AFL-CIO Convention Builds Strategy Around a United Movement

The U.S. government is using billions in taxpayer money to round up members of the workforce and put them in detention centers. CEOs who run the 100 companies with the lowest median wage are making 632 times more than their employees. It is not surprising that the recent national AFL-CIO convention held in Minneapolis focused on building solidarity at a pre-conference civil rights unity summit and global symposium.

Liz Shuler, national president of the AFL-CIO (photo by Sarah Whiting)

Liz Shuler is the first woman to be the national leader of the AFL-CIO — the democratic federation of 65 national and international unions that represent 15 million working people. She opened by saying: “Conferences like this are [about more than] sitting in a room talking. It’s about forming relationships, challenging each other, building trust. What we’ve endured over the past 18 months is the single most egregious coordinated attack on working people and human rights than we have ever seen — purging federal workers from their jobs and attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that have made us stronger.”

She said the White House administration and its wealthy allies fear a united movement that stands up for each other. Strategizing, training, building trust, identifying values, working through disagreements, acknowledging risks, and experiencing joy were among the goals of the four-day gathering.

April Verrett, president of the national Service Employees International Union, shares a laugh with panelists (photo by Sarah Whiting)

April Verrett, the first Black woman elected president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — a labor union of 2 million members — moderated a panel discussion about how Minnesota was able to build a strong resistance to the ICE occupation. She opened by noting that the billionaire class has been building a plan that writes rules for an economy that ensures wealth and power remains in their hands.

Verrett said “there is another story, another way” that combines working people, immigrant communities, civil rights leaders, faith leaders, health care workers, security officers, teachers, and trades people who organize together. She asked panelists to describe how the Twin Cities built “homegrown power that is rooted and shared.”

Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, Marcia Howard of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, William Martinez of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Greg Nammacher of SEIU Local 26, Grecia Palomar of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, and Bethany Winkels of the Minnesota chapter of AFL-CIO noted that:

Minnesota became a strong state for homegrown power building, especially propelled after the killings by police of Philando Castile (2016) and George Floyd (2020), the political assassination of House Speaker Melissa Hortman (2025), and the murder of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents. This included everything from being upstanders with whistles to delivering mutual aid to driving people more safely to workplaces and schools.
The progressive agenda of the 2023 Minnesota legislature — including free lunches for students, paid family and medical leave, driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, and more — was a large-scale effort of working-people lobbyists that needs to become national in scope.
When 1,200 Minnesota labor members agreed to walk off their jobs in January to protest ICE, that led to 50,000 workers statewide agreeing to do the same, leading to 350,000 Minnesotans overall — which led to a request by businesspeople to the White House administration to de-escalate.
Immigrant rights, labor rights, and women’s rights are interconnected.
The Wellstone Triangle, stemming from the principles of former U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, requires three critical components: community organizing through relationship building, recognizing that electoral politics is more than competing for power but having a base of local support, and public policy that reflects a clear agenda.

Marcia Howard noted that part of the narrative that must change is the faulty logic that the “only way to feel tall is if someone else is on their knees.”

Another panel featured global labor leaders who shared how they are addressing far-right and inequality issues, calling for international solidarity around social democratic values, tackling the climate crisis, and addressing the issues raised by artificial intelligence and technology.

Tomoko Yoshino is the first female president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation RENGO, who talked about efforts in Asian countries to improve gender equity and to fight humanitarian violations.
Joel Akhator Odigie of the African Regional Organization of the International Trade Union Confederation talked about his efforts to build a stronger African trade union movement.
Johan Lindholm of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation talked about the work they are doing to pressure Tesla to agree to collective bargaining and enable better wages and fairness in their country.
Sophie Binet of France spoke passionately as the first woman leader of Europe’s General Confederation of Labour, who has been targeted by a far-right European billionaire in an effort to weaken her work with trade unions from multiple countries. She has been outspoken against xenophobia and war.

Sophie Binet, the first woman leader of Europe’s General Confederation of Labour (photo by Sarah Whiting)

Said Binet, who spoke through a translator: “We need unity now more than ever. An attack against one of us is an attack against all of us, and the victory of any of us is a victory that leverages all our ambitions. Please recognize that we also need to count on you. We need to count on you to get rid of Trump and the rule of law that the wealthiest get to make all the decisions worldwide. Workers are paying the biggest price for these wars that have been perpetrated by the extreme right.”

As social programs are cut to pay for weapons, it is workers who suffer, she said. “Authoritarian regimes want to change our civil rights and our workers’ rights. And around the world, the transition to a green economy has been thrown away.”

France and other influential countries are also in the throes of far-right political candidates stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment, including through social media apparatus — stoking racism, fascism, and hatred. She said union solidarity is working to promote democracy, emancipation, and internationalism with messaging to show that “extreme white parties are impostors; they’re faking it when it comes to social policies” and “taking a chainsaw to rights.”

Binet indicated that mobilization and engagement of people power will make the difference. She said saying no to the far right is not enough. “We have to offer strong alternatives to win hearts and minds, otherwise it is empty values.” The goal is to talk about local industry issues, carbon neutral business, and democratizing companies to emphasize that the “fruits belong to laborers, not shareholders.”

She encapsulated the sentiment of much of the labor intentions: “While they are trying to turn the clock back, we are moving towards solidarity.”

2019 cartoon by Australian Denis Lushch that we learned about from an AFL-CIO convention participant

According to an August 2025 story in The Guardian, Starbucks has the largest gap in pay, with a CEO who is compensated $95.8 million while his company’s employees on average make $14,674. Many Starbucks employees have organized unions at 650 stores. They are (still) waiting for the company to negotiate a contract that includes a $17/hour minimum wage. There are 32 billionaires who owe their wealth to low-wage corporations, including eight from Walmart, four from Estee Lauder, and three from DoorDash.