What does the Georgia AFL-CIO do?

 Make History or Be History

The Georgia State AFL-CIO is the chartered state federation of the National AFL-CIO representing all affiliated AFL-CIO  Unions in Georgia.  Our role is to carry out the programs of the National AFL-CIO, to represent our affiliated local unions in the state legislature and lobby for their benefit on legislation. We screen and endorse candidates for Congress, state legislature and statewide office. The screening process is conducted by delegates elected by the membership of our affiliated local unions. When the endorsements are made, we work to get these candidates elected. We work with community services and charities, assist when possible in organizing, educate our members on issues, and assist our affiliated local unions, councils, and labor councils when asked.

We encourage our affiliated local unions and their members to be active in their communities, to participate fully in the political process by being registered to vote and exercising that right, and to contact their representatives and express their opinion on issues of importance to working people.

So, what do we want for our members and for all working people, and what do we fight for?

We want a fair days wage for a fair day's work. A wage that will provide a family a good decent standard of living and time to be with their families for personal time. We want safe working conditions on the job site and a clean environment. We want to be treated fairly and decently by our employers and we want respect for the job we do.

We want FAIR trade not free trade. We want trade policies that will allow us to compete in a global economy without lowering our standard of living to that of 2nd or 3rd world countries and policies that will help those countries raise the standard of living for their people. And we want businesses to compete with each other not on how little they can pay their workers but on the quality of their products and the production of their employees.

We believe in apprenticeship and education. We believe education and training makes people better employees and better citizens..

We believe in collective bargaining should be available to ALL employees as a means to attain these goals.

 In 1893 when  AFL President Samuel Gompers was asked, "What does Labor want?" He said, "We want more school houses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more constant work and less crime; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of  the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful and childhood more happy and bright.  These in brief are the primary demands made by the Trade Unions in the name of labor."  We believe his answer is just as valid today.

Key Benefits of Affiliation With The Georgia AFL-CIO