MUST READ
The Women Leading Today’s Historic Labor Movement
Harper’s Bazaar
By Audra Heinrichs
Jan. 3, 2022
Among this decade’s most visible leaders are Liz Shuler, recently named the first female president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest U.S. union federation. “The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with our country’s prolonged shortage of jobs that provide living wages, good benefits, and adequate working conditions, has created momentum for our movement on a scale we’ve never seen before,” Shuler tells BAZAAR. With an electrical lineman and union member father and a secretary mother, both of whom were employed by Portland General Electric (PGE), Shuler, a Gladstone, Oregon, native, was destined to be a formidable advocate in the labor movement. “For too long, women have been underpaid, undervalued, and expected to take on most of the unpaid care work,” Shuler says. “That’s why on the national level, we’re working to pass the Build Back Better Act, which will put gender equity at the center of our economic recovery where it belongs.”
LABOR AND ECONOMY
The New Yorker
By Lizzie Widdicombe
Dec. 31, 2021
During the second year of the covid-19 pandemic, the social side effects of the virus started to become more apparent. Amid continued mass demonstrations against lockdown measures, and worldwide civil unrest, the U.S. population broke out in hives of labor activism. Workers at corporate behemoths like Amazon and Starbucks attempted to form unions, with mixed results, and workers who were already unionized went on strike in order to demand better wages and working conditions. Employees walked out of John Deere plants in Illinois, Kellogg’s cereal plants in Michigan, Kaiser Permanente health-care clinics in California, and Nabisco and Frito-Lay snack factories in Oregon and Kansas. (The energy even found its way to this very publication, where, this summer, newly unionized employees reached a deal after two and a half years of negotiations.)
JOINING TOGETHER
Politics And Prose Employees Celebrate Becoming D.C.’s First Unionized Bookstore
DCist
By Amanda Michelle Gomez
Jan. 3, 2022
The workers of Politics and Prose have successfully unionized, becoming the first bookstore in D.C. to do so. The UFCW Local 400 is now the collective bargaining agent for 54 employees across the three bookstore locations, according to organizing director Alan Hanson. The regional labor union is known for supporting retail workers and will represent the Politics and Prose staff. The owners, Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine, voluntarily recognized the union on Dec. 31 after refusing to for several weeks. Next, they and the union will have to negotiate a contract.
King Soopers employees preauthorize strike in nearly unanimous vote
9 News
By Wilson Beese
Jan. 3, 2022
Some King Soopers employees in Colorado preauthorized going on strike amid contract negations after nearly unanimous votes on Sunday, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7 labor union. “It’s unfortunate that instead of working directly with Local 7, King Soopers has opted to make unfair, unilateral changes to its policies with no regard to what is being discussed currently at the bargaining table," said Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7. "These significant policy changes disrespect our workers and undermine their voices. We have no choice but to enter this pre-strike vote. We need to make sure King Soopers and its leadership fully comprehend the importance of respecting, protecting, and paying essential grocery workers what they deserve, which is what we will continue to fight for.”
Politics and Prose becomes first unionized bookstore in D.C.
The Washington Post
By Karina Elwood
Jan. 3, 2022
Longtime D.C. institution Politics and Prose became the first unionized bookstore in Washington, D.C., after the union and owners announced Monday they reached an agreement to voluntarily recognize the union. Employees will join United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400, after the store reached a card check agreement for 54 union eligible employees. Politics and Prose Bookstore employs just over 100 workers at its three locations. “We are proud to join the growing movement of booksellers and baristas across the country who have unionized their workplaces," the bookstore’s organizing committee wrote in a statement. “Forming our union has not only served as an affirmation of our shared values within the Politics and Prose community, it will also strengthen our workplace and ensure the long-term success of our beloved community hub.”
IN THE STATES
Meet the women leading San Diego’s two most powerful labor organizations at same time
The San Diego Union-Tribune
By David Garrick
Jan. 2, 2022
For the first time women are simultaneously leading San Diego’s two most powerful labor organizations, bringing new perspectives and priorities to the local labor movement during a crucial period. Former San Diego City Council candidate Carol Kim took over the 22-union San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council from longtime leader Tom Lemmon in November. The council represents 30,000 construction workers. And local labor movement veteran Brigette Browning took over the 136-union San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council from Keith Maddox in May. The council represents 200,000 nurses, teachers, firefighters and other workers.\
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez resigns from Legislature to lead California Labor Federation
Los Angeles Times
BY Taryn Luna and John Myers
Jan. 3, 2022
California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) announced her resignation Monday and said she plans to take over as leader of the California Labor Federation when its longtime executive secretary, Art Pulaski, steps down this summer. Gonzalez made the announcement during the opening floor session of the year, marking a major shift at the state Capitol as one of labor’s most formidable allies inside the Legislature steps away to lead the movement statewide.
Wage preemption, pandemic protection sets labor's 2022 legislative agenda
Tallahassee Democrat
By James Call
Dec. 29, 2021
Florida labor unions are preparing for a 60-day fight with Republican legislative leaders over proposals to ban local governments from setting wages and other workplace rules. The 2022 legislative session begins Jan. 11. Two Senate bills have raised alarms among the Florida AFL-CIO, a group of 56 labor unions:
One (SB 1124) would prohibit local governments from mandating a wage higher than the state minimum.
The other (SB 620) would allow a business owner to sue local government if any regulation or mandate increases operating expenses. “It’s kind of like the abortion law in Texas: They're deputizing business owners to throw out local ordinances that they think hurts their profit margin,” said Rich Templin, policy director for the Florida AFL-CIO.
San Diego lawmaker announces resignation from State Assembly to lead labor organization
ABC 10
By Vicente Vera
Jan. 3, 2022
After more than eight years working alongside other lawmakers in California's State Legislature, Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez said on Monday she will be stepping down from her official government role. The California Labor Federation released a statement saying Gonzalez intends to resign on Wednesday to join the federation of labor unions. She is expected to succeed outgoing chief officer Art Pulaski in July.
RAISING WAGES
Advocates praise increase to state minimum wage, call for further steps toward living wage
Maine Beacon
By Evan Popp
Jan. 3, 2022
On Jan. 1, Maine’s minimum wage increased from $12.15 an hour to $12.75 an hour and the tipped minimum wage went from $6.08 to $6.38. That rise — the result of a 2016 referendum that gradually upped the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 and tied the wage to the cost of living thereafter — will provide a boost to low-income earners and stimulate local economies, workers and advocates argue. Andy O’Brien, communications director for the Maine AFL-CIO, hailed the state wage increase, which comes as many people have struggled to get by during the pandemic. “This is really good news for workers in Maine,” he said. “No one who works full time should live in poverty. And for too long the cost of living, the cost of groceries, rent, heating oil and other basic necessities has gone up while wages have remained rather stagnant.” O’Brien said the continued rise in the minimum wage since it reached $12 an hour in 2020 — first to $12.15 an hour in 2021 and then to the current increase in 2022 — shows why it was important that the 2016 referendum included a stipulation to raise the wage in accordance with the cost of living.
Per Maine law, minimum wage increases by $0.60 in 2022
WABI
By Brittany McHatten
Jan. 3, 2022
As of January 1st, Maine’s minimum wage increased from $12.15 to $12.75 an hour. “Because of demand and the scarcity of employees, most of our members are paying well over that minimum wage, even the new minimum wage,” said Kimberly N. Lindlof, president & CEO of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce. The increase comes as the result of a Maine law that requires annual adjustments to minimum wage based on the cost of living index for the Northeast Region. “It’s important to set a minimum wage because you never know when suddenly employers are like, ‘Well, we have enough people applying we can afford to pay lower.’ So that’s good news, but at the same time, it’s still not a living wage,” said Andy O’Brien, communications director for the Maine AFL-CIO.