MUST READ
AFL-CIO offer ‘unwavering support’ to striking Alabama coal miners
AL.com
By William Thornton
March 17, 2022
The AFL-CIO’s Executive Council on Wednesday said the ongoing strike by the United Mine Workers of America against Warrior Met Coal is “about respect, dignity and the fundamental rights of working people.” “The 12.5 million members of the AFL-CIO offer our unwavering support to the striking workers,” the statement reads. “#WeAreOne, and will always have their backs.”
LABOR AND ECONOMY
The Fed wants to slow down the economy. It risks leaving Black workers behind
Fortune
By Seft Hunter and William E. Spriggs
March 17, 2022
This week, Chairman Powell and the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee voted to raise interest rates and slow down the economy in order to address concerns over price inflation. The Fed cited a strong labor market and strong consumer demand in its decision to pump the brakes on the economy by initiating a series of interest rate increases. What Powell and the Fed failed to acknowledge in his testimony is that the labor market is not so rosy right now for Black workers. While the labor market is picking up for white workers, Black workers are still on the path to recovery. The newly-released February jobs report showed the unemployment rate for Black workers at 6.6%–double the rate for white workers, as it’s been since at least the 1970s.
JOINING TOGETHER
REI SoHo workers vote to join RWDSU
New York Amsterdam News
By Stephon Johnson
March 17, 2022
Workers at a Seattle-based retail in lower Manhattan successfully voted to unionize. Earlier this month, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), announced that 86% (88 out of 102) of workers at the REI Co-Op at Lafayette Street in Manhattan voted to join the RWDSU, making the location the first unionized REI store in the country. “History was made today! We’re excited to welcome the workers of REI SoHo into the RWDSU, marking the first-ever unionized REI store in the whole country,” stated RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum. “These workers have vast expertise in their field and have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to serve the outdoor community. They have stuck together through a horrendous union-busting campaign and have come out the other side stronger.
St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune
March 16, 2022
St. Louis Labor unions, community partners, and clergy gathered at Ascension Living’s headquarters near St. Louis Lambert International Airport Tuesday, March 15, to demand Ascension Living provide fair wages that will help to recruit and retain workers at a rural facility in Upstate New York. The beleaguered caregivers hit hard by COVID-19 pandemic have been working critically short-staffed while Ascension Living closes units and threatens lay-offs. Caregivers held a one-day strike on March 9 at Ascension Living’s Our Lady of Peace in Lewiston, New York. The nursing home workers are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East and have been working without a contract since Dec. 31, 2021, when their 16-month contract expired.
Union says BNSF, Norfolk Southern have declared impasse in crew-size negotiations
Trains.com
March 17, 2022
NSF Railway and Norfolk Southern have declared an impasse in negotiations with unions over crew size, one of the unions has informed its members. The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division told its members that the two railroads declared the impasse under Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act as a step to receive federal mediation as required by the Act. Union Pacific has not joined the request for mediation.
Union protests wages at St. Louis County health system headquarters
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Annika Merrilees
March 15, 2022
Health care workers with the Service Employees International Union rallied Tuesday afternoon outside the Ascension headquarters here in solidarity with workers at one of the company’s nursing homes in New York. Ascension is a nonprofit, Catholic health system. Workers are protesting what they are calling unfair wages at Our Lady of Peace, a 250-bed facility in Lewiston, New York. The union believes the wages Ascension proposed at contract negotiations with Our Lady of Peace workers are not on par with other facilities in the area, said Grace Bogdanove, area vice president for the SEIU Local 1199’s Western New York Nursing Home Division.
Activision Workers Fight to Unionize
The American Prospect
By Ramenda Cyrus
March 17, 2022
In January, the strike ended and Raven Software employees successfully created the Game Workers Alliance (GWA) with the Communications Workers of America, with the support of a supermajority of workers. GWA gave Activision the choice to voluntarily recognize the union, but they did not. The union participated in a recent hearing at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as a step toward formal recognition and subsequent contract negotiation. The NLRB has yet to determine the parameters for a union election at the gaming unit. According to current and former workers, the frustration and desire to unionize is growing among workers outside of Raven. GWA’s successful creation led some to realize that unionizing was not a “pipe dream,” and the sentiment changed from “‘this would be cool,’ to ‘we really need this,’” as one worker put it. There are currently three hubs of Activision involved in organizing a separate union: Texas, Los Angeles, and Minnesota.