MUST READ
PRO Act Builds It Back Better With Unions (Opinion)
The Wall Street Journal
By Richard Trumka
May 26, 2021
The American Jobs Plan is not threatened by America’s labor movement. It is strengthened by us and the inclusion of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Let’s clarify a few points. First, the PRO Act will not “force Americans” into anything. Instead, it will give workers the choice to form a union through a free and fair election. That’s not a power grab—just workplace democracy. Not only is the PRO Act strong policy, it’s good politics. A recent Morning Consult poll found a staggering 73% of voters—including 59% of Republicans—support the right to collectively bargain. The PRO Act will strengthen and expand that right. That’s why, in a rare bipartisan vote, the House passed the PRO Act in March.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
U.S. Senate panel advances EV tax credit of up to $12,500
Reuters
By David Shepardson
May 26, 2021
United Auto Workers President Rory Gamble praised the legislation for ensuring "EV production will directly create the good paying union jobs of the future President Biden has championed."Stabenow said a century ago as automakers were debating between electric and gasoline-powered vehicles Congress provided tax incentives for the oil industry.
JOINING TOGETHER
Union members arrested during Brookwood coal strike protest
ABC 3340
By The Associated Press
May 26, 2021
Nearly a dozen miners who’ve been striking an Alabama coal company for about two months were arrested during a protest outside a mine in Tuscaloosa County, a union said. The United Mine Workers of America said 11 members were charged with trespassing at a Warrior Met Coal Inc. mine in Tuscaloosa County on Tuesday evening. They were released on bond early Wednesday, the same day the union planned a rally at a state park west of Birmingham.
POLITICS
BREAKING: Biden Taps Union-Side Labor Atty. For Fifth NLRB Seat
Law 360
By Braden Campbell
May 26, 2021
President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated labor lawyer Gwynne Wilcox to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board, tapping a union-side practitioner to fill the long-vacant fifth seat on the panel.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
ND organizations urging people to get tested for asbestos after the passing of HB 1207
KXNET
By Nikiya Carrero
May 26, 2021
Several North Dakota organizations are urging people to get screened for damage caused by asbestos. North Dakota AFL-CIO along with workers and veteran unions are saying people who were possibly exposed to asbestos should receive a four-view chest X-ray by July 15. They say to do this in light of the passing of House Bill 1207. The bill prevents people from being able to seek legal action unless they have already received a diagnosis. “What this law does is it moves these sick people up to the front of the line and it adds a bunch of roadblocks or hurdles for them to jump through. Makes it nearly impossible compensation for their injuries,” Landis Larson, the President of North Dakota AFL-CIO.
Immediate Medical Screening for Asbestos Urged by North Dakota AFL-CIO
WZFG
By Kyle Cornell
May 26, 2021
As a result of actions taken by the 2021 Legislature, legal relief for individuals who were exposed to asbestos at work will be restricted after July 31st, which is why the North Dakota AFL-CIO is urging folks in the state to seek legal advice and screenings before then. AFL-CIO President Landis Larson was joined along side International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Organizer Brad Berg and Attorney Dane DeKrey to plead with those who've had exposure to call and take action now, before HB 1207 goes into effect. "It will significantly hinder people's opportunities to get legal help," said Larson. Products containing asbestos were used in North Dakota workplaces from the 1940s through the 1990s, and could result in over seven types of Cancer or Mesothelioma.