MUST READ
Leaders look to foster LI as ‘wind supply chain powerhouse’
Long Island Business News
By Adina Genn
September 20, 2021
“The labor movement, government, industry leaders, and environmental groups have worked together to bring offshore wind to the Atlantic Coast,” Liz Shuler, president, AFL-CIO, said in a statement. “Our progress shows that the way to respond and adapt to the climate crisis is through a high-road strategy with good, union jobs. From raw materials to offshore wind turbines and their key components, as we continue to scale up offshore wind, we must ensure that we are creating union jobs in the United States.”
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
U.S. labor secretary speaking at climate jobs summit co-sponsored by ILR
Cornell Chronicle
By Mary Catt
September 20, 2021
U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh will speak at the second virtual annual Climate Jobs Summit Sept. 21. The ILR School is a sponsor of the event, along with the Climate Jobs National Resource Center. The summit is sponsored by ILR’s Worker Institute, ILR’s Lois Gray Labor Innovation Initiative Climate Jobs National Resource Center, the Climate Job National Resource Center Action Fund, Climate Jobs New York and the Climate Jobs New York Education Fund. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten ’80 and Worker Institute Leading on Climate Change Initiative Director Lara Skinner are among those on the agenda, which can be found here.
Illinois Just Won a Big Green Jobs Victory
Jacobin
By Liza Featherstone
September 21, 2021
This bill came about through the lobbying and organizing of Climate Jobs Illinois (CJI), a coalition of significant labor unions. Pat Devaney, secretary treasurer of the Illinois AFL-CIO and a leader in CJI, told Jacobin that the group, formed eighteen months ago, aimed to “address climate change while putting the worker at the forefront.” There’s a lot for an environmentalist — or anyone suffering from terror of the climate apocalypse — to love about this bill. SB 2408 makes Illinois the first coal-producing state — and the first Midwestern state — to commit to a carbon-free future, putting the state on a path to achieve carbon-free power by 2045 and 100 percent clean energy by 2050. The bill shuts down all the state’s fossil fuel plants by 2045.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Business Insider
By Taiyler Simone Mitchell and Juliana Kaplan
September 21, 2021
However, the expiration of unemployment programs was more likely to leave Americans of color behind, according to the EPI report. They cite Census Bureau data that found that workers of color were more likely to receive UI benefits than their white counterparts. "If you get rid of the pandemic extended unemployment program, that's like half the Black workers by definition aren't going to be eligible to get any benefits," Dr. William Spriggs, an economics professor at Howard University and the chief economist for the AFL-CIO, previously told Insider.
IMMIGRATION
Organized labor denounces violent expulsion of Haitian migrants
People’s World
By Fred Redmond
September 21, 2021
Working people in the Americas face increasing levels of displacement due to extreme push factors such as political instability, natural disasters, lawlessness, violence, lack of decent work, and failure to protect fundamental human and labor rights. In the face of escalating forced migration, governments in the region have two core obligations: to address the root causes driving working families from their homes and to provide meaningful humanitarian support to desperate people on the move.
JOINING TOGETHER
Metro RTA, bus driver union heading back to contract negotiations
Akron Beacon Journal
By Jim Mackinnon
September 21, 2021
The union representing nearly 280 Metro RTA drivers, customer service and vehicle service reps in Akron says it is heading into what should be end-stage contract negotiations Thursday with the transportation authority. The union, Transport Workers of America Local 1, and Metro have been negotiating for more than a year since the union's contract expired July 31, 2020. A federal mediator has been working with both parties since talks began. Metro RTA provides public bus services and senior transportation in Summit County.
The Baltimore Sun
The The Baltimore Sun Staff
September 21, 2021
The Music Center at Strathmore is in contract negotiations with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the union that represents ticket sellers, over the future of the front ticket office. At the same time, the BSO is also in negotiations with Strathmore to finalize its annual license agreement for performances of the 2021-2022 season at the venue, where it is a founding partner.
IATSE To Seek Strike Authorization From Members
Deadline
By David Robb
September 20, 2021
IATSE moved one step closer to a strike against the film and TV industry companies Monday, telling its members that it will now ask them for strike authorization. “Today, the AMPTP informed the IATSE that they do not intend to respond to our comprehensive package proposal presented to them over a week ago,” the union leaders said in a message to members. “This failure to continue negotiating can only be interpreted one way. They simply will not address the core issues we have repeatedly advocated for from the beginning. As a result, we will now proceed with a nationwide strike authorization vote to demonstrate our commitment to achieving the change that is long overdue in this industry.” Last Wednesday, IATSE president Matthew Loeb said that negotiations had “reached a critical juncture,” noting that “we are united in demanding more humane working conditions across the industry, including reasonable rest during and between workdays and on the weekend, equitable pay on streaming productions, and a livable wage floor.”