Union News

Black Lives Matter Today and Every Day

  • 19 June 2020

On June 19, 1865, the Union Army announced in Galveston, Texas, then a sparsely populated state, that all enslaved people were to be liberated, two years after Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation.

One hundred and fifty-five years later, on the anniversary of that fateful day, Juneteenth is celebrated nationwide in what is believed to be the oldest African-American holiday. OPEIU joins this national celebration and remembrance of black history, black culture, black struggle, and black progress.

This Juneteenth also serves as an opportunity to remember our black brothers, sisters, and non-binary siblings who today are still working, without choice, within the U.S. prison system. Hundreds of companies in the U.S. produce their products on the backs of underpaid workers in our nation's broken prison system, populated through our nation's broken criminal justice system that seems to criminalize blackness at every step of the way.

In celebrating Juneteenth this year, OPEIU recommits itself to the long and difficult struggle for black equality, black empowerment, and black freedom from a set of systems and institutions – ranging from policing and employment discrimination to profit-based healthcare and the intentional defunding of social programs – built specifically to benefit the few at the expense of many.

 

OPEIU Celebrates Justice for DREAMers, Calls for Citizenship

  • 18 June 2020

The following statement was made by OPEIU President Richard Lanigan in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the rights of DACA recipients in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California.

The Supreme Court’s ruling today is a landmark victory for a group of hardworking young people who deserve to live and work without fear of deportation or repression. Though OPEIU celebrates this milestone victory, there is more work to be done to fully win justice for DREAMers. 

OPEIU Applauds Recent SCOTUS Ruling on LGBTQIA+ Workers' Rights

  • 16 June 2020

Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO, President Richard Lanigan on the Supreme Court decisions for Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, and R.G. & G. R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

OPEIU applauds yesterday's Supreme Court decisions, which solidified long-sought workplace protections for our LGBTQIA+ siblings.

This is a monumental victory for our LGBTQIA+ family. No one's livelihood should be taken away by a discriminatory employer just because of who one loves, or how one identifies.

All working people deserve justice in the workplace, so we are pleased by the Supreme Court's decision to extend essential rights to a group of people whose rights have unjustly hung in the balance for far too long.

Identity Protection Solutions Webinar for OPEIU Members

  • 15 June 2020

Dear OPEIU Member:

We all have been affected by the turbulence created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our workplace environment has changed, travel, family and social engagements are at a distance or halted, our financial wellness is on high alert and what we prioritized earlier in the year may have changed.

The U.S. also has seen a sharp increase in pandemic-related unemployment fraud as jobless numbers climb and more people file for unemployment benefits.

AFL-CIO General Board Recommends Police Reform, Calls for Defense Secretary, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff and President of Minneapolis Police Union to Resign

  • 9 June 2020

(Washington, D.C., June 9, 2020)—Today, the General Board of the AFL-CIO adopted a comprehensive set of recommendations to take concrete action to address America’s long history of racism and police violence against black people.

These recommendations include calling for the immediate resignations of the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for their roles in the misuse of federal military power to put down peaceful demonstrations (full statement below); supporting the call of the Minnesota AFL-CIO for the president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis union to resign and backing the statement of MLK Labor in Seattle demanding changes from its police affiliate; recommending that every central labor council work with local unions to engage in community listening sessions modeled after the 2013 AFL-CIO Convention; recommitting the labor movement to continue acting on the findings of the AFL-CIO Labor Commission on Racial and Economic Justice and the demographic recommendations of the AFL-CIO Commission on the Future of Work and Unions; and supporting recommendations put forth by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to crack down on police brutality while protecting the due process rights of all pubic service workers.

 

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Contact Us

Nicole Korkolis
Director of Communication,   Education and Research
212-675-3210
nkorkolis@opeiu.org



 

Suzanne Fenech

Communication Specialist
sfenech@opeiu.org

 

 

 

 

 

Kyle Friend

Senior Communication Strategist
kfriend@opeiu.org

 

 

 

 

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About Us

​The Office and Professional Employees International Union was chartered in 1945 and​, with more than ​90,000 members, we’re one of the larger unions of the AFL-CIO. OPEIU has locals ​throughout the United States and Canada.

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