JOINING TOGETHER
WGN9
By Julian Crews and Eli Ong
March 7, 2023
Negotiations resumed Tuesday afternoon between United Center concessions workers union Unite Here Local 1 and sports concession mega-business Levy Restaurants. More than 600 United Center food servers, dish washers, bartenders and cooks walked off the job and formed picket lines in front of the United Center on Sunday and as time goes on and a deal isn’t struck, stakes become higher and tensions continue to rise. Beginning tomorrow, the United Center is set to host the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, and those 600 concessions workers are threatening to go on strike for better pay, health insurance and pension benefits.
Writers Guild members nearly unanimous in approving bargaining demands
Los Angeles Times
By Anousha Sakoui
March 7, 2023
Members of the Writers Guild of America have overwhelmingly approved a list of demands that the union plans to put to Hollywood studios later this month. The union is contractually required to make a statement of objectives for its upcoming contract negotiations with studios. The union said in a message to members Tuesday that 98.4% voted in favor of the proposed demands, out of the 5,643 members to cast votes. Only 1.6% voted no.
IN THE STATES
Michigan House set to vote on repeal of right to work Wednesday
The Detroit News
By Beth LeBlanc and Craig Mauger
March 7, 2023
The Democratic-led Michigan House is expected to push through legislation Wednesday that would repeal the state's right-to-work law and reinstate Michigan's prevailing wage law, delivering on an early promise by Democrats who took control of both chambers in January. The union-friendly legislation will be taken up in the House Labor Committee Wednesday morning and is expected to then move to the House floor in the afternoon for passage.
Watchdog Report: Experts say new Norfolk Southern safety plan 'not enough'
WFMJ
By Sydney Canty
March 6, 2023
"Too little too late," said Tim Burga, Ohio AFL-CIO President. "The house bill here in Ohio is an approach. There's also a proposal introduced in the US Senate that would codify some of the things Norfolk Southern is saying they now will do, and it goes even much further than that," he said.
Insider NJ
March 7, 2023
The New Jersey AFL-CIO applauds the reintroduction in the U.S. Senate of the Richard L. Trumka PRO Act of 2023 to Protect Workers’ Right to Organize by Senators Menendez and Booker. The PRO Act is a landmark labor law that would empower workers, strengthen civil rights, and be a vehicle towards racial and gender equality and fair treatment for workers across all trades and industries throughout our country.
Gov. Shapiro wants to raise Pa.’s minimum wage to $15. Will a changing Harrisburg make it happen?
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Lizzy McLellan Ravitch and Gillian McGoldrick
March 7, 2023
Danny Bauder, president of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, said he appreciates Shapiro’s commitment to the minimum-wage issue, since the governor had campaigned on that promise last year. While many union members in the Philadelphia area already make more than $15 per hour thanks to their contracts, Bauder said, “raising that floor” on compensation will help all workers, particularly in the service sector. “This raises the standard of living for all Pennsylvanians,” Bauder said.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Florida Catholic Media
Feb. 23, 2023
Father Fallon, executive director of The Labor Guild in the Archdiocese of Boston, does not recall trains being so long in the past. And he sometimes wonders about the freight being carried. "It's not like there's neon lights telling you exactly what's inside, nothing telling you what's hazardous and not hazardous," he told OSV News. He points to the Feb. 3 fiery train derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, where toxic chemicals spewed into the air and spilled into water sources, as an example of how communities along major railways can have their lives uprooted in a flash.