MUST READ
AFL-CIO president: Congressional staffers 'have a home in America's unions'
The Hill
By Caroline Vakil
Feb. 9, 2022
“To the brave congressional staffers sharing their stories and speaking out for change, we stand with you. The labor movement has been watching recent developments on the Hill very closely. You are demanding better pay and working conditions and you have a home in America's unions,” Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said in a video.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Higher black unemployment tests Fed’s goal to be more inclusive
Financial Times
By Taylor Nicole Rogers
Feb. 9, 2022
“The Fed is playing with fire,” said William Spriggs, a professor of economics at Howard University and the chief economist of the AFL-CIO, the labour union group. “And if they get it wrong, we’re all in trouble.” For Spriggs, the Fed’s plans to raise interest rates in March bring to mind 2015, when the central bank approved the first increase after the Great Recession. At the time, millions of disadvantaged workers had yet to be drawn back into the labour force. Rates of unemployment among black workers, while declining, remained almost double the rate of white unemployment for years, while wages stagnated.
JOINING TOGETHER
Portland averts major municipal strike as city, union reach 11th hour agreement
Oregon Live
By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
Feb. 9, 2022
A looming strike by municipal trade workers in Portland was averted Wednesday after a coalition of public employee unions reached a contract agreement with city officials. Members of the District Council of Trade Unions accepted a final offer made by the city late last week, which includes a 1.6% cost-of-living adjustment retroactive to last July and another 5% increase beginning next fiscal year. More than 1,100 city employees, from maintenance workers to clerical staff, had been prepared to walk off their jobs beginning Thursday morning. Members of the district council coalition belong to six smaller unions: Local 189, IBEW Local 48, Operating Engineers Local 701, Machinists District Lodge 24, Plumbers Local 290 and Painters and Allied Trades District Council 5.
Stop & Shop Union Negotiations Are Underway
The Provincetown Independent
By Thomas Lyons
Feb. 9, 2022
Hazard pay is top of mind for members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union Local 328 as they negotiate their new contract with Stop & Shop. In April 2019, the chain’s workers went on strike when negotiations broke down. Many Provincetown residents showed support for the workers by refusing to cross picket lines that year. During the strike, residents brought so much food to the picketing employees that “we all gained 20 pounds,” said Linda Jodko-Stewart, one of the union stewards at the store. Negotiations are proceeding more smoothly than in past years, Jodko-Stewart said. She is confident the union and company will reach an agreement before the current contract expires on March 1.
Portland, trade unions reach agreement to avert looming municipal strike
Oregon Public Broadcasting
By Rebecca Ellis
Feb. 9, 2022
The head of the District Council of Trade Unions said Wednesday that union members approved the latest offer by Portland officials, averting a massive strike of city workers slated to begin Thursday morning. City negotiators made their final offer to the coalition of labor groups last week; it included a 1.6% cost-of-living adjustment retroactive to July 1, 2021, and an additional 5% cost-of-living adjustment on July 1 of this year. The roughly 1,100 city workers that make up District Council of Trade Unions voted on the offer, and the final tally was announced Wednesday morning. DCTU head Rob Martineau said that a majority of members voted to accept the city offer. The strike scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday morning will not take place. Fifty eight percent of voting members supported accepting the offer, according to a press release sent out by the local chapter of AFSCME, one of six unions represented by the umbrella coalition. “We are greatly disappointed in the way the City conducted itself during bargaining, and our work to correct staffing issues will only ramp up upon completion of this contract,” the release stated.
IN THE STATES
Labor: Lamont budget fails to recognize workers who braved the pandemic
CT Mirror
By Keith M. Phaneuf
Feb. 9, 2022
“Gov. Lamont’s proposed budget adjustments badly missed the mark when it comes to supporting frontline essential workers,” said Ed Hawthorne, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, who noted that front line workers account for a significant part of the 10,000 residents who died from the coronavirus. “Many have been our essential workers who never had the choice to work safely from home. They didn’t have the option to work on Zoom like Gov. Lamont.”