MUST READ
AFL-CIO Demands OSHA Boost After Worker Deaths Report
Law360
By Tim Ryan
May 4, 2021
The AFL-CIO on Tuesday called on the Biden administration to take action to strengthen federal enforcement of workplace safety standards, on the heels of a report showing more than 5,300 workers died on the job in 2019. The report the labor organization released at a virtual press conference found that workplace deaths rose slightly in 2019, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, though the rate of injuries per 100,000 workers remained steady. The report found the fatality rate for Latino workers hit its highest level since 2008 at 4.2 per 100,000. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's power eroded under the administration of President Donald Trump and she is hopeful President Joe Biden will help lead the agency to take a more forceful stance. "Obviously, we'd like to rebuild the agency, and the commitment does come from the top," Shuler said.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Unemployment Benefits Are Not Creating A Worker Shortage
HuffPost
By Arthur Delaney and Dave Jamieson
May 4, 2021
William Spriggs isn’t buying that. The chief economist at the AFL-CIO labor federation, Spriggs said it is “self-evident” that millions of people are trying to find work. Just because an employer hasn’t found them yet ― at the wages the employer is willing to pay ― doesn’t mean the workers aren’t out there. Spriggs said the normal hiring networks that employers rely on were blown up by the pandemic. Some employers who received forgivable government loans were able to keep their workers on the payroll, but many firms simply let them go during lockdown. A year later many of those workers have taken other jobs, moved on or even died.
JOINING TOGETHER
Macy’s Loses To A Union When High Tech Collides With High Touch
Forbes
By Walter Loeb
May 4, 2021
Macy’s just lost a case that could open a Pandora’s box of issues surrounding the use of technology in retail. A union representing Macy’s employees in the Boston and Rhode Island stores has won an arbitration case against the department store chain. In the arbitration with Macy’s, it was found that the company violated a bargaining agreement when it allowed customers to use an app for checkout. Macy’s was ordered to exclude men’s suits and cosmetics from self-checkout because these departments pay commissions to their sales associates and self-checkout did not allocate commissions to the associates.
The Animation Studio That Makes ‘Archer’ Won’t Recognize Workers’ Union
Vice
By Lauren Kaori Gurley
May 4, 2021
In an ironic turn of events, employees at Floyd County Productions, the animation studio behind Archer, are now unionizing. Floyd County Productions, which has regularly touted progressive values, has not recognized the union, and the union says that the company has hired a union busting firm, has held a mandatory 'captive audience' meeting during work hours, and, according to a charge against the production company filed with the National Labor Relations Board, has "implemented a policy requiring employees to obtain management approval for any media publications or social media postings regarding their employer." The charge states that this policy was implemented "in retaliation for its employees engaging in union organizing." Employees are unionizing with the Communication Workers of America.
Culinary Union says Palms sale will not impact negotiations on behalf of workers
KTNV
By Joe Bartels
Mary 4, 2021
The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, representing workers in Las Vegas and throughout Nevada, says the sale of the Palms hotel-casino will not impact negotiations on behalf of workers there. Culinary Workers Union Local 226 is the Nevada affiliate of UNITE HERE, representing 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in the gaming, hotel and food service industries nationwide.
IN THE STATES
Unions help workers improve wages, conditions (Opinion)
The Gainesville Sun
By James Ingle
April 30, 2021
In 2020 we started calling grocery workers, nurses, U.S. Postal Service employees and many others “essential workers.” These people became pandemic heroes, who put themselves at risk by going to work in unsafe conditions. As we start to round the corner in the struggle with the coronavirus, many deadly workplace risks remain. The risk of injury, long hours for little money and the lack of secure retirement is the reality that faces far too many of us. There has never been a more important time to give workers more voice and power.
National AFL-CIO report shows 74 New Jersey workers were killed on the job in 2019
Insider NJ
May 4, 2021
“Workplace safety is always a top priority for the New Jersey State AFL-CIO,” said Charles Wowkanech, President of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, “and we never stop fighting for it. We are privileged to have pro-labor state and federal elected officials advocating on behalf of working families. We have the right to a safe workplace and a voice on the job, and we thank our lawmakers, especially for the COVID-19 safety and compensation measures they sponsored.
On-the-job death rate in Nevada lower than U.S.
Nevada Current
By Dana Gentry
May 4, 2021
The AFL-CIO says in the U.S. 5,333 working people lost their lives on the job in 2019, or 3.5 per 100,000 individuals. Occupational diseases are blamed for another 90,000 deaths. Latino workers have a fatality rate of 4.2 per 100,000 workers, and the death rate among Black workers is 3.6 per 100,000 workers. Senior workers, those 65 or older, had an on-the-job fatality fate of 9.4 per 100,000 in 2019, according to the report. The AFL-CIO says that because of “irresponsible anti-workers policies of the previous administration, OSHA’s meager resources have kept declining.”
The Stand: boosting labor and labor’s story
NW Labor Press.
By Don McIntosh
May 4, 2021
There’s almost nothing else like it anywhere in the nation: Five days a week, for free, an email newsletter goes out to anyone who wants it with all the most recent labor news from Washington state and “that Washington.” Known as The Stand, it’s published by the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO.