Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
JOINING TOGETHER
GE workers in Lynn reach tentative agreement to boost pay faster
Boston Globe
By Katie Johnston
Sept. 13, 2022
More than 500 employees at the General Electric aviation plant in Lynn will get an immediate bump in pay if union members approve a tentative agreement that will decrease the time it takes workers to hit the top pay rate. The agreement reduces the years required to hit that rate from seven to six and also gives workers a say in negotiating the overall wage cap. For most IUE-CWA Local 201 employees in Lynn, top pay ranges from $33.59 to $42.75 an hour. Workers who qualify for raises that would put them above the current cap of $34-$46.50 get a lump sum payment equal to what their hourly increase would have been. Previously, the cap was determined every year by an outside consultant based on the local labor market without union input.
Ultium workers at Ohio plant vote to push for union representation
The Detroit News
By Kalea Hall
Sept. 13, 2022
Workers at the Ultium Cells LLC plant in northeast Ohio have authorized a strike in a bid to get the company to recognize the United Auto Workers union as their bargaining agent. On Friday, 94% of voting workers at the General Motors Co. and LG Energy Solution joint venture plant approved the strike recognition measure, UAW Local 1112 President Darwin Cooper told The Detroit News. There is no deadline for the strike to occur, he added.
IBEW Local 494 announces ratification of first contract with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin
Spectrum News 1
By Lydia Taylor
Sept. 13, 2022
The Local 494 chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers announced the workers of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin represented by the union has negotiated and ratified their first union contract with the DPW senior leadership. “This contract is an exciting next step forward for our team and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin,” said DPW Deputy Data Director Will Hoffman. “Through this contract, our bargaining unit has secured important provisions that will benefit and empower DPW staff for years to come, create more staff permanency and continue to strengthen our partnership with senior leadership. We are following in the finest traditions of the Democratic Party, the party that supports working people and their right to organize a union in their workplace.”
Northeastern dining hall workers approve most lucrative contract in Local 26 history
Boston Globe
By Katie Johnston
Sept. 13, 2022
In 2012, Northeastern University dining hall workers made $9 an hour: “poverty jobs,” according to the union that organized the workforce that year. Wages have been rising steadily since, and following a vote to approve a new contract on Tuesday, those food service employees will see their wages increase to roughly $30 an hour in 2026 — tripling their pay in a span of 14 years. The agreement is the most lucrative contract in the history of Unite Here Local 26. Along with a $9.32 per hour pay hike for each of the 400-plus dining hall workers over the next four years, improvements include making at least three-quarters of the staff full time, quadrupling pension plan contributions, and guaranteeing coverage when someone calls in sick.
IN THE STATES
Walz rallies with striking nurses
KARE 11
By John Croman
Sept. 13, 2022
Governor Tim Walz Tuesday made a show of solidarity with the striking nurses, stopping by a picket line to tell union nurses he respects their right to bargain with the hospitals. It came on the second day of an announced three-day strike by the 15,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association against eight health systems, affecting 15 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth. Walz spoke to nurses from Children’s and United Hospitals who were picketing along a three-block stretch of Smith Avenue in St. Paul.