JOINING TOGETHER
Minor leaguers form union, 17 days after organizing began
Boston.com
By Ronald Blum
Sept. 15, 2022
More than 5,500 minor league baseball players formed a union on Wednesday, completing a lightning-fast organization campaign that launched just 17 days earlier in an effort to boost annual salaries as low as $10,400. “In a multibillion-dollar industry, there is no excuse to pay these players below the poverty line,“ AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. “By joining together to use their collective voice at the bargaining table, the minor leaguers will be able to advocate for a union contract that will ensure a future with the good pay and benefits they deserve.”
Union workers at Philadelphia Museum of Art plan one-day strike
WHYY
By Mark Eichmann
Sept. 15, 2022
At the end of August, the union representing workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art voted to strike, if necessary, during ongoing contract negotiations. Now, they’ve decided to make good on that threat. Union workers will not report to work at the museum on Friday. Instead, they’ll picket in front of the iconic museum and other PMA locations including the Perelman Annex and the Rodin Museum.
L.A. Opera Costume Shop Workers Seek Fair Contract
Deadline
By David Robb
Sept. 15, 2022
Seeking a fair contract, costume shop workers at the Los Angeles Opera will be handing out leaflets to patrons at the opera’s opening-night gala on September 17. They voted overwhelmingly in favor of being represented by IATSE Local 768 last year, but the union says they’ve “grown frustrated as management continues to stall negotiations. It’s the hope of costume shop workers that patrons who appreciate the artisanship they see on stage will encourage the Opera to come back to the table with a fair proposal.”
Philadelphia Museum of Art Workers Announce Daylong Strike
Hyperallergic
By Elaine Velie
Sept. 15, 2022
Workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) will strike tomorrow, September 16, amid stalled union negotiations. The PMA Union authorized the strike on August 30 with an astounding 99% margin, days after the union filed an Unfair Labor Practices complaint against the institution. In August 2020, the PMA’s employees joined the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 47 (AFSCME DC 47) after an election that saw 89% of workers vote in favor of organizing — becoming one of the largest unionized museum workforces in the country.
Potential strike draws closer at OHSU
Northwest Labor Press
By Colin Staub
Sept. 14, 2022
More than 7,000 workers at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) could strike as soon as Oct. 7. The workers are represented by AFSCME Local 328 and include most staff at the sprawling medical campus—health care practitioners, hospital technicians, pharmacists and more. With three campuses in Portland, OHSU is among the largest employers in the city.
IN THE STATES
Florida minimum wage takes another step towards $15 per hour
WCJB
By WCJB Staff
Sept. 15, 2022
In the second increase under a 2020 constitutional amendment, Florida’s minimum wage will go to 11 dollars an hour on September 30th. The voter-approved amendment will gradually lead to a 15-dollars-an-hour minimum wage on September 30th, 2026, with inflation-linked increases after that. The minimum wage increase will increase pay by about $2,100 annually, for full-time workers. Rich Templin, with the AFL-CIO labor union, says the pay increase is much needed for Florida’s lowest-paid workers. ”It is going to help a lot of people, but in addition to wages going up, we’ve got to do something about the cost of living in Florida. That’s what continues to be neglected.” says Templin.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Nashville Fire Department 'fills the boot' for muscular dystrophy
Fox 17
By Cindy Murphy
Sept. 15, 2022
Since 1954 the Nashville Fire Department (NFD) and IAFF Local 140 has been supporting muscular dystrophy with their annual Fill the Boot drive. The Nashville Fire Department and The International Association of Fire Fighters ( IAFF) Local 140 have announced they will be continue this long-standing tradition as its members kick off the annual program raising funds to support Muscular Dystrophy Association’s (MDA) vision to accelerate research, advance care, and advocate for the support of MDA families.