TRANSPORTATION
The Senate votes to avert a rail strike — and rejects paid sick leave
Vox
By Li Zhou
Dec. 1, 2022
The AFL-CIO, one of the largest labor federations in the country, also criticized the lack of sick leave ahead of Thursday’s vote. “While the tentative agreement unions negotiated this year included many critical gains — significant wage increases, caps on health care premiums, and prevention of crew reduction — it also fell short by not including provisions on paid sick leave or fair scheduling,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement.
APPRENTICESHIPS
The power of apprenticeships: How an Air Force vet found a rewarding career in sheet metal
Dayton Daily News
By Thomas Gnau
Nov. 23, 2022
The demand is there, especially with new construction across Southwestern Ohio. More than five million square feet of industrial space have been built around Dayton International Airport alone since 2014. Honda and Intel this year announced big Ohio construction projects of their own. “The amount of work that is stacked up in the Miami Valley is out of control,” said Tony Stephens, apprenticeship coordinator at Local 24. “It seems like every week there is another $750 million ... project that gets announced. We are recruiting like mad.”
JOINING TOGETHER
Actors’ Equity & Broadway League Reach Three-Year Contract Agreement
Deadline
By Greg Evans
Dec. 1, 2022
Actors’ Equity Association, the national union representing actors and stage managers, has reached a new, three-year collective bargaining agreement with The Broadway League, the national trade organization of theater owners and producers. Details on the agreement were not disclosed, but the two sides have been at the bargaining table since September over Equity-supported contract changes involving coverage of understudies, swings and additional stage managers.
Variety
By Jazz Tangcay
Dec. 1, 2022
Music supervision is much more than just placing needle drops in film, TV shows and video games. Even a two-second wedding scene requires the work and involvement of a music supervisor. An important issue facing music supervisors is the fight to unionize. Music supervisors at Netflix, who are seeking representation by IATSE, have filed papers seeking a union-certification election with the National Labor Relations Board. The move comes after an overwhelming majority of music supervisors currently or recently employed by Netflix requested voluntary recognition of their union from the company.
Minnesota nurses set strike deadline
Fox2
By Julia Mueller
Dec. 1, 2022
As many as 15,000 nurses in Minnesota are set to strike on Dec. 11 if no agreement is reached with hospital executives on a fair labor contract, the Minnesota Nurses Association said Thursday. “At the same time hospital CEOs tell nurses and patients there is no money to retain staff and prioritize care, executives are taking million-dollar raises and pursuing corporate expansions that put community access to affordable care at risk,” first vice president of the nurses’ union Chris Rubesch said in a statement. The Minnesota Nurses Association on Thursday announced that it had voted “overwhelmingly” to authorize the strike set the deadline for what would be it second massive walk-out this year, impacting 16 hospitals in Minneapolis-St. Paul and throughout the state.
Broadway World
By Chloe Rabinowitz
Dec. 1, 2022
Actors' Equity Association and The Broadway League have reached a new, three-year collective bargaining agreement for the Production Contract that governs Broadway shows and sit-down productions across the country. The agreement remains subject to ratification now by Equity members in a vote by electronic ballot.
Film Academy Foundation Union Voluntarily Recognized
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Dec. 1, 2022
A union of workers at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ nonprofit Academy Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving film history, has been voluntarily recognized by management. A card check on Thursday found that 76 percent of workers eligible for the group supported unionization with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 36, and Academy management subsequently agreed to recognize the group. Around 90 workers — including archivists, film preservationists, librarians and curators working across the Academy Film Archive, Margaret Herrick Library, Science and Technology Council and in various Academy programs — are joining the Vernon-based AFSCME Council, which also recently saw success in organizing the Academy Museum.
SPORTS UNIONS
Secure with 5-year deal, Clark pushes to make MLBPA stronger
AP
By David Brandt
Dec. 1, 2022
Tony Clark has never had more clout as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. The 50-year-old helped the union navigate a tumultuous stretch that included a pandemic-shortened 2020 season and a new labor deal in March that not only saved a full 162-game season but also was viewed as at least a modest win for the players and their pocketbooks. Now, there’s a relative calm during a baseball offseason that hasn’t been seen for a few years. Baseball fans are probably enjoying that normalcy, but for Clark, there’s not much time to celebrate. “The preparation for the next agreement never stops,” he said. Clark was in Arizona on Wednesday afternoon, shuttling between appointments at the MLBPA’s winter meetings. Two days before, the union voted to extend Clark’s contract five more years through 2027, putting him in position to lead players through the entirety of their current labor agreement with owners that expires in December 2026.
IN THE STATES
Mothers In Action’s Thanksgiving Feed Celebrates 27 Years
Los Angeles Sentinel
By Brian W. Carter
Dec. 1, 2022
“This is a very important event each year,” said Los Angeles County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO President Yvonne Wheeler. “It was started by my great friend, Brenda Marsh-Mitchell, who always called herself a community janitor and so, every year she would forgo Thanksgiving and come out here to feed the seniors and it is incumbent upon me to continue that legacy.”