SUPREME COURT
AFL-CIO: U.S. Supreme Court must uphold right to strike
The Stand
Jan. 10, 2023
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler released the following statement today on the case: “The right to strike is on trial today at the U.S. Supreme Court. For nearly a century, federal law has protected workers’ right to strike in order to improve their wages, hours and working conditions. Glacier Northwest is actively seeking to undermine this fundamental right, arguing that it is entitled to sue the union in state court and seek monetary damages for undelivered concrete product as the result of truck drivers striking for fair wages and better working conditions. Glacier’s argument flies in the face of long-standing precedent and is a direct attack on the right to strike, a pillar of any democracy.”
JOINING TOGETHER
CWA gains Microsoft subsidiary’s workers through card-check; Proletariat employees still fighting
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
Jan. 10, 2023
The Communications Workers have gained at least 300 workers at ZeniMax Media Studios, a video game production company with two plants in Rockville, Md., and others in Hunt Valley, Md., and Dallas. All are a Microsoft subsidiary and all went union through card-check recognition, CWA said on Jan. 3. Card check verified a supermajority of ZeniMax quality assurance (QA) workers signed election authorization cards. It’s a fruit of CWA’s success in convincing Microsoft to remain neutral and have its subsidiaries do so, too, during union organizing drives. “Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union,” CWA President Chris Shelton stated.
USW: Players Ratify First Contract with USFL
Longview News-Journal
By United Steelworkers
Jan. 10, 2023
The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that union-represented players have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new agreement with the United States Football League (USFL) covering roughly 350 professional athletes. USW International President Thomas M. Conway said that football players, like all workers, deserve fair treatment on the job and that the new agreement empowers individuals to speak up. "Our union is committed to working with players to improve conditions and ensure that they are treated with dignity and respect by the league," Conway said. "The contract provides a much-needed voice for players, whose jobs and earnings also will be more secure under the ratified agreement." USW International Secretary Treasurer John Shinn, who represents the union on the AFL-CIO Sports Council, said the new contract provides important improvements for players from last season.
Thousands of New York City nurses continue strike over staffing levels
The Washington Post
By Jacob Bogage and Julian Mark
Jan. 10, 2023
As more than 7,000 nurses from two of New York’s biggest hospital systems spent another day on a freezing-cold picket line denouncing overwhelming workloads, the city grappled with their absence. Nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx say they want management to increase hiring to relieve on-the-job stress and agree to pay penalties to nurses who work understaffed shifts. That contentious proposal, modeled after a 2019 California law that imposed $30,000 daily fines for the worst offenders, has the New York State Nurses Association at loggerheads with the two hospitals. The union has already reached agreements with a handful of other New York hospital systems that include 19.1 percent pay raises, retention of health-care benefits and improved nurse-patient staffing ratios.
National Nurse United protests for flexible scheduling
WGRZ
By Keelin Berrian
Jan. 10, 2023
Nurses from National Nurse United stood in front of the VA Medical Center Tuesday to have flexible work schedules. Nurses working at the hospital say the long hours make them feel overworked and exhausted. "There was no plan B. There was no backup plan," says Edith Nesbitt," Assoc. Director of National Nurse United. "NNU will be filing unfair labor practice charges with the federal labor relations authority to compel managers back to the bargaining table where we can work together to solve this crisis," says Nicole White, Director of the National Nurses United.
Spirit Airlines pilots have ratified new contract - pilot union
Yahoo! Finance
By Reuters
Jan. 10, 2023
Pilots at Spirit Airlines have voted to ratify a new contract, their union said in a statement. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents pilots at the ultra-low-cost carrier, said 69% of the airline's pilots voted in favor of the new collective bargaining agreement, which offers an economic gain of $463 million or 27% over the next two years.
Loudoun Buses Stop as Transit Employees Strike
Loudoun Now
By Renss Greene
Jan. 10, 2023
Loudoun Transit buses will stay parked starting Wednesday morning as union members carry out a long-threatened strike in their ongoing battle with county contractor Keolis. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which represents Loudoun Transit workers, announced the strike Tuesday. Union members have been in a protracted battle to win back benefits including health insurance, retirement and weekly hour guarantees slashed by Keolis North America, the winner of a $101 million, five-year contract to run Loudoun’s transit services that began in April 2021. The union has fought to see those workers’ benefits restored, said Loudoun Transit workers will stay on strike until an agreement is reached. ATU Local 689 President Raymond Jackson said after nearly two years of attempts to negotiate, the company “left us with no other choice.”
IN THE STATES
AFL-CIO: New Jersey is on the Right Path for Working Families
Insider NJ
Jan. 10, 2023
We congratulate Governor Murphy on his accomplishments to grow the economy on behalf of New Jersey’s working families. We laud the Governor’s continued commitment to improving our public transportation, growing our shipping and port sectors, creating the new off-shore wind energy production and manufacturing sectors, growing the cannabis industry, and incentivizing the film and television industry.