Afl-cio condemns supreme court immigration decision

[AlJackson1962!]

THE AFL-CIO IS THE UMBRELLA LABOR ORGANIZATION FOR ABOUT 61 INTERNATIONAL UNIONS WITH 15 MILLION UNION MEMBERS IN THE USA - HERE IS THEIR LEADER'S CONDEMNATION OF TRUMP'S SUPREME COURT DECISION ENDING TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIAN, SYRIAN, AND VENEZUELAN WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

THE ONLY PUBLIC COMMENTS BY TEAMSTERS INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP HAVE BEEN O'BRIEN'S COMMENTS CONDEMNING "ILLEGAL ALIENS TRYING TO STEAL JOBS' AND O'BRIEN'S APPEARANCE AT LAST MARCH IRISH MARITIME AWARDS DINNER IN NYC AS A "DECENDANT OF THE EMERALD ISLE".

THIS TWO-FACED VIEW OF IMMIGRATION ESPOUSED BY O'BRIEN IS SICKENING AND IT KILLS WORKER SOLIDARITY. IT WILL HAUNT OUR UNION NOT JUST NOW BUT IN THE FUTURE.

June 25, 2026
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler issued the following statement in response to today’s Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections:

Today’s decision is a devastating blow to working families and the stability of our economy. We stand proudly with the valued members of our unions and communities with TPS as we continue the long-term fight for justice.

By allowing the Trump administration to disregard the law, the court has put the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers at risk. TPS holders from Haiti, Syria and other countries came here fleeing danger, instability and crisis. They have built lives here, joined unions, and become integral to our workplaces and economy.

Let’s be clear about who pays the price for this decision: working people. It’s not just wrong—it is a recipe for economic disaster that will create chaos in workplaces, disrupt key industries, and make it easier for bad bosses to exploit fear and drive down workplace standards and conditions for everyone.

The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda seeks to pit working people against each other—but the labor movement rejects that politics of fear. Congress must act immediately to protect TPS holders and stabilize our workforce by creating a broad and swift pathway to citizenship for those whose labor helps our country to prosper. We will keep fighting alongside immigrant workers and their families, because an injury to one is an injury to all.

[Thisischange?]

Crickets from the racist in charge at the IBT.

[AlJackson1962!]

That he is.

[percap2high]

The AFL-CIO position on the Supremes decision regarding TPS is the obvious position for a union to take, that is if it cares about working people. O'Brien, and the Teamsters can't take that position because it might anger Trump. SOB and the IBT is all in with MAGA and the Republicans. Local officers and members not so much, but when it was time to stand up and be counted NONE of them had the balls to stand up. No election (and we've probably seen our last) and five more years of cozying up to the Epstein class that wants to destroy us. We teamsters deserve what we get.

[Bob Randall]

Cabbage Head only cares about bullet point statements that make him sound tough. In spite of the reality that workers and families must come together as a means of having a chance of changing things. He knows this. Yet...self-serving, tough guy talk such as this??? Hey, SOB! Walk into a voting booth and vote your choice. However, as the "leader" of a labor union, you have certain responsibilities. You are a serious sellout! Hey SOB! Throw some Ranch dressing on that forehead and slice it up thinly. You'd be more valuable.

[AlJackson1962!]

Who in O'Brien's home Local 25 in Boston recall when O'Brien hired an immigrant organizer to organize Metro Boston parking lot workers? I believe this was around 2011. The organizing drive was successful and Local 251 (led by the outstanding Local 251 Organizer Mike Simone), organized parking lot workers (shuttle drivers, cashiers, and maintenance workers) at TF Greene Airport in Warwick. We used the successful Local 25 campaign as a means to motivate SP Plus workers at TF Greene to win a first contract and a follow-up first contract with SP Plus' successor employer, LAZ Parking

What became of this immigrant organizer? Anyone know?

[Bob Randall]

Mike was a good organizer.

[AlJackson1962!]

Bob Randall commented
Today, 10:59 AM
Mike was a good organizer.


Local 251 Organizer Mike Simone as I said to my Brothers and Sisters in Local 251 will be a first ballot inductee if there is ever an Organizers Hall of Fame.

The first clearcut indication to me that TDU had entered a new realm as puppets of Sean O'Brien, under the leadership of David Levin and Ken Paff, was in late March 2023 when TDU banned Mike Simone from a TDU New England Education Conference held in Woonsocket, RI. I registered for the event. I received a text thereafter from TDU confirming my registration and asking me to encourage other Teamsters to attend. I texted back a question as to whether any non-TDU Teamsters could attend. TDU promptly replied with a resounding YES! At the time, there were serious complaints from a number of Local 251 bargaining unit members about poor representation by a particular BA (who has since been removed from office along with a lengthy suspension for the balance of his three year term*).

After receiving the response from TDU, I advised Mike that he could register and attend that NE TDU Conference. However, Mike, after registering, promptly received a text back from TDU that his registration fee was being refunded and that he was barred from attending the TDU Conference. I texted the TDU staffer that had told me the Conference was open to non-TDU Teamsters, advising him that it was "weird" that TDU did a 180 and changed the terms of attendance. I then received an unsolicited call from David Levin questioning why I would think it was "weird" that TDU barred long-time and well respected Teamster Mike Simone. It devolved into a very confrontational discussion that included Sean O'Brien's personal intervention in staying the above noted Local 251 BA's suspension thereby keeping him at full pay and benefits while JC10 processed his appeal to them - the suspended BA had been unanimously suspended by vote of the Local 251 Executive Board - Principal Officer Matt Taibi recused himself (he was the suspended BA's best friend).

I attended that TDU Conference and sat next to David Levin throughout the first session that included a workshop on single bargaining unit contracts. I participated in the workshop and I added an important point to Levin's presentation. Near the end of the workshop I said "Don't tell the members its a good contract, if you know it's not a good contract, even if you believe the best offer is on the table; don't bullshit the members." Levin didn't appreciate the remark. The last session included a discussion (and I think a video on TDU history) on where things then stood with the new OZ GEB. Levin talked about the Ron Carey GEB and how TDU is not about saving the Union through electing leadership; that TDU survived post-Carey because its not a movement about one individual. I raised my hand to speak, no one else was waiting to speak, but neither Levin nor the TDU staffer would recognize me to speak, so I spoke anyway. I said Ron Carey had a long history as a clean, militant, and uncorruptible leader of Local 804 in NYC, while being surrounded by other JC16 Locals that were run and led by La Cosa Nostra, whereas O'Brien, had already shown himself to be a guy who will change course based on wetting his finger to see which way the wind was blowing [case in point, O'Brien's open letter to Teamsters after breaking with Hoffa, Jr. and after Zuckerman almost won in 2016). As I spoke (it was not more than a few minutes at most), Levin and the TDU staffer walked out of the hall. Clearly they wanted to impress upon the well attended Conference that what I had to say was not worth listening to.

*The Local 251 BA that was suspended was not disciplined for poorly representing the members he was assigned to represent. He was suspended for a very serious circumstance that I will not elaborate on, as the ones impacted by his actions have already suffered enough.

I'm posting this reply to Brother Bob Randall's recognition of Mike Simone as a good organizer. I am a current TDU member. I first joined TDU in 1977. TDU did transform the Teamsters and if not for TDU, we would not have direct election of IBT officers by the rank & file, no majority vote rule on contract ratification, no votes on supplements to national contracts, no meaningful remedies to corruption in our Union, and many other conditions in our Union that have improved because of the commitment and dedication of rank & file Teamsters that have joined in this fight as members of TDU.

But, where the hell does TDU staff and/or the TDU Steering Committee justify expelling rank and file Teamsters, whether they're in Teamsters Mobilize, whether they're an elected At Large IBT VP (John Palmer), or a guy like Mike Simone, who is among the most honest, hard-working Teamster Organizers one could ever know. And who determined that Mike Simone should be barred? The answer? David Levin, who, to my knowledge never worked as a rank and file Teamster.

Note: David Levin told the attendees at the NE TDU Conference mentioned above, that a big round of applause was in order for Matt Taibi (as Matt stood sheepishly by the exit door from the meeting hall). Levin stated that Taibi paid for the hall out of his own pocket. Kudos Matt; you'll make that up in one paycheck from your multiple salaries.

So Brother Randall. You've stated numerous times here that critique of TDU will not improve the debacle we face with the current IBT GEB that will be in office through 2031. But, as someone who fought hard for the TDU program for a long time, I believe TDU is now part of the problem and not part of the solution. Yes, OZ has changed the direction of the Teamsters relative to using new strategies and old proven strategies to win improved contracts. But if we want a militant and effective Union, it has to be one that does not suppress dissent, does not sugarcoat corruption (the Griswold and Harren findings by the IIO), and overall, a Union that doesn't bullshit the members. And the current leadership of TDU ain't that.

- Dave Robbins, retired, Local 251

[Bob Randall]

Dave...do you know how 251's By-Laws read with respect to the "unanimously suspended by vote of 251 Executive Board"? Just wondering. And yeah, Mike is a good guy. And...lastly...your final paragraph is once again, redundant, all over again, still. Just sayin'.

[AlJackson1962!]

Bob: The Local 251 bylaws are on its website for anyone to read.

[Bob Randall]

Got it. The IBT Constitution gives the responsibility to the Local Executive Board.