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Pittsburgh is unique in its dramatic and powerful labor history. It\'s the site of legendary strikes—Homestead in 1892 and U.S. Steel in the 1930s—and the birthplace of both the AFL and the CIO, as well as the United Steelworkers, the Ironworkers and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers. This photo was taken from a kayak at the point where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers converge to form the Ohio River. View a larger version of this photo. |
Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009
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| A 50-member contingent from the Farm Labor Organizing Committee participated in the September 13 Diversity Conference that met in the morning before the full AFL-CIO convention began. When the conference adjourned, they marched out together to board a bus home to Ohio. FLOC secretary-treasurer Beatrice Maya said the workers work primarily picking tomatoes. “Immigration is definitely the number one issue,” she said. |
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| Minnesotans in the registration line included Linda Hamilton (left), a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association, and her son Shawn Hamilton (right), a member of IBEW Local 292. Both said they were attending their first national AFL-CIO convention. Linda Hamilton said she came to the convention to accept a “Political Heroes” award from the AFL-CIO. |
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| A blues band (above) performed as the delegates filled the hall. The “Solidarity Chorus,” composed of members of the Pittsburgh Gospel Chorus and labor union volunteers from across the country, also performed. |
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| Jack Shea, president of the Pittsburgh area’s Allegheny County Labor Council, called the convention to order and welcomed delegates. “Welcome to the birthplace of the AFL-CIO,” he said, noting the federation’s founding in Pittsburgh in 1881. |
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| Delegates gave a standing ovation to former Pittsburgh Steelers star Franco Harris, who likened a football team coming together to win a game to the challenge facing labor: “Now it is your time to believe in the heart and soul and potential of the American labor movement… You can change the game… The ball is in your hands.” |
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| AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, who is retiring, spoke after delegates viewed a tribute video and gave him a standing ovation. “Brothers and sisters,” he said. “This week isn’t about what Sweeney has done; it’s about what you have done… Together we have changed the course of our country.” |
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| Incoming AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka highlighted the challenges facing labor after eight years of the “rampant corporate agenda” of President George W. Bush. “It’s hard to overstate just how damaging those years have been,” he said. |
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| Following the convention, Trumka appeared on a broadcast of Ed Schultz’s nationally syndicated cable television program. “We’re going to pass the Employee Free Choice Act,” Trumka said, “and let everybody bargain themselves back into the middle class.” |
Photos by Steve Share
View all Workday coverage of the AFL-CIO convention
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Pittsburgh is unique in its dramatic and powerful labor history. It\’s the site of legendary strikes—Homestead in 1892 and U.S. Steel in the 1930s—and the birthplace of both the AFL and the CIO, as well as the United Steelworkers, the Ironworkers and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers.
This photo was taken from a kayak at the point where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers converge to form the Ohio River. View a larger version of this photo. |
Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009
|
| A 50-member contingent from the Farm Labor Organizing Committee participated in the September 13 Diversity Conference that met in the morning before the full AFL-CIO convention began. When the conference adjourned, they marched out together to board a bus home to Ohio. FLOC secretary-treasurer Beatrice Maya said the workers work primarily picking tomatoes. “Immigration is definitely the number one issue,” she said. |
|
| Minnesotans in the registration line included Linda Hamilton (left), a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association, and her son Shawn Hamilton (right), a member of IBEW Local 292. Both said they were attending their first national AFL-CIO convention. Linda Hamilton said she came to the convention to accept a “Political Heroes” award from the AFL-CIO. |
|
| A blues band (above) performed as the delegates filled the hall. The “Solidarity Chorus,” composed of members of the Pittsburgh Gospel Chorus and labor union volunteers from across the country, also performed. |
|
|
| Jack Shea, president of the Pittsburgh area’s Allegheny County Labor Council, called the convention to order and welcomed delegates. “Welcome to the birthplace of the AFL-CIO,” he said, noting the federation’s founding in Pittsburgh in 1881. |
|
| Delegates gave a standing ovation to former Pittsburgh Steelers star Franco Harris, who likened a football team coming together to win a game to the challenge facing labor: “Now it is your time to believe in the heart and soul and potential of the American labor movement… You can change the game… The ball is in your hands.” |
|
| AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, who is retiring, spoke after delegates viewed a tribute video and gave him a standing ovation. “Brothers and sisters,” he said. “This week isn’t about what Sweeney has done; it’s about what you have done… Together we have changed the course of our country.” |
|
| Incoming AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka highlighted the challenges facing labor after eight years of the “rampant corporate agenda” of President George W. Bush. “It’s hard to overstate just how damaging those years have been,” he said. |
|
| Following the convention, Trumka appeared on a broadcast of Ed Schultz’s nationally syndicated cable television program. “We’re going to pass the Employee Free Choice Act,” Trumka said, “and let everybody bargain themselves back into the middle class.” |