MUST READ
Welcome to the New Progressive Era
The Atlantic
By Anand Giridharadas
April 14, 2021
In practical terms, Biden’s coalitionism translates into outreach that feels novel. “It can be summarized this way: This administration actually calls you,” Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the union of unions, told me. “They want to hear what you have to say, and they ask for your point of view. Past administrations used to call us to tell us what the decision has been.”
Female union leaders note that labor law reform is a civil rights issue
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
April 14, 2021
From better pay to paid sick leave, from due process on the job to wider opportunities, working women, union or not, stand to reap huge benefits if Congress passes the Protect The Right To Organize (Pro) Act, a panel of woman union leaders says. And that prompted AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, an Electrical Worker and the labor movement’s highest-ranking female leader, to urge union women to get out in the field using face-to-face contacts and social media to spread that message. “What frustrates me is a lot of people think, ‘Oh, it’s just a bill for unions. It’s not,” Shuler said. “They don’t realize it’s a civil rights act, a pillar of our democracy. How do we communicate that?” Shuler convened the five union leaders for “A Woman’s Place Is In Her Union,” a roundtable discussion of the ProAct and why to push it through a balky 50-50 U.S. Senate. The Democratic-run House passed it in March.
AMAZON
To Unionize Amazon, We Need To Pass The PRO Act
Labor Law Lite
By Brandon Magner
April 13, 2021
The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, currently pending in the Senate, would make these tactics impossible by declaring captive audience meetings an unfair labor practice and removing employers’ ability to litigate the appropriateness of their workers’ bargaining units in the pivotal early stages. The PRO Act would make many more revisions to the NLRA, but these obstacles in particular make organizing an Amazon warehouse virtually impossible when factoring in the rapid turnover of the company’s workforce. Their usage by Amazon was certainly far more impactful upon the final vote than any single strategy that the Union pursued or neglected.
JOINING TOGETHER
Unions eye Brookings, Urban Institute as push to organize think tanks grows
Politico
By Rebecca Rainey
April 13, 2021
Workers at two of the largest, most influential think tanks in Washington, D.C. are forming a union, adding to a growing trend in white-collar collective bargaining. Staff at the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute on Tuesday asked their employers to grant them voluntary recognition — which doesn't require a secret ballot election — of their unions, which are affiliated with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, IFPTE Local 70.
IN THE STATES
Labor Tribune
April 12, 2021
“We’re teaming with the people hired by the state to provide places to do drive-up free Covid testing,” said Pat White, president of the St. Louis Labor Council. “These halls agreed to help us out without a question.” There is no pre-registration or appointment required to receive a test. However, having a state issued driver’s license or identification card available at the testing site will speed up the process. Any who arrives within the scheduled hours is guaranteed to receive a test.
Dewine Calls On Legislature To Complete Long-Delayed Overhaul Of Unemployment
WCBE
By Andy Chow
April 14, 2021
Ohio businesses are currently paying into the unemployment system based on the first $9,000 of an employee's taxable wages. Tim Burga is president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, which represents unions. He says that's the lowest taxable wage base compared to Ohio's five bordering states, and increasing the fees on businesses will shore up the fund. "When you look at how frontline workers have put their health on the line to get us through this pandemic I think we're going to see an opportunity where the employers will understand that they need to step up and just do the average with what the rest of the country is doing to help move the system into a solvency place."