POLITICS
'We can work together': A rare show of bipartisanship during Biden's visit to Covington
WVXU
By Nick Swartsell
Jan. 4, 2023
Ironworker Saria Gwin-Maye, a 30-year veteran of the industry in Cincinnati, introduced the president. "It's a boost for the workers and a boost for the region," she said of the project. "This brings jobs and brings money and that's very well needed today in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky."
JOINING TOGETHER
Video Game Testers From Rockville Form Microsoft’s First Union
DCist
By Héctor Alejandro Arzate
Jan. 4, 2023
Microsoft has recognized a union for the first time in the company’s 47-year history, after a “supermajority” of quality assurance workers at video game publisher ZeniMax Studios – which is owned by Microsoft and partly based in Rockville and Hunt Valley, Md., voted to unionize with the Communications Workers Of America. “We’re thrilled to kick off 2023 in a workplace that’s stronger and more equitable than it was last year. This is an empowering victory that allows us to protect ourselves and each other in a way we never could without a union. Our hope and belief is that this is the year in which game workers across the country exercise their power and reshape the industry as a whole,” said Rockville-worker Skylar Hinnant in a statement.
Portland laborers closer to strike
Northwest Labor Press
By Colin Staub
Jan,. 4, 2023
When the City of Portland finally presented its wage offer for a contract covering about 630 parks, environmental services and transportation workers, Laborers Local 483 found it underwhelming. The City and Local 483 have been bargaining since March 2022, and workers have been without a contract since the end of June. Local 483 presented its full wage proposal by early October, but the City didn’t make a counter offer until a Dec. 20 mediation session. And after roughly nine months of bargaining, the two sides were far apart on wages.
Philharmonic musicians, management still at odds over contract
WANE
By Clayton McMahan
Jan. 4, 2023
After five hours of negotiations Wednesday, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic musicians and management left the latest negotiation meeting empty-handed, prolonging a strike that has lasted for nearly a month. Likewise, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic is currently placed on the “International Unfair List” by the American Federation of Musicians, according to MacDonald. Both sides have agreed to return to the negotiation table Thursday, Jan. 5.
Construction job hazards in Boston area result in Laborers’ union drive
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
Jan. 4, 2023
A Boston-area construction company, pushed by greed from a past private equity fund buyout of what was a family-owned firm until 2012, has led to job hazards, one worker with a severed arm—and a Laborers organizing drive. As an example of how greed pushes Feeney Brothers to exploit workers, Laborers regional Organizing Director Scott Gustafson and organizer Paul Goodrich add the worker who jumped into the four-foot-deep trench to save the injured colleague’s life got less than thanks. Instead, Goodrich says, bosses later denied the rescuer his week of vacation. They said he had already used the week to recover from being so distraught at his colleague’s injury, which occurred when a little-trained non-union operator “didn’t pull the emergency brake” on his crane. The vehicle rolled into the trench and severed the worker’s arm.
YOUNG WORKERS
Driven by Economic Injustice, Gen Z Deemed 'Most Pro-Union Generation' in US
Common Dreams
By Julia Conley
Jan. 4, 2023
Saddled with student debt and, in many cases, spending the early years of their professional lives working during the Covid-19 pandemic, members of Generation Z are proving to be the most pro-worker generation in the United States today, according to recent research. Gallup reported last year that 71% of Americans now approve of labor unions, up from 64% before the pandemic. According to a poll released in October by the Center for American Progress (CAP), 64.3% of Generation Zers—born between 1997 and 2012—approve of unions, while 60% of Millennials support them and the mean approval rating among Baby Boomers and Generation X hovers around 58%.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Sending aid to union families in hardship
Northwest Labor Press
By Don Mcintosh
Jan. 4, 2023
It’s a massive undertaking: As many as 150 local union volunteers raise funds, purchase and collect gifts, and package and deliver them to union families facing hardship. It’s called Presents for Partners, and it’s an annual project of Labor’s Community Service Agency (LCSA), a nonprofit supported by local unions and the United Way. The campaign is a giant collective effort, and union training centers have a friendly competition to see who can contribute the most gifts. This year’s winner was the Iron Workers Local 29 training trust. IBEW Local 48 was another standout, providing a $100 Fred Meyer gift card to every one of the recipient families.