CORONAVIRUS
A major nurses’ union condemns the C.D.C.’s new mask advice for vaccinated people.
The New York Times
By Roni Caryn Rabin
May 15, 2021
The nation’s largest union of registered nurses condemned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday for lifting mask recommendations for vaccinated people and called on the agency to “do the right thing” and revise its guidance. Bonnie Castillo, a registered nurse and executive director of the union, National Nurses United, said the most recent guidance, which was issued on Thursday and rolled back mask recommendations and other precautions for those who are fully vaccinated, “is not based on science.” Ms. Castillo said the new guidance would jeopardize the health of frontline workers and the general public and would disproportionately harm people of color. “This is a huge blow to our efforts at confronting this virus and the pandemic,” said Ms. Castillo, whose union represents 170,000 nurses nationwide. “The mask is another lifesaving layer of protection for workers,” she said.
USA Today
By Kelly Tyko
May 14, 2021
Don't ditch your mask just yet. Despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new masking guidelines saying fully vaccinated people don't need to wear masks, face coverings will still be required when shopping at the nation's major retailers and entering national chain restaurants like Starbucks. At least for now. Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers' union, called the CDC’s guidance confusing and said in a statement that it "fails to consider how it will impact essential workers who face frequent exposure to individuals who are not vaccinated and refuse to wear masks."
TRANSPORTATION
The Washington Post
By Michael Laris
May 14, 2021
More than 100 MetroAccess reservation-takers and dispatchers went on strike Friday in a dispute with a Texas-based transportation provider over pay and working conditions. By nightfall, after a day of picketing outside a Hyattsville call center, the Amalgamated Transit Union announced that the workers would be back on the job Saturday and that negotiations would resume. “There are still many issues to negotiate, but our riders come first and foremost for us,” said John Costa, the union’s international president. “We do reserve the right to walk off the job again” if the company doesn’t bargain in good faith.
AMAZON
Amazon worker alleges security had keys to mailbox used in union vote
The Hill
By Chris Mills Rodrigo
May 14, 2021
Security guards at Amazon’s Bessemer, Ala., facility had keys to a mailbox that the company recommended workers use to vote in the unionization election earlier this year, a worker at the facility alleged during a National Labor Relations Board hearing Friday. Kevin Jackson said during the sixth day of hearings over the union’s challenge to the results that he had seen two guards use keys to open one of the thirteen slots on the mailbox. The allegation comes after the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union, which would have represented the Amazon workers in the event of a union win, formally challenged the initial loss by a 2-1 margin last month.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Food giveaway for those in need planned for May 20 in East Grand Forks
Grand Forks Herald
By Pamela D. Knudson
May 14, 2021
At the free food distribution event, a semi-truck will deliver 1,300, 30-pound boxes of food, as well as milk, to the church parking lot. The food, which will be available to anyone, will be distributed via drive-thru pick-up and in a contact-free manner, for public health safety. The driver will be asked how many food boxes and gallons of milk are needed and volunteers will place them in the vehicle.
JOINING TOGETHER
Head Of National Teachers Union Calls For In-Person Learning Five Days A Week In Fall
Patch
By Matt Barnum
May 14, 2021
In what the union billed as a "landmark" speech, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Thursday strongly called for fully opening school buildings next school year for instruction five days a week. "We can and we must reopen schools in the fall for in-person teaching, learning and support. And we must keep them open — fully and safely 5 days a week," Weingarten said in a speech streamed online.