JOINING TOGETHER
UAW targets more Ford and GM plants as union expands autoworker strike
CBS News
By Khristopher J. Brooks
Sept. 29, 2023
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Friday announced additional work stoppages as the union continues its historic strike against the Big Three carmakers, expanding the walkouts to a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, and a Ford plant in Chicago. Fain said in a live video broadcast on Facebook that union leaders are still negotiating with the automakers, but that "sadly, despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table." He said 7,000 Ford and GM workers at the two facilities will leave their posts Friday — which brings the total number of striking autoworkers to 25,000, or 17% of the UAW's roughly 146,000 members.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Lizzy McLellan Ravitch
Sep. 29, 2023
The union representing members of the Philadelphia Orchestra has accused their employer of unfair practices, as members are in the midst of voting on a contract offer management presented this week. Negotiations have gone on for months between the Philadelphia Orchestra Kimmel Center Inc. and Philadelphia Musicians’ Union Local 77. The union’s contract expired on Sept. 10. Still, the musicians played their opening night performance of the 2023-24 season on Thursday.
Striking hotel workers reach tentative contract with Biltmore Hotel
CBS Los Angeles
BY KCAL-News Staff
Sept. 29, 2023
Days before it marks its 100th anniversary, the Millennium Biltmore hotel reached a tentative labor agreement with striking hospitality workers, their union announced Friday, becoming the second major Los Angeles hotel to strike a contract deal. According to the Unite Here Local 11 union, the tentative labor deal affects 300 workers at the historic downtown hotel, which opened its doors on Oct. 1, 1923. "We applaud the Biltmore Los Angeles for putting their workers and our city first," Kurt Petersen, union co-president, said in a statement. "L.A. is the world's most important tourist destination, with the World Cup and Olympics coming back to back in 2026 and 2028. This agreement takes steps to ensure that workers who work in LA will be able to live in L.A."
Vassar nurses protest job cuts that could begin as early as next week
Times Union
By Lana Bellamy
Sept. 29, 2023
Standing outside Vassar Brothers Medical Center on Thursday, Margaret Franks, a registered nurse at the hospital, talked about how high turnover among her colleagues has been affecting patient care. “They’re leaving because they’re overwhelmed,” Franks said at the rally hosted by the New York State Nurses Association, a 42,000-member statewide union for nurses that is affiliated with National Nurses United, AFL-CIO. “They’re leaving because very often, there aren’t enough senior nurses there to train them properly.”
UAW announces new strikes at GM and Ford plants, spares Stellantis citing ‘momentum’ in talks
CNBC
By Michael Wayland
Sept. 29, 2023
The United Auto Workers union will expand strikes against General Motors and Ford Motor to two U.S. assembly plants at noon ET, UAW President Shawn Fain said Friday. The additional strikes will target Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant in Illinois, which produces the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs, and GM’s Lansing Delta Township plant in mid-Michigan that produces the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse crossovers.
Longtime Union Leader Steps Fully Into Hollywood’s Spotlight
The New York Times
By Nicole Sperling\
Oct. 1, 2023
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director and chief negotiator for the actors’ union, has spent the past two decades toiling behind the scenes during contract talks. The spotlight, he knows, is for the SAG-AFTRA president, usually a well-known performer like the current office holder, Fran Drescher. But ever since the guild went on strike on July 14 for the first time in 40 years, things have been different. In the past three months, Mr. Crabtree-Ireland, 51, has stepped out from behind the negotiating table and made fiery speeches, walked film festival red carpets and reached out to the union’s younger members via Instagram reels. His more frequent appearances have given people ample opportunity to see the tattoos on his forearms, a visual clue to how much the professional and the personal are intertwined for him. On the right are five symbols — a record, a play button, a film reel, a megaphone and a radio antenna — representing the contracts he’s negotiated for union members in the music, film/TV, radio, commercial, video and broadcast industries. On his left arm is a coil with five loops that represent the five children he has adopted with his husband, John.
Penn RAs form a union amid a larger organizing push by student workers
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Lizzy McLellan Ravitch
Sept. 29, 2023
A vast majority of resident assistants at the University of Pennsylvania have voted to form a union, making the first RA union in the Philadelphia-area. It’s another labor-organizing first for the university and the region, whose medical school became the site of the first union of training doctors in Pennsylvania earlier this year. The final vote tally was 142-22, with turnout of about 75%. The vote took place Wednesday and Thursday at Houston Hall on campus. The student workers, consisting of undergraduate resident assistants and graduate resident assistants, are full-time students who live in university housing and assist other residents. They will be members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153.
Duquesne Light Company, IBEW Local Union 29 reach tentative collective bargaining agreement
WPXI
By Taylor Spirito
Sept, 29, 2023
Duquesne Light Company and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 29 have reached a tentative three-year collective bargaining agreement. According to Duquesne Light, both sides bargained in good faith to reach an agreement that meets the needs of the company’s employees and the businesses and communities it serves. The agreement addresses key topics like wages, retirement and workforce renewal and investment.
WHYY
By Amanda Fitzpatrick
Sept. 29, 2023
Cafeteria workers and climate staff have reached a tentative deal with the School District of Philadelphia. The agreement comes after a rally outside of the school board meeting on Sept. 21 brought hundreds of union members from across the country to demand the district provide higher wages and better benefits for its employees. The agreement, reached late Thursday night, prevented 1,900 workers from voting to strike after their contract was set to expire Sept. 30.
IN THE STATES
In a first, Mass. AFL-CIO set to elect a woman to the top job
Boston Globe
By Katie Johnston
Sept. 29, 2023
Lynch, 41, has been part of the Massachusetts labor movement for most of her career and is always looking to bring more workers into the fold. When the election is held at the state AFL-CIO convention on Oct. 11, Lynch, who is running unopposed to replace retiring president Steven Tolman, is set to become the first woman at the helm of the organization, which represents around 800 local unions and labor groups in Massachusetts.
Josh Hawley and Lucas Kunce want workers' votes. The battle promises to define campaign.
St. Louis Today
By Joe Holleman
Sept. 29, 2023
On Tuesday, just days after Missouri's senior GOP senator made a weekend appearance in Wentzville to support union workers walking a picket line, the Missouri AFL-CIO blasted Hawley — in no uncertain terms. Hawley is "a fraud who doesn’t give a damn about Missouri workers and only shows up when the camera flashes," said Jake Hummel, president of the state labor organization.