Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
JOINING TOGETHER
SoCal Grocery Workers Begin Balloting in Strike-Authorization Vote
Pasadena Now
By City News Service
March 22, 2022
Thousands of grocery workers across Southern California began voting Monday on whether to authorize their union to call a strike amid continued contract negotiations with the owners of stores including Ralphs and Vons/Pavilions/Albertsons. Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers union said votes will be cast over several days, with results expected to be announced Sunday. A “yes” vote would not automatically result in a strike. It would only authorize the union to call one if no progress is made in labor negotiations. Roughly 47,000 workers represented by seven UFCW union locals between Central California and the Mexico border will be casting ballots. The membership covers workers at more than 500 stores.
Grocery workers move toward strike in Southern California
The Hill
By Olafimihan Oshin
March 22, 2022
Grocery workers across Southern California have begun voting to move toward authorizing a strike against employers in an effort to raise daily wages, the Los Angeles Times reported. More than 47,000 workers at 500 Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions supermarkets are eligible to vote for the resolution over a five-day period, with the results of the measure expected to be announced on Sunday. A three-year contract between Kroger, the parent company of the supermarket chains, and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) expired earlier this month, according to the Times.
IBEW Local 1220 call for strike against WTTW Channel 11
Reel Chicago
By Reel Chicago
March 22, 2022
Local Union 1220 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) has officially called for a Strike at Chicagoland’s PBS affiliate, Window to the World (WTTW) Communications, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined the picket lines to show her support of the union on Monday. Following nearly a year of difficult collective bargaining with the station’s management aimed at damaging the work jurisdiction and job protections of the membership, Local 1220 has instructed its members that the unit will, in a sign of solidarity, go out on Strike as of 6:00pm on March 16, 2022.
IN THE STATES
Maine to launch 'peer navigator' program for job seekers
Yahoo! News
By Peter McGuire
March 22, 2022
The program intends to connect 3,000 Maine job seekers to education, training and resources such as transportation and childcare to help them get into the workforce. It plans to connect at least 1,500 people with job opportunities. Peer navigators will target underserved populations in immigrant and refugee communities, rural towns and those connected to labor unions around the state. Five nonprofits, Maine AFL-CIO, Maine Equal Justice, Food and Medicine, Prosperity Maine and Gateway Community Services were hired to run the program through a competitive bidding process.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
The Great Resignation is working for women
Business Insider
By Jason Lalljee
March 22, 2022
Dr. William Spriggs, chief economist at the AFL-CIO, told Insider's Juliana Kaplan last year that although female workers have had a rockier pandemic recovery, they have also flocked to industries with a lot of potential for growth. "With this transition going on, the workers who are employed are finding ways to get jobs in the sectors that are expanding and hiring," he said, where "the annual pay is much higher."
RAISING WAGES
Oxfam: Almost one-third of US workers make less than $15 an hour
The Hill
By Rafael Bernal
March 22, 2022
Nearly a third of all U.S. workers make less than $15 an hour, and women, Black and Hispanic workers are significantly more likely to earn low wages than white men, according to new research by Oxfam. A report from the organization released Monday found that 31.9 percent of the U.S. workforce makes sub-$15 an hour wages, with broad racial, gender and geographic disparities that closely correlate to state-level policies. Nationally, the report found that 40 percent of working women earn less than $15 an hour, compared to 25 percent of men in the workforce. Racial and ethnic disparities are similarly striking: 26 percent of white workers make less than $15 an hour, compared to 46 percent of Hispanic workers and 47 percent of Black workers.