MUST READ
Workers Memorial Day: OSHA to host ceremony; AFL-CIO releases report
Safety + Health Magazine
By Staff
April 26, 2023
The AFL-CIO on April 26 released its 32nd annual Death on the Job report, which shows that Black and Latino workers are particularly vulnerable. In 2021, the fatality rate for Black workers rose to 4.0 per 100,000 employees – up from 3.5 in 2020. “This is now the third year in a row the fatality rate for Black workers is greater than the overall job fatality rate (3.6 per 100,000 workers) and the highest rate in more than a decade,” the report states. Latino workers had the highest fatality rate, at 4.5 deaths per 100,000 employees, which has increased 13% in the past decade. “Every American should be alarmed and outraged by the tragic data unearthed in this report,” Shuler said in a press release. “It is unconscionable that in the wealthiest nation in the world, Black and Latino workers are facing the highest on-the-job fatality rates in nearly two decades. This report is more than a wake-up call, it is a call to action. No one should have to risk their lives for their livelihoods. There is no corporate cost-benefit analysis that should put human life and worker safety on the wrong side of the ledger.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Union Slams Lack of Covid Rule in 2023 ‘Death on the Job’ Report
Bloomberg Law
By Bruce Rolfsen
April 26, 2023
The AFL-CIO labor federation is pushing for the government to enact the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration’s long-delayed Covid standard for health care even as the federal public health
emergency related to the pandemic is officially set to end May 11. Rebecca Reindel, AFL-CIO director of safety, said government data shows about 18 nursing home workers are dying each week from the virus.
“The ending of the public health emergency does not mean that the risk for health-care workers’
exposures to Covid disappears and it should not prevent the government from its responsibility to
protect those at greatest risk, as OSHA can do at any time, under an emergency or otherwise,” she
said in a statement.
AFL-CIO: 105 Wisconsin workers died on the job in 2021
WisBusiness
April 26, 2023
“Every worker in Wisconsin has a right to be safe on the job, and this report shows we still have a lot of work to do to address this moral imperative,” said Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale. “We need to strengthen our collective bargaining rights to help ensure that safety concerns are addressed in the workplace so all fatalities and injuries that can be prevented are indeed prevented,” she said.
A FedEx Worker Was Killed on the Job. Her Case Wasn’t an Anomaly
The Progressive Magazine
By Jessica E. Martinez and Marcy Goldstein-Gelb
April 26, 2023
Following an investigation, the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration found seven safety violations (six of them designated “serious”) and fined FedEx $26,000. To put that in perspective, the shipping giant generated $93.5 billion in revenue for 2022. Here’s the part that’s hard to bear: James had informed her supervisors that she was driving on defective equipment. If they had acted on her concerns, her life could have been saved. But they didn’t. “She told me that they had a meeting and said they could not afford to fix the ramp,” Jessica James’ mother, Cora James, told MLK50. “If they say all they got to pay if somebody dies is $20,000, they come out cheaper keeping the ramps.” Jessica James, along with thousands of U.S. workers who died on the job and millions who are sick or injured, will be honored this week during candlelight vigils, prayer breakfasts, safety rallies and other events that are part of Workers’ Memorial Week.
POLITICS
Senate panel advances Su for Labor secretary
Roll Call
By Caitlin Reilly and K. Sophie Will
April 26, 2023
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to advance Julie Su’s nomination to be Labor secretary, with several senators’ floor votes still in question. The AFL-CIO separately this month announced a six-figure ad buy in support of Su, set to air in states where moderate Senate Democrats would be up for reelection next cycle.
Senate panel advances Biden Labor nominee Julie Su
The Hill
By Karl Evers-Hillstrom
April 26, 2023
The AFL-CIO is fighting back, running ads in Arizona and D.C. backing Su’s efforts to counter wage theft in California. The ads tell viewers that workers are “tired of getting ripped off by big corporations.” The labor federation is also mobilizing its members to lobby senators. “We’re going to defend Julie against these baseless corporate special interests attacks,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told reporters last week. “Every senator, especially those that haven’t yet said that they’ll vote yes, needs to be aware of how much this confirmation means to working people’s lives.”
Senate panel advances Biden labor nominee Julie Su along party lines
Spectrum News 1
By Spectrum News Staff, Cassie Semyon and Joseph Konig
April 26, 2023
The AFL-CIO has pushed heavily for Su, spending six figures on an ad campaign of their own. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told Spectrum News ahead of the hearing that Su is “eminently qualified” to be the next labor secretary. “This has been her life's work. She’s spent pretty much literally every waking hour of every day thinking about how to improve the lives of working people for decades,” said Shuler. “Whether it's wage theft, misclassification of workers, you speaking up for workers who have no voice, particularly her work with immigrant workers. And we know [with] the famed Thai garment workers case that she took on, she’s just not afraid to take on the big challenges, even when the odds are against her.”
JOINING TOGETHER
Workers at the Wharf’s Moon Rabbit restaurant are trying to unionize
WAMU
By Amanda Michelle Gomez
April 26, 2023
Employees of the Wharf InterContinental Hotel in D.C., including staff of acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant Moon Rabbit, want to form a union, citing worries about their wages and working conditions. In all, the petition submitted to the hotel’s management included the signatures of 60 hotel employees, which would likely be a majority of workers that are union-eligible, according to UNITE HERE Local 25, the labor organization that’d be their bargaining agent if they’re successful. Local 25 suspects that a bargaining unit at the Wharf InterContinental Hotel would mostly be made up of food service workers because many others are temporary or contracted workers.
Bustle Digital Group, Writers Guild East Reach 1st Union Contract
The Wrap
By Josh Dickey
April 26, 2023
Bustle Digital Group and the Writers Guild of America, East have reached a tentative agreement with management on a first union contract, the publisher announced Wednesday. BDG says it won guaranteed minimum salary increases, strong benefits, and fair severance and protection from layoffs in its two-year contract fight. More details will be made public when the contract is ratified by members.
Philadelphia’s University of the Arts Faculty and Staff Rally for Contract
Hyperallergic
By Elaine Velie
April 26, 2023
Faculty and staff at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts (UArts) came together for a joint action Monday, April 24. Both groups are negotiating their first union contracts. Faculty voted to join the United Academics of Philadelphia 9608 (part of the larger American Federation of Teachers) in November 2020. They started bargaining in March 2021, but over two years later, healthcare and pay remain unsettled. The union has filed five unfair labor practice charges against the university over the course of the lengthy negotiation process.
YouTube Music Workers Just Unanimously Won A Union Vote
Vice
By Jules Roscoe
April 26, 2023
This is the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA’s second election victory, though the union is not yet recognized by the National Labor Relations Board. YouTube Music contract workers have voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The workers will join the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, which represents all Alphabet- and Google-affiliated workers who choose to organize. Out of 49 total eligible workers, 41 voted in favor of the union, and zero voted against. This is the culmination of a months-long organizing effort, the AWU-CWA wrote in a press release.
UAW official: Stellantis wants to cut 3,500 hourly jobs, offer buyouts ‘corporate wide’
Detroit Free Press
By Eric D. Lawrence
April 26, 2023
Stellantis wants to cut 3,500 hourly skilled and production jobs in the United States, and it plans to offer buyout packages "corporate wide," according to a letter from a local UAW official. A letter this week from a different UAW local also said the company is looking to cut positions but put the number a bit lower, at 3,200. The first letter, dated Monday and posted on the Facebook page of UAW Local 1264, said the issue was discussed in a phone call between the local's leadership and UAW Vice President Rich Boyer, who oversees the union's Stellantis department.
IATSE Joins Chorus Of Hollywood Unions Supporting WGA As Contract Talks Enter Final Week
Deadline
By David Robb
April 25, 2023
IATSE has joined SAG-AFTRA and the DGA in support of the Writers Guild in its ongoing negotiations for a new film and TV contract. “IATSE supports the workers represented by the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East in their collective fight to win a fair contract,” IATSE president Matt Loeb said in a statement. “The motion picture and television industry thrives on the creativity, skill, and labor of every worker involved, and writers’ contributions are an important part of the success of the films, television shows, and other media IATSE members work on.
Brooklyn Museum Union Pickets VIP Artists Ball as Contract Negotiations Stall
ArtNews
By Tessa Solomon
April 26, 2023
On Wednesday night, as guests of the Brooklyn Museum arrived for the annual, star-studded Artists Ball, members of the museum’s union gathered—once again—along the entryway, to raise their voices in songs and speeches of protest. Many brandished signs (“Solidarity with the Union”) and chanted (“overworked and underpaid” and “Brooklyn is a union town”). In August 2021, some 130 employees of the Brooklyn Museum, including curators, conservators, editors, fundraisers, educators, and members of the visitor services department, voted overwhelmingly to unionize. They affiliated with the Technical, Office, and Professional Union, Local 2110, part of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union which also represents workers at the Museum of Modern Art, the Bronx Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among other cultural institutions across the US.
Sega Workers Take First Steps Toward Forming A Union, Lists Demands; Management Responds
Game Spot
By Eddie Makuch
April 26, 2023
Workers at Sega of America's Irvine office in California have announced plans to form a union. The union will be called Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS), and the group is working with the labor union Communications Workers of America on the initiative. "We are united in our belief that by banding together, we can secure a future where we are empowered to advocate for ourselves, and for our colleagues," AEGIS said in a statement.
Brooklyn Museum Workers Say They’re “Overworked and Underpaid”
Hyperallergic
By Rhea Nayyar
April 26, 2023
The Brooklyn Museum was abuzz yesterday evening with the annual Brooklyn Artists Ball fundraising event honoring Carrie Mae Weems. By 6pm, staffers dressed in cocktail attire were gathered at the front of the museum, bargaining with the Smash Burger food truck to move up a few feet from its designated spot, and greeting VIP guests who were spilling out of Range Rovers. The mild weather and extended sunlight hours definitely added an element of enthusiasm, especially for the museum’s union staff that picketed the event, demanding a fair contract with improved wages across the board. Compared to the union’s last rally on the frigid, rainy evening of November 16 at the Thierry Mugler: Couturissime event, last night’s turnout was significantly higher with additional support from workers at Local 2110 UAW and other unionized arts institution workers showing up in solidarity.
IN THE STATES
North Carolinians Announce Coalition Against NC GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Robinson
Spectacular Magazine
April 25, 2024
On Tuesday (April 25), a diverse group of organizations representing educators, workers, rural people, communities of color, and issue areas such as environmental justice, sensible gun reform, abortion rights, and LGBTQ rights, announced a new coalition: CARE, the Coalition Against Robinson’s Extremism.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
N.C. firefighter runs for 24 hours straight to raise money for cancer charity (Audio)
NPR
By Morning Edition
April 26, 2023
Mike Riley raised thousands of dollars to help firefighters in the state diagnosed with cancer. He repeated a seven-mile loop to bring attention to the connection between fighting fires and cancer.
Edison International Lineworker Scholarship Deadline Fast Approaching
NBC Palm Springs
By Ceci Partridge
April 26, 2023
The deadline for applications for the 2023 Edison International Lineworker Scholarship Program closes next Friday, May 5th. The program aims to offer opportunities for candidates from underrepresented communities to become Southern California Edison lineworkers. The scholarship program awards up to $25,000 per recipient, and is funded by Edison International shareholders and IBEW Local 47.