Amarillo Central Labor Council

08/26/2026

Get details for the free 2026 Amarillo Labor Day Picnic and view West Texas Building Trades photography celebrating solidarity, service, and community.

07/12/2026

07/03/2026

Choose food and drinks for your weekend celebrations to support strong, union jobs! 💪

06/18/2026

Registration for the next Texas-based AFL-CIO Organizing Institute (OI) Training is NOW OPEN!

Over three days, labor organizers will learn skills to empower workers to WIN respect and dignity on the job!

Details: https://texasaflcio.org/issues/training-leadership-development

05/29/2026

⛳ The 23rd annual Texas AFL-CIO • Walter Umphrey Golf Tournament is right around the corner!

Save the date for one of our largest fundraisers of the year on Thursday, Oct. 1!

05/22/2026

If you’re an electrician in Texas, listen up.At the May 20 TDLR C...

05/13/2026

BLACKROCK, ABBOTT, AND TSTC CALLED IT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.

Texas electricians saw the shortcut.

On May 6, Governor Abbott stood with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at TSTC to celebrate a $30 million electrical workforce initiative.

BlackRock’s own announcement says the TSTC grant supports a new electrical technology program creating a college-based pathway to prepare students to test for a journeyman license.

Then came the proposed TDLR JEEP rule — an accelerated pathway that would have given major on-the-job training credit for completing an approved education program.

That is the problem.

A journeyman license is not a press conference prop.
It is not a workforce pipeline metric.
It is not a corporate philanthropy deliverable.
And it is not something politicians should cheapen to meet construction demand.

We support education.
We support real training.
We support bringing more Texans into the electrical trade the right way.

But classroom and lab instruction should not be treated like thousands of hours of supervised field experience.

Texas electricians showed up.

The advisory board vote was 4–3 against JEEP.

That should send a clear message to BlackRock, Governor Abbott, TSTC, TDLR, and anyone else trying to rush people toward a journeyman license:

Fund training.
Respect apprenticeship.
Protect the license.
Do not water down the trade.

Apprenticeship builds electricians.
Shortcuts build problems.

Texas AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
Amarillo Central Labor Council
West Texas Building and Construction Trades Council
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

05/11/2026

Amarillo Labor Town Hall

Join us for an Amarillo Labor Town Hall on Tuesday, May 12, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM at:

IBEW Local 602
200 S Fannin St.
Amarillo, TX 79106

RSVP is required: http://bit.ly/amarillolabor

Please make sure to open the RSVP email/link and confirm that you will be attending so organizers have an accurate count.

Come be part of the conversation and help strengthen labor’s voice in Amarillo.

We want to hear from union members like YOU.