America’s Work Force Union Podcast

Pete Ielmini on Apprenticeship, Senate Bill 4312 and Construction Mental Health

Construction workers make up 7.4% of the U.S. workforce but account for nearly 18% of all suicides with a reported industry classification. The data on the problem is established. The root causes have never been comprehensively studied. That may be about to change.

On today's trades day episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Mechanical Insulators LMCT Executive Director Pete Ielmini joins from Phoenix, where the insulators are holding their national apprenticeship conference and crowning an apprentice of the year tonight. He provides a Federal Mechanical Insulation Act update — the House bill in suspension and Senate Bill 4312 building co-sponsor support with a December deadline in view — and highlights a new bill from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to fund a comprehensive study of why construction workers are suffering from disproportionately high rates of suicide and substance abuse.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988. Visit mechanicalinsulatorslmct.com for more.

AFL-CIO Convention Recap, Jones Act and International Travel Health

On this episode of the America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two conversations that could not be more timely — one on the state of the labor movement heading into a critical political year, and one on keeping union members safe and covered during peak travel season.

First, North Coast Area Labor Federation President Pat Gallagher joins fresh from the AFL-CIO convention in Minneapolis to share what he saw and heard. The convention set a bold goal of organizing 2 million new union members across affiliated unions over the next five years and featured a demonstration of AI deep fake technology so advanced that delegates could not tell a fabricated video of a real union representative from the genuine article — a sobering preview of what labor and democracy face heading into the fall elections. Gallagher also breaks down two trade policy fights: the Trump administration's Jones Act waiver extension through mid-August and what it means for American maritime dominance, and the steel dumping fight heading into USMCA renegotiation this summer, including the definitional standard — steel melted and poured in the United States — that would close the transshipment loophole once and for all.

Then, Merrilee Logue of the Blue Cross Blue Shield National Labor Office and Lynn Pina of Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions join for a practical summer travel conversation every union member heading abroad needs to hear. From why domestic health plans often fall short outside the United States, to the critical difference between travel insurance and travel medical insurance, to what 24-hour global support, telemedicine access and provider finder tools mean in practice — this is the pre-departure checklist every traveler should run through before leaving the country.

Visit aflcio.org for AFL-CIO updates and follow @BlueLabor on LinkedIn and X for more from the Blue Cross Blue Shield National Labor Office.

NRDC's Juanita Constible on Protecting Workers From Extreme Heat

Most workers in the United States lack enforceable legal protections against workplace heat. Only seven states have standards on the books. And the federal OSHA proposal that was supposed to change that is stuck in limbo — leaving millions of workers exposed to preventable illness and death as summer temperatures climb.

On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, NRDC Senior Advocate Juanita Constible breaks down the state of heat safety policy, the state-by-state campaigns moving forward in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Mexico and what strong heat standards actually require beyond the basics of water, rest and shade. She also discusses how unions — from the Teamsters' landmark UPS contract win to IBEW, USW and SEIU's legislative advocacy — are among the most effective forces for getting enforceable protections on the books.

For heat safety resources, visit nrdc.org and protectworkersfromheat.org.

Carelon Behavioral Health on Modern EAPs and Workforce Mental Health

One in five Americans lives with a mental health condition. Employee assistance programs have existed since the 1940s. And the field is now entering a third wave — one that asks not just how to help workers after they are struggling, but how to build workplaces where fewer people reach that point.

On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Carelon Behavioral Health Medical Director Brian Keefe traces the full history of EAPs from their origins in labor-management alcoholism programs to today's proactive whole-person model. He also addresses the fast-growing behavioral addiction crisis around legalized sports gambling and introduces Carelon's Workforce Mental Health Complete — a partnership with Lyra Health that uses AI-assisted matching to connect employees with a compatible licensed provider within a day or two, while also addressing social determinants of health, financial counseling, caregiver support and critical incident response under a single integrated platform.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988. Visit carelonbehavioralhealth.com to learn more.

America at 250 and the 2032 Social Security Cliff

Episode 122 of America's Work Force Union Podcast brings together two important conversations — one looking back at the founding of the nation and one looking forward at a crisis that could reshape retirement security for 80 million Americans.

First, American Legion Media and Communications Director Jeff Stoffer joins for a farewell segment after 26 years at the Legion and a partnership with AWF dating back to 2009. Built around the American Legion magazine's July issue and the nation's 250th anniversary, the conversation covers the Declaration of Independence as a revolutionary document in global governance, two books that make the case for America's founding values as a living force in the country's moral history and a call for better civic education. Jeff also introduces his successor, Henry Howard — 14-year Legion media veteran, Be the One suicide prevention campaign leader and former newspaper editor — who will carry the monthly AWF American Legion segment forward beginning next month.

Then, Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Rich Fiesta delivers an urgent warning about the Social Security trust fund's projected 2032 shortfall. If Congress does nothing, more than 70 million Americans — close to 80 million by 2032 — will face an average benefit cut of approximately 22%, or $500 per month. Fiesta explains why wage stagnation since the Reagan era accelerated the timeline by 15 years, what scrapping the $184,000 earnings cap would do to restore solvency and why November's elections are the most critical near-term variable in whether Social Security gets fixed before the cliff arrives.

Visit legion.org for American Legion updates and retiredamericans.org to look up your representatives' voting records on Social Security going back to 2001.

Tennessee Nuclear Network on $10B Investment and 3,000 Skilled Jobs

A nuclear reactor is under construction in Tennessee. A fuel fabrication facility has steel going vertical. And $10 billion in investment is projected to create up to 3,000 jobs across skilled trades, technical roles and professional positions in East Tennessee alone.

On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Tennessee Nuclear Network Director Bill Tindal breaks down why Oak Ridge has become the national center of the nuclear energy resurgence, what trades are needed right now — from electricians and pipefitters to instrumentation technicians — and how a workforce pipeline from high school dual enrollment through community college is being built to match the demand. He also addresses how today's Generation 3 and 4 reactor designs differ from the plants that scared the public in the 1970s and 80s and why US energy demand projections through 2050 make this a generational career opportunity, not a short-term construction cycle.

Visit eteconline.org to learn more about the Tennessee Nuclear Network.

UPTE-CWA Tech Worker Win and OFT's Voucher Fight and First Contract Success

Today's America's Work Force Union Podcast brings two major stories together in one conversation-packed episode.

First, UPTE-CWA Local 9119 President Dan Russell discusses the union's landmark organizing win — 2,100 University of California tech workers added to the bargaining unit, making UPTE the largest tech worker bargaining unit in the country at 8,400 members. Russell breaks down the subtle union avoidance strategy that kept those workers out for years, how high-visibility strike action brought them in and why getting organized before a mass AI rollout is now the union's most urgent priority.

Then, Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper delivers one of her most packed monthly updates yet — covering AFT's bold Devices Down, Eyes Up vision for public schools, a bipartisan Ohio voucher accountability bill targeting a program that now exceeds one billion dollars annually with almost no oversight and a wave of five first contract victories, including the first KIPP charter school contract in the country. She also gives a confident update on the Columbus Metropolitan Library organizing election now underway.

Visit upte.org to learn more about UPTE-CWA Local 9119 and oft-aft.org for more on the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

Iron Workers Local 44 on the Brent Spence Bridge Finally Breaking Ground

Twenty-nine years ago, Dave Baker was told Iron Workers Local 44 was going to build a bridge. This week, drill shaft work on the Brent Spence Bridge companion project officially began.

On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Local 44 Business Manager Dave Baker discusses the decades of political and funding gridlock that stalled one of the most critical infrastructure projects in the Midwest, what finally broke the impasse and what 6 million projected building trades work hours and 1,200 peak construction jobs mean for iron workers, apprenticeship programs and the Cincinnati trades community.

He also shares his own story — four years working non-union before joining Local 44 in 1997 — and what the union difference has meant for his wages, retirement and family healthcare over 30 years.

Visit ironworkers44.com to learn more about Iron Workers Local 44.

Labor Lawyer Andrew Strom on How the Sixth Circuit Just Made It Harder for Workers to Fight Back

Workers at Trinity Health Grand Haven Hospital voted 89 to 66 to keep their union — after their employer had already illegally stripped it from them. The NLRB went to court seeking an emergency order to restore recognition while the case was litigated. Two Trump-appointed Sixth Circuit judges said no. The dissent came from a Reagan appointee.

On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, union attorney and Brooklyn Law School adjunct professor Andrew Strom breaks down what that ruling means, why the NLRA's four-year enforcement process makes preliminary injunctions the only real deterrent against illegal employer conduct and why the same court that gives employers automatic injunctions against workers who violate non-compete agreements refuses to apply the same logic when employers strip workers of their collective bargaining rights.

Read the full analysis at onlabor.org.

Ironworkers Local 48’s Trey Martin Is Running for Congress in Oklahoma

Trey Martin joined the Iron Workers at 19 with no clear path to the middle class. Twenty years later, he watched his wife nearly die from two autoimmune diseases and nearly go bankrupt in the process — even with solid union health insurance. That experience, and a Congress that has failed to address healthcare for his entire lifetime, convinced him it was time to run.

On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, Iron Workers Local 48 President Trey Martin talks about his congressional campaign in Oklahoma ahead of his Tuesday primary, the platform he is running on and why he believes kitchen table issues — wages, healthcare, public schools, congressional stock trading — cut across party lines in a way that can win in a state with a conservative supermajority.

Follow the campaign at treyforoklahoma.com.