AMAZON
Amazon workers in Alabama reject union for second time, but challenged ballots remain
CNBC
By Annie Palmer
March 31, 2022
Some 416 ballots remain challenged by Amazon and the RWDSU. Of the ballots submitted, 59 were voided. The election result still needs to be formally certified by the National Labor Relations Board. The number of challenged ballots is greater than the union’s deficit which means Amazon could still lose its lead. The NLRB will hold a hearing in the coming weeks to decide whether the challenged ballots will be opened and counted. RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum told reporters following the count that Amazon and the union have each challenged more than 100 ballots. “We believe that every valid vote must be counted and every objection heard,” Appelbaum said. “Workers here deserve that.”
POLITICS
White House Labor Nominee David Weil Blocked in Senate
The Wall Street Journal
By David Harrison and Eliza Collins
March 31, 2022
Bill Samuel, government affairs director for the AFL-CIO, called Mr. Weil “eminently qualified” and attributed opposition to his nomination to his “strong record on doing the exact job he was nominated for.” He added: “Enforcing fair labor practices does not make David Weil antibusiness, it makes him pro-worker.”
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Fed’s rate hikes threaten its goal of narrowing racial gaps
The Washington Post
By Christopher Rugaber
March 31, 2022
“The reason why this matters in the Black community is because we are literally the last hired, and it’s only when you get to this point in a recovery where black workers really see their gains,” said William Spriggs, chief economist at the AFL-CIO. “When you slow the pace of hiring, then you cut off that path.”
JOINING TOGETHER
Library workers seek to form Missouri's first librarians' union
Columbia Missourian
By Emma Lingo
March 31, 2022
At 62 years old, Mary Kate Protzman knows how to use her voice. She started working at libraries when she was 24 and is now one of over 80 library workers pushing for Missouri’s first librarians’ union. Since she began working with Daniel Boone Regional Library over two decades ago, Protzman has learned her way around collective bargaining and communicating her needs to the administration. Now, she’s hoping to use those skills to help get the union over the finish line.
IN THE STATES
Jobs, Benefits, Flexible Hours at Stake In Driver Debate
Statehouse News Service
By Chris Lisinski
March 30, 2022
Making their pitch to an audience of somewhat skeptical lawmakers, gig economy power players fighting to make controversial changes to state labor law argued Wednesday that treating app-based drivers as employees could force them to rein in the flexible hours workers enjoy or cut jobs. Supporters and opponents of a contentious ballot question campaign amending the classification, pay and benefits of drivers on platforms such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart made their case to lawmakers, who have only a few months to decide whether to intervene or leave it to voters -- and to the courts -- to decide.
Northwest Labor Press
By Don Mcintosh
March 31, 2022
After graduating from University of Oregon, Liz Shuler went to work in 1993 at Portland-based IBEW Local 125, her father’s local. Today, 51, she’s America’s top union leader, AFL-CIO president. Back in Portland March 19 for an address at the Oregon AFL-CIO convention, she sat down for a conversation with the Northwest Labor Press. Liz Shuler: The AFL-CIO has a role to play in capturing the country’s imagination and connecting the dots. But we need more local unions organizing. We have 57 affiliate unions. All have different approaches. We as the federation can create new tools, new strategies, and provide the space for unions to come together and help each other across sector. We have great examples in the last couple of years with our Presidents Organizing Initiative, in which we’ve gone deep in three cities to test the waters. So in Seattle, for example, we have a staff person working with our Central Labor Council and state federation. They formed a digital hiring hall, finding ways for stadium workers to be integrated into our labor movement before they’re even union members.
App drivers, companies, politicians go head-to-head on rideshare ballot measure
WCVB
By Luciano Cesta
March 30, 2022
App drivers, companies and politicians went head-to-head on Wednesday on Beacon Hill on two ballot measures that would codify drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft as independent contractors with certain extra benefits. A long list of people, both for and against the measures testified during the hearing that lasted for hours. Legislators said that approximately 200 people signed up to speak. State Sen. Lydia Edwards, state Rep. Nika Elugardo and Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman, were among the notable people who testified against the proposal. Opponents of the measures say that it would misclassify workers as independent contractors, a class defined by state law, and create a class of workers who do not have the same worker protections as other workers classified as employees in Massachusetts.
Employee or contractor? Mass. lawmakers to weigh in on app-based work debate
WBUR
By Laney Ruckstuhl
March 30, 2022
A committee on Beacon Hill will consider on Wednesday a controversial proposal to classify ride-hail and delivery drivers in Massachusetts as independent contractors, rather than employees. The proposal was filed as a ballot initiative and will likely end up before voters this November unless the Legislature acts on it before May 4.