MUST READ
Business Insider
By Juliana Kaplan and Ayelet Sheffey
Nov. 15, 2022
"The AFL-CIO is extremely disappointed in the partisan legal effort to shut down the Biden administration's life-changing student loan relief. Borrowers who have filed for forgiveness should not have to wonder if they will once again be forced to live with crushing student loan debt as a result of a court challenge," AFL-CIO director of government affairs Bill Samuel said in a statement. "With the payment pause end date of Dec. 31 rapidly approaching, the AFL-CIO will continue to advocate for the full implementation of the Biden administration's student loan debt cancellation plan."
APPRENTICESHIPS
Philadelphia students get jump on construction careers with pre-apprenticeship program
KYW
By Mike DeNardo
Nov. 15, 2022
Dozens of students at Philadelphia’s Mastbaum Vocational/Technical High School in Kensington are getting an opportunity to learn from the professionals. The school kicked off a pre-apprenticeship program for the construction trades on Tuesday. Philadelphia AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding reminded students that they can’t neglect their regular classwork while they pursue career skills. “You cannot make it in a trade unless you can read and do math,” said Eiding. Eiding told students that if they successfully completed the program, they could have a career for life.
JOINING TOGETHER
Employees at Nordson Corporation in Amherst on strike
The Morning Journal
By Lauren Hoffman
Nov. 14, 2022
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 1802 at the Nordson Corporation in Amherst rejected the company’s “last, best and final” contract offer and went on strike at midnight, Nov. 14. The 133 workers took to the picket line following the expiration of the company’s previous Collective Bargaining Agreement at 11:59 p.m., Nov. 13. “IAM members at Nordson put themselves and their families at risk during a (COVID-19) pandemic to ensure their critical jobs were done and that this company remained successful,” said T. Dean Wright Jr., International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 54 president and business representative. “Now, we’re simply asking for a respectable contract that has a basic level of work-life balance for our members.
Charlotte's WFAE Aims To Become First Unionized Public Radio Station In The Carolinas.
Inside Radio
Nov. 15, 2022
With the intention to form a union with SAG-AFTRA, University Radio Foundation, Inc.'s news/talk WFAE (90.7) Charlotte looks to become the first public radio station in the Carolinas to do so. The announcement from WFAE's organizing committee comes after three years of significant growth - having expanded its content staff, and enhancing the breadth and depth of its news coverage by adding a dedicated team for race and equity stories – and as the station prepares to open a new community engagement center in Charlotte’s Uptown. “It’s an exciting and critical moment,” the organizing committee says. “We want to ensure [WFAE's] continued success, and we believe a long-term investment in staff will improve morale and reduce staff turnover. We deserve a seat at the table in making big decisions about the station’s future and in negotiating our wages, salaries, and working conditions. We look forward to beginning the collective bargaining process and building a stronger future together for employees, present and future.”
UNION BUSTING
The un-crushable union drive at a Madison screen printing company
Tone Madison
By Jt Cestkowski
Nov. 15, 2022
By a vote of six to zero, screen printing workers at Crushin’ It Apparel on Voges Road in Madison chose last month to form a union. However, shortly after the employees initiated the unionization election, owner Jeremy Kruk began a series of layoffs that would eventually encompass all eight of his organizing screen printers and embroiderers. The business will remain open, but Kruk said he will now contract out much or all of his custom orders to other shops. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released the outcome of the union vote on its website November 1. Of the 11 employees eligible to participate in the election, seven cast ballots. One was void and the other six indicated support for unionizing with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District 7 Local 802. But now, in the latest twist of a drawn-out battle over working conditions at Crushin’ It, the unionizing workers are trying to get their jobs back.