CORONAVIRUS
As Mask Mandates Lift, Retail Workers Again Feel Vulnerable
The New York Times
By Sapna Maheshwari
March 30, 2021
For many people who work in retail, especially grocery stores and big-box chains, the mask repeals are another example of how little protection and appreciation they have received during the pandemic. While they were praised as essential workers, that rarely translated into extra pay on top of their low wages. Grocery employees were not initially given priority for vaccinations in most states, even as health experts cautioned the public to limit time in grocery stores because of the risk posed by new coronavirus variants. (Texas opened availability to everyone 16 and older on Monday.)
LABOR AND ECONOMY
This pandemic isn’t the first time women have left the workforce in droves
Fast Company
By Pavithra Mohan
March 29, 2021
Over the last year, countless headlines have framed the economic fallout from the pandemic as the first female recession. While overall job losses between men and women now seem relatively comparable, the pandemic has uniquely affected many working women, and especially working mothers. In December 2019, before COVID-19 gained a foothold in the U.S., the share of women on payrolls had actually outpaced the share of men. But since the start of the pandemic, millions of women have lost their jobs or been pushed out of the labor force. Industries that employ more women were hit particularly hard during the pandemic, from hospitality to food service. Women are more likely to hold low-wage jobs, with Black and Latinx women represented in higher numbers, which left many of them vulnerable to the virus and at the mercy of a flailing economy.
The soft underbelly to a looming economic boom: Millions will miss out
The Washington Post
By Rachel Siegel
March 30, 2021
The leisure and hospitality sector — which largely employs people of color and women — is down almost 3.5 million jobs, or roughly 20 percent of its pre-pandemic level. Workers who had been in the bottom 25 percent of earners faced an unemployment rate of around 22 percent in February, compared with the overall rate of 6.2 percent, according to a speech last week by Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard. Economists say many of the 9.5 million jobs still missing from the labor market will gradually return. But it’s unclear how long it will take, and which jobs will vanish forever in the meantime. Businesses are increasingly looking to technology and automation to cut the cost of labor, compounding the risks of long-term unemployment for some of the country’s most vulnerable workers.
Why Big Tech Shouldn’t Be Scared of Unions
The Nation
By David Goodfriend
March 30, 2021
At a time when so many divisions rip Americans apart, from income inequality and wealth disparities to opportunity gaps and ethnic, religious, and cultural differences, increased union membership would help to heal America by raising incomes, uniting workers, and building trust just as it did in the decades following World War II, when the USA boasted the biggest per-capita middle class in the world. What better place to start than in the heart of America’s tech industry? It would help workers, industry, and American society itself.
JOINING TOGETHER
ATI workers go on strike after negotiations break down
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Patricia Sabatini
March 30, 2021
Roughly 1,300 workers at Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Technologies Inc. represented by the United Steelworkers union went on strike at 7 a.m. Tuesday after negotiators failed to reach a contract settlement. USW international vice president David McCall, who chairs the talks, accused the metals giant of unfair labor practices and trying to force workers into accepting unnecessary concessions. “After years of loyalty, hard work and sacrifice, workers deserve more respect and consideration than ATI has shown at the table,” Mr. McCall said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to bargain in good faith and we strongly urge ATI to start doing the same.”
Poynter
By Angela Fu
March 30, 2021
One day after announcing that 98% of their members had voted to authorize a strike, workers and supporters of the New Yorker Union, Pitchfork Union and Ars Technica Union gathered outside Condé Nast’s headquarters at One World Trade Center for a rally. Between chants of “the status quo has got to go” and “our union united will never be divided,” union leaders, workers and local public figures gave speeches to the crowd of Condé Nast employees. It was a fitting demonstration of unity — and not just because the three bargaining units had jointly announced a strike authorization vote the day before.
IN THE STATES
Here’s why Lockheed’s F-35 program remains vital to U.S. security, Fort Worth economy
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Robert Martinez Jr.
March 30, 2021
Growing up as a kid in Fort Worth, I dreamed of joining the Navy to protect our nation. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy after high school, and after completing my tour of duty, I searched for another way to serve our country back in my hometown. Fortunately, I was hired as an aircraft assembler on the F-16 production line at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth division. Since World War II, Fort Worth has been synonymous with providing technologically advanced airplanes to our armed services. I felt an enormous sense of American and Texas pride for making one of the world’s most successful, combat-proven fighters in our nation’s history. While working at the Fort Worth plant, I became a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 776A.
Frank Interviews
By MaryBe McMillan
March 28, 2021
We have such a long history in the South of union-busting and an anti-union climate. There is a lot of misinformation out there about unions. This really is an education process. That is one role we try to play at the state federation. We try to educate the general public about how we've all benefited from unions and the labor movement. We try to inform workers about their rights and the right to organize. That's another area where we need much more investment in the South. Whether it's cultivating relationships with clergy to do more labor in the pulpit and preaching about the moral urgency of economic justice or whether it's launching a popular education program so that folks understand what a union is all about, we need a massive education effort about unions in the South. I think that is critical if we want to make real long-term, large-scale gains among working people and in the South.
House Labor Committee votes along party lines to recommend full House pass right-to-work bill
WMUR
By John DiStaso
March 30, 2021
New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Glenn Brackett said: "We have said it before, and we will say it again: ‘Right to work’ is wrong for New Hampshire, plain and simple. "It deprives workers of their freedom to join together and form strong unions if they choose to. Today, the New Hampshire House Labor Committee not only chose to favor corporate interests over New Hampshire’s workers, but also to allow further government intrusion into private business."
RAISING WAGES
She Works 2 Jobs. Her Grocery Budget Is $25. This Is Life Near Minimum Wage
NPR
By Alina Selyukh
March 26, 2021
She wishes politicians in Washington, debating whether minimum wage should be $10, $11 or $15 per hour, lived a day like she does — with almost two hours on a bus, just to get to work. "I challenge any of them to walk one day in our shoes. ... Get up, do the kids, catch the bus, work our job, get back on the bus, deal with what we have to deal with at home, face these bills. They'll be lost at catching the bus," says Franceis, who advocates for higher wages with the Fight for $15 and a Union.
AMAZON
Amazon union vote count set to start for Alabama warehouse workers
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
March 30, 2021
Vote counting is set to begin in an election to determine whether Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, will form a union in what is viewed as one of the biggest and most consequential unionization drives in recent America history. The contest has pitted America’s labor movement – backed by a slew of Democrat politicians and some Republicans – against one of the most powerful companies in the world. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will start to tally the votes to see if the Bessemer workers will form a union with the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). If successful, the warehouse would be the first union at Amazon in the US, as many Amazon workers in Europe are already unionized.