APPRENTICESHIPS
Study: Union Construction Apprenticeships Rival Bachelor's Degrees
Contractor Mag
September 23, 2021
A new national study by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) has found that on average, graduates of joint labor-management (union) apprenticeship programs in the construction industry are able to achieve near wage and benefits parity with other types of workers with four-year college degrees.
JOINING TOGETHER
Hollywood Unions Show Solidarity Ahead of Strike Vote: ‘We Stand With IATSE’
Yahoo! Entertainment
By Gene Maddaus
September 24, 2021
The major entertainment unions issued a joint statement of solidarity with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees on Friday, as the craft union looks towards a strike authorization vote next week. The statement was signed by the heads of SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, East, and the Teamsters. “On behalf of our hundreds of thousands of members working across film and television, we stand in solidarity with our I.A.T.S.E. brothers, sisters and kin,” the labor leaders said in the statement. “The basic quality of life and living wage rights they’re fighting for in their negotiations are the issues that impact all of us who work on sets and productions. We stand with the I.A.T.S.E.” Talks between IATSE and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have broken down. The union seeks improvements on meal and rest periods, longer turnarounds between production days, and improved rates on streaming projects.
Low wages, grueling hours, lack of rest: Why IATSE is ready to strike
KCRW
By Kim Masters
September 26, 2021
In recent weeks, members of the union IATSE — the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — have been sharing their experiences, many of them posting anonymously on the Instagram account ia_stories. Camera operators, editors, grips, makeup and hair stylists, costumers, writers assistants and more have posted about low pay, exhausting hours, and dangerous working conditions.
RAISING WAGES
Maine minimum hourly wage to increase to $12.75 in 2022
Maine Biz
By Renee Cordes
September 24, 2021
Maine's minimum wage will increase from $12.15 an hour to $12.75 an hour at the start of 2022 to adjust for inflation, the Maine Department of Labor announced on Thursday. A 2016 state law, approved by voters in a referendum, requires annual adjustments to the minimum wage through 2024 based on the cost of living index for the Northeast region. Matt Schlobohm, executive director of the Maine AFL-CIO, a coalition of 160 Maine unions, welcomed news of the expected increase. “No one who works full time should live in poverty. For too long the cost of groceries, rent, heating oil and other basic necessities have gone up while wages have remained stagnant," he said. "This cost of living increase means that workers will have a little more dignity and a little more money in their pockets to support their families and spend in the local economy."
GIG ECONOMY
New York Passes Sweeping Bills to Improve Conditions for Delivery Workers
The New York Times
By Jeffery C. Mays
September 23, 2021
Since the beginning of the pandemic, food delivery workers on bikes have become even more ubiquitous features of the New York City streetscape, earning low wages and often braving horrendous weather, hazardous streets and the threat of robbery to bring people their takeout orders at all hours of the day. On Thursday, the city became the first in the nation to take aggressive steps to improve those employees’ working conditions, approving a groundbreaking package of legislation that will set minimum pay and address the plight of couriers employed by app-based food delivery services like Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats.
IN THE STATES
Murphy, labor-endorsed candidates get a boost from union volunteers
Insider NJ
September 26, 2021
Gov. Phil Murphy is the labor movement’s pro-worker choice for re-election, and voting is already underway in New Jersey. That’s why hundreds of union volunteers walked from Central Labor Councils all over the state on Saturday, September 25, to educate their brothers and sisters about the New Jersey State AFL-CIO’s endorsed candidates.