MUST READ
Biden takes on Dems’ ‘Mission Impossible’: Revitalizing coal country
Politico
By Zack Colman and Anthony Adragna
April 18, 2021
“There's members saying, ‘If we're moving into this, if we're transitioning into all these new jobs, where's mine?’ So outline specifically how the transition will be laid out,” said Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer with the AFL-CIO. “Is it going to be a bridge for those who are close to retirement? Is it going to be wage replacement? Is it going to be help training up folks into the next opportunity?”
Manchin throws support behind union-backed PRO Act
The Hill
By Niv Elis
April 19, 2021
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Monday threw his support behind the PRO Act, union-backed legislation to promote labor organizing. The PRO Act would block "right-to-work" laws, which allow people who benefit from union representation to opt out of membership and paying dues, and impose tougher restrictions on companies seeking to prevent unionization efforts. It passed in the House last month in a narrow, party-line vote of 225-206, with just five GOP members supporting it and one Democrat voting against.
POLITICS
SEC Chief Gary Gensler Picks Top Labor Union Official for Policy Role
The Wall Street Journal
By Dave Michaels
April 19, 2021
Gary Gensler, the new chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission, on Monday tapped a labor-union investment official as his policy director, raising expectations that the agency will embrace progressive policy goals. Mr. Gensler, who was sworn in on Saturday, picked Heather Slavkin Corzo for the top policy role in his office. The hire suggests Mr. Gensler will tackle issues such as stricter corporate disclosures related to climate-change risks and companies’ spending to influence politics. Ms. Corzo has worked as director of capital markets policy at the AFL-CIO and as head of U.S. policy at the Principles for Responsible Investment, a group of asset owners that incorporates environmental, social and governance considerations into their holdings.
In Pivotal Move, Sen. Manchin Announces Support For Pro-Union Legislation
Rolling Stone
By Peter Wade
April 19, 2021
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced that he’s co-sponsoring labor reform legislation, saying it will “level the playing field” for union workers. First reported by Politico, the Senator from West Virginia made the announcement that he will support the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, at a virtual National Press Club event on Monday. “I am pleased to announce that I am co-sponsoring the PRO Act,” Manchin said while noting that “fifty percent of unions fail in their first year of organizing.” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told NPR last month that the House version would be a “game-changer.” But it would need to pass a 60-vote threshold in the Senate to bypass a filibuster. “The PRO Act would protect and empower workers to exercise our freedom to organize a bargain,” Trumka said. “It’s a game-changer. If you really want to correct inequality in this country—wages and wealth inequality, opportunity and inequality of power—passing the PRO Act is absolutely essential to doing that.”
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
House passes Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Services Act
Safety + Health Magazine
April 19, 2021
The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Services Act now moves to the Senate after passing in the House by a 254-166 vote April 16, with 38 Republicans voting in support. National Nurses United and the AFL-CIO are among the labor unions that have voiced their approval of the bill’s passage in the House. “This is groundbreaking legislation that will hold health care and social service employers accountable for the safety of their workers,” NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo said in a statement. In a separate statement, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler added: “Workplace violence is not ‘just part of the job.’ It is a worsening problem, but it is preventable.”
LABOR AND ECONOMY
A coal miners union indicates it will accept a switch to renewable energy in exchange for jobs.
The New York Times
By Noam Scheiber
April 19, 2021
The country’s largest mine workers union signaled on Monday that it would accept a transition away from fossil fuels in exchange for new jobs in renewable energy, spending on technology to make coal cleaner and financial aid for miners who lose their jobs. “There needs to be a tremendous investment here,” Cecil E. Roberts, the president of the United Mine Workers of America, said in an interview. “We always end up dealing with climate change, closing down coal mines. We never get to the second piece of it.”
AMAZON
Union alleges Amazon pressured workers as it seeks to set aside warehouse vote
The Washington Post
By Jay Greene
April 19, 2021
The union that lost its bid to represent Amazon warehouse staff in Bessemer, Ala., earlier this month is now seeking to overturn the election results, claiming in a legal filing that the e-commerce giant improperly pressured workers to oppose unionization. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union filed its objections with the National Labor Relations Board Friday, a move that triggers a hearing process to resolve its claims. Labor laws require the agency to set that hearing within 15 business days of the vote tally, or by April 30. If the union succeeds, the labor board could call for a new election.
Bessemer Union Officially Challenges Amazon Warehouse Vote
Vice
By Aaron Gordon
April 19, 2021
The Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is formally challenging the results of the union vote at Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama warehouse, alleging that the retail giant owned by the world's richest man "prevented a free and uncoerced exercise of choice by the employees." In the objection filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the RWDSU asserts its objections are grounds to throw out the election results. The workers voted against unionization. "Working people deserve better than the way Amazon has conducted itself during this campaign," said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) in a statement. "We won’t rest until workers’ voices are heard fairly under the law. When they are, we believe they will be victorious in this historic and critical fight to unionize the first Amazon warehouse in the United States."
Union files objection to Amazon Bessemer vote, accuses company of ‘illegal activities’
AL.com
By William Thornton
April 19, 2021
The Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union has filed an objection to the union vote at Amazon’s Bessemer fulfillment center, saying the National Labor Relations Board should set aside the results of the election. Stuart Appelbaum, RWDSU president, said Amazon “has left no stone unturned in its efforts to gaslight its own employees.” “We won’t let Amazon’s lies, deception and illegal activities go unchallenged, which is why we are formally filing charges against all of the egregious and blatantly illegal actions taken by Amazon during the union vote today,” Appelbaum said. “Amazon knew full well that unless they did everything they possibly could, even illegal activity, their workers would have continued supporting the union.”
Union Claims Amazon Tainted Election, Wants Vote Overturned
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
April 19, 2021
The union that lost an election at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama this month has accused the company of breaking labor laws during the campaign and asked federal officials to throw out the results. The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) filed 23 charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Friday alleging Amazon created an atmosphere of fear and confusion surrounding the vote. The union said in a statement that its claims “constitute grounds to set the election aside” and order a new one.
IN THE STATES
Dubuque labor organization selects strong women's advocate as 1st female president
Telegraph Herald
By Kayli Reese
April 17, 2021
A longtime local union member and advocate for women in male-dominated trades recently became the first female president of Dubuque Federation of Labor. Mary Sand was elected by members after being nominated for the position, succeeding Tom Townsend. He is now the president of Great River Area Labor Federation, of which the Dubuque federation is an affiliate.
In North Carolina, VP Harris pitches ‘good jobs’ tied to Biden infrastructure plan
News & Observer
By Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
April 19, 2021
Harris also talked about the plan for those jobs to be union jobs. “I believe every worker in America deserves the ability to join and organize a union.” North Carolina has the second-lowest union membership rate in the country. North Carolina is second only to South Carolina. In 2020, the nationwide union membership rate was 10.8%, which increased one half of one percent over the previous year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. North Carolina’s is 3.1%. Ahead of Harris’s visit, leaders of the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters and North Carolina State AFL-CIO said in a statement the American Jobs Plan will “allow us to finally address the intersecting health, economic and climate crises we face.” “As we recover from COVID, now is the time for millions of people to get back to work, with new, high-quality union jobs in a clean energy economy,” Conservation Voters Executive Director Carrie Clark and NC AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan said in a statement.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Patrick Marley
April 19, 2021
Stephanie Bloomingdale, the president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, said getting a boost in benefits for injured workers is essential. “The prices keep going up at the grocery store and they have not seen any type of increase since then,” she said of injured workers. Bloomingdale sits on a state advisory council that every two years makes recommendations on changes to the workers' compensation system. The panel, established in 1967, is evenly split between labor and management appointees and has regularly reached compromises.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Calls on the University of Pittsburgh to Honor Workers' Rights
PR Newswire
April 19, 2021
On Friday, April 16, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) issued a decision in favor of the university workers' right to organize and join a union. The officers of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, President Rick Bloomingdale, and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder issued the following statement on behalf of the State Federation's Executive Council: "This decision is the most recent reaffirmation of Pitt workers' rights in their years-long fight to join a union. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO calls on the University of Pittsburgh to respect the legally recognized rights of its university workers. The University has resorted to an age-old tactic of anti-union employers with their attempt to flood the bargaining unit and dilute the community of interest. It is time for this obstructionism to stop. The University of Pittsburgh must follow the directive of the PLRB and finally let the workers decide, not Pitt."
JOINING TOGETHER
SFMTA’s union leader encourages riders to say ‘thank you’ to their Muni operators
SF Examiner
By Carly Graf
April 19, 2021
Roger Marenco has a tough job. He’s president of the Transport Workers Union of America, Local 250A, the union that represents several collective bargaining units in San Francisco, including Muni operators and transit fare inspectors. His role requires him to be deeply plugged into the needs of his members, many of whom have been on the frontlines during this pandemic helping to facilitate the travel of essential workers and the most transit-dependent, as well as advocate publicly and behind closed doors with city officials for policies to protect his workers and advance the interest of transit operators and riders alike.