EDITOR'S NOTE: Our story about Paducah Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 184 and its tornado relief effort is the lead story in the "LABOR AND COMMUNITY" category. The story originally appeared on our website and was reprinted by our friend Bruce Maples at Forward Kentucky.
MUST READ
Kellogg's workers vote to end months-long strike
The Hill
By Karl Evers-Hillstrom
December 21, 2021
Shelton on Tuesday thanked AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and other labor advocates for mobilizing support for the strike, crediting them for keeping the pressure on the Kellogg Company.
"Solidarity was critical to this great workers’ victory,” he said.
‘They are fed up’: US labor on the march in 2021 after years of decline
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
December 21, 2021
“I’ve been traveling a lot to picket lines all over the country in the last couple of months, been in so many different states and across all industries. But the one thing that’s been really consistent is the sentiment of the working people who are out there taking the risks is that they are absolutely fed up,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the main union federation in the US.
CORONAVIRUS
SAG-AFTRA & Actors’ Equity Extend Agreement Over Taping Of Live Stage Shows During Pandemic
Deadline
By David Robb
December 21, 2021
SAG-AFTRA and the Actors’ Equity Association have agreed to a six-month extension of an agreement they reached last year that settled a bitter jurisdictional dispute over the taping or streaming of live theater during the Covid-19 pandemic. The agreement was originally set to expire at the end of the year, but the extension acknowledges the ongoing nature of the pandemic and sets June 30, 2022, as the new expiration date.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Henderson: 'The outpouring of help is nothing shy of amazing'
Forward Kentucky
By Berry Craig
December 21, 2021
I asked Kyle Henderson to tell me what his union, Paducah Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 184, has disbursed for tornado relief in Mayfield, Princeton and Dawson Springs, which were devastated by the powerful tornado that left at least 76 people dead in Kentucky and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes, businesses and other buildings, mostly in the western Jackson Purchase and Pennyrile regions. “It's coming from UA International and from Pipe Trades locals all over the country,” said the business manager. It took Henderson a full minute-and-a-half to run the list: “We’ve got chain saws, we’ve got generators, we’ve got extension cords, we’ve got brooms, we’ve got rakes, we’ve got bar and chain oil, we’ve got two-stroke oil, we’ve got buckets, we’ve got trash cans, we’ve got diapers, Handi Wipes, we’ve got toothpaste, tooth brushes, Tampons, Clorox wipes, trash bags, underwear.
JOINING TOGETHER
Kellogg's strike ends after workers vote to ratify new contract
CBS News
December 21, 2021
Echoing that statement was AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, who also announced the end of the monthslong strike as a victory for workers. "Working people stood their ground, and working people won," Shuler tweeted.
Kellogg's strike coming to an end - workers ratify updated deal in latest win for labor
USA Today
By Daniel Connolly
December 21, 2021
The strike at the Kellogg's plant in Memphis and three other cities across the country is coming to an end, both the company and the labor union involved confirmed Tuesday. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union announced Tuesday morning that workers had ratified a new agreement with the company. "Our striking members at Kellogg’s ready-to-eat cereal production facilities courageously stood their ground and sacrificed so much in order to achieve a fair contract. This agreement makes gains and does not include any concessions,” the union's International President Anthony Shelton said in a statement.
Vice Media, Writers Guild East Reach New Contract Deal
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
December 17, 2021
Vice Media and its Writers Guild of America East-affiliated union have reached a new three-year contract agreement that consolidates four previously separate contracts. Vice Media’s 160-person bargaining unit has voted to ratify the contract. The agreement, which the guild announced on Friday and said was a “landmark” deal, raises minimum salaries to $63,000 by the end of the three-year term and offers members minimum annual raises of 3 percent to 3.75 percent. The agreement synthesizes previously separate contracts at verticals Vice Editorial, Vice TV, Vice News and Vice Digital.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Applauds BCTGM Union Victory at Kellogg's
KPVI
By Pennsylvania AFL-CIO
December 21, 2021
The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) recently announced the final vote on the new contract for workers on strike at Kellogg's. For more than eleven weeks, roughly 1,400 workers at four locations across the country have walked the picket line for fair wages and an end to discriminatory workplace practices. The officers of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO have issued the following statements in response to the union members' decision: "The BCTGM union members at Kellogg's have shown the country the real power of solidarity. After more than two months on strike, workers in Lancaster, PA; Battle Creek, MI; Omaha, NE; and Memphis, TN have approved a new contract. Their victory fights back against the unfair two-tiered wage system and wins higher wages for all workers," remarked President Rick Bloomingdale.
Kellogg’s union approves new contract ending strike after 11 weeks
MLive
By Lindsay Moore
December 21, 2021
Kellogg’s union workers have reached an agreement with the cereal company after 11 weeks of striking. The Bakery Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) announced on Tuesday, Dec. 21 that the union voted to approve the five-year collective bargaining agreement. The strike began Oct. 5 when 1,400 workers walked out of four Kellogg’s plants across the country. Workers demanded the two-tier pay system be abolished and transition into higher pay brackets and “legacy” benefits happen quicker and more consistently. Workers also complained about consistent overtime forcing them into 7-day work weeks.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
HIT’s $1 Billion, 5-Year Bay Area Initiative is Addressing Critical Economic Issues in the Bay Area
Yahoo! Finance
December 21, 2021
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust's $1 billion Bay Area Investment Initiative launched in fall 2020 is bearing fruit. At the time, HIT committed to making $500 million of its capital available over five years to leverage an additional $500 million from other sources to create much-needed union construction jobs and new affordable and workforce housing in the Bay Area. HIT’s investments have already produced 588 new union construction jobs and 289 rental apartments, 144 of which are affordable or workforce units.
POLITICS
Coal miners urge Manchin to rethink opposition to spending bill
The Detroit News
By Mark Chediak
December 21, 2021
America’s biggest coal mining union is calling on West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin to reconsider his opposition to President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion social and climate spending bill. The legislation includes several provisions that would aid coal workers, including extension of a fee that helps fund benefits for workers suffering from black lung and tax incentives that would encourage manufactures to build facilities in coal fields and to employ out-of-work miners, said United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil Roberts in a statement. For the first time, the bill would also penalize employers that deny workers their rights to form a union, Roberts said.