President Nick Daniels Joins AFL-CIO Executive Council, Meets with
On Nov. 7, at the start of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting, the governing body of the labor movement between conventions, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler nominated NATCA President Nick Daniels to the Executive Council as a Vice President of the AFL-CIO. He was confirmed unanimously.
The Council immediately began its work by discussing the outcome of the 2024 election and the effectiveness of the Labor-to-Labor get-out-the-vote effort in which NATCA’s Boots on the Ground program participates. Union members in key battleground states significantly outperformed the general population supporting union-endorsed candidates. This year the labor movement had twice as many activists working in battleground states as it did in 2022, and it also doubled its contacts with union members.
Of course, NATCA’s Boots on the Ground Program was a major contributor to the AFL-CIO’s program, and as of now, with some races not yet determined, over 92% of NATCA Majority candidates have won their elections.
The Executive Council set its priorities for the Congressional Lame Duck session between now and the end of the year, including funding the government, strengthening protections for federal employees’ civil service rights, and fixing the social security loophole for CSRS and state and municipal retirees.The Council also spent a significant amount of time discussing the imminent threats to workers, employee rights, government services, and unions in Project 2025.
The AFL-CIO Executive Council recognized that federal employees are the workers most at risk under Project 2025. They are unified in working to protect all federal employees. They specifically cited the Trump Administration’s previous executive orders targeting federal employees and their unions, the implementation of procedures to politicize government workers and erode civil service protections, and the attacks on specific protections for workers such as OSHA.
In the other business conducted by the Council, it passed a statement recognizing the service of former NATCA President Rich Santa. It read, in part, “As president, Santa was a leading voice for the stable and sufficient government investment necessary to maintain and modernize the national airspace system, and to ensure it was adequately staffed with trained and certified aviation safety professionals.”
PHOTO (left to right): AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and NATCA President Nick Daniels
