MUST READ
The U.S. Labor Movement Is Popular, Prominent and Also Shrinking
The New York Times
By Taylor Johnston
Jan. 25, 2022
The labor movement provides an outlet for women to voice some of their longstanding concerns about their work, Ms. Shuler said, including equal work for equal pay, better health care benefits and fighting back against harassment on the job. “It gives me great hope to see women taking their rightful place in leadership in the labor movement, and they’re leading in ways quiet and out in front,” Ms. Shuler said. “They’re leading those picket lines. They’re leading those political mobilizations, and they’re leading at the collective bargaining table to show that the labor movement is a movement for women.”
COVID-19/CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19 sick pay in California would return under deal between Newsom, lawmakers
Los Angeles Times
By Taryn Luna and Melody Gutierrez
Jan. 25, 2022
Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday to again require employers to provide workers with up to two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave to recover from COVID-19 or care for a family member with the virus. The legislation, which lawmakers would likely fast-track to the governor in the coming weeks, would apply to all businesses with 26 or more employees. A similar law from 2021 that provided 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave expired Sept. 30. Labor unions pushed the new proposal at the Capitol as California grapples with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. State officials hope the deal, which also boosts early budget funding for COVID-19 response to $1.8 billion, will encourage workers with the virus to stay home and help slow transmission.
JOINING TOGETHER
King Soopers workers ratify 3-year contract after striking across Denver metro
Colorado Public Radio
By Matt Bloom
Jan. 25, 2022
King Soopers workers approved a new contract Monday night that includes wage increases, better health care and more stringent safety protocols at 78 stores around the Denver metro, according to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. Under the agreement, which came together after months of negotiations and a 10-day strike, some workers will get raises up to $5.99 an hour, the union said. It protects pension benefits and requires the company to pay a higher share of workers’ healthcare costs. Union members voted on the contract in-person Monday night.
Smith’s workers threaten to strike if no deal is reached
KRQE
By Alyssa Bitsie and Annalisa Pardo
Jan. 25, 2022
Grocery store chain Kroger, the parent company of Smith’s is in negotiations with United Food and Commercial Workers of New Mexico. The union represents 2,800 employees across 24 stores in the state. They have until Saturday to reach a deal or employees go on strike. “If that vote was held today, I believe we’d probably see 98 to 100 percent vote to authorize a strike. They are angry, frustrated, and they are deserving of improvements,” said Greg Fraizer, president of United Food and Commercial Workers of New Mexico.
IN THE STATES
GM to invest historic $7 billion in 4 facilities across Michigan, creating 4,000 jobs
Detroit Free Press
By Jamie L. LaReau
Jan. 25, 2022
A joint statement from UAW President Ray Curry and Terry Dittes, UAW vice president and director of the UAW GM Department, said GM’s commitment creates a strong future for UAW members, their families and communities. “For UAW Local 5960 Lake Orion the planned new products and advanced electric vehicle retooling builds on their plant's history as a cutting edge manufacturing facility with a highly skilled and experienced EV workforce,” the statement said. “For UAW members at the GM Lansing Delta Township and Lansing Grand River Assembly plants the investments are commitments to continue and expand into new technologies as the industry transitions.”
VOTING RIGHTS
Advocates push for permanent changes in RI voting laws
The Providence Journal
By Katherine Gregg
Jan. 25, 2022
The campaign has begun anew to make permanent a series pandemic-era moves that allowed early voting and mail-ballot voting without the need for a witnesses or a notary. The “Let RI Vote” campaign centers on two reintroduced pieces of legislation backed by a coalition of unions and advocacy groups, ranging from the AARP to the AFL-CIO to the Rhode Island Latino PAC to the Providence branch of the NAACP. “The old-fashioned idea that working folks spend their weekdays on a 9-to-5 shift are long gone and it’s time our voting systems recognize 21st-century realities," added Patrick Crowley, secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO.