ORGANIZING
UC strike energizes unprecedented national surge of union organizing by academic workers
Los Angeles Times
By Teresa Watanabe
Jan. 2, 2023
The UC strike is over, culminating last month in significant improvements in wages and working conditions after 48,000 teaching assistants, tutors, researchers and postdoctoral scholars walked off their jobs in the nation’s largest labor action of academic workers. But the effects of the historic strike still reverberate across the nation, helping energize an unprecedented surge of union activism among academic workers that could reshape the teaching and research enterprise of American higher education.
Signal Cleveland
By Olivera Perkins
Dec. 29, 2022
Dan O’Malley has been executive secretary since 2020 of the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, Northeast Ohio’s largest labor organization. He heads an organization with more than 80,000 members representing about 150 local unions in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties. Signal Cleveland recently sat down with O’Malley to get his take on what’s in store for labor in 2023, both locally and nationally.
JOINING TOGETHER
UC graduate student workers ratify labor agreement, end historic strike with big wage gains
Los Angeles Times
By Teresa Watanabe
Dec. 23, 2022
University of California graduate student workers on Friday ratified a new labor agreement with big wage gains, support for child care and new protections against bullying and harassment, ending a historic strike that upended fall term finals and has reverberated nationally. In separate votes, two bargaining units of United Auto Workers approved the tentative agreement reached last week with the 10-campus university system — six weeks after 48,000 teaching assistants, tutors, researchers and postdoctoral scholars collectively walked off their jobs in the nation’s largest strike of academic workers.
Workers at Macy's flagship San Francisco store go on pre-Christmas strike
CBS Bay Area
Dec. 23, 2022
Union workers there officially went on strike at midnight after three years of failed negotiations to get a new contract. Employees are seeking better health care coverage and pay. They voted overwhelmingly to authorize the strike Thursday after getting what they call is a substandard offer from Macy's. A sea of Macy's workers was picketing outside main the entrance of the Union Square store, demanding increased wages after UFCW Local 5 rejected Macy's latest offer that included a wage increase of less than a dollar.
Chateau Marmont Agrees to Landmark Union Contract
The Hollywood Reporter
By Gary Baum
Dec. 22, 2022
It’s over. Four months after unionizing — and three years since a nascent organizing drive quietly began before the pandemic hit — workers at the Chateau Marmont have ratified their first contract following negotiations with owner André Balazs. UNITE HERE Local 11, which represents more than 32,000 hospitality employees, now including those at the legendary Sunset Strip lodging, said the agreement “sets a new standard for boutique hotels.”
17,000 NYC nurses authorized to strike if union contract negotations are not reached with hospitals
ABC 7
Dec. 22, 2022
New York City hospitals are not immune from the crush of inflation and the nurses union has authorized a strike for the new year if contract negotiations are not finalized. Over 17,000 nurses at 12 hospitals including Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian have contracts expiring December 31 with no new contract agreement on the table for 2023. Nurses say hospitals are short-staffed and not doing enough for patients as COVID, RSV and the flu run rampant.
UAW workers reach tentative deal with Hollywood Casino, avoids strike
ABC 13
By WTVG Staff
Dec. 22, 2022
A tentative deal has been reached between UAW workers and Hollywood Casino. According to Tony Totty, president of the UAW Local 14, a tentative deal has been reached just in time to avoid strikes at both the Hollywood Casino Toledo and Hollywood Casino Columbus. “It would’ve been terrible to go out on strike now with the weather being what it is. But if they needed to do it to get justice, we would’ve done it,” Totty said. In order to take effect, the deal must be ratified by members. The ratification process is expected to take place next week.
University of California academic workers ratify labor agreement, ending 40-day strike
ABC7
Dec. 23, 2022
Striking graduate students at the University of California approved a bargaining agreement Friday, ending an unprecedented 40-day strike that snarled classes at the prestigious university system. Union representatives said Friday a majority of striking graduate students and teaching assistants approved two contracts to formally end the work stoppage.
Actors' Equity Association Applauds Boost in Funding for the National Endowment for the Arts
Broadway World
By Chloe Rabinowitz
Dec. 23, 2022
Actors' Equity Association released the following statement after Congress passed an FY23 budget that funded the National Endowment for the Arts at $207 million - an increase of $27 million over FY22. "The National Endowment for the Arts supports jobs in every Congressional district in the country. While we advocate primarily for the actors and stage managers we represent, we applaud that NEA funding also drives economic growth in restaurants, hospitality, tourism and beyond. This increase will mean more jobs and a stronger economy for everyone," said Kate Shindle, president of Actors' Equity Association. "I want to especially thank Reps. Pingree, Bonamici and Senator Merkley for getting this funding increase across the finish line.
University of California workers ratify labor deal, ending strike
KPBS
By City News Service
Dec. 26, 2022
The unions representing striking University of California graduate student workers and researchers have reached final agreement on new contracts — ending a 40-day walkout by some 48,000 workers with what the unions called "historic gains," while making the workers "among the best supported in public higher education in the country," according to the UC. Voting by members of the United Auto Workers began earlier this week, and results were announced last Friday night after a tentative agreement had been announced two weeks ago. The final results came in separate votes by UAW 2865 and Student Researchers United-UAW. The vote for UAW 2865 was 11,386 to 7,097, while the vote for SRU-UAW was 10,057 to 4,640, the unions said.
Field Museum workers file for union election
ABC7
By Sun-Times Media Wire
Dec. 27, 2022
Staff at the Field Museum said Tuesday they have filed for a union representation election to decide if they join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The workers, who would affiliate with AFSCME's Council 31, filed a petition for an election with the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago. Council 31 spokesman Anders Lindall said the petition included signed union cards from "a strong majority" of about 300 people in the proposed bargaining unit.
Boston-based Activision Blizzard studio Proletariat files to unionize
MassLive
By Ryan Mancini
Dec. 28, 2022
Workers employed at Proletariat, Inc., located in Boston and owned by Activision Blizzard, said Tuesday they are organizing to form a union with the Communication Workers of America. The team of 57 employees is comprised of designers, animators, engineers, producers and quality assurance workers, Bloomberg reported. The effort marks the third attempt to unionize at Activision following Raven Software’s union push in January and Blizzard Albany’s vote to unionize in early December.
Workers at the Woodland Pulp mill have reached a deal to avoid a strike
Maine Public
By Robbie Feinberg
Dec. 28, 2022
Workers at the Woodland Pulp mill in Baileyville reached a deal to avoid a strike earlier this month. Members of United Steelworkers Local 27 had sought more time off, raises, and a cost-of-living adjustment to help them keep up with inflation. Workers argued the wages were warranted because they stayed on the job, even in the worst of the pandemic. Local 27 President Shawn Howland said that last week, workers overwhelmingly approved a three-year contract that included a 4% raise in the first year, with an additional $4,100 from a signing bonus and retroactive pay.
IN THE STATES
Pat Eiding, top labor leader in Philadelphia for two decades, retires at 82
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Juliana Feliciano Reyes
Dec. 29, 2022
Colleagues described him as a consensus builder, with the temperament and the respect to mediate conflict between unions, and a leader who built the reputation of the AFL-CIO within the nonprofit and business community by joining numerous boards. Eiding’s AFL-CIO has embraced the growing subset of labor organizing outside of unions and supported such policy efforts as the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights and Fair Workweek. And Eiding encouraged diverse gender and racial representation on the AFL-CIO’s executive committee, Scott said, noting that the committee is no longer almost entirely white men, as it was when Eiding began.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Black America’s record employment gains at risk as Fed tightens rates
Financial Times
By Taylor Nicole Rogers and Caitlin Gilbert
Jan. 2, 2023
William Spriggs, a professor of economics at Howard University and the chief economist of the union AFL-CIO, said the “moment firms cease hiring . . . the unemployment rate goes up because the people who were unemployed can’t escape unemployment. And that hurts black workers first.” Spriggs added that “the big recovery in black labour force participation, which in the last six months has really helped black workers . . . that goes away.”
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Exhausted By Another Crisis Year, Local Hospital Workers Demand Change
DCist
By Colleen Grablick
Dec. 26, 2022
Twelve months later, at the end of 2022, healthcare workers now face a “tridemic” of flu, RSV, and COVID, while the same staffing problems that defined the past three years of the pandemic persist. It’s left hospitals overwhelmed, workers run down, and patients at risk. But there is a difference this year. Local workers, buoyed by the momentum of union negotiation wins and the broader labor movement mobilizing across different industries this year, are stepping up the fight for better staffing and increased compensation. “Workers need to be active and fight,” says Edward Smith, the executive director of the DC Nurses Association, a branch of National Nurses United that represents nurses at local hospitals. “I think we’re seeing a new generation of activists demanding that ‘I want my rights, I want to be respected. I want to be treated with dignity.’”
Union says Staten Island Ferry fire highlights need for proper staffing, new contract
Silive.com
By Erik Bascome
Dec. 24, 2022
Union officials say the fiery fiasco on the Staten Island Ferry on Thursday highlights the need for proper staffing to ensure the safety of all riders moving forward. During Thursday evening’s rush hour commute, a fire broke out in the engine room onboard the brand new Sandy Ground Staten Island Ferry vessel, prompting a massive emergency response with over 800 passengers evacuated from the boat. Roland Rexha, the secretary treasurer for the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA), the union that represents the captains, assistant captains, mates, chief engineers and marine engineers on the Staten Island Ferry, said the harrowing incident emphasized the need for sufficient staffing, an issue that has plagued the Ferry in recent years.