JOINING TOGETHER
DC teachers’ union ratifies new contract with overwhelming support
WTOP
By Ciara Wells
Dec. 14, 2022
The Washington Teachers’ Union approved their long-awaited new contract Tuesday night, with just a handful of unfavorable votes. Union members overwhelmingly approved their new contract by a vote of 3,445 to 29. It will provide a 12% retroactive raise for the past three years, when teachers worked under an expired contract, and for the current school year, plus a 4% retention bonus for every teacher.
Maryland Office of the Public Defender officially unionizes
WMAR
By WMAR Staff
Dec. 14, 2022
The Maryland Office of the Public Defender is officially unionized. A final vote was held Tuesday broken down in two bargaining units, after ballots were cast by mail between November 15 and December 1. The first includes core administrative and support staff, while the second consists of attorneys, intake staff, investigators, and social workers. Both overwhelmingly approved unionization that will now span 12 districts throughout the state, impacting over 600 workers. The American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has been selected as the exclusive bargaining representative for the Public Defender's Office.
College workers ride the national wave of union organizing
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
Dec. 14, 2022
Exploited college workers—part-time faculty at New York’s New School and grad student workers at Boston University—are using unionization to achieve, or seek, gains on the job. Next month, grad student workers at Yale may join them. All three groups—the 2,600 part-timers at the New School and 1,400 at the allied Parsons School of Design, the 3,200 grad student workers at Boston University and the 4,000 teaching assistants at most departments at Yale—are part of the growing movement of exploited, underpaid and overworked college workers nationwide.
HarperCollins staffers are striking. Here’s why that matters to readers.
The Washington Post
By Maham Javaid
Dec. 14, 2022
It’s been more than a month since Laura Harshberger, a senior production editor at HarperCollins, stopped producing children’s books and went on strike with more than 200 colleagues in New York City. “We are not striking against our job, but for our jobs,” she told The Washington Post. “We want to work for HarperCollins, but we want to work for them with dignity, respect and fair wages.” The striking workers — who are from the editorial, sales, publicity, design, legal and marketing departments — have three demands: HarperCollins should raise its minimum starting salary from $45,000 to $50,000; address the lack of diversity in its workforce; and provide more security for unionized workers.
'They heard us': Minnesota nurses union approves three-year contract
MPR News
By Michelle Wiley and Amy Felegy
Dec. 14, 2022
Thousands of Minnesota nurses at 15 Minnesota hospitals have ratified a new three-year contract. It comes after months of bargaining and a three-day strike this September. The contract includes wage increases — 18 percent in the Twin Cities, 17 percent in the Twin Ports — as well as more input on staffing levels, union officials said Wednesday. “Because of our tenacity, we won unprecedented language to address staffing levels,” said Mary C. Turner, president of the Minnesota Nurses Association and a nurse at North Memorial, at a press conference Wednesday.
Workers at Eastern State Penitentiary museum seek to unionize
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Robert Moran
Dec. 14, 2022
About 70 workers at the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site in the city’s Fairmount section on Wednesday filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. The workers include educators serving as tour guides, other people who handle visitors’ services, retail employees, as well as facilities and some administrative staff, organizers said. The group is seeking to join the United Steelworkers (USW), which has expanded to include workers in public-sector and service occupations. In 2020, workers at Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh voted to join the USW. The NLRB will set a date for the Eastern State election.
IN THE STATES
New leader sworn in at Oregon AFL-CIO
Northwest Labor Press
By Don McIntosh
Dec. 14, 2022
Oregon AFL-CIO has a new number two officer. At the Dec. 8 meeting of the union federation’s Executive Board, Aida Aranda was unopposed for secretary-treasurer, was declared elected by acclamation, and was sworn into office immediately after.
New law says NY biz must make room for breastfeeding workers on the job
New York Post
By Zach Williams
Dec. 9, 2022
A new law requires businesses statewide to provide quality space for nursing New Yorkers to pump breast milk on the job. “Every nursing mother deserves access to a safe, hygienic, and convenient space to pump in the workplace,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said after signing the measure into law. “By requiring employers to provide quality accommodations, this legislation will help employees feel comfortable and respected when breastfeeding.” Supervisors will have to provide a space that is private, “well lit,” and close to workspaces at the request of the nursing employee, according to the bill language. Restrooms and toilet stalls do not meet that standard though the legislation leaves some wiggle room on space requirements for smaller workplaces.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Annual 'Guns N Hoses' charity ice hockey game returns to Roanoke
ABC 13
By Caitlyn Frolo
Ded. 14, 2022
An annual charity event is returning to the Berglund Center in the new year. "Guns N Hoses," an ice hockey game will return on January 28, 2023. The event benefits the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the official charity of the International Association of Firefighters. Last year alone, the I.A.F.F. raised more than $25 million for the MDA through events like this one.
SAG-AFTRA Foundation Gave Out $800,000 In Assistance This Year & $300,000 In Scholarships
Deadline
By David Robb
Dec. 13, 2022
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation granted more than $800,000 in emergency financial assistance, Covid assistance, senior financial crisis aid, health assistance and disaster relief this year to members of the union, the foundation’s president, Courtney B. Vance, said in his year-end fireside chat. He also reported that the Foundation awarded another $300,000 in higher education scholarships to 106 SAG-AFTRA members and their dependents. “We couldn’t have done any of this without the generosity of our donors,” he said, “so on behalf of the Foundation I thank you for continued support of our community in times of need. As has always been true, if you need help, please ask. And if you can help, please give.”