MUST READ
The year workers said 'no'
Business Insider
By Juliana Kaplan
May 15, 2022
Liz Shuler, the president of the AFL-CIO, the country's largest labor federation, said the past year has shown "workers in motion." "Coming out of the pandemic, working people have not only shown their resilience, but they've shown that they are ready to draw a line and demand more," she said.
POLITICS
As the United States confronts China on trade, Congress can’t leave American workers behind (Opinion)
The Hill
By Rep. Earl Blumenauer
May 12, 2022
Since China’s ascension to the World Trade Organization in 2001, a move that I supported, the U.S. has struggled to compete with China. American workers have suffered an unprecedented outsourcing of their labor given China’s track record of brazen and unfair market manipulation, substandard labor standards, and weak environmental protections, leaving the United States overly reliant on imports from China. As the COVID-19 pandemic made clear, this overreliance has life and death consequences.
JOINING TOGETHER
United reaches new contract deal with pilots’ union, the first of the major airlines in pandemic
CNBC
By Leslie Josephs
May 13, 2022
United Airlines and its pilots’ labor union have reached an agreement on new contract terms, the first of the major carriers to strike a deal since the start of the Covid pandemic. The crisis roiled the industry and exacerbated a pilot shortage and training backlog. The Air Line Pilots Association and United didn’t disclose the terms of the deal on Friday, but they will likely include higher pay and other improvements.
United has had perhaps the least contentious relationship with its pilots’ union of the major carriers and struck early deals during the pandemic to keep aviators on staff and trained.
USW and Arconic reach tentative agreement as union workers rally
WQAD
By Jenna Webster
May 14, 2022
Arconic union workers represented by the United Steelworkers Union, Local 105 brought their fight for a better contract to the manufacturing company's front doors Saturday, and not long after, the parties reportedly reached a tentative agreement. According to a Local 105 union leader, Lee Shaffer, USW and Arconic reached a tentative agreement on Saturday, May 14.
Nationwide push for unions expands to Capitol Hill after House votes to allow staffers to unionize
CBS News
May 14, 2022
The House passed a resolution Tuesday night allowing congressional staff to unionize. House staffers will be able to join a union, if they choose, but it isn't a requirement under the resolution. "It's a really big deal to say just as a matter of law, you, staffers of Capitol Hill have the right to form a union," said Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who introduced the measure. It comes amid a reinvigorated movement over labor rights as workers take on some of the biggest corporations in the country, including Amazon and Starbucks.
IN THE STATES
Minnesota labor leaders call on Senate to ratify state employee contracts
Star Tribune
By Briana Bierschbach
May 14, 2022
Minnesota labor union leaders say the clock is ticking for state employees at the Capitol. Their two-year employee contracts were ratified by the Minnesota House last year but still await passage in the Senate. Without action before the session adjourns, raises and benefits for roughly 50,000 state employees will be clawed back.
A horrific day at Tops, a store that brought joy to a neighborhood
The Buffalo News
By Jon Harris
May 14, 2022
Frank DeRiso, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local One, which represents Tops employees, said he's had discussions with Tops executives, and the company is going to make sure the employees in the Jefferson Avenue store "get the proper care they need" and don't lose out on any paychecks while the store is closed for an undetermined amount of time.