AFL-CIO Press Clips: June 24, 2022
STUDENT DEBT
Business Insider
By Ayelet Sheffey
June 23, 2022
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren believes policy is to blame for the $1.7 trillion student debt crisis. "Can we all just take a deep breath and acknowledge that $1.7 trillion in student loan debt did not just fall out of the sky?" Warren said during a Wednesday student debt roundtable at the offices of union federation group AFL-CIO. "It did not just happen as an act of gravity, it did not just happen because of age, it happened because of deliberate policy decisions to make investments in cutting taxes for the richest Americans and paying for it by shortchanging the education of our children." Warren was referring to general tax policy that Democratic lawmakers have criticized in the past for favoring corporations and the wealthiest Americans. She emphasized that, along with the union leaders present at the roundtable, effective policies are ones that help working people in the country.
JOINING TOGETHER
Aviation Pros
By Dominic Gates
June 23, 2022
The machinists' union has reached a deal with Alaska Airlines management for a two-year contract extension that provides substantial raises for 5,300 gate agents, stores personnel and office staff, as well as for ramp workers who load cargo. The deal does not cover a separate group of about 2,000 ramp workers, also represented by the International Association of Machinists, who work for the McGee Air Services subsidiary and handle baggage on passenger flights. Richard Johnsen, the IAM General Vice President responsible for airline workers, said in an interview the deal will make this group of Alaska Airlines employees "the highest-paid employees in all of those classifications for the entire airline industry."
Atlantic City pushes for casino worker raise to avert strike
AP
By Wayne Parry
June 23, 2022
Atlantic City’s local government is urging its dominant industry to avoid a possible strike by paying casino workers more and hiring more of them. With strike deadlines looming in early July against at least five casinos, Local 54 of the Unite Here union is seeking new contracts to replace those that expired on June 1. The union has authorized a July 1 strike against the Borgata and the three casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment — Caesars, Harrah’s and Tropicana — and a July 3 strike against Hard Rock if new deals are not in place by then. Union leadership would need to take an additional vote before a walkout could begin. But the City Council hopes it won’t get to that. At Wednesday night’s meeting, the council passed a resolution supporting the workers and hoping to head off a strike. The measure was taken to “urge casino employers to raise wages and staffing and negotiate in good faith to avert a strike.”
Strike set to begin at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center
Becker’s Hospital Review
By Kelly Gooch
June 23, 2022
Members of the California Nurses Association are prepared to begin a one-day strike June 23 at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. The union represents about 1,200 nurses at the hospital, which is part of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente. Union members issued a 10-day strike notice earlier in June. The union and hospital have been in negotiations since September, according to a June 22 union news release shared with Becker's. The union said that during negotiations, Kaiser has not addressed members' concerns about patient care and safe staffing.
Pasadena Artcenter College Of Design Faculty Unionize, Joining AFT/CFT
Artforum
June 23, 2022
The faculty of the Pasadena ArtCenter College of Design earlier this month voted to join AFT/CFT, the California branch of the American Federation of Teachers, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Organizations, the largest federation of unions in the United States. The college’s seven hundred full- and part-time faculty members cast their ballots via mail: These were counted on June 21, with sixty percent in favor of unionizing.
Nurse Strike At Newark Hospital Ends With New Contract, Wage Hike
Patch
By Eric Kiefer
June 23, 2022
After 31 days, the strike at Saint Michael's Medical Center in Newark is over. In May, members of JNESO District Council 1 IUOE-AFL-CIO – a labor union that represents nearly 350 nurses and hospital techs at Saint Michael's – launched a strike to demand better pay, benefits and staffing conditions. Negotiations for a new three-year contract started on March 28; the workers' contract expired on May 4. The work stoppage ended on Wednesday night when JNESO members voted to accept a new, three-year contract proposal, union spokespeople said. The striking employees will be returning to the job "as soon as this weekend," if hospital scheduling allows.
NLRB
‘Progressive’ Food Company Amy’s Kitchen Faces Multiple Unfair Labor Practice Charges
Labor Notes
By Angela Bunay
June 23, 2022
On June 1, UNITE HERE Local 19, representing the workers of Amy’s Kitchen in San Jose, filed multiple unfair labor practice charges against the food company. The union alleges that the company subjected workers to mandatory anti-union meetings, surveillance, threats, and interrogations, and terminated two employees for their organizing.
President Biden’s Best Agency Is Starved for Cash
The American Prospect
By Glenna Li
June 23, 2022
Workers have momentum, but the challenges they face are stiff indeed. Chronic underfunding at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is tasked with taking on anti-labor retaliation, and the probable impending Democratic midterm wipeout, might make American labor law virtually a dead letter. Democrats must pass a large increase in the agency’s funding in upcoming budget negotiations to protect the rights of American workers.
IN THE STATES
Commissioners Hear Proposal For Skilled Trades Apprenticeship Program
Moody on the Market
By WSJM.com
June 23, 2022
The AFL-CIO has proposed a partnership with the city of Benton Harbor to help residents get better access to skilled trades apprenticeship programs. The AFL-CIO’s Colleen Sullivan told city commissioners Tuesday about the Access for All program. “We do focus primarily on youth, women, people of color, and folks who have faced other barriers getting into these career paths,” Sullivan said. Sullivan says the program helps those who might have some difficulty joining an apprenticeship achieve the goal. “What makes this program unique is we focus on barrier removal. So, things like helping people get a driver’s license reinstated, helping people with childcare, helping them with their tools and uniforms or transportation. Things that other people take for granted that can make the difference between someone being successful or being able to complete this program or not, we are focused on those.”
TRANSPORTATION
Railroad bosses’ profit-making tactics lower safety standards, raise dangers
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
June 23, 2022
Working conditions, and labor-management negotiations between the unions representing the nation’s freight rail workers and railroad bosses, are getting steadily worse, reports from the bargaining table and congressional testimony show. And that’s important because the nation’s four big Class I freight railroads move bulk cargoes from oil to cars to coal to corn and are a vital part of the U.S. supply chain.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Local agencies work together to keep the community cool this summer
KQTV
By Jade Steffens
June 23, 2022
Local agencies in St. Joseph are teaming together to keep the community cool amid these hot summer temperatures. Free fans are distributed every summer in St. Joseph, but with the high heat hitting so early this year, agencies started running low on fans due to high demand. This week, United Way decided to step in and provide more fans to the city. Fans are now restocked and available for distribution at United Way of Greater St. Joseph, AFL-CIO Community Services, InterServ, and The Salvation Army.