ORGANIZING
The Atlantic’s Tech And Business Workers Intend To Unionize
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
July 21, 2022
Tech and business workers at The Atlantic told the media company’s leadership on Thursday that they intend to form a union, just like their co-workers on the magazine’s editorial side did last year. The organizing campaign is the latest sign that collective bargaining within media isn’t just for newsrooms in the digital era. The proposed union would include some 130 members in New York and Washington who are employed in revenue-driving jobs like data analysis, software engineering, graphic design for sponsored content, sales, marketing and customer service. The workers intend to join the NewsGuild of New York, the same union that now represents Atlantic writers and editors. Tech workers at The New York Times voted overwhelmingly to join the NewsGuild in March after a public fight with their employer; the Times had opposed the union effort despite the fact that other Times jobs had been union for decades.
TV Commercial Production Department Workers Form Union With IATSE
Deadline
By David Robb
July 21, 2022
Seeking to address working conditions that have “worsened dramatically” in recent years, thousands of workers employed in TV commercial production departments across the country have formed a new union called Stand With Production under the umbrella of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. “Commercial production workers’ issues are the very same ones this union has fought to address through collective bargaining for decades,” IATSE president Matt Loeb said. “As 160,000 strong working in all corners of the entertainment industry, including many who work on commercials directly alongside you, your fight is our fight.”
After Commercial Walk-Off, a Major Union Drive for Production Workers Begins
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
July 21, 2022
So began Stand With Production, a grassroots worker group founded by Wile and Cage that is now attempting to unionize members of production departments on TV commercials with IATSE. The group, which is going public on Thursday with its unionization effort, is seeking to fold production assistants, assistant production supervisors, production supervisors, line producers and bidding producers into a national union. They are currently gathering union authorization cards and ultimately want to request voluntary recognition from the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), which negotiates on behalf of independent commercial production and postproduction companies with labor unions, but haven’t reached out with the ask yet. (The AICP declined to comment at this time.)
JOINING TOGETHER
HarperCollins Union Workers Hit the Picket Line
Publishers Weekly
By John Maher
July 20, 2022
At 9:00 a.m. on a day expected to reach a heat index of 99˚F, roughly 100 HarperCollins union workers and others were already on the picket line for the first time in decades in front of the publisher's headquarters in Manhattan's Financial District. The union is seeking higher pay, improved family leave benefits, a greater commitment to diversifying staff, and stronger union protection. "It's really devastating that the workers' contribution to the financial success of the institution is not acknowledged in their salaries," said Olga Brudastova, president-elect of Local 2110 United Auto Workers, which represents HC union workers. "We've been arguing since December. We know that HarperCollins reported record-breaking profits in the past three years. We're asking for a decent wage that allows people to exist in a city like New York."
Deal Ends Strike by Union Workers at Hilton Bayfront as Comic-Con Begins
Times of San Diego
By Chris Jennewein
July 21, 2022
Negotiators for Unite Here Local 30 reached a tentative agreement with management Wednesday night that ended a strike by workers at the Hilton Bayfront San Diego. “This tentative agreement addresses the many issues our hotel workers are experiencing in this tough economic environment,” said Brigette Browning, president of the union local. Union officials did not release details of the agreement, and said it must be ratified by union membership.
UNITE HERE Local 30 reaches tentative agreement with Hilton Bayfront following strike
CBS8
By CBS 8 Staff
July 20, 2022
UNITE HERE Local 30 reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday night with the Hilton Bayfront San Diego. Union leadership paused the strike after the tentative deal was reached. The agreement still must be ratified by the membership of UNITE HERE Local 30 before it becomes final. “This tentative agreement addresses the many issues our hotel workers are experiencing in this tough economic environment,” said Brigette Browning, president of UNITE HERE Local 30. “The economy cannot truly recover from the pandemic by leaving behind residents who work in the hospitality industry, and now these hardworking San Diegans have a fighting chance to succeed.”
PAYWATCH/CEO PAY
Inflation? More like CEO ‘greedflation’ according to AFL-CIO Paywatch report
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
July 21, 2022
Corporate CEOs’ “greedflation” in pay and perks, especially bonuses and stock options, highlights the latest AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch study, says federation Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond. What makes it even worse, Redmond said, is that overall compensation of CEOs in the Standard & Poor’s 500 big companies listed increased by 18.2% in 2021, the last year for which full figures are available. That was more than double inflation, 7.1%.