Category Archives: Press Release

Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Begin Negotiations for a New Contract Today

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 10, 2013 - 10:43 am | ,
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DALLAS – Bargaining teams for Southwest’s flight attendants and the airline’s management will sit down in Dallas today to begin negotiations for a successor agreement.  “We are committed to maintaining the industry’s leading contract for flight attendants and also ensuring the continued success of the airline,” said Audrey Stone, the new Transport Workers Union Local 556 president.  TWU Local 556 represents the 11,000 flight attendants at Southwest.

Since the last major round of negotiations in 2009, the low-cost carrier, recognized as the most profitable domestic airline, has made a number of significant changes, including merging with AirTran and purchasing aircraft that can fly over water to international destinations.  Southwest also has made major additions to its route map. The flight attendants’ contract became “amendable” on May 31. Under the Railway Labor Act, the federal law that sets collective bargaining rules for airline and railroad workers, contracts don’t have end dates; they become open to changes or, in other words, amendable.

“We have a strong negotiating team in place, and they have been hard at work for months preparing for these talks,” said Stone. The TWU bargaining team conducted multiple member surveys and traveled to all Southwest base cities to talk with flight attendants.

Southwest’s flight attendants’ union has gone through two transitions of officers in the past year. This month, Stone advanced to the union’s top position.  Following this week’s contract talks, Stone, along with the rest of the negotiating team, will travel to nine cites where flight attendants are domiciled to brief members on the ongoing negotiations.

This has been an eventful month for Local 556; in addition to the start of bargaining and a transition of officers, the union is celebrating its successful effort to reverse a TSA policy proposal that would have allowed pocket knives, large sticks and clubs to be carried on commercial aircraft. TWU Local 556 was the first flight attendant group to speak out about the proposed policy change. Other unions, along with passenger groups, quickly joined the local in opposing the measure. After a three-month battle in the media, at local airports and in the halls of government, TSA rescinded the policy.

 

TWU Local 556 represents 11,000 flight attendants at Southwest Airlines. The Transport Workers Union of America represents 200,000 workers and retirees, primarily in commercial aviation, public transportation and passenger railroads and is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s Statement On May Jobs Report

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 7, 2013 - 5:07 pm | , ,
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The politics of austerity still hold the world in a vise-like grip and today’s employment report provides another view of that failure, despite U.S. job creation barely above what’s needed to accommodate new entrants into the labor market.

Within today’s 7.6% unemployment rate are millions of people who could be building our economy. Millions of young people are living with unemployment rates between 25 and 50 percent, their dreams of opportunity slowly fading. Communities of color are devastated.  And formerly middle class workers are finding part time, low wage, no benefit jobs. This tepid, so-called recovery hurts all of us.

The reality is, our economy will not recover until our government and global financial institutions begin to govern – not just for the banks – but for the well-being of all of us. People unwilling to give up the ghost of austerity provide the same-old tired ideas: the idea that drastic cuts to public spending will promote private spending.

Austerity doesn’t work—under any name or by any measure. Eurozone leaders are beginning to accept this idea. We should do the same.

As Michael Linden of the Center for American Progress reported yesterday, the economic theory and empirical reality undergirding the bipartisan embrace of austerity have crumbled. The evidence shows that what we need now is job creation.  Amidst sequester and without real progress on the 2014 budget or the debt ceiling, he argues that “[t]hese changes should dramatically affect the debate on federal economic policy in general and the federal budget in particular.”

We strongly agree with Linden’s assertion and urge Congress to reject cuts in Social Security and Medicare, reject senseless cuts that hurt the ability of our country to grow and meet the needs of people. The sequester is not savvy frugality but a disastrous assault on working people that Congress must repeal, rather than replace. We must all demand real solutions — like investments in good jobs, education, infrastructure, job training, and the green jobs that come with sustainable development. America’s working people are ready to stand with any leaders committed to large-scale investments to create jobs, to rebuild our middle class and lead us all forward.

Iron Workers Call on Congress to Break Gridlock on Infrastructure

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 4, 2013 - 8:30 pm | , , ,
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Washington, D.C. – Iron Workers’s General President Walter Wise issued a call Friday for Congress to address the problem of America’s crumbling infrastructure.  “The collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington serves as a reminder that this can’t wait until after the next election,” said Wise, adding that “infrastructure maintenance and improvement is not a partisan issue.”

President Wise points to years of poor reports on the state of the country’s infrastructure to make the case that action on this issue is long overdue.  The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country’s bridges a grade of D+ this year.  The Washington bridge collapse and the 2007 collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minnesota illustrate the pressing safety threat posed by substandard bridges.

The Ironworkers have also called for high standards in bridge construction.  They point to the San Francisco Area Bay Bridge, which has been built using substandard Chinese steel and fabrication. To date, the bridge has suffered numerous failures and delays related to its materials and construction.  Amid continuing reports of these setbacks, the federal government has begun an investigation and California Governor Jerry Brown has called for a review of the California Department of Transportation.

Unfortunately, none of these problems can be addressed without congressional action.  Senate gridlock resulting from an unprecedented 360 filibusters from the Republican minority has destroyed even the bi-partisanship normally associated with infrastructure investment and safety.  “Unemployed construction workers and at-risk commuters are all waiting on Congress to do what’s right for the American people.” Wise concludes, “How much longer will they have to wait?”

About the Iron Workers: The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union, AFL-CIO, currently represents 120,000 ironworkers in North America who work on bridges, structural steel, ornamental, architectural, and miscellaneous metals, rebar, and in shops.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Retiree Leader Edward Coyle comment on the 2013 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 4, 2013 - 6:50 pm | , ,
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The most important message from the 2013 Social Security Trustees Report is that our Social Security system continues to work for the American people.  After years of economic crisis for working families, Social Security is in better shape and more dependable than 401(k)s, private pensions, or any other public or private program.  We must call out those who will try to misuse today’s  report as political cover for unwarranted and ill-advised benefit cuts, like switching to the “chained CPI” to calculate Social Security’s annual cost of living increase (COLA).

The truth is that at a time when America’s retirement income deficit is estimated to be an astounding $6.6 trillion because too many people have nothing or too little in pensions or savings, we cannot afford to cut Social Security’s modest benefits in anyway whatsoever, including how it keeps pace with inflation through its annual COLA.   The Report reaffirms that, without any changes, Social Security can pay full benefits until 2033 and three-quarters of benefits after that, unchanged from last year’s report.

Social Security provides a critical base of financial security and dignity for Americans in retirement or unable to work due to disability or when a working parent dies and is survived by young children. Going forward, strong economic growth broadly shared will serve to strengthen the program further.

While much might be made of the projected shortfall in the disability trust fund, there is a simple step that should be taken to address any short-run concerns.  As it has done eleven times before, Congress should reallocate the income across the two funds.

The good news from today’s Medicare Trustees report, extending the life of the Hospital Insurance trust fund by another two years to 2026, reminds us that we do not have a Medicare problem.  We have a health care cost problem.  Recent reforms have helped strengthen Medicare and appear to have contributed to a significant slowing of health costs overall in the short run.  If we are to succeed in the long run, however, we need to continue taking steps to make health care more affordable and the health care system more cost effective, and reject proposals to cut benefits or shift costs to individuals.

Patriot Coal Bankruptcy Ruling Wrong, Unfair, UMWA Says

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 29, 2013 - 5:47 pm | ,
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The ruling announced today by Judge Kathy Surratt-States of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Missouri in favor of proposals by Patriot Coal to eliminate its collective bargaining agreements and cut off retiree health care is “wrong, unfair and fails to fully recognize the coming wave of human suffering that will be experienced by thousands of people throughout the coalfields,” United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts said today.

“As often happens under American bankruptcy law, the short-term interests of the company are valued more than the dedication and sacrifice of the workers, who actually produce the profits that make a company successful,” Roberts said.

“The UMWA presented a very clear picture in court of what Patriot actually needed to come out of bankruptcy,” Roberts said. “Patriot can survive as a viable and profitable company well into the future without inflicting the level of pain on active and retired miners and their families it seeks. Patriot is using a temporary liquidity problem to achieve permanent changes that will significantly reduce the living standards of thousands of active and retired miners and their families.

“We are disappointed that the Bankruptcy Court failed to see that, and we intend to appeal the ruling to the Federal District Court,” Roberts said.

“But I want to make it emphatically clear that despite this ruling, the UMWA’s effort to win fairness for these active and retired workers is by no means over,” Roberts said. “Indeed, this ruling makes it more important than ever for the architects of this travesty, Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, to take responsibility for the obligations they made to thousands of retirees who are now at imminent risk.”

Patriot was created by Peabody Energy in 2007 with 43 percent of Peabody’s liabilities but just 11 percent of its assets. Because Patriot was created with insufficient assets to meet its liabilities to retired miners, analysts such as Bruce Rader, Professor of Finance at Temple University, have described the company as “designed to fail.” Even Patriot CEO Ben Hatfield said that “something doesn’t smell right” about the manner in which his company was founded.

In 2008, Patriot acquired Magnum Coal, a company created by Arch Coal and other investors, into which Arch had shifted all its long-term liabilities to retirees, spouses and widows.

Under the Bankruptcy Court’s ruling, Patriot will be allowed to cease paying for retiree health care benefits as early as July 1. Responsibility for paying benefits would be handed over to a Voluntary Employee Beneficial Association (VEBA), which will only have guaranteed funding of $15 million plus a royalty payment of $0.20 per ton of coal the company produces, which may add approximately $5 million to the VEBA per year. Current health care costs for these retirees average nearly $7 million per month.

The company has offered the UMWA a 35 percent stake in the company, which could be sold to help fund the VEBA, in the event there is a willing buyer. Since the current and future value of the company is unknown, there is no way of knowing how much money this could provide for health care benefits or when such funding would be available. The company has also proposed a profit-sharing mechanism that would not provide any additional assistance to the VEBA until 2016 and even then would not provide more than about $2 million per year, at best.

“We are going to continue to make every effort to secure adequate funding to meet the long-term health care needs of these retirees,” Roberts said. “Peabody and Arch can decide to live up to their obligations and end this problem tomorrow. But if they don’t, we will continue our litigation against them and are optimistic about our chances.”

The UMWA has filed suit in Charleston, W. Va., alleging that Peabody and Arch violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by illegally dumping contractual obligations when they created Patriot and Magnum.

The Bankruptcy Judge’s ruling creates a path for Patriot to throw out its current collective bargaining agreements with the UMWA and implement substandard conditions of employment at its operations where the UMWA represents the workers. This includes cutting wages by several dollars per hour, taking thousands of dollars out of family incomes; eliminating paid time off by about one-third, with higher cuts for more senior employees; and drastically increasing out-of-pocket health care costs.

The ruling also allows Patriot to eliminate retiree health care for currently active employees, more than half of whom have worked long enough to be eligible for health care under the cancelled UMWA contract. Several hundred more are within 3 years of eligibility.

“Patriot says that for it to survive, the union-represented workforce needs to be on the same scale as its non-union workers,” Roberts said. “No, it does not need that and it never did.

“The UMWA made specific proposals to the company that demonstrate–using the company’s own numbers and future projections–how the company could get through the next couple of lean years and then make millions, without punishing its workers in this way,” Roberts said. “The company rejected every one of those proposals and continues to insist upon changing long-standing contractual language that will not improve their bottom line one penny.”

“We will continue to meet with the company this week to see if there is a way forward,” Roberts said. “We have long acknowledged that Patriot is in trouble, because it can no longer pay Peabody and Arch’s bills. We remain willing to take painful steps to help Patriot get through the rough period it faces over the next couple of years.

“But if we’re going to share in that pain, then we have every right to share in the company’s gain when it becomes profitable again,” Roberts said. “That only makes sense, and we will continue to try to get this management team to understand that.”

The UMWA’s public protests against Peabody and Arch will continue with a June 4 rally in Henderson, KY, at 10:00 a.m. at the Henderson County courthouse. More than 4,000 people are expected at that event.

The AFL-CIO and EUTC Discuss Trans-Atlantic Trade And Investment Program

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 28, 2013 - 4:49 pm | , , ,
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Richard_TrumkaMeeting in Paris, President Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO and General Secretary Bernadette Ségol of the ETUC discussed shared priorities for the TTIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) to advance the interests of working people and fight misguided austerity policies on both sides of the Atlantic.

The AFL-CIO and the ETUC officially kicked off a joint campaign to ensure that shared prosperity and sustainable growth are the driving principles in the upcoming talks on a United States – European Union trade agreement known as TTIP.

The ETUC and the AFL-CIO both recognised that a successful trade agreement must be based on the best practices on each side of the Atlantic, in order to have positive impacts on jobs and economic growth.  Both organisations committed to devoting the resources and effort needed to ensure that working people as well as negotiators understand how the TTIP can be shaped to maximise the opportunities for workers to share in its benefits.  Priority areas include the labour, regulatory, and investment rules the agreement would establish.

Both groups agreed that the goals of the TTIP should include full employment, decent work, and rising standards of living for all—not the enshrinement of destructive austerity, de-regulation, or other neoliberal ideas prominent in recent years.  Trumka and Ségol’s first order of business will be finalising a joint position statement on the pending agreement.  They agreed to maintain close contact in following the course of the negotiations.

The two labour leaders also discussed the unacceptable labour rights regime in Bangladesh and ways the two organisations could cooperate to advance labour rights, fair pay, and improved working conditions for Bangladesh’s workers.

For more information on the federations’ principles and goals for the TTIP, please visit:

http://www.etuc.org/a/11228 (ETUC)

http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Trade/U.S.-EU-Free-Trade-Agreement(AFL-CIO)

The ETUC exists to speak with a single voice, on behalf of the common interests of workers, at European level. Founded in 1973, it now represents 85 trade union organisations in 36 European countries, plus 10 industry-based federations.

The ETUC is also on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. If you would like to subscribe to the ETUC newsletter, please click here.

 

NH Senate Republicans Vote Against State Minimum Wage & Senator Jeb Bradley’s Refusal to Answer Whether He Supports a Minimum Wage

  By Granite State Progress | May 23, 2013 - 2:29 pm | , , , ,
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NH Senate Republicans Vote Against State Minimum Wage & Senator Jeb Bradley’s Refusal to Answer Whether He Supports a Minimum Wage

Former Congressman and current State Senator Jeb Bradley refuses to answer question posed on floor of Senate

CONCORD, NH – Granite State Progress releases the following statement regarding New Hampshire Senate Republicans’ uniform vote against a state minimum wage law today, and lead opponent former Congressman and current State Senator Jeb Bradley’s refusal to answer whether he supports a minimum wage at all. Executive Director Zandra Rice Hawkins:

“Our organization believes that working people should be able to pay their bills and we support a minimum wage that reflects the real needs and economic climate in our state. HB 501 would have restored local control in New Hampshire. Several of those who spoke in opposition to this bill in committee don’t believe in a minimum wage, period. Senator Jeb Bradley was the lead opponent to New Hampshire having its own minimum wage, and he twice refused to answer whether he supports a minimum wage at all.

“The working families and small businesses of New Hampshire deserve leaders who understand the importance of a strong middle class. The Senate Republicans have signaled, once again, that they are out of touch with Granite State values.”

GSP Video: NH Sen. Jeb Bradley Refuses to Answer Whether He Supports a Minimum Wage


 

The NH Senate voted 13-11 along party lines to kill HB 501, which would have simply restored New Hampshire’s ability to set its own minimum wage. According to media reports, New Hampshire had its own minimum wage law from 1949 until 2011, when the Republican-led House and Senate repealed it.

Governor Hassan Chastises Senate For Rejecting Federal Health Care Funds

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 23, 2013 - 11:38 am | , ,
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Maggie HassanGovernor Hassan on Senate Republicans’ Rejection of Federal Health Care Dollars: Wrong Decision for Families and Economy

CONCORD – In response to the announcement Wednesday evening by Senate Republican leadership that they intend to reject Medicaid expansion, Governor Maggie Hassan released the following statement:

“The decision by Senate Republican leadership to reject $2.5 billion in federal dollars will make health coverage more expensive for hard-working New Hampshire families and undermine our state’s economic recovery.

“They are rejecting health coverage for tens of thousands of working families, rejecting 700 jobs, and rejecting more than $92 million in savings for our state. Uncompensated care at our hospitals’ emergency rooms and health centers increases costs for everyone, and rejecting these dollars will mean more than 58,000 Granite Staters will continue to go without health insurance.

“Despite the fact that, across the country, leaders from both parties have agreed that expansion is a good deal and the right thing to do, Senate Republicans have made the wrong decision for our families, our economy and the ongoing efforts to innovate and strengthen our health care system. I urge New Hampshire’s Senators to rise above ideology and move forward with accepting these critical dollars that will strengthen the health of our people and our economy.”

Congresswomen Kuster Sends Letter To Pres. Obama: Time to End the VA Claims Backlog

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 22, 2013 - 7:45 pm | , ,
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Urges President to take action to ensure veterans receive timely care

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) today continued her efforts to support the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) goal of eliminating the benefits claims backlog by 2015. In a letter to President Obama, Kuster joined a bipartisan group of colleagues in urging the President to help end the back and forth between the VA and Department of Defense (DoD) regarding the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, and to help ensure that DoD is providing health records to the VA in a timely fashion.

“Our nation’s veterans and servicemembers deserve the efficiency and effectiveness that would come with a seamless health record,” the group wrote in their letter to the President. “They also deserve the timeliness in resolving their disability claims that may come from DoD providing certified to be complete electronic records to VA for the purpose of adjudicating claims in a timelier manner…Veterans need your leadership to address these issues, Mr. President. Our veterans’ welfare depends on these important decisions. We stand ready to assist you in any way that you deem necessary to achieve the requests herein.”

Earlier today, Kuster participated in a hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee examining the VA’s efforts to process long-outstanding benefits claims.

Kuster has consistently spoken out about the need to eliminate the VA claims backlog. Earlier this month, she announced a coordinated legislative package to help the VA in its efforts to address the backlog. The package of ten bills seeks to help the VA meet its goal of eliminating the backlog in full by 2015, and includes legislation introduced by Kuster that would encourage the VA to make greater use of automation in the processing of veterans claims, increasing efficiency within the Department and freeing up resources to provide more timely services for veterans.

 

The full text of the letter is below.

Dear President Obama: 

We are writing to ask for your timely assistance in ending the bureaucratic back and forth on veterans’ records, which is negatively affecting veteran’s disability claims, and potentially their health. As you may be aware this was one of eight ideas identified to make government work at the Bi- Partisan No Labels policy forum in which more than twenty-five members of congress participated. However, this has been a long standing concern and issue that seemingly the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense, cannot resolve. The technology exists, the will is fervent, and the time to fix this is now.

Our nation’s veterans and servicemembers deserve the efficiency and effectiveness that would come with a seamless health record. They also deserve the timeliness in resolving their disability claims that may come from DoD providing certified to be complete electronic records to VA for the purpose of adjudicating claims in a timelier manner.

As such, we are asking for your immediate action on two specific items. First, end the back and forth amongst DoD and VA regarding the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record. The time has come for a decision to be made and for the permanent merging of electronic health-care records of the DoD and the VA. Select a system, pick a path, and move forward. We can no longer waste the time or money that will result from endless bureaucratic inaction. 

Second, it has come to our attention that many claims are being dramatically delayed by DoD’s lack of timeliness in providing records to VA with a particular emphasis on our National Guard and Reserve units. Mr. President, if VA is moving into an electronic processing system, it will be impossible to meet Secretary Shinseki’s goal of no claim pending for longer than 125 days if VA is waiting on DoD for 175 days. We are asking for your personal commitment that DoD will provide to VA certified to be complete service, personal, and medical records in an electronic format by the end of this calendar year. We believe a timely turnaround would be DoD making the information available within 21 days of discharge or 45 days for previously separated service members.  

Veterans need your leadership to address these issues, Mr. President. Our veterans’ welfare depends on these important decisions. We stand ready to assist you in any way that you deem necessary to achieve the requests herein.

Former AFL-CIO Organizer And Director Of Job With Justice Becomes Exec Director Of USAction

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 22, 2013 - 5:00 pm | , ,
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Labor has been on the forefront of economic inequality since workers first decided to bargain collectively.   That connection between labor and economic equality is showing as USAction announced their new executive director.

USAction, a leading national community organizing network with affiliates in 21 states and nearly 350,000 members nationwide, announced today that Fred Azcarate, a rising star in the labor and progressive movement, will take over as the organization’s new Executive Director. Azcarate, the former Executive Director of Jobs with Justice and President of the US Student Association, is currently the head of the AFL-CIO’s jobs campaign asdirector of America Wants to Work. Last year, Azcarate was named one of “50 Young Progressive Activists Who Are Changing America” cited in the Huffington Post. The hire represents a significant alignment between the community organizing and labor networks.

“Fred brings an unparalleled understanding of and commitment to community organizing and feels to his core the issues that we fight for,” said Khalid Pitts, President of USAction and Director of Strategic Campaigns at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). “Fred will be a tremendous springboard to bring USAction into the future and to build on the important work Jeff Blum started. We’re extremely excited to have him leading our team, and building an even stronger bond between the labor and organizing movements.”

USAction was founded in 1999 with a goal to engage national partners and state affiliates in progressive campaigns that enrich people’s lives. Over the years, USAction has fought to protect Social Security and Medicare from privatization efforts, organized the second-largest nonpartisan voting registration effort in history, fought for affordable, quality healthcare, and campaigned to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes while providing jobless benefits for the unemployed.  Currently, USAction and its 21 state affiliates employ a staff of 240 in 40 offices, has approximately 342,000 members, and a combined listserv capacity of 1.2 million supporters. Azcarate replaces outgoing and founding Executive Director Jeff Blum.

“I am so excited to build on the phenomenal work that USAction affiliates and national partners are doing every day, whether it’s to increase access to health care, right-size the Pentagon so we can invest in America’s real priorities, or create smart immigration reform policies,” said Azcarate.  “We’re at a critical moment, and I’m thrilled to help lead the fight for an economy of opportunity and justice, to rebuild the middle class and ensure that all have access to it. There’s a saying I like- ‘If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together.’ Together we will walk with our partners across the progressive movement to build an economy that works for everyone.”

“As corporate interests step up their attacks on working people and the middle class struggles to get ahead, the fight for jobs and economic prosperity needs all the allies it can get,” said Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO. “I can think of no better ally than USAction with Fred Azcarate at the helm. I’ve been working side by side with Fred for the last six years to give working people a voice on the job, and a future with economic security. His passion will be key to bringing the labor and community organizing networks together to wage campaigns that create good jobs, health care, and a secure retirement.”

Azcarate has been at the AFL-CIO since 2007, when he was hired to run the AFL-CIO’s Voice@Work campaign, including the campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. From 1992 until 2007, Azcarate was the Executive Director for Jobs with Justice, growing the organization from 3 staff to an organization with 60 staff and representing more than 40 coalitions. Prior to that, Azcarate served as President of the US Student Association.

“When labor unions and community organizers come together to fight for the 99 percent, everyone benefits,” said Mary Kay Henry, SEIU’s International President. “By strengthening our partnership, we can create an economy that addresses inequities and works better for all of us.”

“I’ve had the great privilege of working with both Fred and USAction for a number of years,” said Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America. “USAction has played a critical role in bringing together the progressive movement, and Fred is a great leader, who has led a growing movement for democracy and economic justice. Together, they’re going to do great things for all of us.”

Said Center for Community Change Executive Director, Deepak Bhargava, “Last month, USAction and Center for Community Change created an historic partnership between our two organizations, with the idea being that progressivism demands movements and coalitions whose efforts are greater than the sum of their parts. That’s exactly why Fred Azcarate is the perfect person to lead USAction and our movement.”

Azcarate comes from a labor family– his mother, a nurse, belonged to SEIU1199 in New York. He graduated from SUNY-Binghamton with a Bachelor’s degree in economics. Today, Azcarate lives in Takoma Park, MD with his wife and two young sons.