Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST LISTEN
From Amazon to Starbucks, America Is Unionizing. Will Politics Catch Up? (Opinion)
The New York Times
April 20, 2022
“This is about being able to control your own destiny, to be able to shape the workplace that you would like to see, to be able to come together and leverage and have more power. And in fact, this is a watershed moment. The system, as we know, isn’t working for people. And it’s been broken for a long time well before the pandemic. But the pandemic shone a light on just how many things are broken and the fact that people did make sacrifices to get us through and worked on the front lines and put their health at risk. And now they’re fed up, and they’re fired up.” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.
MUST READ
AFL-CIO Data Finds Young Workers Support Collective Action
Law360
By Tim Ryan
April 20, 2022
Young people are taking risks, are saying enough is enough because they've borne the brunt of what's been happening in the economy," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said at an event announcing the survey. "As they've grown into the workforce, they've experienced nothing but wage depression, wage stagnation."
JOINING TOGETHER
Apple Store Workers in Atlanta File for First Union Election
Bloomberg Law
By Ian Kullgren
April 20, 2022
Workers at an Apple Inc. store in Atlanta became the first in the U.S. to file for a union election Wednesday, setting up a battle between organized labor and a Silicon Valley titan. The proposed union includes 107 workers at an Apple store in Cumberland Mall in northwest Atlanta. The group filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board Wednesday after it had collected signed cards of support from 70% of eligible employees, said Derrick Bowles, a Cumberland Apple store worker and member of the organizing committee. A successful campaign could establish a foothold for organized labor in Big Tech as a national worker shortage forces employers to reevaluate pay and working conditions. The effort is backed by the Communications Workers of America under a broader campaign to organize tech employees. The Atlanta group would be called Apple Workers Union, according to a copy of the petition and internal campaign literature reviewed by Bloomberg Law.
ISU employee union votes overwhelmingly to ratify new contract
WGLT
By Lyndsay Jones
April 20, 2022
Heard and respected. That's how Illinois State University employee and AFSCME Local 1110 president Chuck Carver said union members feel after voting late Tuesday into early Wednesday morning on a new contract with the university. Around 92% of the group's 300-plus members voted to ratify a contract that came after more than two dozen negotiating sessions between the union and university. "Not only do we feel heard, but we feel like we are respected on this campus now," Carver told WGLT. "I truthfully feel like they will respect us now on this campus with all of the following that we had. They know we're here on campus now, for sure."
Dispatchers at Alaska Airlines ratify new five-year contract
American Journal of Transportation
By AJOT
April 20, 2022
Alaska Airlines’ 100 dispatchers, who are represented by the Transport Workers Union (TWU), have ratified a new five-year contract. The contract was approved by 81% of those employees who voted. The new contract includes increased pay with a mid-term market review to ensure wage rates stay competitive, along with enhanced benefits and streamlined training. Alaska’s dispatchers are responsible for flight planning and tracking to ensure the safety and progress of each flight conducted by the airline from origin to destination. They are the carrier’s primary command and control link with Alaska pilots, providing en route weather, airport facility and other flight safety information. “Our dispatchers play a critical role in our operation with responsibility for every single flight throughout the system,” said Jenny Wetzel, vice president of labor relations at Alaska Airlines. “I’m glad we were able to reach an agreement that works for dispatchers and our company’s long-term success. This means, even amid an uncertain economy, we can increase pay and enhance their benefits today.” “TWU was impressed with the logic-based approach taken in these negotiations by the Alaska negotiators,” said Gary Peterson, TWU international vice president and air division director. “Early on both groups agreed on the industry analysis each of us had independently performed, which helped us reach an agreement in-line with our amendable date.”
National Fuel workers in parts of NY, PA to vote on strike
WIVB
By Evan Anstey
April 20, 2022
National Fuel Gas workers in parts of New York and Pennsylvania could be going on strike after the recent expiration of their contract. Workers in southwest New York and northwest Pennsylvania are represented by IBEW Local 2154. The union says negotiations for a new contract recently came to an abrupt end after they could not come to an agreement with National Fuel Gas about wages and terms of employment. According to Local 2154, National Fuel presented a “final offer,” which was overwhelmingly rejected by the union. “IBEW Local 2154 wants its members to have protection from being subject to termination without just cause,” the union says. “Currently, the terms National Fuel Gas is imposing on its employees in Northwest Pennsylvania and Southwest New York State eliminates the due process, union representation, and need to present just cause, which employees in neighboring regions are given in disciplinary matters.”
IN THE STATES
TESTIMONY: Alabama's Warrior Met Coal and Wall Street greed
Facing South
By Braxton Wright
April 20, 2022
Among those who spoke at the hearing was Braxton Wright, a Warrior Met miner and striking UMWA member. He called on lawmakers to support the "Stop Wall Street Looting Act," a measure sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, both Democrats, to help to reform the private equity industry and to give employee compensation higher priority in bankruptcies. This is Wright's written testimony from the hearing.