JOINING TOGETHER
The New York Times
By German Lopez
Jan. 24, 2023
Some of you non-gamers are probably wondering why you should care. My answer is that the game industry’s story is a universal one, of a new business growing up and becoming a major cultural institution, one that hundreds of millions of Americans regularly engage with. It is similar to the rise of the movie industry or football over the past century. They are now cornerstones of American life that started as niche forms of entertainment. And similar to the types of abuses and tragedies in Hollywood or the N.F.L. that reverberate beyond fans of movies and sports, the game industry has also faced accusations of brutal work conditions, discrimination and harassment. The conditions have prompted more workers to move to unionize. This month, Microsoft recognized its first union after video game testers organized. Today’s newsletter will look at how game developers are confronting problems that have entangled other companies, including Amazon and Starbucks, as workers push to shape a relatively new industry.
On-air talent at Telemundo Los Angeles votes for union representation
Media Moves
By Veronica Villafañe
Jan. 23, 2023
Twenty six years after a group of KVEA Telemundo 52 reporters tried and failed to get union representation, the current on-air talent at the Los Angeles station has succeeded. On an overwhelming 18-1 vote, anchors and reporters have been recognized as a bargaining unit of SAG-AFTRA. The election, which took place by mail over the span of two weeks, was overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. The results were officially made known by SAG-AFTRA on Friday, January 20. Contract negotiations are expected to start over the next few months.
Portland parks, transportation workers move to strike next week
The Oregonian
By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
Jan. 24, 2023
Hundreds of Portland parks and transportation workers are planning to walk off their jobs next week with city leaders and a public employee union at an impasse in contract negotiations. Laborers’ Local 483 notified the city Monday that its workers will go on strike starting Feb. 2, James O’Laughlen, a field representative and organizer for the union, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Picketers seek county help over transit strike impasse
Loudoun Times-Mirror
By Evan Goodenow
Jan. 24, 2023
Loudoun County Transit and Commuter Service workers, on strike since Jan. 11, vowed on Tuesday to keep picketing until their demands for better benefits and higher wages are met. “One day longer! One day stronger!” about 50 members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 chanted outside the county transit depot in Leesburg. “Who moves Loudoun County? We move Loudoun County!”
Mueller workers return to work following strike in Chattanooga
ABC 9
By Jason Anderson
Jan. 24, 2023
After a five-day strike, Mueller Water Products, Inc. reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) to return to work on Sunday. IAM members voted to approve a contract extension beginning Monday through this Thursday, January 26. Face-to-face negotiations continued today. A union representative says the strike began after workers were denied alternative shifts. They voted to strike on January 15.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Hollister nurses will rally to uphold safe staffing standards
San Benito
By Staff
Jan. 24, 2023
The protests are part of a national day of action that National Nurses United (NNU), of which CNA is an affiliate, is organizing to bring awareness to “unacceptably low staffing levels across the country, fueled by the hospital industry’s prioritization of money over patient care,” says the press release. This prioritization has exacerbated the “triple-demic” into an ongoing “quad-demic” of RSV, influenza, Covid-19 and “crisis standards of care,” the CNA argues.