The AFL-CIO opened its national convention in downtown Minneapolis on June 7 with a renewed push to expand union membership, as President Liz Shuler — reelected to a second full term — pledged to bring at least 2 million workers into organized labor over the next five years.
Shuler, who ran unopposed, made history in 2021 when she became the first woman to lead the federation. She began her career as an organizer for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125 in Portland, Oregon. Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond, who also ran unopposed, similarly became the highest-ranking Black officer in the federation’s history when he was first elected to his post in 2021. Redmond’s labor career dates to 1973 when he joined United Steelworkers at Reynolds Metals Co. in Chicago.
A Track Record That Raised the Bar
The new organizing target surpasses Shuler’s previous ambitions considerably. In 2022, she set a goal of organizing 1 million workers over a decade. The federation reached that milestone in roughly three years, pointing to newly unionized groups including bus factory workers in Alabama, physicians in Minnesota, and approximately 27,000 educators in Virginia.
That pace of growth forms the backdrop for the more aggressive five-year commitment announced at the Minneapolis convention, which brings together representatives from 65 unions over three days. Delegates will elect 55 vice presidents and the secretary-treasurer, and will debate the federation’s political agenda, growth strategies, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market.
Union Membership Rising, But Still Far Below Historical Levels
Union membership reached a 16-year high in 2025, yet context tempers the milestone. Roughly 10 percent of American workers today belong to a union, compared with 20 percent in 1983. That long-term erosion remains the central challenge labor leaders are working against.
On the political front, the AFL-CIO announced plans to mobilize 2 million additional voters ahead of November elections and to deploy 50,000 “trained election protectors” — a volunteer force intended to support voting access and ballot integrity efforts.
A Tense Federal and Political Backdrop
The convention convenes against a fraught environment for organized labor nationally. The Trump administration’s mass firings of federal employees through the Department of Government Efficiency affected the collective bargaining rights of roughly 1 million federal workers. President Trump also fired Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board — the first such removal in the board’s 90-year history — leaving the NLRB without a quorum for months and allowing hundreds of cases to accumulate without resolution.
In Congress, Republican-controlled chambers have stalled legislation that would make unionization easier, though some Republicans joined Democrats in an effort to force a House floor vote on first labor contract policy.
Minnesota Labor in the Spotlight
Minnesota itself carries particular significance for this year’s convention. Earlier in 2026, approximately 3,000 federal immigration agents conducted Operation Metro Surge in the state, resulting in thousands of arrests that included union workers. Two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, died during the immigration enforcement action. Pretti was a nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital and a member of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3669.
In January, a general strike and protest in Minneapolis drew tens of thousands of participants despite a windchill of negative 30 degrees. The AFL-CIO honored the Minnesota labor movement with the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award at the convention. For more on federal immigration enforcement actions in the region, see related coverage of a Minnesota asylum seeker released from a Texas ICE facility following a senator’s intervention.
The Minnesota Republican Party’s gubernatorial endorsement race also concluded recently, adding to the political currents surrounding the state as labor leaders gather.
The three-day convention is expected to set the federation’s strategic direction through the next election cycle and beyond, with organizers framing the 2 million worker target as both a membership goal and a political mobilization tool heading into what promises to be a consequential November.