but here he was the storied president of the afl, cio, which is which many people know is the large umbrella federation of many unions in the united states representing 12 million workers in. so many industries. but while ben was working with the afl, cio he saw what you chronicled. so in your book just factory after factory closing as they moved operations, either south or down to mexico or even further abroad and that broke. that broke ben. and when he came back to portland, maine, his hometown, he spent a year really just grappling what he had witnessed in america and determined to prove that capitalism and labor could unite, could work together and be a force of good and rebuild community that he had seen in the places industry had left you create good jobs and create amazing products and so so he created this company so. whitney and waxman together built this company american roots that creates all american sourced apparel. right? right. it was it's it's just extraordinary this how much this company is like a unicorn. right. it's they they invited a union in, right. or they they wanted

but while ben was working with the afl, cio he saw at you chronicled. so in your book just factory after factory closing as they moved operations, either south or down to mexico or even further abroad and that broke. that broke ben. and when he came back to portland, maine, his hometown, he spent a year really just grappling what he had witnessed in america and determined to prove that capitalism and labor could unite, could work together and be a force of good and rebuild community tt he had seen in the places industry had left you create good jobs and create amazing products and so so he created this company so. whitney and waxman together built this company american roots that creates all american sourced apparel. right? right. it was it's it's just extraordinary this how much this company is like a unicorn. right. it's they they invited a union in, right. or they they wanted to be union made everything sauce, every thread every button sourced from the united states. this is kind of what, you know, kind of impossible right. you're i mean, were they w

afl-cio. early in his days in -- ever since his early days in the labor movement when he worked for the national treasury embryos union, the american federation of government combleeshgs and the united mine workers, bill has been at the forefront of improving working conditions. he continue that fight while serving at the department of labor and on the staff former vice president al gore n2010 n2010,after afl-cio president ale sweeney, bill got to work organizing lobbying grassroots efforts, communicating with senators, members of congress, the administration, an afl-cio union members. bill quickly gained the trust of members through his dedication and pragmatism. through his partnership with the next president, trumka, bill brought the legislative areas ofs to new hates. he worked with us on critical, important issues such as the employee free choice act, the affordable care act, the border security act of 2013, man, our country would have been better off had that bill passed the house, the p

she returned to the afl-cio in 2003 for the next ten years. she pushed people running for office around the country to put workers at the center. she knew that was morally right, but also good politics to put workers at the center of what we do, and how we campaign and how we carry out our jobs. from a pro-labor platform to smaller suggestions, like hosting events at union hotels. i know the presiding officer from minnesota does things like that. after election day, ann held candidates to their promises, and kept them accountable to workers. her colleagues call her the sole of the labor program. it's clearest ann still understood the importance of having pro-labor and pro-worker representation. she saw it in the senate, carried it through her career. it led ann to the afl-cio then the ibew, the electrical workers, where she's been an integral part of that for the past ten years. she worked with an experienced staff of grassroots organizer, analysts and advocates, fighting for ibew's 820,000 members and retirees across industries and fields. an

i am fred redman, the secretary-treasurer of the afl-cio.e are a federation of national -- 60 national unions representing 12.5 million working people in every state and territory and in all parts of our economy. we are honored and we are committed to come together with bishop barber and dr. theoharis and the poor people's campaign. and our partners in the faith and civil rights and social justice movements to mobilize working people and use our collective voice to demand an end to systemic economic justice -- injustice and this scourge of poverty. the american labor movement, we fight for all working people and their families. we fight injustice in our communities and at work and we are committed to vanquishing oppression in all of its forms. and, look, there is no greater form of a pressure than when a country with immense resources and wealth allows its people to suffer and die from a lack of resources. poverty is a failure of the system. it exists because we allow it to exist. and dr. king knew that. he saw poverty for what it was, a mor

the president of the entire afl-cio.esenting the president of the entire afl-cio. then representative from mary kay henry with seiu. how are you doing? it has been a long time. we also want you to know that george grisham, sends his regards, and that seiu 1199 is also going to be mobilizing. historically, you should know they stuck with dr. king, for instance, when others did not. you should also note that today is -- i don't know if i mentioned this, but this is the 13th -- 11th anniversary of the beginning of moral monday in north carolina. today. this afternoon. the first 50 people would have gone into do civil disobedience which led to tens of thousands and victory in the southern state but it took us years of fighting because we are in it to win it for the long-haul. let me invite them to come. then we're going to bring up everybody else afterwards. >> i represent over united states and canada, nearly i've hundred thousand prisoners -- 500,000 parishioners. i want for others what i want for myself, a living wage tha

afl-cio. house, i wasn't expect today win. my opponent was a republican leader in the state house, he had the money, he had the establishment, but i had the backing of working families and organized labor. [applause] >> they funded my campaign on knocked on doors. the election in 2014, a very bad year for democrats. our democratic governor went down to defeat, but i won. it's not just union money and boots on the ground that have been important to my election, but it's union values. my dad believed in buying quality. he believed in buying things that were built to last and taking care of them. whether that was clothes that would hold up while working construction, or in his vehicle. look on the screens here, hopefully we've got a picture. this is my dad. he had a ford f-100 pickup truck that he loved and he spent hours polishing and you see that's me on the back there as well. he spent showers polishing and waxing that truck and i would often help them. he taught me and my brothers how to take

of the illinois afl-cio.rer. just like when tad encouraged me to run for the state house, i wasn't expected to win. i had the backing of working families and organized labor. they funded my campaign, they knocked on doors, and at the election of 2014, a very bad year for democrats, our democratic governor went down in defeat, but i won. it has not just been union money and boots on the ground that have been important to my election. it's also been union backers. my dad believed in high quality. he believed in buying things that were built to last and taking care of them, whether that was clothes that would hold up while working construction, or in his vehicles. on the screens here hopefully we've got a picture. this is my dad. he had a ford f 100 pickup truck that he loved, and he spent hours polishing and waxing that truck and i would often help him. he taught me my brothers how to take care of it. he has had his current dodge pickup truck for 25 years. that is him standing in the bed of the truck. he also t

of the country's largest labor groups including afl's cio, united autoworkers and the internationalpport behind biden's 2024 run and is announcing its involvement in the brand new educators for biden/harris coalition. this is a new partnership. tell us about it. >> mika, it's good to join you again this morning. we are so excited for our kickoff this evening where i'll be joining first lady dr. jill biden, who is, as you know, a long-time educator and an nea member, now affectionately called flotus. she'll be joining us with hundreds of educators as we launch our educators for biden coalition. it's a national organizing campaign where we are motivating and activating and engaging teachers and education support staff and parents and allies who believe in public schools, all coming together to tell their stories of real students, real schools, real educators who through the tenure of president biden has seen increases, record increases in public education and investing in our educators and our students. >> so obviously the biden administration has the greatest advocate ever in the fir