MUST READ
Head of largest U.S. labor group tells striking John Deere workers: 'The nation is watching'
Des Moines Register
By Tyler Jett
November 1, 2021
After visiting picket lines outside of John Deere Harvester Works here Monday morning, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said United Auto Workers members have shown the power of a strike in the current economy. She said other labor leaders have monitored the Deere strike since it started Oct. 14 to see how successful workers are in winning better pay and benefits. "The nation is watching," Shuler said. "And we have to win these strikes. Otherwise, people will say, 'What good is it to stand up like that?'" She added: "It will lay the foundation for other employers to say, 'We don't want to go through that.' It's massively disruptive. It's about productivity and predictability for most companies."
JOINING TOGETHER
Quad City Times
By Cara Smith
November 1, 2021
Deere is only one of multiple major unions that have gone on strike throughout this past year. The UAW’s successful strike will influence other strikes and add to the increasing labor movement, according to Liz Shuler, president of AFL-CIO, who visited the Deere picket lines on Monday. “UAW members saw the greed that was going on because the CEO was getting these big bonuses and huge paychecks and they said, ‘You know what, we're the ones that make this company wealthy, so we should be demanding more,’” Shuler said. “That is very symbolic of what's going on all across the country.”
AFL–CIO President Liz Shuler visits striking John Deere picketers in East Moline, Illinois
Des Moines Register
November 1, 2021
Photos: Liz Shuler, president of the AFL–CIO, visits with members of United Auto Workers Local 865 as they picket outside the John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Illinois, on Monday Nov. 1, 2021.
Catholic Health suspends health benefits of striking CWA members at Mercy Hospital
Spectrum News 1
By Spectrum News Staff
October 31, 2021
After a month-long strike at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, Catholic Health is discontinuing health benefits for union workers until a new contract is agreed upon. Catholic Health officials say they told the CWA's union leadership last Monday it would suspend those benefits if a tentative agreement was not reached by Oct. 30, and that it would resume payment and administration once union members ratified an agreement. The vice president of CWA District One, Dennis Trainor, previously said Catholic Health is trying to go backward on staffing and their proposal would create ratios in surgical units that would be unsafe for staff and patients. “Catholic Health knows its allegations can’t be taken seriously when it calls us healthcare heroes in one breath and dangerous in the next," Trainor said.
KELLOGG'S STRIKE LATEST: Union negotiating team flying to Virginia for talks this week
KETV
November 1, 2021
As employees near the one-month mark on the picket line, bargaining talks are set to resume. Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union Local 50G president Dan Osborn said the union's negotiation committee flew out to Arlington, Virginia, to return to the table with company leaders to discuss a possible contract.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Local labor union helps Albuquerque seniors with heating
KOB4
By Kai Porter
October 30, 2021
It's that time of year when people start cranking up the heat in their homes, but that can be hard for seniors and people with disabilities. Members of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local Union 412 got ready Saturday morning to head out and help the community. "All the folks here –there's about one hundred hands here today, and it's a volunteer day for them. This is 100% out of the kindness of their heart. They chose to show up this morning. They'll go out all day, work their butts off and help the community,” said Courtenay Eichhorst, Union business manager.