MUST READ
AFL-CIO Collaboration Develops Target Date CIT Funds for DC Plans
401K Specialist
By Brian Anderson
March 24, 2021
“This suite of target date CIT funds is a welcome addition to the lineup of financial products which carry the AFL-CIO name,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Defined benefit plans remain the bedrock of a secure retirement. However, the Labor Movement’s philosophy that all Americans are entitled to retire with dignity and financial security dictates that we must also ensure that defined contribution investors’ interests are protected. This product provides a cost-effective solution that brings this proposition to life. We are grateful to our partners for sharing our values and making good on that commitment.”
AMAZON
Amazon Faces Growing Worker Pressure in Shadow of Alabama Union Vote
The Wall Street Journal
By Sebastian Herrera
March 24, 2021
None of Amazon’s 800,000 U.S. employees are unionized. A vote to form a union in Alabama would give workers more power to negotiate with the company on matters such as pay and benefits. Elsewhere, hourly Amazon employees are gathering petition signatures, discussing potential strikes and consulting with unions about possible demands. The groups are seeking to alter company policies on the rate at which they must prepare packages, break time and shift schedules, all factors that can make Amazon a physically demanding place to work, workers say, and key issues amid Amazon’s expansion and aim to speed up delivery times. “It would be a victory for us, and it would bring momentum for others,” Jennifer Bates, a worker-organizer in Bessemer, said in an interview. “It would be a fire starter.”
POLITICS
Many Americans who meet with Biden have something in common: union memberships
CBS News
By Bo Erickson
March 24, 2021
Many of the everyday Americans who have met with President Joe Biden in his first two months in office have something in common: labor union membership. The mutual affection between the president and organized labor is no secret; many major unions early on endorsed him in his 2020 bid for the White House. "When labor does well, the whole country does well," Mr. Biden was fond of saying on the campaign trail.
Government Layoffs Pummeled Black Workers. The American Rescue Plan Could Bring Those Jobs Back.
HuffPost
By Molly Redden
March 24, 2021
“It impacts on really every public service job,” said Lee Saunders, president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO. “It’s a shame. Those that have been working and been furloughed and laid off, they’ve been providing essential services and, many of them, risking their lives every day. And then they get a pink slip? That’s unacceptable.”
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Local Unions Handing Out Free Food Thursday at The DECC
Fox21
By CJ Baumgartner
March 24, 2021
“Labor, we’re always giving back to the community. Community involvement is very important to us. Giving back to people who may be underprivileged,” said Craig Olson, President of the Duluth Building Trades Council. “It just feels good to help people in times like this with the COVID-19. A lot of people are still out of work, a lot of people are still hurting.” “The labor community has been really good to us and we want to be able to give back because Duluth is a strong union town. And it’s incredible to be able to help people that are in need and they’re so gracious so that’s what we’re here to do,” said UFCW 1189 member Bruce Bergh.
Labor Union Sponsors Food Giveaway
KVRR
By Clarissa Allen
March 24, 2021
Regional unions are giving back to the metro in a way that can benefit multiple families at once. “The more boxes the more people we get it out to it’s all going out to people that are in need that’s the way I look at it,” Building Trades Union President Jason Ehlert said. The Labor Union is helping families feed families by giving multiple boxes to each car that drives up. “The regional Labor Federation contacted us and said another truck would be coming late in March if we wanted to help with that one and we said yep,” Ehlert said. The North Dakota AFL-CIO and the Red River Valley Building Trades Unions held a free food giveaway at the Fargo-Moorhead Labor Temple those in need were given an opportunity to receive some heartwarming offerings.
JOINING TOGETHER
WABI
By Owen Kingsley
March 24, 2021
Maine Nurses Union says Northern Light Health asking to cut paid time off in latest contract negotiations. Wednesday, members of the union along with local lawmakers came to the Northern Light Healthcare Mall on Union Street to deliver a letter to management. In the letter they claim that the only thing preventing a new contract is Northern Light’s proposal for Hospice and Home Care nurses to earn paid time off at a slower rate.
IN THE STATES
Labor groups gather in Gainesville, call for reforms in wake of deadly Jan. 28 nitrogen leak
Gainesville Times
By Nick Watson
March 23, 2021
Labor and civil rights groups gathered in Gainesville Tuesday, March 23, to call for the reforms they want to see in the wake of the Jan. 28 nitrogen leak that killed six people at Foundation Food Group in Gainesville. The group in Gainesville included representatives from the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the Georgia AFL-CIO, Poder Latinx and the League of United Latin American Citizens, who spoke outside of the Interactive College of Technology on Browns Bridge Road.