Union leaders welcome Pope Francis
Source: Politico
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and SEIU President Mary Kay Henry greet Pope Francis at a White House welcoming ceremony this morning. They’ll be joined by other union leaders and activists, including Adriana Alvarez, a McDonald’s fast food worker in Chicago who wrote a widely-read essay about what it’s like to live as a single mother on $10.50 an hour.
Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared Tuesday alongside striking congressional restaurant workers to echo the pope’s economic populist message and chide Congress over the low wages paid its contract workforce. “The time has come for federal contractors to pay all of their workers no less than $15 an hour, with decent benefits and with the right to form a union,” Sanders said.
Even Pope Francis’ motorcade had a vaguely worker-friendly vibe. The pope ditched his Mercedes for a Fiat. Fiat-Chrysler has the closest relationship with the United Auto Workers among Detroit’s Big Three, and last week struck a tentative agreement with the union that will serve as a likely blueprint for negotiations with Ford and General Motors.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-shift/2015/09/union-leaders-welcome-pope-francis-210354