South Florida AFL-CIO president Jeffrey Mitchell addresses the crowd at Sunday’s local “Todos con Biden” rally.

The cancelled presidential debate originally slated to take place Oct. 15 in Miami was a faded memory when Biden touched down in Miramar on Tuesday following a weekend rally held by organized labor and the thousands who drove across town in a subsequent caravan.

Although Sunday’s activities were promoted as a “Todos con Biden” (“All with Biden”) event focused on drawing Hispanic voters, Black representation was clearly visible.

Of AFL-CIO’s 2,600 labor workers, 85% are Black; many others identify as Hispanic.

Other participating organizations included the American Postal Workers Union, United Teachers of Dade, and the International Union of Painters and Allied Traders.

The pro-Biden parade of more than 1,100 cars from each corner of the county converged at Tropical Park. Industry vehicles like school buses, trucks and construction rigs bore “Biden Harris 2020” signs, while voters on the ground welcomed the caravan with flyers that denounced Trump’s presidency.

The NAACP, We Count and Rise Up were three organizations known to support communities of color that were present at the event.

The UTD – with a 65% Black membership – acknowledged the common interests shared by labor advocates as Mitchell also mentioned.

“We’re all in this together. We’re doing God’s work protecting other people’s children. They are the children of the painters, post office workers and transportation workers,” said UTD President Karla Hernandez-Mats. “What we’re asking for is leaders that have plans to help our communities thrive and not have them in limbo like they are now. I stand in solidarity with all my brothers and sisters,” she said.

Like the other labor workers who showed up in campaign apparel, Hernandez-Mats said she supports Biden because he will prioritize unions by increasing the minimum wage.

“I am a Latina for Biden and a laborer for Biden because unions matter and there are so many intersectionalities. At the end of the day, we just want our communities to be better,” she said.

Presidential candidate Joe Biden at a campaign stop in Miramar late Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Miami-Dade county mayoral candidate Daniella Levine Cava conveyed an identical notion during the press conference.

“Together we will fight to make sure people can have what they need during this time. Food on the table is not an afterthought, it’s an essential,” she said.

Whilst Biden’s policies for the working class garnered support from labor unions, his attempt to address the plight of Black people – achieved through his vice presidential running mate Kamala Harris and policies centered on Black communities – gives him a leg up over Trump.

Labor union workers in Miami came out Sunday in support of the Biden-Harris ticket.

“I don’t think President Trump has displayed any kind of leadership with regards to COVID-19 and respect for African Americans,” said Mitchell. “He won’t even criticize white nationalists like the Ku Klux Klan and the Boogaloo Bois. How can you possibly stand for all of America [and be] exclusive of African Americans?”

He recounted the inconsistency between what Trump believes he has done for the community and his actions.

“When he made the comment of him doing more for African Americans [than any other president] with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, it was a slap in the face to us,” said Mitchell.

Many rally participants held supportive signs aloft or affixed them to their cars for a caravan that snaked across southwest Miami-Dade on Sunday.

Labor union groups convening on behalf of Biden urge communities to exercise their 15th Amendment.

And to the Black community, Mitchell said: “Don’t be discouraged by negative comments about voting. Vote like your life depends on it. In this case, it actually does.”

Sisters and Brothers,

On behalf of the AFL-CIO and President Richard Trumka, as well as the Georgia AFL-CIO and President Charlie Flemming, the Florida AFL-CIO is joining their get out the vote efforts ahead of Georgia’s Senate runoff elections on January 5^th.

The election of Georgia AFL-CIO endorsed candidates Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the United States Senate would be a huge step in the right direction for America’s working people. Florida AFL-CIO members, staff, and volunteers are doing their part by phone banking to reach out to Georgia Union members and their families to ensure that they make their voices heard. Phone banking is being done from the comfort and safety of your own home. Click here to sign up to phone bank.  After you have signed up to volunteer, the Florida AFL-CIO will reach out to you and help get you started. Please distribute the sign-up form to your members and affiliates.

Join us in standing with our sisters and brothers in Georgia. We know that elections have consequences, and if elected, Reverend Warnock and Jon Ossoff will fight for working people nationwide. Sign up to volunteer today.  

In Solidarity,

Mike Williams                                           Dan Reynolds

President, Florida AFL-CIO                         Secretary-Treasurer, Florida AFL-CIO

"Bravo does not really care about the employees. We had to sue two months ago to get protective equipment like masks. Even now they’re not doing enough.”

Workers at Miami’s largest public transit facility have given the William Lehman Center a grim nickname: “Little Wuhan.”. The Florida city is now the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, with Miami-Dade County recording more than 80,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 1,270 deaths. Many of the 4,000 workers at...

Read More

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2. Symptoms often include a fever, cough or shortness of breath. Our understanding of how the virus spreads is evolving as we learn more about it, so check the CDC website for the latest information. The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person:

• Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).
• Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.

Recent studies indicate that the virus can be spread by people before they develop symptoms (pre-symptomatic) or who never develop symptoms (asymptomatic). It also may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. However, this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. Older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk for more serious complications from COVID-19.

CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. Cloth face coverings may prevent people who don’t know they have the virus from transmitting it to others. These face coverings are not surgical masks or respirators and are not appropriate substitutes for them in workplaces where masks or respirators are recommended or required.

Tuesday, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners could take a second look at a massive transit plan crossing from the City of Miami to Miami Beach

It’s a controversy that’s dragged on for two years. Now, ethics investigators file their report on a meeting in Asia, much of it shielded from public view. NBC 6 Investigative Reporter Phil Prazan takes a look at how this could scrap a $700 million transit plan in the county.

The $770 million plan known as “Baylink” faces another hurdle - this one of transparency and public trust - after a county ethics report, stern words from the county’s inspector general, and a call to scrap the plan by the Commissioner representing Miami Beach.

In May, the Board approved Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s administration to review the plan and begin low-level negotiations with a business group based on a proposal by the Miami Beach Monorail Consortium, a group led by infrastructure developer Meridiam, an Asian casino-entertainment developer Genting Group, and Aqualand Development. Genting and Aqualand are minority partners.

Genting Group owns the former-Miami Herald location along Biscayne Bay in the hopes to develop the land and have it be the launching station for the Baylink transit project.

While positive COVID-19 cases are increasing in our community daily and disparately affecting minority communities nationwide, Mayor Carlos Gimenez is moving towards opening Head Start programs throughout Miami-Dade County and exposing our youngest—possibly most vulnerable—students and families to harm. 
 
READ. SIGN. SHARE.

Tell Mayor Carlos Gimenez to put a stop to this madness while we can still protect the lives and safety of black and brown children and their families.
 
Responsible experts have called for a 14-day reduction in COVID-19 cases before reopening society, yet we are doing so in Miami-Dade County despite being the epicenter for the virus in Florida. Currently, we are seeing larger than ever increases in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19. 
 
Moreover, children have now started to fall sick and die even though they were initially thought to be immune to COVID-19. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have dubbed this condition "multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children."