President of the AFL-CIO, Liz Schuler's speech to Congress 2023
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Hello TUC unions! Good afternoon, siblings! It is great
to be here in Liverpool.
Thank you, President [Maria] Exall. Thank you to the
TUC team for the hard work organizing this Congress,
and for your work every day to fight for the working
people and families of the U.K.
You have a brilliant leader in Paul Nowak — he’s not
only a fierce organizer, but a respected leader in our
global labor movement and I’m honored to work
closely with him, Kate and your entire TUC team.
I am bringing the voices of 12.5 MILLION workers
across 60 national and international unions into the
room with me today. Workers who have a lot in
common with all of you because their work is similar:
Engineers. Construction workers. Nurses. Educators.
Bus drivers. Footballers — whether that is our
definition of football or yours!
And I can’t think of a better moment for us to
come together. To learn from each other and grow our
movements.
We have such a symbiotic relationship between us —
we learn from you, and are inspired by you. Whether
it’s music, with the British pop, rock and R&B with the
Beatles, the Stones, Bowie; or the economic and
trading partnership; or worker protections with
technology and AI…we are the closest of Allie’s and
are there for each other. That’s why I wanted to be
here.
Because this is a pivotal moment for working people.
No matter where you work or where you live.
I travel a lot and talk to workers in our unions, and lots
of people not in unions (yet).
And what I hear — especially from those not yet in a
union — is the same things over and over.
I need to make more money. I need a stable job.
I don’t feel *good* about my future. I wish I had some
power over my work and my life right now.
That same story is being told in both our countries,
from Los Angeles to Liverpool. Cleveland to Cardiff.
For a long time, workers have felt powerless. Workers
have been powerless.
All over the world, we’ve been up against the *exact
same* forces: The same greed. The same inequality.
The same existential threats.
We have CEOs handing themselves money at levels
we have never seen before. Our pay ratio is 272:1!
People like Jeff Bezos — who makes in seven
seconds what his warehouse worker makes in a year.
We have corporations who operate with a double
standard: they behave one way in countries with
strong labor protections … and then go to other
countries and exploit workers.
We have the rise of tech and A.I. — in the hands of
companies who would rather squeeze every last
dollar out of us, deskill us, replace us … rather than
treat workers with basic respect.
And it is astounding — that in the year 2023 … there
are places in this world, including the U.S. and here in
the U.K. … where our basic rights to organize and join
a union and strike are under attack.
As we see some of the highest levels of strike activity
in both our countries, certainly the highest levels in
U.S. history … and we stand in solidarity with U.K.
workers and the TUC on this fundamental right.
It’s clear we are up against some very powerful
forces.
But I stand here today more confident than I have
been in a long, long time.
Because these challenges have UNITED us. They are
driving working people all over the world TO OUR
UNIONS as the solution.
Brothers and sisters: This is OUR time.
I have never seen this kind of momentum in my 30
years in the labor movement.
In the U.S. alone: We have had more than 200 strikes
this year.
We are rising up across companies that are
household names: Starbucks. Amazon. Hollywood
studios that create the world’s entertainment.
Just a few weeks ago, we did a public poll of
Americans. I want to share two incredible numbers.
FIRST: More than two-thirds of Americans support
unions right now. That is the highest level in 60 years.
I will ask you as observers from the other side of the
pond: Do you know how hard it is to get two-thirds of
Americans to agree on *anything*?
And here is another number that’s staggering: 88% of
young Americans support unions right now.
Let me say that again: 9 of every 10 Americans,
under the age of 30, believe in unions.
That’s more than a number. That’s a MANDATE.
Young workers are HUNGRY for a way
forward…something better.
And it’s up to us to deliver. To create a modern,
inclusive, powerful movement that will make their lives
and our countries better.
Can we do that? Yes we can. But it will come down to
three questions.
FIRST: Can we organize like we never have before?
Can we get back to the heart of what we are as a
labor movement and grow from the ground up.
But we can’t do it the same way as in the past!
We need to keep taking on the giant companies that
continue to consolidate and dominate economies
across the world: Starbucks. Amazon. Apple.
We need to organize EMERGING sectors, too, like
clean energy.
In the U.S. we finally have federal investments
coming down the pike through the Inflation Reduction
Act. But it’s up to us to organize those jobs and make
sure that EVERY SINGLE JOB on these projects is a
GOOD UNION JOB. Because in the US, most of the
renewable energy industry is low wage and nonunion.
We want these companies who are making
investments, like the new electric vehicle companies
setting up shop in the Deep South- we want them to
know, these jobs will not be for poverty wages.
We are setting the standard right now as these
industries grow: They will be high wage, UNION
industries.
So whether it’s clean energy, the tech sector, child
care, the nonprofit sector, no matter what job you
have, we want everyone to see, it’s better in a union!
Here is the second question: Can we make sure
every worker has a say in the way that Tech and A.I.
shape our work?
You’ve seen— Hollywood is on strike— our unions
SAG AFTRA, WGA have been out for months.
When I walk the picket line with actors and writers …
their signs aren’t just about greed.
They are overwhelmingly about this sinister use of
technology and A.I. by those studios.
This idea that these writing jobs will soon be done by
an algorithm, or that performers’ likeness can be
monetized in perpetuity with little compensation – it’s
OUTRAGEOUS.
And if they’re coming for the most creative
professions we have, then what does that mean for
the rest us?
We need to take a stand.
WE need to define the future of work. On OUR terms.
We need to set the guardrails.
And we are working to do it on BOTH sides of the
Atlantic. The TUC’s new AI Taskforce is exactly what
we need — bringing together leaders from across
different industries, workers’ voices and experts — to
make technology work for working people, to make
our jobs better and safer, not to dehumanize or exploit
us.
We created the AFL-CIO Technology Institute last
year to do the same. To make sure workers are
involved in every sector and in every part of the
process, from the R&D and policy to the moment
technology comes into the workplace.
Here is the third and final question: Can we
mobilize our movement to DEFEND democracy …
and re-write the rules of this broken global economy?
And at the heart is creating a new trade model that
puts workers at the center. One that supports good
jobs at home, in our countries AND sustainable
development abroad.
One that is negotiated in the SUNLIGHT — not in
dark rooms by corporations.
One where UNIONS have our seat at the table.
And the right to strike is at the center of preserving
democracy — if our fundamental right to strike is
chipped away, it allows systems of oppression to
grow.
But this goes beyond trade agreements.
We’re going to use our power to stand up for
DEMOCRACY in this fraught moment — in the U.S.,
the U.K., and all over the world.
On the home front in America we’re already
mobilizing for next year’s elections. Getting ready for
the biggest political mobilization of workers in the
history of our country.
Make no mistake: The labor movement SHUT
DOWN Donald Trump in 2020, and we will
absolutely do it again!
We have to go deep. Donald Trump appealed to a lot
of working people because he tapped into the pain
they felt and continue to feel. That’s how authoritarian
figures rise — in the U.S. and all over the world.
They try to divide us along racial lines, class,
immigration, status, gender, and more.
If we are to truly rid ourselves of authoritarianism, of
fascism … of all those who would attack our rights …
we must be a political force in every election at every
level, every day, year round. Bringing together
workers of every age, background, orientation, race,
documentation status.
We are going to unite around our real enemies.
Because we know: An immigrant doesn’t stand
between you and a good job. A billionaire does.
We’re taking on that work at home … and we’ll
continue to stand with workers all over the world to
PROTECT democracies and democratic rights — it’s
fundamental.
The power of this moment is clear: We have the
power. We are on the rise. The people are with us.
We can seize this momentum. We can win, together.
Thank you, TUC, for bringing us together in solidarity.
Thank you to every worker in this fight.
I’m ready to keep fighting. Are you? Thank you!