Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council

The group has previously supported local labor union strikes, granting citizenship to migrants, and nationalizing voting rights legislation. ^{4 5 6} The group’s mission statement has previously claimed it supports “social justice to our community.” ⁷

The group has previously endorsed and provided funding towards political candidates, ⁸ including the 2024 re-election campaign of President Joe Biden. ⁹

Background

The Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council is a regional labor council affiliated with the AFL-CIO labor union federation representing union members within the Atlanta metropolitan area. Founded in 1955, ¹ The group claims to be made up of over 70,000 members from 60 affiliated unions in Atlanta and the surrounding Georgia counties of Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dekalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton. ²

Activism

The Council’s website provides information and locations to assist people in finding a strike to support either financially or by walking picket lines. ⁵ In 2023, National AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler claimed that strikes are not a sign of chaos but indicators the country is headed in the right direction. ¹⁰ The Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council previously supported Starbucks employees for attempting to unionize and for organizing the largest strike in company history in 2023. ⁴

The Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council has previously advocated for policies such as providing citizenship for migrants, ¹¹ creating more green jobs and an “equitable America,” ¹² electing more labor-friendly politicians and officials, and expanding union organizing in industries including artificial intelligence (AI) as well as energy and technology sectors.  ^{4 3}

The Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council previously advocated for a federal law mandating paid parental leave and sick leave for all employees. ¹³ The Council also supports implementing state legislation to expand government worker unions’ power to collectively bargain.¹⁴ In 2022, prior to a visit to Atlanta by President Joe Biden, the Council issued a statement demanding President Biden to skip his Atlanta visit unless he had a plan to pass federal voting rights legislation and said anything less is “insufficient and unwelcome.” ⁶

Political Advocacy

Since 2018, the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council has contributed to the campaigns of several Democrat candidates including Charles Ravenscraft’s candidacy for the Georgia House of Representatives, the campaigns for state Senator Nikki Merritt (D-Grayson) and campaign for state Representative El-Mahdi Holly (D-Stockbridge). ^{15 8}

The group, through an AFL-CIO website, linked to the union that had endorsed President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign prior to his withdrawal from the race. ⁹ In 2022, the executive director of the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council spoke at an event criticizing U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) and supporting Senator Raphael Warnock (D). ¹⁶

Financials

In 2022, the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council reported net assets of $93,554. ¹ According to the organization’s tax returns, in 2022 the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council recorded $335,863 in revenue and had $358,844 in expenses. ¹ In 2021, the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council reported $341,901 in revenue and $339,331 in expenses. ¹

Leadership

Sandra Lee Williams has been president of the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council since March 2023 and was previously executive director of the organization from 2020 to 2023. ¹⁷ From 2019 to 2020, Williams was director of human resources for the United Food and Commercial Workers union in Atlanta. ¹⁷ Williams has held positions with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, the labor relations consulting firm Chandler Group, Pilgrim’s Pride, MeadWestvaco, CG2M HILL, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and the Missouri Department of Mental Health. ¹⁷