INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure bill includes billions for broadband
Axios
By Margaret Harding McGill
November 8, 2021
The infrastructure bill heading to President Biden's desk includes $65 billion to improve high-speed internet access and affordability. Why it matters: The pandemic proved the necessity of connectivity to participate in daily American life, and Biden's administration acknowledged that by including this funding in the infrastructure package. By the numbers: The funding is aimed towards building high-speed internet networks, helping low-income families pay for service and digital equity programs.
JOINING TOGETHER
Business Insider
By Juliana Kaplan
November 7, 2021
Dan Osborn has worked at Kellogg's for 18 years and he's on strike for the first time. Not only is he one of the 1,400 workers who have been on strike since October 5, he's president of the local union branch in Omaha, Nebraska. They're the latest group opting to stay on the picket line and demand equitable wages as thousands of workers across the country walk out, turning what the labor movement called #Striketober into #Strikesgiving. Just this week, John Deere union members voted down a tentative agreement, meaning that more than 10,000 workers will stay on strike. At Kellogg's, workers are demanding an end to what they see as an unfair wage system.
CWA members approve new contract with Catholic Health
WIVB
By Sarah Minkewicz
November 8, 2021
CWA members and Catholic Health have officially reached a deal after members voted yes on a new four-year deal tentative agreement with the hospital. The agreement ends the lengthy strike that started on October 1. Workers are expected to return to Mercy Hospital as early as Wednesday. According to the union attorney, the CWA voted 94 percent in favor of the contract.
Boston school bus drivers protest city proposals on pay and working conditions
Boston Globe
By Jenna Russell
November 9, 2021
Demanding respect from city leadership — and promising a strike vote if they find no other route to a fair contract — more than 200 Boston school bus drivers and union supporters rallied Tuesday morning at the office of the company hired by the city to manage school transportation. Leaders of the bus drivers’ union said they are deeply frustrated after seven months of negotiations that have gone nowhere, and company proposals they described as deeply unfair. Their last contract expired in June; a temporary extension is due to run out next week. The union’s president, Andre Francois, said there is currently no bargaining session scheduled between the union, Local 8751 of the United Steel Workers, and Transdev or city representatives.
Thousands of health care workers in Hawaii will join nationwide strike against Kaiser Permanente
KHON
November 9, 2021
After months of negotiations, nearly 2,000 UNITE HERE Local 5 members at Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii will join the nationwide strike against the company beginning Nov. 22. They join 32,000 health care workers across the nation fighting for a better contract. The strike will impact 20 Kaiser Permanente facilities across Hawaii.
Rare Starbucks union vote set to begin in Buffalo
The Washington Post
By Dee-Ann Durbin and Carolyn Thompson
November 10, 2021
Never in its 50-year history has Starbucks relied on union workers to serve up frothy lattes as its U.S. cafes. But some baristas aim to change that. Workers at three separate Starbucks stores in and around Buffalo, New York, are expected to begin voting by mail this week on whether they want to be represented by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The National Labor Relations Board’s regional office in Buffalo, which approved the vote last month, is scheduled to start mailing ballots Wednesday evening and count the votes on Dec. 9.
RAISING WAGES
Raise the Wage is circulating petition to increase minimum pay in Nebraska to $15 per hour
Lincoln Journal Star
By Chris Dunker
November 9, 2021
Supporters of a petition drive to raise the minimum wage in the state to $15 say the effort would improve lives and boost economic security for Nebraskans. In a virtual kickoff event held via Zoom on Tuesday to announce the launch of its website and social media pages, Raise the Wage Nebraska said it has begun collecting signatures to put the increase before voters in November 2022. The coalition also said it wanted to highlight the stories of the roughly 195,000 Nebraskans whose lives would be improved by raising the minimum hourly pay of workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute.