MUST READ
Kamala Harris, Marty Walsh and the unlikely bonds of politics
The Washington Post
By Matt Viser
April 11, 2022
“They make such a powerful pairing because they bring different perspectives but are rooted in the same values,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO. “Sometimes the most rich exchange of ideas and perspectives is when you come from such different places.”
JOINING TOGETHER
UFCW Ratifies Deal With Stater Bros. Markets
Progressive Grocer
By Emily Crowe
April 11, 2022
A new three-year contract with Stater Bros. Markets has been ratified by Southern California grocery workers. Members of six United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) unions voted to accept the deal, which will give workers higher wages, protected pension provisions and stronger healthcare benefits. Key provisions also include guaranteed minimum hours and more workers receiving benefits sooner.
Howard University Hospital nurses strike following breakdown of labor union negotiations
Fox5
By Lindsay Watts
April 11, 2022
Nurses at Howard University Hospital have gone on strike Monday morning for 24 hours following months of labor union negotiations that have broken down. The D.C. Nurses Association announced the strike over a week ago so the hospital had time to prepare.
Marathon negotiating session produces ‘some movement’ to avoid strike by ISU workers’ union
WJBC
By HOI ABC
April 11, 2022
Some progress was reported Friday after 12 hours of negotiations between Illinois State University and the union representing about 350 employees, who have threatened a strike over wages.A union spokesperson said Friday’s session was the longest since ISU and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1110 started negotiating a contract to replace one that expired in June of last year. The session produced “some movement, but important issues remain unsolved,” said AFSCME spokesperson Anders Lindall, while the university posted on its website that “significant progress” was made.
Sonoma Valley Museum of Art responds to unionization request
Sonoma Index-Tribune
By Chase Hunter
April 11, 2022
Employees of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, through Cultural Workers United, sent a letter to the museum’s Executive Director Linda Keaton asking her to voluntarily recognize their union by April 8.
The museum issued a press release in response to the letter, declining to extend recognition of a union with Cultural Workers United, whichincludes the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Council (AFSCME) 57 and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
On strike for a year, Alabama coal miners say: ‘We won’t back down!’
Workers World
By Dianne Mathiowetz and Minnie Bruce Pratt
April 11, 2022
Members of United Mine Workers (UMWA) Locals 2245, 2368 and 2397 continue to “hold the line” against predatory Warrior Met Coal. They walked out 370 days ago to protest the company breaking its promise to reverse givebacks that workers made in 2016. To save the parent coal company from bankruptcy, the miners had agreed to bone-deep cuts in wages, health benefits, leave time and other previous gains. Alabama AFL-CIO President Ben Riley summed up the solidarity of the rally: “Our labor family is supporting you, across the U.S., across the globe. Give ’em hell!” In addition to Riley, presidents or other officers of the Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia state AFL-CIOs spoke. They brought contingents ranging from mining to tobacco to confectionary production workers.
SoCal grocery workers at Albertsons, Vons, and Ralphs vote on new contract
CBS8
By CBS 8 Staff
April 11, 2022
Grocery workers at Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions, and Ralphs locations throughout southern California began voting Monday morning on a new three-year contract. United Food and Commercial Workers Locals (UFCW Locals) 135 members in San Diego County will vote on April 11-13 between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. at three different locations. Monday at Machinists Hall in Chula Vista, Tuesday at California Center for the Arts in Escondido, and Wednesday at UFCW Local 135 in Mission Valley. UFCW Locals came to a tentative agreement with the companies on April 4. Union members said in the past it had taken months to reach a new deal, but at the union's insistence, negotiations were done at a quicker pace with less than one month between the expiration date of the previous contract, March 6, and the tentative agreement. Though it took many bargaining sessions, union members said "the results are one of the best union retail contracts in the nation."