Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
MUST READ
MarketWatch
By Levi Sumagaysay
Jan. 9, 2023
The Labor Innovation and Technology Summit, founded in Las Vegas in 2019 by the AFL-CIO and SAG-AFTRA, advocates for giving a voice to workers as technology and automation impacts the way people live and work. "CES is a stark reminder that technology is changing our work and workplaces every single day, no matter what kind of work you do," Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said Friday during the summit, which was live-streamed. Against that backdrop, Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, was among the labor leaders who emphasized the importance of labor unions in ensuring workers have a collective voice. The labor federation represents more than 12 million U.S. workers in different unions, and he said "the workers who are organizing and advocating and marching and striking are looking to us to make sure that the benefits of technology and automation are distributed fairly."
IN THE STATES
Sims, Carter make history as WSLC leaders
The Stand
Jan. 9, 2023
In front of more than 200 family members, friends, labor leaders and elected officials at Tacoma’s Hotel Murano, Sims and Carter took their oaths of office to serve as President and Secretary Treasurer, respectively, of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Widely considered to be the “voice of labor” in Washington, the WSLC is the largest union organization in the state, representing more than 600 unions and 550,000 rank-and-file union members. Sims, who has served as WSLC Secretary Treasurer since 2019, is the first woman to be elected President of the WSLC and the first Black woman ever elected to the presidency of an AFL-CIO state federation. She was sworn into the office Friday by outgoing WSLC President Larry Brown, who announced last year that he would not seek reelection. Then as her first official act as President, Sims administered the oath of office to Carter as the WSLC’s new Secretary Treasurer, creating the first leadership team of Black women ever to lead an AFL-CIO state federation. At Friday’s swearing-in ceremony AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Secretary Treasurer Fred Redmond welcomed the new WSLC leadership team via video.
JOINING TOGETHER
More Than 7,000 NYC Nurses Go on Strike at Two Hospitals
MSN
By Corey Kilgannon and Joseph Goldstein
Jan. 9, 2023
The strikes, over working conditions, salaries and staffing policies, presented serious challenges to hospitals already facing the “tripledemic” of R.S.V., flu and Covid-19 cases across the city. After failing to reach an agreement during a late-night bargaining session on Sunday, the New York State Nurses Association said early Monday that nurses were on strike at two hospitals: the Mount Sinai Medical Center, on the Upper East Side, and Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx. “It is time for the hospitals to treat these nurses fairly, with the dignity and respect they deserve, to ensure nurses can get back to serving their communities by providing superior care to their patients,” Mario Cilento, the president of the New York State A.F.L.-C.I.O. said in a statement on Monday.
Nurses go on strike at 2 big New York City hospitals
WKYT
By Jennifer Peltz
Jan. 9, 2023
Thousands of nurses went on strike Monday at two of New York City’s major hospitals after contract negotiations stalled over staffing and salaries nearly three years into the coronavirus pandemic. The nurses union, the New York State Nurses Association, said members had to strike because chronic understaffing leaves them caring for too many patients. Jed Basubas said he generally attends to eight to 10 patients at a time, twice the ideal number in the units where he works. Nurse practitioner Juliet Escalon said she sometimes skips bathroom breaks to attend to patients. So does Ashleigh Woodside, who said her 12-hour operating-room shifts often stretch to 14 hours because short staffing forces her and others to work overtime.
Yale grad students vote to unionize after decadeslong push
AP News
Jan. 9, 2023
Graduate teachers and researchers at Yale University overwhelmingly voted to unionize, according to results released Monday. The final tally showed 91% of the more than 2,000 votes cast were in support of authorizing the formation of a bargaining unit, Local 33-UNITE HERE. It comes after decades of attempts to form a union, the first dating back to the early 1990s. “Generations of grad workers have organized before us, and I’m really excited to finally win,” Ridge Liu, a graduate student in school’s physics department, said in a written statement. He said graduate workers need better pay and health care, as well as grievance procedures.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
More than 10K toys, clothes donated by electrical workers
The Eagle Tribune
By Jill Harmacinski
Jan. 9, 2023
Local children and families were the recipients of more than 10,000 toys and winter clothes donated this holiday season by members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103. The Holiday Toy Drive is an annual tradition at IBEW Local 103 to give back to the communities where members live and work, officials said. “We’ve been collecting toys since Thanksgiving. We are proud to be delivering these toys and to get them in the hands of our members’ communities,” said Lou Antonellis, business manager and financial secretary.