‘Fighting for freedom, fairness and security’

AFL-CIO kicks off summer bus tour supporting worker organizing and fighting back against anti-worker attacks

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 10, 2025) — With a rally at D.C. headquarters, the AFL-CIO on Wednesday kicked off the labor federation’s “It’s Better in a Union: Fighting for Freedom, Fairness and Security” bus tour which will travel the country providing voice to and building power with workers in the lead up to Labor Day.

The AFL-CIO is the largest labor organization in the U.S., made up of more than 63 unions representing nearly 15 million working people, and will be spending the summer crisscrossing the nation, visiting dozens of cities and communities to oppose federal attacks on working people and our rights.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler speaks at the bus tour kickoff rally on Wednesday. Photo: AFL-CIO

In a statement, the AFL-CIO said the bus tour will visit 26 states to join picket lines, support organizing campaigns, visit Veterans Affairs and Medicaid-funded facilities and hospitals gutted by DOGE, and speak directly with workers whose jobs have been ripped away by unnecessary cuts driven by the Trump administration. The tour includes stops in key election battleground states, also seeking to raise awareness about the impacts of recent federal legislation many in the U.S. don’t know about, and to hear from impacted workers about the issues facing their communities.

The bus’ first stop was in D.C., joining UNITE HERE Local 23 for a rally to protect food service jobs at the U.S. House of Representatives. The tour will next head to Virginia, to join the United Steel Workers for a July 12 action focused on the impact of Trump administration cuts to veterans jobs and services, before heading to North Carolina to back up Wells Fargo workers organizing with the Communications Workers of America. More stops are being announced in the coming weeks.

“Working people are the backbone of this country. We do the things our communities count on—at our schools and hospitals, factories and construction sites, small and big businesses—yet still too many families can’t keep food on the table, pay the rent, afford child care,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler in a statement announcing the tour. “The answer is not more of this same broken status quo. The answer is a good union job. The answer is working people in our communities—no matter who you are, how you voted—joining together and standing up for our freedom, fairness, and security.”