Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
JOINING TOGETHER
Culinary Union protests for new contract at Las Vegas hospital
Fox5 Las Vegas
By Lorraine Tosiek
Aug. 18, 2022
Members of the Culinary Union were out picketing Valley Hospital Wednesday evening, pushing for a new contract with the medical facility. The union represents 90 housekeepers, cooks, kitchen workers, and stewards at Valley Hospital. The union says the workers have not had a contractual raise in six years and that they are fighting to keep their union benefits, pension, and health care.
Support staff unionizes at independent veterinary practice
VIN News Service
By Lisa Wogan
Aug. 18, 2022
Support staff at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center, near Buffalo, New York, voted to form a union on July 19, marking a first for the nascent veterinary labor movement. The support staff are affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, Local 1168, which also represents other types of medical workers in the Buffalo region. This is the CWA's first time organizing veterinary workers.
Unionized Rhode Island Compassion Center Workers Ratify First Contract
Go Local Prov Business
Aug. 18, 2022
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328 announced on Thursday that the budtenders, keyholders, online orderers and delivery drivers employed at Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, voted unanimously to approve their first contract. “This was a hard-fought victory for Greenleaf workers," said Sam Marvin, Director of Organizing at UFCW Local 328. "Together, they prevailed both at the labor board and at the bargaining table. By speaking up and standing together, they have raised the standards here in Rhode Island for cannabis workers. We applaud the workers at Greenleaf for their dedication and commitment to securing this historic victory.”
SFO airport workers protest over wages and job security, threaten to strike
SF Gate
By Silas Valentino
Aug. 18, 2022
Shielded from the afternoon sun under an overhead that led into United’s Premier Access zone were over two dozen SFO airport workers protesting for a new contract. On Thursday afternoon, they formed a skinny oval formation and shuffled to the rhythm of their chants. “One job!” yelled someone from the back. “Should be enough,” responded the rest. Many of the airport employees donned red shirts bearing this message that their union, Unite Here Local 2, had printed for the demonstration. One protester draped the shirt over his back like a cape while honks from a black Subaru Forester intensified as its driver circled the San Francisco International Airport departure queue in solidarity.
Cedar Rapids BCTGM Union Negotiating Contract With Ingredion
WHO News Radio
By Brock Wilson
Aug. 18, 2022
Leaders with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers' International Union will meet with food company Ingredion next week to discuss a new labor contract for Cedar Rapids workers that are on strike. The strike has been going on for nearly a week and a half as union workers have called for higher wages, better health coverage, and fewer long shifts. The strike affects about 120 workers and is the first at Ingredion since 2004.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
United Auto Workers Local 807 lends helping hand to supportive restaurant in Burlington
The Hawk Eye
Michaele Niehaus
Aug. 18, 2022
More than a dozen members of United Auto Workers Local 807 gathered Thursday outside Mazzio's Italian Eatery with rakes, shovels and flowers in tow to reciprocate the support the Burlington restaurant has given striking union members. The landscaping effort was coordinated, funded and carried out by the UAW Women's Committee with some help from Zaiser's, which offered the flowers and bushes at a discounted price, committee chairwoman Tracy Chew explained. The workers who lent a helping hand Thursday are among about 430 UAW members who have been on strike against Case New Holland Industrial since May 2, when workers in Racine, Wisconsin, and Burlington walked out of their respective plants in response to failed contract negotiations.
APPRENTICESHIPS
As Apprenticeships Take Off, Unions are in the Driver’s Seat
Workforce Monitor
By George Lorenzo
Aug. 17, 2022
When the White House held a summit last month touting its efforts to rebuild the workforce through the American Rescue Plan, Melissa Wells was a featured speaker. An experienced labor leader, she’d recently joined North America’s Building Trades Unions, an umbrella labor organization for the construction industry, to head up its strategic efforts around workforce development and career pathways. She was given a particular focus on bringing a more diverse group of Americans into the building trades. NABTU, Wells told the audience, is “very intentional about how we can create a more diverse workforce.” And the linchpin in that work is union-led apprenticeships. North America’s Building Trades Unions coordinates and supports much of the training work that local unions do on the ground. Fifteen years ago, it designed a multicraft pre-apprenticeship program designed to get more people across the country into the apprenticeship pipeline.
IN THE STATES
Weitzel makes history at Building Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin
The Daily Reporter
By Melody Finnemore
Aug. 18, 2022
As the first female to be named executive director of the Building Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin, Jac Weitzel is a pioneer in the state’s construction industry. “My favorite part about my job is promoting apprenticeship,” Weitzel said. “My apprenticeship program changed my life, and I like getting to go to career fairs and out to schools and talking with parents, teachers and students about what a great option a union apprenticeship is. “I especially like focusing on diversity when it comes to our recruitment, and continue to push our industry forward by being a more inclusive.” The council, which is affiliated to the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, represents more than 6,000 building trades members who live and work in a seven-county area. Its members work on projects that generate local jobs and revenue and build partnerships and help maintain communities and infrastructure.
Missouri AFL-CIO 31st Biennial Convention in St. Louis Aug. 21-23
Labor Tribune
Aug. 18, 2022
National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond will highlight the opening of the Missouri AFL-CIO’s 31st Biennial Convention in St. Louis beginning this Sunday, Aug. 21 through Aug. 23, President Jake Hummel announced this week. The convention kicks off at 9 a.m. Monday with a welcome from St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, opening remarks from Redmond and several guest speakers.