JOINING TOGETHER
REI employees vote to unionize, becoming chain's second union store
KTVU
By Jana Katsuyama
Aug. 26, 2022
REI employees in Berkeley made history Thursday as a majority voted in favor of unionizing, becoming the second store in REI's nationwide chain to organize. "When we got the results, I was jumping for joy in my kitchen, and then I ran out the door cause I had to be at work," said Freddi Farias, an REI employee at the Berkeley store and one of the co-organizers who helped launched the organizing effort. The workers will join the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5. Union staff say they think other stores could follow. The UFCW staff say they saw a big increase in interest unionizing during the pandemic.
TARC employees push for negotiations as labor contract nears expiration
WAVE
By Kennedy Hayes
Aug. 27, 2022
More than a hundred union employees met in Downtown Louisville Saturday to protest working conditions under The Transit Authority of River City (TARC). Union workers said safety and higher wages are among their top concerns as TARC employees. ”To let TARC and the city of Louisville know that they are very very unhappy with how they are being treated by the Transit Authority of the River City during negotiations for a fair contract,” Bill Londrigan, Kentucky AFL-CIO said. Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local President Lillian Brents said TARC is offering 1% annual pay raises during the next 3-year contract. ”We are asking for wages to where we don’t have to work 50 and 60 hours overtime to put food on the table for our families,” Lilian Brents ATU 1447 President said.
After walking away from workers, Millennium gets heat from convention delegates
Workday Minnesota
By Michael Moore
Aug. 27, 2022
Housekeepers and other hotel employees took the stage on Day 1 of the AFL-CIO’s Pride at Work convention and told delegates that the Millennium Hotel had pulled back tentative agreements with their union two months after booking the convention. Delegates didn’t take the news sitting down. They marched out of the Millennium ballroom and into the lobby, with hotel staff in the lead, and held a lively rally in their defense. When security guards demanded demonstrators move to the sidewalk outside, they refused, holding the lobby for nearly a half hour. The action marked a spirited start to the three-day convention that began Aug. 18, bringing together representatives of the AFL-CIO’s constituency group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer-plus workers.
Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers Reach Tentative Labor Agreement
Business Wire
Aug. 27, 2022
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) announced today that it has reached a tentative agreement with the United Steelworkers (USW) on a new 4-year labor contract that will be effective on September 1, 2022. The agreement is pending ratification by USW local union memberships. No additional details will be made available at this time.
Peoria teacher’s union to vote on strike authorization Thursday
Central Illinois Proud
By Mike Smith
Aug. 28, 2022
his Thursday, the Peoria Federation of Teachers union will be voting on whether to authorize a strike, unless an agreement can be reached with Peoria Public Schools before then. Union President Jeff Adkins-Dutro said the teacher’s union will meet at Woodruff High School at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to vote on whether a strike will happen. The news comes as tension continues to build over contract negotiations between PPS and the teacher’s union.
IN THE STATES
Springfield Labor Day parade returns a week early with candy, music and many thanks
Springfield News-Leader
By Susan Szuch
Aug. 27, 2022
The turnout for this year’s Labor Day parade was smaller than normal, despite being the first one since the start of the pandemic. The small groups of kids who lined the parade route didn’t seem to mind, with most taking home a Halloween-sized haul of candy. The parade was held about a week ahead of the holiday this year, so that those the day honors would be able to enjoy the holiday with family, said Justin McCarty, president of the Springfield Central Labor Council. “Talking to a lot of organizations and our members, they wanted to celebrate their day with their family,” McCarty said. “Labor Day recognizes the sacrifices former generations made to get where we are now, and (current members) were always somewhere and had to come home a day early.”
STUDENT DEBT
Biden’s Student Loan Plan Squarely Targets the Middle Class
The New York Times
By Jim Tankersley
Aug. 25, 2022
The big winners from President Biden’s plan to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in student loans are not rich graduates of Harvard and Yale, as many critics claim. In fact, the benefits of Mr. Biden’s proposals will largely go to the middle class. According to independent analyses, the people eligible for debt relief are disproportionately young and Black. And they are concentrated in the middle band of Americans by income, defined as households earning between $51,000 and $82,000 a year. The Education Department estimates that nearly 90 percent of affected borrowers earn $75,000 a year or less. Ivy League graduates make up less than 1 percent of federal student borrowers nationwide.