MUST READ
Biden to nominate union lawyer to key seat on U.S. labor board
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner and David Shepardson
June 22, 2021
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Tuesday praised Biden in a tweet for "for acting quickly to return a pro-worker majority to the @NLRB."
IN THE STATES
Union representing hundreds of hotel workers says hotels need to return to full service
KHON
By Sara Mattison
June 21, 2021
As Hawaii tourism returns to big numbers, hotels are calling workers back and looking to hire. But the union that represents many hotel workers says some employers are attempting to reduce staff at this time. Unite Here Local 5 represents nearly 9,000 hospitality workers. The union says about 55% of them are back at work, but not all have full-time hours. Some hotel departments like valet service are still closed.
Hundreds of complaints about unsafe workplaces in Wisconsin as COVID cases spiked
Fox 47
By Naomi Kowles
June 22, 2021
“Too many frontline workers were exposed to COVID needlessly,” Wisconsin AFL-CIO president Stephanie Bloomingdale said. “This pandemic showed a light on so many things that are wrong in our workplaces.” Many employees are returning to their job sites across Wisconsin as the state gets physically back to work amid widespread vaccinations. But new records show just how many of those who never left their job sites felt like they didn’t have the luxury of the barest safety necessities at the workplaces where they were touted as essential.
Ending federal unemployment benefits based on misguided premise, won't work
The Gainesville Sun
By Mike Williams
June 23, 2021
The benefits we received only helped keep food on the table while we searched and waited for the next job — and our employers paid premiums into the fund, knowing the benefits paid out helped keep us around, a skilled workforce ready to go for their next project. That personal experience with the system makes the current false narrative incredibly frustrating. Unemployed workers are not sitting around fattening their bank accounts on lavish unemployment checks. The numbers don’t lie.
Safety concerns cited as union leaders cancel second straight Labor Day parade
Heart of Illinois ABC
June 23, 2021
Peoria's annual Labor Day parade has been canceled for the second year in a row because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom McLaughlin, president of the Labor Council of West Central Illinois made the announcement on Tuesday. “After much thought regarding the safety of our residents, we made the tough decision to cancel this year’s Labor Day Parade,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “The unions in central Illinois first and foremost want to keep families safe. We look forward to getting back to normal in 2022,” McLaughlin also said.
JOINING TOGETHER
Striking Alabama coal miners take protest to Wall Street
AL.com
By William Thornton
June 22, 2021
About 14 striking Alabama mine workers have taken their case to Wall Street this morning. Chanting “no contract, no coal,” the miners today launched the latest step in a strike that began April 1 for a new contract with Warrior Met Coal. United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts and union members plan to protest in front of the Manhattan offices of several hedge funds the union says are the reason the contract negotiations are stalled.
VOTING RIGHTS
Republicans Block Voting Rights Bill, Dealing Blow to Biden and Democrats
The New York Times
By Nicholas Fandos
June 22, 2021
Republicans on Tuesday blocked the most ambitious voting rights legislation to come before Congress in a generation, dealing a blow to Democrats’ attempts to counter a wave of state-level ballot restrictions and supercharging a campaign to end the legislative filibuster. President Biden and Democratic leaders said the defeat was only the beginning of their drive to steer federal voting rights legislation into law, and vowed to redouble their efforts in the weeks ahead.