Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
JOINING TOGETHER
More than 150 agents back striking HarperCollins workers
AP News
By Hillel Italie
Nov. 28, 2022
More than 150 literary agents, whose clients include Danielle Jackson, V.E. Schwab and L.A. Chandlar, have signed an open letter to HarperCollins vowing to “omit” the publisher from upcoming book submissions until it reaches an agreement with striking employees. Around 250 entry- and mid-level staff members, from publicists to editorial assistants, have been on strike since Nov. 10, with the two sides differing over wages, workforce diversity and other issues that have become increasingly prominent across the industry. No new talks are scheduled.
What’s at Stake in the University of California Graduate-Worker Strike
The New Yorker
By Jay Caspian Kang
Nov. 29, 2022
The graduate workers’ list of demands is long, and has included child-care subsidies and better health care, but the main concern comes from the tension between the traditionally low stipends that graduate students receive and the high cost of living in California. A survey conducted by the U.A.W. found that ninety-two per cent of graduate-student workers spend more than thirty per cent of their salaries on rent, which qualifies them as “rent burdened” by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Savoy Bookshop & Café employees unionize
Providence Business News
By Jacquelyn Voghel
Nov. 29, 2022
Employees at Savoy Bookshop & Café unionized Monday, with workers and ownership reaching a voluntary recognition agreement. Employees at the 10 Canal St. store filed for union representation under the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 328 on Nov. 21, UFCW announced Monday morning on Twitter. That afternoon, the local stated that management had agreed to voluntarily recognize the union. UFCW did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. The local said on Twitter that nine employees filed for representation. According to Savoy ownership, six employees have signed a union letter. Fifteen employees work at the store, which opened as a partnership between between Mystic Books Inc. and the Royce Family Fund in spring 2016.
UC strike: Postdoctoral scholars, researchers reach tentative deal but will honor pickets
Los Angeles Times
By Teresa Watanabe
Nov. 29 2022
In a significant breakthrough, University of California postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers have reached a tentative agreement for higher wages and cost-of-living increases but won’t return to work in solidarity with some 36,000 graduate student workers who remain on strike, the union announced Tuesday. “We are proud to have reached agreements that address the soaring cost of living, and reflect the value of our contributions at UC,” Neal Sweeney, president of UAW Local 5810, said in a statement. “These agreements represent a new, best-in-class model that will improve quality of life — and the quality of research — for scientists across the US. It is now time for UC to make serious proposals to Academic Student Employees and Student Researchers and to reach fair agreements that recognize the contributions these workers make.” The postdoctoral employees and academic researchers make up about 12,000 of the 48,000 union members who launched the nation’s largest ever strike of academic workers three weeks ago. The graduate student teaching assistants, tutors and researchers in two other bargaining units — UAW 2865 and SRU-UAW — remain on strike. These workers do much of the critical work of leading discussion sections, running labs, grading assignments and administering exams.
Milwaukee County Transit System, ATU Local 998 reach 3-year contract
WTMJ-TV
By Jackson Danbeck
Nov. 29, 2022
The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) and the union representing bus drivers and mechanics, ATU Local 998, reached an agreement for a three-year contract, the county announced Tuesday. During a Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors meeting earlier this month, workers complained of threats and assaults, burnout, overtime, bad worker retention, limited to no bathroom and food breaks, among other problems, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported then. The union and MCTS entered negotiations over a contract on Nov. 7. These negotiations happen every three years and are often tense. About 97 percent of union members voted against MCTS' contract offered at the time, and 93 percent voted to go on strike if MCTS was not willing to adjust their offer.
Nurses reach tentative contract agreement in Moose Lake, but not in Twin Cities, Duluth
Star Tribune
By Jeremy Olson
Nov. 29, 2022
Thousands of Twin Cities and Duluth nurses will be voting Wednesday to authorize another strike of their hospitals, but their colleagues in Moose Lake won't be joining them. The roughly 50 nurses there reached a tentative contract, likely ending more than a year of negotiations that started when Essentia Health took over operations of their north-central Minnesota hospital. The Moose Lake nurses will vote on their deal Dec. 9. "Both parties worked hard at the bargaining table in pursuit of a contract that benefits our nurses, our organization and — most importantly — our patients," said Duluth-based Essentia Health in a written statement. Terms of the Moose Lake deal weren't immediately available Tuesday. Negotiations have narrowed gaps in wage and contract demands between 15,000 nurses and 16 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth areas. However, they will be voting Wednesday whether to strike for a second time this year. A yes vote would permit the nurses' union, the Minnesota Nurses Association, to call a strike at any time after and give hospitals a 10-day notice to prepare. The soonest they could strike would be Dec. 10. Union leaders could opt for an open-ended strike or a limited strike akin to the three-day walkout earlier this fall.
St. Charles LMI Aerospace workers to hold union election
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Annika Merrilees
Nov. 29, 2022
The union that represents Boeing workers has launched an attempt to organize one of the company's suppliers: St. Charles-based components manufacturer LMI Aerospace. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election for about 50 employees at LMI's St. Charles facilities. The workers will vote on Dec. 15 and Dec. 16. "Aerospace workers see the value in having a stronger voice in their workplace," IAM District 837 Business Representative and Organizer Dan Forbes said in a statement. "They are machinists and highly skilled manufacturing technicians who decided to organize because they know union representation will bring dignity, respect, better wages, and benefits."
SPORTS UNIONS
MLBPA's Tony Clark gets five-year contract extension as executive director, per report
CBS Sports
By Dayn Perry
Nov. 29, 2022
Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, has received a five-year contract extension that will keep him in the leadership role through 2027, Evan Drellich reports. According to Drellich, the executive board of the union voted to extend Clark's tenure on Monday. The 50-year-old Clark's recent history as MLBPA head has been rich in achievement. Under his leadership, the union made significant gains, particularly with regard to the under-compensation of young players, with the most recent collective bargaining agreement (CBA). As well, Clark led the MLBPA to join the ranks of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States. Most notably, the union under Clark's leadership moved to organize minor league players under the MLBPA banner. Negotiations on the first CBA at the minor league level are said to be ongoing.