JOINING TOGETHER
Boston Newspaper Guild members protests unfair contract conditions outside WBUR
The Daily Free Press
By Taylor Brokesh
September 28, 2021
The Boston Newspaper Guild — The Boston Globe employee union — held a protest Sept. 20 outside the WBUR CitySpace against the treatment of staff at the paper. Inside the WBUR studio, Boston Globe Media Partners CEO Linda Pizzuti Henry was speaking at the “Trailblazers: Women News Leaders From Katharine Graham to Today” event about the progress of women in news media. Boston Globe Media Partners is the parent company to The Globe, STAT News and Boston.com.
After a year-plus of essential work, employees at Aurora HelloFresh pushing to unionize
The Denver Post
By Judith Kohler
September 28, 2021
Unite Here, a union representing 300,000 people in food service, gaming and other industries, is working with HelloFresh workers in Aurora and at a larger facility in Richmond, Calif. The Colorado AFL-CIO is seeing an increase in new organizing campaigns and calls from people for information about how to form a union, said Robert Lindgren,the union’s political and organizing director. “It’s a great time for workers of all stripes to use the leverage they have in the marketplace to make improvements on the job,” Lindgren said. At HelloFresh, concerns about pay and conditions are driving the push to unionize. A recent accident that seriously injured two employees in Aurora is also on their minds.
Deadline
By David Robb
September 28, 2021
IATSE president Matthew Loeb and the presidents 13 Hollywood locals, saying that “now is the time to change the culture of our work places,” issued a joint statement Tuesday urging members to authorize a nationwide strike against film and TV production companies. The union leaders said that the strike-authorization vote, which will be held October 1-3, “will empower our negotiators to secure a fair deal.” “We each have witnessed first-hand the physical and emotional suffering our members and their loved ones endure as a result of punishing and unrealistic schedules, and lack of rest or meal breaks,” they said. “We have repeatedly seen the economic impact of inadequate rates for members who do not make a living wage, and the discounted ‘New Media’ pay rates that subsidize mature and profitable streaming businesses.
IN THE STATES
Ryan’s Senate staff joining union
Tribune Chronicle
By David Skolnick
September 28, 2021
Tim Burga, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, oversaw and certified the union election. The Ohio AFL-CIO has endorsed Ryan, D-Howland, in the 2022 Senate race. “It’s no secret that campaigns are known for long hours and demanding work environments, which is why it’s so important that staff are treated fairly and with the dignity that comes from joining a union,” Burga said.
AMAZON
Entrepreneurship, Amazon Style
The American Prospect
By Brian Callaci
September 27, 2021
Earlier this year, Amazon reportedly started developing an incubator program to set up hundreds of new trucking companies managing fleets of Amazon-branded tractor-trailers. Targeted at budding entrepreneurs with no industry experience, the new freight companies would work exclusively for Amazon, on routes chosen by Amazon, with rates set by Amazon. This initiative follows Amazon’s very similar franchising of “last mile” delivery to local trucking fleets in 2019 with its Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program. Amazon touts its DSP program for creating opportunities for thousands of people, in particular people of color, to start independent small businesses under its tutelage. Like the freight incubator, the DSP program targets inexperienced entrepreneurs, who can be trusted not to challenge Amazon’s paternal guidance with their own preconceived ideas. Also like the freight incubator, while DSP companies are nominally independent businesses, they deliver packages exclusively for Amazon in Amazon-branded vehicles, according to Amazon-prescribed routes, rates, and schedules.
EQUAL PAY
Mississippi only state without equal pay law
WAPT
By Erin Pickens
September 28, 2021
Two women are working to make sure women across Mississippi get equal pay. "Mississippi is right now the only state in the country without an equal pay law," Cassandra Welchin said. Advertisement
"I know personally, very personally, what this means to these women and their families," Lilly Ledbetter said. Welchin, executive director of the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable, works to spotlight women's issues across the state. "It's antiquated that we don't have an equal pay law in the state of Mississippi, and it's been devastating on women's households and on the state economy," Welchin said. The 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act was named after this Alabama native. It was the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama.