MUST READ
Major rally planned in Courthouse to support of unionized Starbucks employees
ARL Now
By Matt Blitz
Dec. 6, 2022
Organizers say Liz Shuler the president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the country, will be there and speaking. Plus, a number of state and local elected officials are planning to attending, including Beyer, State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30), and Del. Alfonso Lopez (D- 49).
POLITICS
Warnock outpaces Walker on campaign trail in final weekend of Senate runoff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Tia Mitchell
Dec. 3, 2022
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock kicked off a busy day of campaigning on Saturday in the final weekend ahead of the runoff election with a rally featuring some of the nation’s largest labor unions.Those representing Unite Here, a union for hospitality industry workers, wore red and black. The Service Employees International Union workers were clad in purple. And the Amalgamated Transit Union members wore blue shirts that said in yellow and white: “We’re riding with Warnock.” While Warnock had three public events scheduled, his opponent, Republican Herschel Walker, announced none. Walker did attend tailgating outside the SEC Championship football game in Atlanta, but he did not speak or take questions from the media who followed him there. Instead, the University of Georgia football icon mingled with fans clad in the school’s signature red and black before the game against LSU at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
JOINING TOGETHER
Delta, pilots reach proposed agreement that could boost industry pay
The Washington Post
By Lori Aratani
Dec. 5, 2022
Delta Air Lines and its pilots’ union have reached a preliminary agreement that would provide substantial raises and could lead to higher pilot salaries across the industry. The early agreement would increase pay for Delta pilots by more than 30 percent over four years and include a one-time signing bonus. It also would offer higher pay to pilots who are rescheduled during a trip, increase paid maternity leave to 10 weeks and offer two weeks of paid leave to both parents.
SAG-AFTRA Partners With AFL-CIO On New Health Benefits For Medicare-Eligible Members
Deadline
By David Robb
Dec. 6, 2022
SAG-AFTRA, in partnership with the AFL-CIO, is offering new SAG-AFTRA Senior Benefit Plans for all Medicare-eligible members and their Medicare-eligible spouses/partners, which includes a $0 premium option. The new plans are available to all of SAG-AFTRA’s Medicare-eligible members, regardless of their qualification for the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan. “We were determined to create easy, more comprehensive and better-than-ever options for our Medicare-qualified members and we did it,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a message Tuesday to their members.
Workers at Baileyville's Woodland Pulp vote to strike
News Center Maine
By News Center Maine Staff
Dec. 6, 2022
Workers in Baileyville voted to strike after rejecting the Woodland Pulp mill's contract offer on Wednesday. According to a news release issued by the Maine AFL-CIO, Woodland Pulp "refused to budge on members’ demands for wage adjustments to reflect the increasing cost of living." A total of 85 percent of workers participated in the vote scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, the release stated.
Post-Gazette strike negotiations continue, this time with health care on the table
WESA
By Jillian Forstadt
Dec. 6, 2022
Striking workers and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette management returned to the bargaining table Tuesday. Union members said the paper's management rejected their health care-related concessions, leading to yet another stalemate. The talks at the Omni William Penn Hotel marked the first contract negotiating session held between the two parties since Nov. 18. Those discussions ended in gridlock after the company rejected all of the newspaper guild’s proposals, according to union members. Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh President Zack Tanner said the union would accept the company’s existing health insurance plan and some of the company's cost-sharing proposals—but with limits on how much the company can raise future costs. Tanner said the company rejected that request on the basis that they were economic concessions that they were not willing to make, and would not offer a counterproposal.
The New York Times is bracing for a historic mass walkout as union negotiations go down to the wire
CNN
By Oliver Darcy
Dec. 6, 2022
The New York Times is preparing for more than 1,100 of its union staffers to go on strike for a full day Thursday — an act of protest that has not been staged by employees at the paper of record since the late 1970s. The historic work stoppage is set to go in effect at midnight on December 8 and last for an entire 24 hours. Instead of filing stories, employees will be seen picketing outside The Times’ offices at 1pm, with prominent journalists such as Nikole Hannah-Jones set to speak during a solidarity rally.