AFL-CIO Press Clips: December 16, 2022
CIVIL, HUMAN, AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
US bank branch closures widen social inequality (Video)
Financial Times
Dec. 12, 2022
Earlier this year, Bill Spriggs participated in a documentary by the Financial Times on the devastating impact of bank closures, redlining and predatory lending on communities of color and low-income communities, particularly in the South. The documentary also explores the direct correlation between banking deserts and the racial wealth gap. It features Rep. Clyburn and other experts who are calling on banks to reevaluate their role in society.
JOINING TOGETHER
Red Cross workers call off strike after ratifying new contract
Spectrum News
By Lydia Taylor
Dec. 15, 2022
Red Cross workers in the AFSCME Local 1205 and 1558 announced Wednesday they ratified a new contract with the organization, and called off their planned strike. “From the beginning, all the workers wanted was for their hard work to be recognized by their bosses with a fair contract,” said AFSCME Council 32 Executive Director Patrick Wycoff in a press release. “To attain that, the workers had to take a stand. Make no mistake, the members’ courage to strike the holiday blood drive was critical to reaching this agreement.”
Hundreds picket outside Valley Hospital for new union contract
Las Vegas Review-Journal
By Sean Hemmersmeier
Dec. 15, 2022
For the second time in recent months, more than a hundred picketers were outside Valley Hospital Medical Center Thursday demanding a fair contract for hospital support staff. About 90 support staff at the medical center have been in contract negotiations since the end of 2016. They claim their wages have stagnated and they fear a reduction of benefits could happen. The workers are represented by Culinary Union 226 and comprise housekeepers, cooks, cashiers, kitchen workers and stewards at Valley Hospital, which is located across the street from the new UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine.
Equity members’ voting period on tentative production agreement to close Dec. 18
Broadway News
By Ruthie Fierberg
Dec. 15, 2022
Voting is open for eligible members of Actors’ Equity Association in the ratification process of the tentative production agreement reached between the union and The Broadway League. According to a Dec. 14 video posted by actor and Equity National Council member Sarah Quinn Taylor on her personal Instagram account, voting will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 18. Members are eligible to vote if they have worked a Broadway or sit-down production contract between September 2015 and December 2022.
IATSE Moves One Step Closer To Representing Workers In TV Commercial Production Departments
Deadline
By David Robb
Dec. 15, 2022
IATSE has taken the next step toward representing freelance TV commercial production department workers. The union said Thursday that it has sent a formal request to the Association of Independent Commercial Producers to initiate a card count by a neutral third party on behalf of thousands of unionizing freelance TV commercial production department workers. If a majority of workers sign the cards, IATSE will be recognized as their collective bargaining agent.
Niagara Frontier Publications
Dec. 15, 2022
The trustees of the New York Power Authority on Tuesday approved a new, five-year contract agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), a labor union representing more than 570 electricians, line persons, and other skilled craft employees at NYPA, the nation’s largest state public power entity providing nearly a quarter of New York’s electricity. Union representatives and NYPA leadership gathered Wednesday for a ceremonial signing of the contract at NYPA’s Niagara Power Project in Lewiston.
NLRB
Union leaders, lawmakers push for more dollars for NLRB
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
Dec. 15, 2022
Union leaders and their congressional allies are pushing for more dollars for the National Labor Relations Board, as NLRB’s top enforcement official, who also runs the staff, warned lawmakers that without an increase, she’d have to furlough people. And such furloughs mean “union-busting CEOs” could run rampant, a top union leader, Communications Workers Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens, told a Dec. 13 Capitol Hill press conference organized by the Worker Power Coalition, which she co-chairs. Added Painters President Jimmy Williams, the other coalition co-chair: “Workers across the construction industry report widespread harassment, intimidation, and bullying from bosses, when they try to simply exercise their rights at work as guaranteed by law. “The drastic underfunding of the NLRB means many of these workers will face delays in getting a union vote or receiving justice for illegal retaliation or termination from their employers–which is why Congress must respond to this crisis to stand with workers and fully fund the NLRB with this urgent budget bill.”
NLRB opens door for union for college athletes
CNN
By Chris Isidore
Dec. 15, 2022
Are college athletes employees? In a potentially game-changing move, the National Labor Relations Board’s regional office in Los Angeles has taken a step forward to define USC players that way. On Thursday, the NLRB’s Los Angeles office found merit in an unfair labor practice complaint filed on behalf of players on the football and basketball teams at the University of Southern California. This could open the door to previously unsuccessful efforts to form the first union of college athletes.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Hot chocolate. Warm winter coats. And a chance to climb into Engine 8.
Northwest Labor Press
By Don McIntosh
Dec. 14, 2022
Since 2012, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has partnered with a group called Operation Warm to provide brand new, American-made coats to children in need across the United States. IAFF locals around the country take part in fundraising, and deliver the coats. So far they’ve distributed over 200,000 coats in over 300 cities. Program backers say the coats don’t just keep kids warm; they also improve self-confidence, peer acceptance, school attendance, and outdoor play. In Vancouver, IAFF Local 452 distributes the coats at multiple schools. The coats are given to students on the free and reduced lunch program who are referred by the school’s family resource coordinator.