AFL-CIO Press Clips: June 27, 2022
CIVIL, HUMAN, AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Poor People's March calls for "moral fusion of everybody" to fight "politics of greed"
Salon
By Bob Hennelly
June 24, 2022
"We all know that we should not have to be here," said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, which represents 12.5 million workers in 57 unions. "We should not have to join in the streets and march and lift our voices to put an end to poverty because poverty is a failure — it's a failure of the system, not of the people. Being poor is not a crime. The crime is accepting a system that allows for poverty. Poverty exists because we allow it to exist."
ORGANIZING
Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid employees meet with UAW about organizing unions
Drive Tesla
By Darryn John
June 24, 2022
Employees from Tesla, Rivian, Lucid and seven other automakers recently met with the United Auto Workers (UAW) about how to organize unions at their respective factories. UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada confirmed with the Detroit News that more than 60 employees gathered for a meeting late last month in Birmingham, Alabama.
TRANSPORTATION
‘We didn’t sign up to die’: US transit workers sound alarm over rising violence
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
June 24, 2022
Now transit workers and labor unions across America are sounding the alarm over the trend of violence, assaults, and abuse that workers in the transportation industry in the US have faced throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, a crisis they say will continue to worsen without federal action and implementation of safety protections and rules. “We cannot retain people coming to work. The absentee records are ridiculous just because they’re tired, they’re fed up, emotionally and physically. They don’t feel like they’re getting any help from the transit authority whatsoever,” said Rondon, who is also a chief union steward for Transport Workers Union local 100. “We didn’t sign up to die on these jobs,” said John Costa, international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents more than 200,000 transit workers in the US and Canada. “It’s growing, and it’s not going to go away until people realize that if you mess with an operator, there’s real consequences – like you will not be able to take transportation any more – or there’s real punishment. But we’re not there yet.”
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Los Angeles declares daily hotel room cleaning a standard practice
Travel Weekly
By Christina Jelski
June 24, 2022
Los Angeles will declare daily room cleanings standard practice for hotels, thanks to a new ordinance approved by the Los Angeles City Council. Called the Hotel Worker Protection Initiative, the measure received backing from Unite Here Local 11, a labor union representing some 32,000 hospitality workers throughout Southern California and Arizona. In addition to making daily room cleaning a requirement, the initiative includes various protections around fair compensation and minimum wage laws, as well as panic buttons and other security measures.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
USW recognizes member for saving life
The Weirton Daily Times
By Craig Howell
June 25, 2022
Officials with United Steelworkers Local 2911 took a moment Friday to recognize the efforts of one employee of the Cleveland-Cliffs mill in Weirton to save the life of a coworker. Cory Adams, who has been employed in Weirton for almost five years, was working in the tin mill one day in mid April. “I was just doing my job,” Adams said, noting a supervisor approached, asking if he knew cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He learned a coworker had experienced what later was determined to be a heart attack, and immediately began using the life-saving technique. “I did CPR for about a minute and a half,” Adams, who also is a member of the West Middletown (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Department, said, explaining he was able to revive his coworker as a result.
NLRB
NLRB's top prosecutor seeks big changes, faces uphill battle
Erie News Now
By Haleluya Haderoap
June 26, 2022
As workers at major companies increasingly move to unionize, the political environment for labor couldn’t be more ripe. Perhaps nowhere is that more accurate than at the National Labor Relations Board, the agency that enforces the country’s labor laws and oversees union elections. In the past year, the Biden-appointed top prosecutor Jennifer Abruzzo has been seeking to overturn precedent and revive decades-old labor policies that supporters say would make it easier for workers to form a union. To get her wish, Abruzzo must have buy-in from the five-member board, whose Democratic majority is expected to be sympathetic to her proposed changes. As for President Joe Biden, he has vowed to be ”the most pro-union president” in American history.