JOINING TOGETHER
Loudoun Teacher, Transit Unions Make Pushes
Loudoun Now
By Renss Greene, Norman K. Styer and Alexis Gustin
Jan. 25, 2023
Tuesday began and ended with demonstrations by public servants in unions. On Tuesday morning, Amalgamated Transit Union International President John Costa, Secretary-Treasurer Kenneth Kirk and Executive Vice President Yvette Trujillo joined demonstrating ATU Local 689 members, entering the second week of the Loudoun Transit strike. The union and the county’s transit contractor, Keolis North America, have not budged in a battle over cut benefits and better pay for local bus drivers, who were paid less than commuter bus drivers under a previous, separate contract. “I am proud to be here with you today. Your strength and solidarity is sending a strong message to Keolis, a French company, that we demand a fair and just contract that allows you to provide for your families. They called us heroes during the pandemic, but are treating us like zeroes,” Costa said, according to the union. “You have the full support of your International, and together we will hold the line until we get what we deserve.”
Workers at eBay-owned trading card marketplace TCGplayer want to unionize
Polygon
By Nicole Carpenter
Jan. 25, 2023
Workers at TCGplayer, the popular marketplace for Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, are trying to unionize for the second time. Should the vote go through, workers there will have formed the first union at eBay, which acquired TCGplayer last year. Workers presented the petition to management Wednesday morning before filing with the National Labor Relations Board. This time, they’re trying with Communications Workers of America, which has partnered with tabletop and card game retailers Noble Knight Games and Card Kingdom’s Mox Boarding House, and a growing number of video game studios in other unionization efforts.
Alexandria firefighters, paramedics reach union agreement with city
DC News Now
By Max Marcilla
Jan. 25, 2023
After months of back-and-forth negotiations, Alexandria became the first Virginia city or county to recognize a union of firefighters and paramedics since 1970 on Tuesday night — and with the milestone comes better pay and more first responders. The lengthy process came to an end at a public hearing during Alexandria City Council’s Tuesday meeting, culminating in a unanimous vote and a ceremonious signing of the agreement by the city’s mayor and several people who worked on the deal. Joshua Turner, who led IAFF Local 2141’s efforts, said the firefighters, fire marshals, and paramedics will benefit from this agreement, as will the community members they serve.
Portland city laborers prepare to go on strike next week
KGW8
By Jamie Parfitt
Jan. 25, 2023
Hundreds of employees with the City of Portland are preparing to go on strike as early as next week, after months of contract negotiations between the city and union representatives failed to produce an agreement. Laborers International Union of North America Local 483 said it delivered a notice of the intent to strike to the city on Monday. The notice applies to more than 600 city employees under the "Portland City Laborers" contract.
Decatur Caterpillar union holding strike authorization vote Friday
Herald & Review
By Tony Reid
Jan. 25, 2023
UAW Local 751 workers at Decatur’s Caterpillar Inc. plant will vote Friday to authorize its union leadership to call for a strike vote if current contract negotiations break down. Details about the vote for the Local’s 2,400-strong membership are listed on the union’s Decatur website.The union leadership is careful to emphasize, however, that a vote for strike authorization is not a vote to strike.
Orlando Weekly
By McKenna Schueler
Jan. 25, 2023
Hundreds of union food service workers at the Orange County Convention Center have reached a tentative agreement with their employer, Sodexo, likely avoiding a strike threat that had been looming over the nation's third-largest convention facility since December. The tentative agreement reached between Sodexo, a company contracted by the convention center, and Unite Here Local 737 delivers big gains for many of the facility's hospitality workers, per the union, including substantial pay raises for some of the convention center's lowest-paid hourly restaurant, concessions and banquet workers.
IN THE STATES
Susan J. Demas: Michigan Democrats can’t buckle on repealing Right to Work
Michigan Advance
By Susan J. Demas
Jan. 25, 2023
Four decades ago, former Gov. George Romney reportedly had some wise words for Republican John Engler at his gubernatorial inauguration: “Be bold.” Bold Engler was, steering Michigan ever-rightward through the 1990s with an agenda cutting business regulations, ushering in school choice while demonizing teachers, and slashing the safety net. But the culmination of Engler’s vision came a decade later with centrist (wink) GOP Gov. Rick Snyder, who doubled down on such measures and signed Right to Work, sending a message that Republicans would go after labor even in the birthplace of the UAW. While both men were lauded by opinion-makers for their cunning while in office, they’re now considered disgraces by those with a conscience — Engler for mocking sexual assault survivors while running MSU during the Larry Nassar scandal and Snyder for presiding over a major city being poisoned. Now Michigan is in a place many talking heads never imagined in 2023, with Democrats easily maintaining every top executive post, a majority on the Supreme Court and even flipping both houses of the Legislature for the first time in almost 40 years, among other victories.
Unemployed Missourians would see benefits reduced under proposed legislation
The Kansas City Star
By Maia Bond
Jan. 25, 2023
Jake Hummel, the president of the Missouri AFL-CIO, was the only person to testify against the bill at the hearing. He told The Star that unemployment benefits are supposed to be a safety net, and if they take that net away, people will start to not be able to meet their basic needs. “If we take that safety net out, we’re going to ensure that we’re going to put people in poverty a lot faster,” Hummel said.
POLITICS
Chicago flexes its labor muscle in the fight for the 2024 Democratic convention
NBC News
By Natasha Korecki
Jan. 25, 2023
The city of big shoulders is going on the offensive in its endeavor to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, with union leaders making a case that the city and state are more labor friendly than others in contention for the event. The Chicago Federation of Labor is releasing a new digital ad campaign on Wednesday, first made available to NBC News, laying out a case that it's the home of the labor movement and has a plentiful cast of union members ready to work, particularly at hotels, if the White House places the convention in Chicago.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
NFLPA’s DeMaurice Smith Blasts NFL for History of Bullying in Labor Matters
Sports Illustrated
By Wilton Jackson
Jan. 25, 2023
NFL players association executive director DeMaurice Smith rarely shies away from speaking on the division between the league and its players. In a recent appearance on The Pivot podcast, Smith said that NFL fans truly don’t know the struggle between the two factions and the lack of oversight at the top.“The league has probably been the largest group of bullies in the labor market,” Smith said. “We’ve had people declare war on labor forever, but I don’t know of another business in America that has antitrust exemptions, they answer to no one, . . . there’s no board of directors, there’s no transparency, there’s no oversight.”