Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
MUST READ
Northwest Labor Press
By Graham Trainor
Nov. 16, 2022
For the better part of this year, the Oregon labor movement planned and implemented a robust, targeted grassroots campaign that relied on the most powerful tactic: conversations between union members about the issues that matter. We know that the best way to break through the noise is to reach workers where they are at. The national AFL-CIO took the same approach in battleground states and districts facing the most hotly contested races. In every state and in every major region, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler focused on deepening the labor movement’s investment in year-round organizing and bringing voter discussions back to basic economics. We in the labor movement often say during election campaigns that there is a key factor that polls simply can’t predict: a people-powered field program meeting likely voters where they are at.
POLITICS
How Democratic U.S. Rep-elect Chris Deluzio assembled a coalition for a surprising win
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
By Ethan Dodd
Nov. 16, 2022
Deluzio’s “special sauce was labor,” said Elaine Frantz, a history professor at a Midwestern university who noticed while canvassing her white-collar neighborhood how much the candidate’s wWestern Pennsylvania values resonated in Mount Lebanon, one of the many Pittsburgh suburbs in the district. Deluzio “struck me as a person who was going to stand up for the little person,” she said, whether it be justice for incarcerated people, the protection of women, or when he successfully helped University of Pittsburgh faculty to unionize. “That’s where the party needs to go.”
JOINING TOGETHER
WGA East Set As Bargaining Reps For Audacy’s Pineapple Street Studios Podcast Network
Deadline
By Erik Pedersen
Nov. 16, 2022
The Audacy-owned podcast network Pineapple Street Studios formally has recognized the WGA East as the collective bargaining reps for its staff writers, producers, editors, engineers and other storytellers. The move comes after a card check conducted by an independent third party confirmed that a majority of the 42-member bargaining unit signed union cards in favor of the union. “We are so proud to have won voluntary recognition from management at Pineapple and Audacy,” the Pineapple Street Union said in a statement. “This victory is a direct result of months of hard work and dedication to building solidarity across our organization. We’re excited to carry this momentum forward into a collaborative bargaining phase, focused on pay and protections, accountability, consistency and unity at the company.”
Brooklyn Museum Workers Rally at Thierry Mugler VIP Gala to Call Out Stalled Contract Negotiations
ARTNews
By Tessa Solomon
Nov. 16, 2022
Last night, while invited guests of the Brooklyn Museum viewed its new Thierry Mugler exhibition, unionized workers of the institution rallied outside its main entrance on Eastern Parkway to call attention to contract negotiations that had stalled between the union and museum leadership. In August 2021, 130 employees of the Brooklyn Museum, including full-time and part-time workers from the conservation, education, and visitor service departments, voted to join United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110. Contract negotiations with museum leadership began in January of this year, but soon stalled on issues of healthcare benefits, job security, and wages. According to a union press release, employees have not received a wage increase since 2020.
Amherst machinist workers striking for better pay, hours and benefits
News5 Cleveland
By Catherine Ross
Nov. 16, 2022
Union workers at Nordson Industrial Coating Systems finished their third day on strike without a resolution to stalled contract negotiations. About 130 employees have been on strike since midnight on Monday after their 3-year contract expired. “We’re ready to sit down and talk. My members will stay one day longer than they will,” said Ron Adkins, the president of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM & AW) Local 1802.
Actors’ Equity Association members will rally in Times Square on Nov. 17
Broadway News
By Ruthie Fierberg
Nov. 16, 2022
On Nov. 17, members of Actors’ Equity Association will rally in Times Square on the pedestrian plaza between Broadway and Seventh Ave., 45th and 46th Streets, beginning at 4:30 p.m. The gathering of the national union for actors and stage managers is intended as a display of solidarity while Equity continues negotiations with The Broadway League on a Broadway production contract. Members are calling for “a fair contract” to result from negotiations — which began in September — including changes to rules regarding coverage, scheduling and safe workplaces.
New School and Parsons School of Design Adjunct Professors Go on Strike
The New York Times
By Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura
Nov. 16, 2022
Part-time faculty members at the New School, a historically progressive university that includes the Parsons School of Design, walked out en masse on Wednesday to protest pay and working conditions. The strike is a culmination of years of contentious relations between the adjunct faculty and the university’s administration and is part of a nationwide trend; earlier this week, 48,000 academic staff in the University of California system went on strike over job security. Adjunct professors at the university have not received a raise in four years, and as a result, their real earnings have not kept up with inflation and are down 18 percent from 2018, according to A.C.T.-U.A.W. Local 7902, the union organizing the strike. The union said that while the university had offered a 3.5 percent wage increase, it was not sufficient given record inflation in recent months.
IN THE STATES
Illinois voters approve collective bargaining amendment
AP
By John O'connor
Illinois voters have approved an amendment to their state constitution guaranteeing the right to bargain collectively. The measure in last week’s election was closely watched in Illinois and beyond as a gauge of public support for the labor movement, which has lost ground for years in conservative-led states. Unions groups say it could signal a new chapter in the struggle over workers’ rights as U.S. union ranks have grown as everyone from coffee shop baristas to warehouse workers seeks to organize.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Local union boxers prepare to lace up, square off for community benefit
Fox42
By Joe Harris
Nov. 16, 2022
It’s not for nothing either. They’re both fighting in the Blue Collar Boxing Charity Event Nov. 23 at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Ralston. The Omaha Federation of Labor, the AFL-CIO and United Way of the Midlands are hosting it, and it will feature around 30 local labor union members in the ring. "You'll have electricians versus plumbers, steamfitters versus sheet metal workers, firefighters versus correctional officers," Stolinski said. It's just pretty random." One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go toward two organizations: The United Way and its efforts to prevent homelessness and provide healthcare, and the Nebraska Center for Workforce Development and Education, which works to introduce people to careers in trades.