Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST READ
U.S. women’s and men’s national soccer teams close pay gap with ‘game-changing’ deal
The Washington Post
By Steven Goff and Molly Hensley-Clancy
May 18, 2022
The U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams struck a labor deal that closes the contentious pay gap between the squads, an unprecedented step that will equalize both salaries and bonuses, providing a substantial boost to the decorated women’s team. The deal was part of new collective bargaining agreements with the U.S. Soccer Federation that were announced Wednesday morning. It was the culmination of a long battle between the women’s team and the sport’s national governing body, which included a high-profile lawsuit that was settled this year. The USSF said the agreement makes the United States the first country to achieve equal pay for its men’s and women’s soccer teams. “To finally get to the point where on every economic term it’s equal pay, I am just really proud,” USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone said.
EQUAL PAY
U.S. Soccer and Top Players Agree to Guarantee Equal Pay
The New York Times
By Andrew Das
May 18, 2022
What they added up to, the players all knew, was something many of them had chased for most of their careers: equal pay. That reality arrived Wednesday in landmark contracts with the U.S. Soccer Federation that will guarantee, for the first time, that soccer players representing the United States men’s and women’s national teams will receive the same pay when competing in international matches and competitions. “No other country has ever done this,” U.S. Soccer’s president, Cindy Cone, said of the deal to equalize World Cup payments. “I think everyone should be really proud of what we’ve accomplished here. It really, truly, is historic.”
U.S. Soccer Announces Historic CBA Agreement, Equal Pay Between USMNT, USWNT
Sports Illustrated
By Brian Straus
May 18, 20922
The U.S. Soccer Federation, along with its men’s and women’s senior national teams, announced a pair of historic labor deals early Wednesday that will unite the respective player pools under similar contract terms while cementing the equal pay long sought by the world-champion women. “U.S. Soccer and the USWNT and USMNT players have reset their relationship with these new agreements and are leading us forward to an incredibly exciting new phase of mutual growth and collaboration,” said USSF president and former WNT player Cindy Parlow Cone, whose successful election campaign was anchored by her commitment to resolve the equal-pay dispute and achieve labor peace.
JOINING TOGETHER
Broadway Deal Over Rudin Shows Will Limit Nondisclosure Agreements
The New York Times
By Michael Paulson
May 18, 2022
Performers and stage managers will be released from the nondisclosure agreements they signed to work on four Broadway shows connected to the producer Scott Rudin under a settlement between the Broadway League and Actors’ Equity Association. The union said that the two parties had agreed that, going forward, producers would no longer require actors or stage managers to sign such agreements unless approved by the union, which might sign off on them in limited circumstances to protect things such as intellectual property or financial information. The League declined to comment.y
Longview newspaper ratifies first union contract
NW Labor Press
By Colin Staub
May 18, 2022
Journalists at the daily newspaper in Longview, Washington, secured a 2% wage increase in their first union contract with Lee Enterprises. The one-year contract was unanimously approved on March 24 by the Longview Newsguild, which represents eight journalists at The Daily News. It came after several months of bargaining that reached a standstill when the discussion turned to wage increases.
IN THE STATES
Lamont Inks New Employment Law Backed By Unions
CT News Junkie
By Hugh McQuaid
May 18, 2022
In a victory for state labor unions, Gov. Ned Lamont ignored a lobbying effort by business organizations and signed a bill Tuesday prohibiting employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to potentially discourage workers from unionizing. Lamont signed the bill without fanfare Tuesday, making Connecticut only the second state after Oregon with a captive audience law currently on the books. Beginning July 1, the policy will prevent employers from requiring employees to remain at meetings where they impart political or religious views. On Wednesday Connecticut AFL-CIO President Ed Hawthorne released a statement calling Connecticut a leader in protecting workers’ rights and commending Lamont for signing the law. “Far too often, when workers attempt to form a union, management forces workers to attend closed-door captive audience meetings where they frequently threaten business closures, wage cuts, layoffs, and more,” Hawthorne said. “In just over six weeks, workers will no longer be forced to attend meetings about their employer’s position on politics, religion, or union organizing.”