MUST READ
Biden Labor Department Finalizes Pro-Worker Rules on Overtime, Retirement Savings
Common Dreams
By Julia Conley
April 23, 2024
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said the nation's largest labor federation has "been pushing for the fiduciary and overtime rules since the Obama administration." "It's really this simple," said Shuler. "Every worker deserves their fair share of the wealth they help create and every worker deserves to make sure their hard-earned money is secure."
POLITICS
President Biden Speaks at 2024 NABTU Conference (Video)
C-SPAN
April 24, 2024
“You had my back in 2020, and because of you, I am standing here as President of the United States of America,” said President Biden at the start of his remarks at the 2024 North America’s Building Trades Unions' conference in Washington, DC. The president spoke on his strong support for unions as he touted his policy achievements, such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. He touched on growth in the economy, infrastructure investment, and job creation, as well as highlighting the policy differences between his administration and that of former President Trump.
Union leader endorsing Biden: ‘We’re not gonna waste a lot of time’ on Trump supporters
The Hill
By Tara Suter
April 24, 2024
The president of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) said Wednesday his union will not “waste a lot of time” with supporters of former President Trump as it gives President Biden its endorsement. “We’re not gonna waste a lot of time talking to every American that supports Donald Trump, and we’re not gonna waste a lot of time with some of our members that support Donald Trump, because we’re not gonna change their minds,” Sean McGarvey said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Biden scores major union backing as its leaders attack Trump
CNN
By Edward-Isaac Dovere
April 24, 2024
Joe Biden landed a major union endorsement Wednesday from North America’s Building Trades Unions, whose leaders say the president has his infrastructure bill largely to thank for it. In making one of their earliest ever presidential endorsements, NABTU leaders are kickstarting an eight-figure organizing program to try to deliver their 250,000 members in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin for Biden. The Teamsters, whose endorsement is being pursued by both Biden and Donald Trump, are members of NABTU but abstained from Tuesday’s board vote, according to people briefed on the proceedings. They will endorse after the Republican and Democratic conventions.
TRANSPORTATION
FAA probes union claims Boeing retaliated against two engineers in 2022
Salt Wire
By David Shepardson
April 23, 2024
The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it is investigating a union's claims that Boeing retaliated against two employees who in 2022 insisted the planemaker re-evaluate prior engineering work on 777 and 787 jets. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) said the two unidentified engineers were representatives of the FAA, which delegates some of its oversight authority and certification process to Boeing workers.
ORGANIZING
The UAW’s Victory Can Serve as a Model
The Century Foundation
By Steven Greenhouse
April 23, 2024
How did the UAW pull off its big Southern victory, the first time a union has succeeded in organizing a foreign-owned auto plant in the South? The UAW and Shawn Fain pursued five basic strategies to achieve this victory, and those steps could serve as a model for other unions across the United States. The crucial steps Fain and the UAW took that made the historic win happen can be distilled to the following: (1) create a new union culture that focuses on mobilizing members and on solidarity, (2) transform the union’s image, (3) make ambitious bargaining demands that you think are just, (4) be ready and willing to fight—and strike—to win those demands, and (5) use all this—a new union culture, a new union image, some important contract gains, and a fighting spirit—to go out and organize. (These may oversimplify the process a bit, because in truth, Fain and union staffers—as well as tens of thousands of rank-and-file members nationwide—have taken dozens, indeed hundreds of steps to achieve this historic victory at Volkswagen.)
The stunning rebirth of the American labor movement (Opinion)
Alter Net
By Robert Reich
April 22, 2024
On Friday, Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers union. This is a truly big deal. The mainstream media — most of whom no longer have labor reporters — have barely mentioned it, but I believe it marks a major turning point for organized labor.
Southwest Airlines flight attendants ratify new contract
Reuters
By Reuters
April 24, 2024
Southwest Airlines' (LUV.N), opens new tab flight attendants on Wednesday voted in favor of a new contract with an immediate 22% pay raise, the union representing the employees and the carrier said on Wednesday. Nearly 20,000 flight attendants at the airline voted in favor of a new collective bargaining agreement, the Transport Workers Union's local chapter 556 said. Of the nearly 93% of eligible voters, 81% voted in support of the contract which will give them an immediate 22% pay raise this year and 3% per year raises till May 2028.
JOINING TOGETHER
Business Wire
By Staff
April 23, 2024
Following the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Hotel Maya Long Beach has signed a tentative contract agreement. In the past week, the Hyatt Place Pasadena, Proper Santa Monica, Proper Downtown Los Angeles, Westdrift Manhattan Beach, Hotel June West LA, and Alsace Hotel also signed the historic accord.
Southwest Airlines flight attendants approve new contract with Dallas-based airline
KERA
By Megan Cardona
April 24, 2024
Southwest Airlines flight attendants on Wednesday approved a new union contract with the Dallas-based carrier — and it comes with a hefty raise. The contract effective May 1 includes a 22% snap-up raise for this year and 3% raises each of the following three years. "When union leadership has a membership that is willing to be so unified and show their solidarity in the way that our union members did, that equates to an industry bar-setting contract," union president and lead negotiator Lyn Montgomery told KERA.
Union: Contract Talks With CNH Manufacturing in Fargo “Intense”
KVRR
By KVRR Staff
April 24, 2024
Contract negotiations are described by a union leader as “intense” as the union representing production workers at the CNH Manufacturing Plant in Fargo continue. The contract, covering about 800 hourly employees, expires on Sunday. A union representative says Local 2525 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is seeking higher pay, and health care and pension benefit improvements. The contract that is expiring was for six years. The negotiations are taking place at a neutral location in Fargo.
NLRB
Podcast Workers File Unfair Labor Practice Charge Against iHeartMedia
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
April 24, 2024
Two years into negotiations over their first union contract, podcast workers at iHeartMedia have filed an unfair labor practice charge against management over alleged intimidation and encroachment on staffers’ rights to discuss their working conditions and share union literature during break periods.The charge, filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, claims that iHeartMedia has violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act “by restricting protected Section 7 speech, by engaging in intimidating conduct and by interrogating employees about their support for the union” in its interactions with the iHeart Podcast Union. The iHeart Podcast Union, affiliated with the Writers Guild of America East, represents around 100 producers, editors, researchers and hosts who work on titles including Stuff You Should Know, Behind the Bastards and Atlanta Monster.
IN THE STATES
WisPolitics
By Staff
April 23, 2024
On the 28th of April, workers, mourners, and their advocates from across the globe come together to partake in various events, demonstrations, vigils, and an array of other activities, all aimed at honoring this significant day. Here in the Coulee Region local workers, mourners, and community leaders will gather at the Green Island Park Gazebo in La Crosse on Sunday April 28th at 1pm to mark Workers Memorial Day, remembering workers who have died or suffered illness or injuries while on the job. Each year more people meet their demise in workplace accidents than on the battlefield. These deaths are not shrouded in enigmatic illnesses or unfortunate “accidents.” Instead, all too often, they occur due to the disregard of employers who fail to prioritize the safety of their employees. Workers Memorial Day (WMD) serves as a solemn remembrance for these and all fallen workers.
UNION BUSTING
JetBlue Faces Charge That It Intimidates Workers Who Seek To Organize
Forbes
By Ted Reed
April 24, 2024
As a top transportation union seeks to organize JetBlue mechanics and dispatchers, it has won backing from 160 members of Congress, who have charged the carrier with interfering in the effort. “It has come to our attention that there have been instances of anti-organizing interference at JetBlue from management,” the Congressional Labor Caucus said Wednesday, in a letter to JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty. “As required by law, unionization efforts must be permitted to occur free from interference.”