IFPTE Stands Strong at the AFL-CIO Convention

This week, IFPTE sent a 13-member delegation to the AFL-CIO convention. IFPTE delegates spoke in favor of and helped pass several significant AFL-CIO resolutions, including resolutions that strengthen labor unions and support IFPTE members.

The convention’s theme was ‘Building the Movement to Meet the Moment’ and was attended by nearly 2,000 union members from across the U.S.  

Among the highlights of the convention was the historic election of Liz Shuler (IBEW and recently AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer) as President and Fred Redmond (USW) as Secretary-Treasurer to lead the American labor movement over the next four years.  IFPTE President Matt Biggs was also elected to represent IFPTE on the AFL-CIO Executive Council. 

EA-Local 1937 VP Carolyn Wilson (left) and IFPTE Sec.-Treasurer Gay Henson Introduce and move a resolution supporting TVA access to crucial government grants for building advanced Small Modular Reactors in the Deep South.

Convention delegates also heard from President Joe Biden, who reinforced his strong alliance with labor, stating that, “the middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class.” 

IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson and EA/IFPTE Local 1937 Vice President Carolyn Wilson led the way for passage — with unanimous support — of an IFPTE sponsored resolution calling on the labor movement to urge the Department of Energy to provide grants to the TVA for expansion of clean energy production through Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).  Read Resolution 37, TVA Eligibility for Department of Energy Grants, here.

Joel Funfar speaking in support of a resolution to examine ways to strengthen state federations and labor council’s role and resources.

IFPTE delegates also spoke in support of several resolutions that directly affect IFPTE members and their work. President Biggs spoke in support of Resolution 15, Support the Federal Workforce, and reminded all delegates that Congress has yet to reconfirm Ernest DuBester, the current Chair the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). If DuBester is not confirmed before the end of 2022, he will no longer be on the FLRA, the federal government’s equivalent to the NLRB, and that inaction will leave the FLRA with one Biden-appointed board member and one anti-labor board member. This resolution passed with unanimous support.

Joel Funfar, IFPTE SPEEA Area VP, spoke in support of Resolution 2, Innovation to Strengthen State, Area and Local Central Bodies, Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) President Larry Brown, WSLC Sec.-Treasurer April Sims, the MLK Labor Council President Katie Garrow, and scores of other labor leaders. Funfar also rose in support of a comprehensive resolution for “Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing.” Both resolutions passed.

Secretary-Treasurer Henson connected Resolution 11, Advancing a Humane Pro-Worker Immigration Agenda, to IFPTE members’ work and their experiences. Henson noted, IFPTE “includes nonprofit workers who promote and fight for legal rights, protections, and dignity for immigrant workers, families, and children, including DACA recipients.” and “members who work in immigration adjudication strive to uphold fairness and integrity in our immigration system.” Speaking to the experiences of IFPTE members in high-skill and STEM industries and, in particular the attempt to outsource TVA jobs to IT firms that rely on H-1B workers — which EA/IFPTE Local 1937 stopped — Henson told delegates that high-skill work visa programs have “incentivized and facilitated the offshoring, outsourcing, and privatization of good jobs and the displacement American workers,” and at the same time have created “an exploitable precarious immigrant workforce that allows employers to control the immigration status of guestworkers” and routinely underpay guestworkers “far below the prevailing wages that American workers are paid.”

Gay Henson, IFPTE Sec.-Treasurer, rises in support of the resolution to commit the labor movement to a humane pro-worker immigration agenda.

IFPTE President Matt Biggs speaks in support of the resolution to “Promote Gender Equity.”

IFPTE President Matt Biggs spoke in support of the resolution put forward by AFL-CIO Committee on Women Workers, “Promote Gender Equity” sharing with delegates that labor has to be deliberate and provide resources for leadership development for women, make racial and gender equity a high priority, and ensure women have every chance to step up and lead. The resolution calls for advocating for women’s economic equity, protecting voting rights and supporting pro-worker women candidates, supporting leadership development for women, and combating gender-based harassment and violence in the workplace.

The AFL-CIO convention also featured an exhibitor hall for unions to showcase how their members interact with new technologies and ideas to build the labor movement of tomorrow. IFPTE was proud to team with TVA to provide an exhibit in the convention’s exhibit hall that displayed and demonstrated Spot, one of TVA’s robotic dogs, and a virtual reality headset used for training TVA employees.  Both technologies improve workplace safety and improve provide new tools for EA-Local 1937 members to perform their work.

IFPTE’s delegation to the AFL-CIO convention included: Joel Funfar, Local 2001 and IFPTE SPEEA Area VP; Sean McBride, IFPTE Local 196 President and IFPTE Atlantic Area VP; Sherry Thomas, IFPTE Local 195 New Jersey City University Chapter President; Denise Robinson, IFPTE Local 400 President and IFPTE Northeast Area VP; Paula Karavestsos, IFPTE Local 400; Jimmy Robertello, IFPTE Local 196 Business Agent; Gus Vallejo, IFPTE Local 21 President and IFPTE Western Area VP; Carolyn Wilson, IFPTE Local 1937 Vice President; Gay Henson, IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer; Matt Biggs, IFPTE President; Brian Kildee, International Staff; Paul Thurston, International Staff; and Faraz Khan, International Staff.