MUST READ
Women Need Julie Su as Our Next Labor Secretary. The Labor Movement Is Ready to Fight for Her (Opinion)
Ms. Magazine
By Liz Shuler
April 13, 2023
We need leaders in Washington who understand that union difference—and who are committed to labor laws rooted in fairness, justice and equity. Julie Su is that kind of leader. She was confirmed by the Senate just two years ago for her role as deputy labor secretary and has done nothing but incredible work since as acting secretary of labor. Alongside Secretary Walsh, she has taken historic steps to support labor and workers: Driving through legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Protecting vulnerable workers. Strengthening support for those who are unemployed and freelance workers.
JOINING TOGETHER
Actors’ Equity And Broadway League Reach Agreement On Touring Contract
Deadline
By Greg Evans
April 13, 2023
Actors’ Equity Association and The Broadway League have reached a tentative agreement on a new touring contract, the organizations announced today. The new, three-year collective bargaining agreement agreement, which supersedes previous production contract touring and short engagement touring agreements, remains subject to ratification by Equity members.
SAG-AFTRA & AMPTP Set Date For Start Of Contract Talks
Deadline
By David Robb
April 13, 2023
SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have agreed to begin formal contract negotiations on June 7. The guild’s current contract expires June 30. In a joint statement, they said that they are “approaching this process as an opportunity to engage in thoughtful and interactive conversations that result in a mutually-beneficial deal.”
Arsenal JMTC union workers rally against alleged 'illegal' contract
WQAD
By Shelby Kluver
April 13, 2023
Members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2119 gathered in Davenport for an informational picket on April 13. The union represents more than 400 skilled workers at the arsenal's Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center as painters, machinists, welders and more. Earlier this month, AFGE claimed management at the arsenal, including Colonel Shari Bennett, had violated the rights of union workers by moving forward with unilaterally instating a contract the union had not agreed to, against the wishes of AFGE members. In a speech, AFGE national President Everett B. Kelley said that forcing a contract that the union hasn't agreed to is a disgrace to the American military. "The relationship at the Rock Island Arsenal is broken," he said. "It's taken a toll, not just on the employees, but on the members of the military that we serve."
Actors’ Equity and Broadway League Reach Tentative Agreement Over New Touring Contract
The Hollywood Reporter
By Caitlin Huston
April 13, 2023
Actors’ Equity has reached a tentative agreement with the Broadway League over a new touring contract.The deal comes after the union, which represents more than 51,000 stage managers and actors, had announced a strike threat against the Broadway League, which represents industry producers, presenters and general managers, on April 3, at which time a resolution seemed far off. The two parties had been negotiating since mid-January to create a new touring contract.
IN THE STATES
How Philadelphia’s local unions are trying to make building trades more diverse
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Lizzy Ravitch
April 11, 2023
Philadelphia’s building trades unions have tens of thousands of members, who have historically been overwhelmingly white and male. But labor leaders in the region are making efforts to increase the number of young women and people of color entering the trades, where they can pursue careers with ample opportunity and a tangible path toward middle-class income without a four-year degree and the debt that entails.
CIVIL, HUMAN, AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Black unionists link expulsion of lawmakers to billionaire racists
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
April 13, 2023
Shuler and Redmond joined other unions, the NAACP, and Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in denouncing the Republicans’ expulsion of the two. Biden later spoke with all three state lawmakers via zoom and invited them all to visit him at the White House (link to prior story). “Make no mistake, the move to expel these duly elected and sworn representatives–two Black men–by a majority white, right-wing legislature for taking part in the grand tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience, was an act with severe implications, motivated by the systemic racism that has plagued this nation for centuries,” Shuler and Redmond said in their statement.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Citing violence, bus drivers demand better security
Las Vegas Review-Journal
By Ricardo Torres-Cortez
April 13, 2023
A union that represents transit workers said Thursday that two stabbings and a shooting have occurred on public buses in the past couple of weeks. In another recent case, a driver was verbally abused so badly that she had to go home. And instead of addressing the safety concerns, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada disciplined the driver for an attendance infraction, said Terry Richards, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1637. “We get spit at, we get stuff thrown at us, we get all kinds of things that happen to us,” said Sandra Adams, the union’s vice president, who has been a bus driver for 12 years.