Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
MUST WATCH
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" To Discuss BLS Numbers
MSNBC
Jan. 20, 2023
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on Morning Joe, discussing this year's BLS union density numbers, inflation & more. "Working people just want stability...[but] what we're seeing are corporations price gouging. This is about equity."
JOINING TOGETHER
Workers at Science Museum of Minnesota unionize with AFSCME Council 5
KSTP
By Kyle Brown
Jan. 20, 2023
Workers at the Science Museum of Minnesota have voted to form a labor union, AFSCME Council 5 announced on Friday. The union, which represents more than 43,000 state, county and municipal employees across Minnesota, said the Science Museum’s staff voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of organizing. “In spite of a significant anti-union pressure campaign by Science Museum of Minnesota management, these workers spoke decisively that they seek a voice in the workplace, fair pay for a day’s work, dignified paid leave policies, and more,” AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Julie Bleyhl said in a statement.
Union ratifies contract with Ingredion, ending nearly six-month strike
The Gazette
By Marissa Payne
Jan. 22, 2023
Union workers voted Sunday to ratify a four-year contract with multinational ingredients maker Ingredion, ending a strike that has stretched on for nearly six months against the company’s Cedar Rapids facility. Mike Moore, the principal and president of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 100G, had said Thursday that Ingredion and the union reached the tentative deal after two days of negotiations last week. Overall, he said, reaching a deal took about 25 face-to-face sessions.
St. Louis Public Radio unionization will go to a vote
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Annika Merrilees
Jan. 21, 2023
St. Louis Public Radio employees will have to hold an election to decide whether to join a union, after the University of Missouri system declined to voluntarily recognize the group. The radio workers on Jan. 12 had submitted a statement of interest in forming a bargaining unit, in the hopes that the University of Missouri system would voluntarily recognize it. But the university system declined on Thursday, so the issue will be taken to a vote. They are hoping to organize a group of 42 people, including reporters, talk show hosts, part-time fill-in announcers, front desk workers and membership support staff. If the vote passes, the workers would be represented by Communications Workers of America.
Anchors & Reporters At L.A.’s KVEA/Telemundo 52 Vote To Unionize With SAG-AFTRA
Deadline
By David Robb
Jan. 20, 2023
The on-air talent at Telemundo’s Spanish-language TV station KVEA 52 in Los Angeles have voted overwhelmingly to unionize with SAG-AFTRA, which called the vote “another major organizing victory in Spanish-language media.” In a vote overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, the station’s anchors and reporters voted 18-to-1 to unionize with the guild, which said that its new members “are looking in solidarity alongside their brothers and sisters at KNBC 4 to achieve a fair contract.” NBC Universal is the parent company of both KVEA-TV and KNBC.
UAW, Ultium to start bargaining later this month on Ohio contract
The Detroit News
By Kalea Hall
Jan. 20, 2023
The United Auto Workers will start negotiating a contract for its first represented battery cell manufacturing plant later this month, union President Ray Curry said at a General Motors Co. investment announcement Friday at the Flint Engine plant. More than 700 workers at the GM and LG Energy Solution joint-venture Ultium Cells LLC plant in Warren, Ohio, overwhelmingly voted for UAW representation in late December. "We actually just selected the bargaining committee at Ultium Cells," Curry said in an interview. "We're going to be meeting with the corporation in the coming week, and then we're going to be starting bargaining in late January."
Striking mechanics return to work at Mueller after agreeing to 5-day contract extension, more talks
Chattanooga Times Free Press
By Dave Flessner
Jan. 22, 2023
Unionized maintenance mechanics who went on strike at the Mueller water valve production plant in Chattanooga a week ago voted Sunday to go back to work Monday under an extension of the workers' previous contract. Negotiators for Mueller and Local 56 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union agreed to extend the previous labor pact for five days while talks resume on a new contract for the union, which represents 102 of the 592 workers at the Mueller plant just off Amnicola Highway.
IN THE STATES
Ohio ranks third for union membership growth in 2022
Signal Cleveland
By Olivera Perkins
Jan. 19, 2023
“This report confirms what many of us have known for a long time: that more and more workers want to join a union and are resilient in their fight to do so,” Dan O’Malley, who heads the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, said in an email to Signal Cleveland.
Union membership in Michigan grew in 2022, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics
Detroit Metro Times
By Lee DeVito
Jan. 20, 2023
“For nearly 40 years, politicians in Lansing have unjustly inserted themselves into our collective bargaining agreements, tipping the scales in favor of corporations and millionaires,” Michigan AFL-CIO president Ron Bieber said in a statement. “But yesterday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics annual report proves the resilience and power of Michigan’s labor movement.”
Beacon Hill staffers get new chance to unionize this session
Mass Live
By Alison Kuznitz
Jan. 20, 2023
Beacon Hill staffers may be afforded a new chance to unionize this legislative session. State Sen. John Keenan and Rep. Patrick Kearney filed legislation that would clarify ambiguous state statute around collective bargaining for public employees, allowing staffers in both the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives to unionize. Steve Tolman, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, renewed his organization’s support for the Massachusetts State House Employee Union on Friday. “In filing this important legislation, IBEW 2222 and the workers they represent are reaffirming that they deserve a voice in the workplace and a vote to join a union just like every other worker across our commonwealth,” Tolman said in a statement. “We commend Senator Keenan and Representative Kearney for filing this important legislation and it is our sincere hope that each and every legislator stands in solidarity with these workers and votes to provide a path to a fair and equitable contract for the Massachusetts State House Employee Union.”