MUST READ
Why we’re fighting to make sure labor unions have a voice in how AI is implemented
Fast Company
By Liz Shuler and Mike Kubzansky
March 25, 2024
Earlier this month, Google’s co-founder admitted that the company had “definitely messed up” after its AI tool, Gemini, produced historically inaccurate images—including depictions of racially diverse Nazis. Sergey Brin cited a lack of “thorough testing” of the AI tool, but the incident is a good reminder that, despite all the hype around generative AI replacing human output, the technology still has a long way to go.
ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
AFL-CIO, Building Trades hail EPA’s asbestos ban
People’s World
By Press Associates
March 25, 2024
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, an Electrical Worker, hailed the ban as “a landmark protection for workers, banning and phasing out all current uses and imports of chrysotile asbestos, and eliminating these exposures in workplaces and throughout the supply chain.” But both Shuler and Building Trades Unions President Sean McGarvey also urged EPA to pursue bans on exposure to “legacy” asbestos which endangers workers rehabbing old schools, factories, homes, and businesses. This ban “does not eliminate all types of asbestos fibers and is only the first half of the EPA’s plans to address worker asbestos exposures,” Shuler warned. Firefighters, construction workers, and factory workers are still “exposed to ‘legacy’ asbestos throughout our old buildings and infrastructure. We urge the EPA to move swiftly to address those risks.”
ORGANIZING
Residents and fellows at WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine unionize
The Detroit News
By Hannah Mackay
March 25, 2024
A majority of resident physicians and fellows at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine have voted to unionize, according to a news release from the organization on Monday. The Resident and Fellow Alliance was certified Thursday in a 152-12 vote and is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFT Michigan, and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). It includes 260 resident physicians and fellows, according to the news release.
Pharmacy unionizing efforts build momentum as a CVS Omnicare in Las Vegas seeks to join
USA Today
By Emily Le Coz
March 25, 2024
A national effort to unionize pharmacists against worsening conditions inside chains like CVS and Walgreens has hit a milestone as workers at the first of what organizers say will be dozens of pharmacies files a federal petition seeking the right to join The Pharmacy Guild. The petition, expected to become public today, puts CVS on notice that workers in its Omnicare pharmacy in Las Vegas intend to hold an election to determine whether the newly formed guild should represent them in labor negotiations with the Fortune 500 company. Nearly 30 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians work at the Omnicare location, which fills prescriptions for nursing homes across Nevada and is not a public-facing pharmacy like most of the chain's more than 9,600 locations. A simple majority is needed to win and organizers told USA TODAY they are confident they have the numbers.
Volkswagen workers to vote on union representation next month in the 1st test of recruiting drive
ABC News
By The Associated Press
March 25, 2024
orkers at Volkswagen’s factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will vote next month on whether they want to be represented by the United Auto Workers union. The National Labor Relations Board said Monday that the election will take place from April 17 to 19 at the plant, in the first test of the union's effort to organize nonunion automobile factories across the nation. Workers at the 3.8 million square foot (353,353 square meter) factory with more than 4,000 production workers filed paperwork March 18 seeking the election. Both sides reached agreement to have the election in April, the NLRB said. The UAW announced its organizing campaign last fall after it won strong contracts with Detroit automakers. The UAW said it would simultaneously target more than a dozen nonunion auto plants including those run by Tesla, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Honda, and others.
Universal City AMC Workers Vote to Unionize With IATSE
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
March 25, 2024
Workers at the Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood have officially voted to unionize with IATSE. In an election that took place March 15 and 16, 37 employees voted in favor of joining the Hollywood crew union and six voted against, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Ushers, cooks, bartenders and all other non-management employees of the theater are all part of the group that is set to join IATSE.
JOINING TOGETHER
UMC nurses begin new contract negotiations for first time since unionizing
Fox 8
By FOX 8 Staff
March 25, 2024
Nurses at University Medical Center rally Monday (March 25) as they begin negotiations on their first union contract with hospital management. They hope the first contract will set new standards for patient care and working conditions on what is seen as a historic day for nurses in the South. Monday’s rally was held at 8 a.m. outside UMC at the intersection of South Galvez and Canal Streets. The National Nurses Organizing Committee is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States, and it represents nearly 600 nurses at UMC, including registered nurses and nurse practitioners.
Picketers gather outside T&W Stamping in Austintown, allege unfair business practices
WFMJ
By Zach Mosca
March 25, 2024
Picketers with the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers have gathered outside T&W Stamping with signs alleging unfair business practices and illegal actions from T&W. 21 News spoke with the union's Director of Research and Collective Bargaining Don Hamric who tells us negotiations between the union and T&W are currently ongoing. Hamric alleged multiple instances of illegal activity from T&W Stamping. "They've regressively bargained. They've put something on the table and pulled it off. They've prematurely implemented some of our proposals that we don't have agreement on. They've threatened some of our committee with some jobs that they have as if, if they didn't comply, their jobs were in jeopardy," Hamric said.
Aramark Workers In Philadelphia Overwhelmingly Vote To Authorize Strike At The Wells Fargo Center
Patch
By CBS Philly
March 25, 2024
Aramark workers on Sunday overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia, a union spokesperson said in a release. The workers are represented by Unite Here Local 274 -- Philadelphia's food service workers union. The union voted 92% to authorize a strike if necessary.
WUSL Philadelphia Staff Begin Negotiations For First SAG-AFTRA Contract.
Inside Radio
By Staff
March 25, 2024
Nine months after beginning efforts to join SAG-AFTRA, represented staff at iHeartMedia urban contemporary “Power 99” WUSL Philadelphia will begin bargaining with management on their first union contract. This comes after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) counted two previously challenged ballots and authorized the station staff to be represented by the union. “We’re thrilled such a dynamic team of radio professionals will be joining the SAG-AFTRA Philadelphia family,” SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a release. “Everyone can benefit from unionization and we look forward to working with Power 99 as they bargain for the wages and working conditions they deserve.”
Mass MoCA says a tentative deal has been reached with workers, putting an end to weekslong strike
The Berkshire Eagle
By Sten Spinella
March 25, 2024
A tentative agreement has been reached in the strike at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the museum said on Monday. In a message to campus community Monday afternoon, the museum said the union's bargaining unit unanimously endorsed a "yes" vote late Sunday night on the agreement. Picketing has been suspended ahead of an expected vote on the new terms on Tuesday. "We anticipate that employees will return to the museum on Wednesday," the email reads. "We know how disruptive this has been, and challenging in real and various ways for so many of you."
Hospitality workers ratify new contract with 34 Southern California hotels, press 30 others to sign
ABC News
By John Antczak
March 25, 2024
Thousands of Southern California hospitality workers overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with 34 hotels after repeated strikes since the summer, their union announced Monday. Workers won higher pay, increased employer contributions to pensions, and fair workload guarantees among other provisions of a contract that received 98% approval, Unite Here Local 11 said in a summary of highlights of the pact which runs until Jan. 15, 2028. The union has yet to reach settlements with 30 other hotels.
Nurses rally outside UMC as union bargaining begins
WWLTV
By Meg Farris
March 25, 2024
The first day of contract negotiations for the very first nurses’ union in Louisiana just wrapped up on Monday. Nurses voted at the end of last year to form a union at University Medical Center. And before the hospital and nurses sat down at the bargaining table, the nurses rallied its members. Nurses at University Medical Center showed up early Monday morning to stir up enthusiasm as their bargaining unit kicks off day one of union negotiations.
Rochester Housing Authority signs four-year agreement with union employees
WHAM
By WHAM
March 25, 2024
It's a new era for the Rochester Housing Authority. The agency and unionized employees signed a new four-year collective bargaining contract agreement on Monday. "It's collaboration at its finest," said Shawn Burr, the executive director of the Rochester Housing Authority. "This is setting the stage for the next four years and it's important." The contract comes after a time of productive negotiations.
"When you work for a company and you see the company trying to do what's best for you, I think that's a major accomplishment," said Michael Rivera, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local Union1635/1635F. "And that's what we managed to accomplish today with this signing."
Deadline
By Peter White
SAG-AFTRA is now setting the stage for renewal talks over its 2024 contract. The union is starting to conduct meetings ahead of the talks over a new contract. The current contract expires on June 30, 2024. It is the latest moment in another busy year for labor negotiations in Hollywood as IATSE began talks over its own deal earlier this month. SAG-AFTRA is encouraging singers, dancers, stunt folk, voiceover and background actors to attend a series of meetings later this month and next month before developing its proposals for talks. Details of the meetings can be found here. The Network Television Code covers all non-dramatic programs, daytime serials, variety, quiz, game, reality, talk, news, sports programs and promotional announcements.
Southern California hotel workers ratify new contracts, ending strikes for some
Los Angeles Times
By Suhauna Hussain
March 25, 2024
After months spent on and off the picket lines, employees at about three dozen Southern California hotels, including some of Los Angeles’ most high-end properties, voted this weekend to approve new contracts that deliver higher wages for thousands of housekeepers, cooks and other workers. The deal brings a partial end to a labor dispute that has roiled the local hotel industry since last summer, when workers at about 60 hotels launched a strategy of intermittent strikes to protest wages and work conditions. The contracts approved this weekend cover only 34 of those hotels.
IN THE STATES
Labor Tribune
By Robert Kelly
March 25, 2024
The human rights activism and pro-Labor spirit of the late Metro East union leader Margaret Blackshere remains a driving force in today’s Labor Movement, said speakers at the Illinois AFL-CIO’s March 6 event honoring Labor-friendly Illinois state legislators. “Margaret broke barriers for so many women,” said state Rep. Lisa Hernandez (D-Cicero). “When I say I wouldn’t be standing here except for her efforts and those of Organized Labor, I mean it.” Hernandez was given the annual Margaret Blackshere Award for her work supporting unions during the Labor Salutes Awards event sponsored by the Illinois AFL-CIO. The annual event attracted almost 200 people. It was held at the Illinois State Library in Springfield.