Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
TRANSPORTATION
Amtrak Rewarded Executives With Six-Figure Bonuses as Rail Service Struggled
The New York Times
By Mark Walker and Niraj Chokshi
Aug. 5, 2022
Amtrak’s top executives received six-figure incentive bonuses in 2021, their biggest payouts in years, despite the service’s lackluster financial performance and weak ridership caused by the pandemic, according to data obtained by The New York Times. John Samuelsen, the president of the Transport Workers Union, whose members include nearly 1,500 service workers, mechanics and inspectors at Amtrak, said he was disgusted by the payouts. “They gave themselves nice fat bonuses off the backs of workers that were exposed to harm’s way,” he said. “It just underscores the reason why there should be worker representatives on the Amtrak board.”
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Despite a strong jobs report, unemployment inched higher for Black workers in July
CNBC
By Samantha Subin
Aug. 5, 2022
The U.S. job market posted strong growth and a decline in unemployment in July, but unemployment ticked higher among Black workers, further underscoring the ongoing discrepancies within the job market. The continuation of strong job growth from last month among women indicates that the gain may be more than “just a blip,” said William Spriggs, chief economist to the AFL-CIO.
JOINING TOGETHER
Dover council approves 3-year contract with AFSCME union
Times Reporter
By Jon Baker
Aug. 5, 2022
Council has approved a 3-year contract between the City of Dover and the union representing workers at the light plant, electric distribution, service, street, parks and recreation and other departments. The agreement with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 2550 runs from April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2025. Employees will receive 3% pay raises in the first year of the contract and 2.5% increases during the second and third years. There is no change to health insurance. Both the union and city council approved the agreement on Monday.
Fired Up Rail Workers Rally In Galesburg, Illinois, As Potential National Strike Looms
The Real News Network
BY Mel Buer
Aug. 5, 2022
“In this case, especially, the facts are on our side,” Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, told TRRN. “There could not be any more [of a] stark example of corporate greed versus hard working people who are just trying to make a living and actually support their families and that are vital to our economy.” Regan is hopeful that the PEB will return recommendations that will benefit the rail workers and give the unions the leverage they need to put pressure on the rail carriers to finally come to a deal. “That’s what this whole process is designed to do. It’s not designed to set up a strike. It’s not designed to set up a work stoppage. It’s designed to bring the parties together for a deal,” he said. “So far, the only side that has been unwilling to negotiate in good faith has been the railroad side.”
NLRB
Communications Workers of America Files Unfair Labor Complaint Against Verizon Express Portland
Oregon Business
By Sander Gusinow
Aug. 5, 2022
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against Verizon Wireless this week on behalf of workers at Verizon Express Portland locations, according to a press release issued by the union Thursday. According to the charge, Verizon has been forcing workers at Portland-area stores to attend captive audience meetings over the past six months. The union describes such meetings as a “common union-busting tactic” meant to intimidate workers and interfere with organizing efforts. “We witnessed their intimidation tactics and anti-worker rhetoric most recently at the Verizon Wireless stores in the Seattle area, but it’s been happening for years in other cities like Brooklyn too,” Lori Claxton, a consultant at Verizon Express in Portland, said in CWA’s press release. “It didn’t work on those workers, and it’s not going to work on us.” Graham Trainor, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, told Oregon Business the workers at Verizon Express stores in Portland "took a courageous stand" in forming a union with the CWA.
IN THE STATES
Essential Connecticut workers can apply for $1000 'hero' pay
The Westerly Sun
By The Associated Press
Aug. 5, 2022
Up to $1,000 in pandemic pay is available for eligible, private-sector essential workers in Connecticut who were employed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a new website for applications up and running on Friday. Union officials in Connecticut have said more money is needed to compensate all of the essential workers who risked their lives during the pandemic. The Connecticut AFL-CIO, an umbrella federation of unions, voted last year to recommend roughly $218 million in unallocated federal pandemic funds be spent on pandemic pay.