POLITICS
Manchin throws support behind measure to bust right-to-work laws
Charleston Gazette-Mail
By Lacie Pierson
April 19, 2021
West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword released a statement Monday expressing his support for Manchin’s stance on the PRO Act. Sword said the PRO Act would be “how we build a better future for West Virginia’s working people.” “It is no coincidence that 60% of our country would join a union today, if given the opportunity, but just 10% of America’s workers belong to one,” Sword said.
PRO Act one step closer to vote with Sen. Manchin's backing
Construction Dive
By Zachary Phillips
April 20, 2021
The Protecting the Right to Organize Act moved one step closer to being brought to the Senate floor for a vote when Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., declared support for the labor reform bill Monday. "I am pleased to announce that I am cosponsoring the PRO Act," Manchin said at a National Press Club event on climate change. "Fifty percent of unions fail in their first year of organizing. This legislation will level the playing field." Unions and other workers’ groups heralded the announcement. West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword released a statement Monday saying the PRO Act will help "build a better future for West Virginia’s working people."
SEC Chair Gensler Picks Former AFL-CIO Policy Director as a Top Advisor
Think Advisor
By Melanie Waddell
April 19, 2021
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who was sworn in Saturday, announced late Monday senior members of his staff who will advise him on matters before the commission. “I am incredibly honored that these four individuals joined this team to work on behalf of American investors,” Gensler said in a statement. As policy director, Heather Slavkin Corzo will lead a team of policy experts who will advise Gensler on SEC rulemakings. Before joining the SEC, Corzo was the director of capital markets policy at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a federation of labor unions; the head of U.S. policy at the Principles for Responsible Investment, a UN-supported sustainable investing advocacy group; and a senior fellow at Americans for Financial Reform, a lobbying group that supports stricter financial regulation.
King backs PRO Act after campaign by labor, advocacy groups
Maine Beacon
By Evan Popp
April 20, 2021
After a campaign by organized labor and advocacy groups, Sen. Angus King is supporting legislation that would expand the ability of workers to organize a union and pursue collective bargaining. King’s communications director Matthew Felling confirmed in an email that the Maine independent, who caucuses with the Democrats, is co-sponsoring the Protecting the Right to Organize Act — also known as the PRO Act. The legislation passed the House in March with support from Maine U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden. Andy O’Brien, communications director of the Maine AFL-CIO, said the bill would essentially address policies, such as the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, that over the years have whittled away at workers’ ability to form a union and negotiate a first contract. “It’s a really exciting time right now because you’ve got so many workers who are organizing and trying to form unions, but unfortunately laws allow for rampant union-busting, so this bill would be really the strongest pro-labor legislation since the New Deal if it passes,” he said.
IN THE STATES
Top regulator warns of COVID-19 hazards inside Iowa Capitol
Federal News Network
By The Associated Press
April 19, 2021
“It is long past due that the Iowa General Assembly, and specifically those in charge, Speaker Grassley and Majority Leader Whitver, to act before more people get sick, or something worse happens,” said Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, who released the documents.
Alexandria Passes First Collective Bargaining Ordinance in Virginia
Alexandria Living
By Alexandria Living Magazine Staff
April 19, 2021
The City of Alexandria on Saturday became the first jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia to pass a collective bargaining ordinance. The ordinance gives city employees the right to bargain about most workplace issues, including pay, benefits, grievances and other disputes.
AMAZON
Union asks NLRB to set aside Amazon election results
Politico
By Rebecca Rainey
April 19, 2021
The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union has filed nearly two dozen objections over a recent election at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Ala., requesting that the federal labor board set aside the results due to the company’s alleged interference. “We demand a comprehensive investigation over Amazon's behavior in corrupting this election,” said RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum in a statement.
Union Appeals Amazon Election in Alabama, Says Company Violated Laws
The Wall Street Journal
By Sebastian Herrera
April 19, 2021
In objections filed with the National Labor Relations Board, attorneys representing Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union allege that Amazon intimidated and threatened employees into voting against unionizing. The union cited meetings that the company held with workers and a mailbox installed outside of the warehouse. More than 70% of workers who cast ballots in the election voted against joining the RWDSU. “Amazon knew full well that unless they did everything they possibly could, even illegal activity, their workers would have continued supporting the union,” RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum has said. “We demand a comprehensive investigation over Amazon’s behavior in corrupting this election.”
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Personal stories, bipartisan House vote send anti-workplace violence bill to Senate
People’s World
By PAI
April 20, 2021
The legislation tells OSHA to order health care facilities to, in agreement with workers, write site-specific violence prevention plans and take basic measures, such as erecting plastic partitions and hiring more security officers. They also have to train their workers in those anti-violence plans. Now the measure, pushed by NNU and veteran Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., heads for the evenly split U.S. Senate, armed with the personal testimonies at the press conference and strong letters from the Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees, the Steelworkers, and the AFL-CIO. The unions are preparing to lobby lawmakers again. “We’ll be doing the hard work of organizing and telling our very real stories” of workplace violence, said Bonnie Castillo, RN, NNU’s executive director. “The pandemic of workplace violence has been going on for decades and the pandemic of Covid has only intensified it.” “It’s time to stop begging them to act,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said of the health care institutions. Added Sherri Dayton, RN, of Backus Hospital in Norwich, Conn.: “Work shouldn’t hurt.”