Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Brenda Bedolla of the Ironworkers.

A Michoacán, Mexico, native and DACA recipient, Brenda Bedolla’s passion for workers’ rights and social justice was shaped by her firsthand immigrant experience. In her current role with the Ironworkers, Bedolla organizes Portillo’s food service workers. She is passionate about building people power in and outside of workplaces, and can be found organizing her community when she's not organizing workers.

Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 29 has reached a tentative three-year collective bargaining agreement with Duquesne Light Co. The agreement addresses key topics like wages, retirement and workforce renewal and investment, and still needs to be ratified by the membership.

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Veronica Magos Sanchez of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS).

Veronica Magos Sanchez has been a Professional Aviation Safety Specialist (PASS) member for nearly 15 years and has served her colleagues at Los Angeles Airport as a union rep for the past nine years. She's a member of the Federal Aviation Administration's Hispanic and Native American associations and participates regularly in the agency's education and safety events.

Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

Resident advisers at the University of Pennsylvania voted overwhelmingly to unionize, joining a trend of labor organizing among undergraduate students across the country. The R.A.s voted 142 to 22 to be represented by Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 153.

“We as R.A.s are integral to campus life but are consistently undervalued and underpaid,” Penn union organizers wrote. “We are organizing for fair compensation, better communication and a more democratic workplace—when R.A.s are supported, so is the entire Penn community.”

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Oscar Cerda of the Fire Fighters (IAFF).

Oscar Cerda immigrated to the U.S. from Chile with his parents when he was 5 years old. Motivated by a desire to help his community, he became a volunteer firefighter at the age of 17 and later joined the U.S. Air Force, where he spent more than five years on active duty. He now serves as a firefighter at the Francis S. Gabreski Airport, a joint civil-military airport in Suffolk County, New York. Cerda and his union siblings in CSEA/AFSCME Local 1000 are proud to keep their communities safe.

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. 

Here are the profiles we've already featured throughout the month:

• Pedro Olguin
• Juan Rivera
• Neftali Nieves-Reyes
• Cynthia Rivera-Havard
• Ricardo Sanchez
• Maria Camilo
• Joaquín Rodríguez
• Oscar Cerda
• Veronica Magos Sanchez
• Brenda Bedolla

Check back throughout the month for more.

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Joaquín Rodríguez of the Seattle Education Association, an affiliate of the Washington State Labor Council.

Joaquín Rodríguez is a fierce advocate for social change and breaking down systemic racism in public education. He is a member of the Seattle Education Association (SEA), which is affiliated with the Washington State Labor Council. Rodríguez worked as a high school science teacher before being elected to serve as director of SEA's Center for Racial and Social Justice (CRSJ). In his time as CRSJ director, he’s been a champion for educators of color.

Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

Members of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, affiliates of UNITE HERE, voted by 95% on Tuesday to authorize a strike across the Las Vegas Strip. The negotiating committee is authorized to call for a strike at 22 casino resort properties operated by the three largest employers, MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. The unions represent 60,000 hospitality workers in Nevada; 53,000 are based in Las Vegas and are in active negotiations with casino/hotel employers for a new five-year contract. 

“Culinary and Bartenders Union members have sent the strongest message possible to the casino industry to settle a fair contract as soon as possible. We have negotiations scheduled next week with MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn/Encore Resorts and it’s up to the three largest employers in Las Vegas to step up and do the right thing,” said Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Workers Union. “If these gaming companies don’t come to an agreement, the workers have spoken and we will be ready to do whatever it takes—up to and including a strike. Workers brought every single one of these companies through the pandemic and into a great recovery, and workers deserve a fair share. Companies are doing extremely well and we are demanding that workers aren’t left behind.”

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Maria Camilo of UNITE HERE.

Maria Camilo works as a cashier for Sodexo at Colleges of the Fenway in Boston. She leads her co-workers in a campaign to win a great university food service contract and says: "With the union, our wages improved and we got great benefits. As a shop steward, I know that when I talk to my managers, I am their equal and I deserve respect."

Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

President Joe Biden walked the picket line with members of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) at General Motors’ Willow Run parts center near Detroit, becoming the first U.S. president to join a labor union on strike.

UAW President Shawn Fain railed against the billionaire class. “They think they own the world,” he said. “But we make it run” and “our president has chosen to stand up with workers in our fight for economic and social justice.”

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said, “President Biden is demonstrating once again that he is the most pro-union president in history. Working people know he has our backs every day and that he understands that UAW members’ fight for a fair contract is deeply connected to the struggle over the soul of our country. We stand with President Biden, the UAW and workers across the country who are sick and tired of getting the short end of the stick. Together, we’re organized to fight back against the corporate CEOs who have rigged the system against working people for far too long.”