Aug. 7, will protect workers from out-of-control union bosses. The mailer is an attempt to confuse voters, and when it comes to Proposition A, it’s easy to get confused, because the initiative’s route to the ballot was circuitous.”

We Are Stronger with Our Allies: What Working People Are Doing This Week: “Welcome to our regular feature, a look at what the various AFL-CIO unions and other working family organizations are doing across the country and beyond. The labor movement is big and active—here’s a look at the broad range of activities we’re engaged in this week.”

Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Tina Smith: “This November’s elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we are going to take a look at the best candidates for working people. Today, we feature Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota.”

One Week Left in Missouri: “In just one week, working people in Missouri will have the opportunity to reject ‘right to work’ at the ballot box.”

Historic Victory at Telemundo: Worker Wins: “Our latest roundup of worker wins begins with a breakthrough contract for Spanish-speaking performers at Telemundo and includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life.”

Guaranteeing Our Fundamental Dignity: “Signing Medicare and Medicaid into law 53 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson cited an innate human tradition calling on us to build a more just society: ‘It calls upon us never to be indifferent toward despair. It commands us never to turn away from helplessness. It directs us never to ignore or to spurn those who suffer untended in a land that is bursting with abundance.'”

Best Candidates for Working People, 2018: Mahlon Mitchell: “This November’s elections are shaping up to be among the most consequential in recent U.S. history. Throughout the summer and fall, we are going to take a look at the best candidates for working people. Today, we feature Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mahlon Mitchell.”

Trumka Says that Trump’s Tariffs Have Gone Too Far: “AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who has previously praised tariff measures implemented by President Trump, told CBS News that he believes protectionist actions ‘should be taken with a rifle and not a shotgun.’ ‘There were far too many countries, and so it lessens the effectiveness of tariffs as a way to enforce trade agreements,’ Trumka said about Mr. Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum.'”

AFL-CIO Leader Richard Trumka Offers Qualified Support for Trump’s Trade Policies: “The head of the country’s largest federation of labor unions offered qualified praise Wednesday for President Donald Trump’s trade policies but questioned the administration’s approach to levying tariffs. ‘I think he’s going in the right direction on trade,’ said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO.”

With Eye on Midterms, Unions Push to Win Back Trump’s Blue-Collar Voters: “‘It’s not true that in rural districts you have to be conservative, or in the middle of the road,’ Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, told news reporters Wednesday at a breakfast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor. He said that in Pennsylvania’s suburban/rural 18th District, ‘Conor Lamb spoke of our issues. He spoke of collective bargaining, he spoke of joining a union, he spoke of protecting Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. And he got elected in a district that was computer-designed so that no Democrat could ever win. A computer said no Democrat could ever win this district, and he did.'”

Nan Aron, Walt Auvil: Brett Kavanaugh Is a Company Man: “West Virginia has a tragic history of big business putting profit above worker rights and safety. West Virginians depend on our legal system to protect them against corporate negligence, incompetence and cutting corners. That is why President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is such a threat. West Virginia’s senators owe it to their constituents to reject Kavanaugh’s nomination.”