JOINING TOGETHER
USC and graduate students union reach tentative pact with big pay boosts, bias protections
Los Angeles Times
By Teresa Watanabe
Nov. 27, 2023
USC and about 3,000 newly unionized graduate student workers who teach, grade and do research reached a tentative labor agreement Sunday evening with big pay boosts and antiharassment protections, averting a threatened Tuesday strike weeks before final exams. It represents “the best contract in the private sector of higher education, made possible by mass participation” from members of the Graduate Student Workers Organizing Committee–United Auto Workers, said Stepp Mayes, a fifth-year doctoral student in environmental engineering and bargaining team member. Union members are expected to vote on the agreement next week and will not strike.
It’s official. Tacoma Art Museum workers unionize!
The Stand
By AFSCME Council 28/WFSE
Nov. 27, 2023
After 12 months of fighting for their union, workers at Tacoma Art Museum voted overwhelmingly Nov. 15-16 to form Tacoma Art Museum Workers United. This year-long campaign brought workers from multiple departments together, the first museum workers union in Washington to do so. This win comes with gratitude for the overwhelming support of Pierce County labor organizers, political advocates, community groups, artists, and more. The TAM Workers United bargaining unit now represents 26 workers.
D.C. Teachers Union Urges DCPS To Come To The Table On Contract Negotiations
DCist
By Sarah Y. Kim
Nov. 27, 2023
The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) says timely negotiations on a new contract are needed to address issues of teacher retention and other after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous contract expired on Sept. 30th, and as two parties head into their third month without a contract, the union says DCPS is dragging its feet. The union and D.C. public schools have yet to sit down at the bargaining table. Union president Jacqueline Pogue-Lyons said DCPS has failed to commit to a meeting date and has not responded to the union’s contract proposals. “We see the urgency of it,” Pogue-Lyons said. “But we’re finding that DCPS doesn’t see the urgency.”
CIVIL, HUMAN, AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Black Actors Praise Sag’s New Hair and Makeup Requirements, ‘We Feel Heard’
Black Enterprise
By Jeroslyn JoVonn
Nov. 27, 2023
Black Hollywood actors “feel heard” now that SAG-AFTRA has finally addressed their long-overlooked concerns about hair and makeup. Details into SAG-AFTRA’s recently reached deal with Hollywood studios reveal the new provisions for hair and makeup that will greatly benefit actors with more textured hair who have faced discrimination in the past. As part of the new contract, principal performers or those who have speaking roles will be able to consult with production about their hair and makeup needs ahead of filming, Rolling Stone reports. If production is unable to meet their requirements, the actor will receive compensation for seeking outside help that will cover a minimum of two hours in the styling chair. Actors and stylists are praising the new provision that addresses industry discrimination that historically underserved and damaged textured hair.