Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST READ
Strong Opposition Raises to Bill Denying Student Athletes Employment
Sports Illustrated
By Noah Henderson
June 13, 2024
Today, hours before the mark up hearing, opposition to the bill cried loudly. The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the United States, wrote a letter strongly disapproving of the PSAEFA. Penned by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, the letter stated that “the fallacy that every college athlete is merely a student has finally begun to crumble,” and that within the Johnson case the NCAA seeks to deny student-athletes the right to have their labor evaluated by courts, a right every other worker in the nation maintains.
Supreme Court rules for Starbucks, limits power of judges to protect fired union organizers
Los Angeles Times
By David G. Savage
June 13, 2024
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler denounced the decision and said the court had “sided with corporate power over Starbucks baristas today in a direct attack on the fundamental freedom to organize a union on the job. This decision sets a higher threshold for courts to reinstate workers who have been unfairly fired. In a system that is already stacked against workers, this will make it even harder for them to get back their jobs.”
Exxon adds some Dem lobbying muscle
Politico
By Caitlin Oprysko
June 13, 2024
“The AFL-CIO and its Sports Council affiliates unanimously oppose any legislation that denies college athletes employee status,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler wrote in a letter Wednesday to the heads of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, which advanced the bill in a party-line vote just before publication. “These athletes dedicate immense effort, endure rigorous schedules, and risk bodily injury daily for their schools,” Shuler continued, adding that “the labor movement stands in unwavering solidarity with student-athletes and firmly against this bill.”
POLITICS
Congressional hearing exposes Republicans’ intention to destroy NLRB
People’s World
By Press Associates
June 13, 2024
The right-wing Republican chair of a House subcommittee that deals with labor law led off the panel’s sixth anti-worker hearing in the current Congress—and the second in a month—with a long rant against the National Labor Relations Board. The title of the June 12 House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee hearing gave the game away. Republicans called it to investigate, as its headline said, “NLRB overreach and union bias.” They followed with a nasty lead tweet: “Unions are like a bad habit: Easy to get into, hard to get rid of.” Panel chair Robert Good, R-Va., spent the hearing bashing the board’s top enforcement officer, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. The three Republican boss-side labor law attorneys called as GOP witnesses joined in. One, John Ring, chaired the board under the Republican Trump government. As usual, the committee did not call on the NLRB to defend itself.
Buttigieg brings Biden’s re-election message to union members in York
WITF
By Ben Wasserstein
June 13, 2024
Jeff Chambers could be considered a man of many talents. Since his teens, he has worked in manufacturing, helped build things like the B-1 Bombers and spent 30 years at Harley-Davidson. A York City native, he joined his first union when he was around 19 years old and has been involved with several unions for over four decades. He retired in 2020 and is a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 175. “Union benefits and wages really paved the way for a comfortable retirement for me,” he said.
SUPREME COURT
Starbucks Wins at Supreme Court as Labor Board Power Curbed
Bloomberg
By Robert Iafolla
June 13, 2024
The US Supreme Court sided with Starbucks Corp. over the National Labor Relations Board in a decision that will make it more difficult for the agency to win temporary reinstatement of workers fired during labor disputes. Federal judges should review NLRB requests for immediate court orders the same way they would examine any other petition for a preliminary injunction, the Supreme Court held in a 9-0 ruling Thursday.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Black, Latina and Native women are the tipped workers most exposed to poverty
El Pais English
By Patricia Caro
June 13, 2024
The truth is that the tip, justified by some and vilified by others, is a fundamental part of the salary of almost five million workers throughout the country. Of these, seven out of every 10 are women. And among them, Latinas are overrepresented: despite accounting for 7.9% of the total U.S. workforce, they represent 12.9% of the tipped workforce. A report by the National Women’s Law Center, presented on Wednesday, warns that dependence on tips increases the risk of living below the poverty line, which in 2023 stood at $20,000 per year for a family with two adults and $30,000 for a family of two adults and two children. However, due to rising purchasing and housing costs, “even those with incomes of up to twice the poverty line (i.e., $40,808 for a family of two adults and $61,800 for a family of four with two kids) are living near poverty, where a medical emergency, a few cut shifts, or another unexpected expense can mean that families won’t have enough to pay for basics, like food, rent, utilities, or child care,” the report notes. In a statement, Ted Pappageorge, the secretary of the Culinary Workers Union, which brings together more than 60,000 workers in Nevada, responded: “For decades, the Culinary Union has fought for tipped workers’ rights and against unfair taxation.
ORGANIZING
University of Maryland Medical Center residents and fellows voting on whether to form union
WYPR
By Scott Maucione
June 13, 2024
Residents and fellows at the University of Maryland Medical Center believe they have the votes to form a union. More than 900 employees are voting this week on whether to join the American Federation of Teachers-Maryland. Voting ends on Thursday at 8 p.m. Residents and fellows are fresh out of medical school and working as doctors, often in a learning capacity. However, they are often stuck with long hours and low pay. Andrew Gilmore, a fellow in pulmonary and critical care at UMMC, said the yearly pay at UMMC for first-year residents is $63,000. Sometimes residents work 24 hour shifts as well.
Charlotte town employees look to unionize
The Charlotte News
By Bret Yates
June 13, 2024
Municipal employees in Charlotte may soon have a union. A publicly posted petition at the town hall proposes a new collective bargaining unit consisting of 10 “non-management/non-supervisory” workers, represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The Charlotte Selectboard discussed the matter with an attorney during an executive session on June 10. It resumed its public meeting without taking any action. The Vermont Labor Relations Board certifies public-sector unions. AFSCME Council 93 requested an election in Charlotte on the basis that, as of March 22, a majority of the workers in the proposed unit had submitted signed authorization cards.
JOINING TOGETHER
San Diego flight attendants return to picket over stalled contract negotiations
10 News
By Dani Miskell
June 13, 2024
Dozens of flight attendants will hit the picket line outside of San Diego International Airport Thursday, demanding an end to stalled contract negotiations for 80,000 flight attendants. The picket line is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.at Terminal 2. The San Diego flight attendants will join thousands of others across 30 other U.S. airports for what they're calling a “Worldwide Day of Action.” The flight attendants belong to the union known as the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA).
2UrbanGirls
By 2UrbanGirls
June 13, 2024
The union representing Los Angeles County probation officers alerted their members this morning that unfair labor practice charges were filed against the department this week regarding the mandate that field officers be reassigned to work in the juvenile halls. “AFSCME Local 685 has filed charges against the LA County Probation Department for unilaterally implementing changes in the terms and conditions of employment of Local 685 Members without negotiating with the union. This is a violation of our rights under the County’s Employee Relations Ordinance, and we are demanding the County “cease and desist its Mandatory Involuntary Reassignment and its Mandatory Involuntary Home Assignment (Forced and Punitive Home Assignment)” and return all members to their “current and regular assignments as set forth in the County job classification of DPO II Field.”
RFTA negotiations with drivers union stalled over pay, housing disputes
Post Independent
By Westley Crouch
June 13, 2024
Negotiations between the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) and the Amalgamated Transit Union 1774 (ATU) have reported conflicting reports about how well negotiations are going. Critical issues such as drivers’ pay and housing affordability are at the center of the apparent impasse. The discussions, initiated in May, have so far failed to yield significant progress, frustrating union representatives.
Big Union Win in Virginia Schools where Bargaining Suddenly Legal
Labor Notes
By Joe DeManuelle-Hall
June 13, 2024
Education unions just won a massive victory in the fight to bring collective bargaining rights to Virginia’s public sector. Workers at the Fairfax County Public Schools voted this week to unionize, creating a wall-to-wall union of 27,500 teachers, custodians, teaching assistants, bus drivers, and more. The new bargaining unit is one of the largest K-12 unions on the East Coast, according to the National Education Association. Fairfax County is in Northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C., and the Fairfax County school district is by far the largest in the state. But many teachers, especially newer ones, live outside Fairfax County because housing there is too expensive. And “a lot of custodians do two or three jobs just to provide for their families,” said Ernesto Escalante, a building supervisor at Crestwood Elementary and an activist in the union drive.
SAG-AFTRA says strike likely if publishers disagree with AI protections
Game Developer
By Justin Carter
June 13, 2024
Discussions between SAG-AFTRA and game publishers are still ongoing, with the key sticking point concerning AI and its relation to voice acting. And it's indicated that if things aren't resolved by the middle or end of summer, a strike is happening. Talking to GamesIndustry, chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and voice actor Sarah Elmaleh (Hi-Fi Rush) explained there's a line "very clearly drawn in the sand" about the Interactive Media Agreement and AI.
Equipment Operators on Strike at Wisconsin Construction Sites
Equipment World
By Don McLoud
June 13, 2024
Hundreds of heavy equipment operators in Wisconsin have been on strike since June 1, affecting construction sites in the southeastern part of the state. Members of the Local 139 of the International Union of Operating Engineers called the strike after they rejected a new contract offer and subsequent counteroffer. The union is seeking higher wages, citing rising inflation. The strike follows the May 31 expiration of the Area I Master Building Agreement.
Hollywood Studios to Cover Drone Camera Crews Under Union Agreement
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
June 13, 2024
Following the results of an arbitration with Warner Bros., major film and television studios have agreed to cover drone camera crews under an IATSE union agreement. That’s according to camera professionals union the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600), which informed its members on Thursday morning that this change came as the result of the union prevailing in a dispute with the studio in April over whether particular drone camera workers were covered under its contract. “This was the second drone arbitration award in favor of the Local,” national executive director Alex Tonisson said in a memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “Major studios have now represented that they will cover drone camera crews under the Local 600 Agreement, as required by the latest arbitration award.”
IN THE STATES
Skilled trades on the rise as college enrollment sags. ‘Ticket to the middle class’
Marin Independent Journal
By Tribune News Service
June 12, 2024
“Careers in the trades are good-paying,” said Megan Price, the executive director of the Missouri Works Initiative. “They are truly a ticket to the middle class.” Three years ago, the Missouri AFL-CIO launched the nonprofit initiative to help draw people to the trades. “We have to make progress about getting young people excited about these careers,” Price said. This summer, Missouri Works is extending its outreach efforts to high schoolers through a Boys & Girls Clubs partnership called the Skilled Trades Exploration Program, or STEP. Community and technical colleges have also focused on secondary schools, visiting counseling offices and hosting career fairs and “try-it” days.
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su visits New Flyer plant in Anniston
Alabama Political Reporter
By Chance Phillips
June 13, 2024
On Tuesday, the acting Secretary of Labor, Julie Su, visited the New Flyer plant in Anniston as part of her “Good Jobs Summer Tour.” New Flyer is a national bus company and its Anniston facility helps manufacture electric buses. New Flyer workers in Anniston unionized in January. The successful union card check followed a community benefits agreement brokered by Jobs to Move America which required New Flyer to be neutral and voluntarily recognize unions with majority support. The workers organized under the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine, and Furniture Workers, an industrial division of the Communications Workers of America also known as the IUE-CWA.
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