Income Inequality and the 30th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention
Fred Redmond, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast for his monthly appearance ahead of the 30th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention in Minneapolis.
He addressed the new Executive Paywatch report showing the worker share of the Gross National Income has dropped to 51 percent, the lowest ever recorded, while corporate profits reached their highest share in nearly 80 years.
Redmond also raised an urgent warning about artificial intelligence, credited the defeat of a federal provision that would have blocked states from regulating AI for 10 years and described what organized labor is bringing to Minneapolis during their Convention.
- The worker portion of Gross National Income has dropped to 51 percent, the lowest level ever recorded, while corporate profits grew 2.7 percent to reach their highest share of GNI in nearly 80 years. Redmond described the dynamic as reverse Robin Hood and said the AFL-CIO's annual Executive Paywatch report — available at aflcio.org — documents a CEO-to-worker pay gap that continues to widen.
- A provision in federal legislation that would have prohibited states from enacting AI worker protections for 10 years was defeated 99 to 1, a vote Redmond said reflects broad public awareness of artificial intelligence's potential to disrupt jobs and daily life. He described the tech industry as spending millions to limit state-level AI oversight and said the AFL-CIO will address AI threats directly at the 30th Constitutional Convention.
- Redmond described the AFL-CIO convention in Minneapolis as a moment to tell organized labor's story — organizing at record rates, winning in the courts, fighting income inequality and entering the midterm election cycle with solidarity as the movement's defining message. He and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler are heading into the convention with strong support from the federation's 65 affiliated unions representing 15.5 million members.
The Numbers Are Stark — and Getting Worse
Fred Redmond opened with recent data about the executive pay disparity. According to their report on Gross National Income, the worker share of that measure has dropped to 51 percent — the lowest level ever recorded — while corporate profits grew 2.7 percent, reaching their highest share of GNI in nearly 80 years. The AFL-CIO's annual Executive Paywatch report puts a human face on those numbers, including that the average CEO total compensation rose by $1.24 million last year, against the average worker pay of approximately $50,000.
Redmond described the logic being used to justify that disparity as genuinely insane. The argument, he said, is that giving billionaires and corporations more tax breaks and more money is the solution to problems that were caused by billionaires and corporations having too much money in the first place. He called it reverse Robin Hood and said it represents the largest income inequality gap in the country's history, with the gap continuing to widen.
The workers experiencing this squeeze are the same voters who will decide the midterm elections, and Redmond said those votes can decide who holds office and whether economic policy changes in any meaningful way.
Artificial Intelligence and the Fight to Protect Workers
Redmond addressed the growing anxiety around artificial intelligence, a concern he said is resonating across most sectors and age groups. The tech industry, he noted, spent significant resources trying to insert a provision into federal legislation that would have blocked states from enacting AI worker protections for 10 years. The provision was defeated 99 to 1 — a margin Redmond said speaks to how broadly and deeply the public understands what is at stake.
He drew a distinction between previous waves of industrial disruption, including automation in manufacturing, and what artificial intelligence represents. The difference, in his view, is scale and reach. Prior disruptions transformed specific industries. AI has the capacity to simultaneously reshape daily life and virtually every category of work. The AFL-CIO's position is that workers must have legal protections in place before that reshaping happens, not after.
Wall Street and Main Street: The Big Disconnect
Redmond and AWF Host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spent time on what Ferenc called “The Big Disconnect” — record highs on the Dow and Nasdaq driven largely by a handful of tech companies tied to AI, while large numbers of workers are experiencing financial stress that those market numbers do not reflect.
Redmond connected that disconnect to the AFL-CIO Convention agenda. The workers whose stories will be told in Minneapolis are those whose reality is measured in weekly grocery bills and healthcare costs, not in stock portfolios.
What the Minneapolis Convention Is About
Redmond was emphatic that the AFL-CIO is going to Minneapolis with momentum, not grievance. Organized labor has organized at record rates despite predictions that the current environment would crush new membership. The movement has won in the courts on multiple fronts. And the 15.5 million members across the federation's 65 affiliated unions are heading into the midterm elections with purpose.
The 30th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention will address income inequality, artificial intelligence and the federation's forward strategy. Community groups from Minneapolis will join the gathering, and Redmond described the city as an appropriate host—one that has pushed back on policies harmful to workers and demonstrated what solidarity looks like in practice.
Redmond and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler are heading into the convention with strong support from affiliated unions. Redmond said he debated whether to seek another four-year term but concluded that as long as there is gas in the tank, the front lines of this fight are exactly where he wants to be. The AFL-CIO website at aflcio.org carries the full Executive Paywatch report and updates from the convention.
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