EDITOR'S NOTE: A Peoples World story about the Heaven Hill strike may be found in the "Joining Together" section of today's clips.
MUST READ
A Hollywood strike may have been averted. But radio performers are still waiting for justice. (Opinion)
NBC News
By Liz Shuler
October 19, 2021
In particular, it’s time for radio broadcasters to face the music. For them, the question is whether the performers of the songs that get played on AM/FM radio should be paid when their work is sent out over the airwaves. While those who write the songs get paid each time the song is played, the artists who perform the songs — the lead singers, the backup vocalists, the bassists, guitarists, drummers, etc. — do not. For years, many major broadcasters have fought efforts to pay the artists, many of them in unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO, whose music makes their businesses possible.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
UAW tells members to urge Congress to back union-made EVs in the U.S.
CNBC
By Michael Wayland
October 20, 2021
The United Auto Workers is telling its more than 400,000 members to urge elected officials to support proposed tax credits for union-made electric vehicles. The Detroit-based union on Wednesday sent out a message through its “take action” alert service that links to an Actionnetwork.org petition to support the proposal, which is a provision in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act.
JOINING TOGETHER
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will visit Deere strikers on picket line
Des Moines Register
By Tyler Jett
October 19, 2021
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will visit United Auto Workers picketers at Deere & Co.'s Des Moines Works on Wednesday, his office confirmed after a union announcement. During the first day of a two-day visit to Iowa in connection with World Food Prize events, Vilsack will swing by the Ankeny plant at 3:30 p.m., according to a Facebook posting from UAW Local 450. Kate Waters, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's press secretary, said in an email Tuesday that she could confirm Vilsack "plans to stop by the picket line tomorrow."
What is the 'two-tiered wage system' fueling worker strikes?
NBC News
By Ahiza García-Hodges
October 20, 2021
In growing numbers, workers across the country are taking a stand and demanding better conditions, benefits and pay from their employers. While their workplaces vary, ranging from Nabisco and Kellogg to John Deere to Kaiser Permanente, employees are united in at least one of their grievances: opposition to a two-tier benefit and wage system. The policy, which is often adopted by companies as a way to cut costs, creates two different pay and benefit structures for existing and future employees. For the length of a given contract, existing workers are grandfathered in and guaranteed certain benefits and pay rates, while future employees are hired at a lower pay rate and often receive fewer or worse benefits.
Kentucky bourbon strike: Heaven Hill workers demand fair contract
People’s World
By Berry Craig
October 20, 2021
“A month-long strike at one of the country’s biggest distilleries merits more national media attention than it has received,” says Bill Londrigan, Kentucky State AFL-CIO president. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 23D have been walking picket lines at the historic Heaven Hill distillery in Bardstown since Sept. 11. “So far, it hasn’t gotten the publicity other large strikes have—like the one at Mondelez-Nabisco last month and the current strike at Kellogg’s,” Londrigan said. “Just because Bardstown is a little off the beaten path doesn’t mean the strike doesn’t deserve front-and-center attention. A lot of workers have been at this facility for many, many years. They feel like they are not getting fair treatment at this juncture and they are engaging in their right to strike.”
SEPTA strike possible as contract talks drag on
Axios
By Mike D'Onofrio
October 20, 2021
The union representing SEPTA workers hasn't ruled out a strike as contract negotiations with the transit agency come down to the wire. What's happening: Transit Workers Union Local 234 president Willie Brown told Mike that demands related to paid parental leave remain a significant roadblock in negotiations ahead of Sunday's contract expiration date. "Nobody wants to strike," he said about the union representing 5,100 SEPTA employees. "We're going to do everything we can to avert a strike. If that's something that happens, it happens out of our control."