WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
AFL-CIO report highlights workplace deaths in 2021
Wis Business
April 27, 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,” Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale said in a release. “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.”
Workers' Memorial Day honors those who died on the job
The Cap Times
By Natalie Yahr
April 27, 2023
The country’s largest labor union is calling for stronger safety protections for workers after a new report found more than 5,000 people died on the job in 2021, including 105 in Wisconsin. The AFL-CIO details the findings in the latest installment of its annual report evaluating health and safety conditions for the country’s workers. According to the report, 343 workers die each day in the U.S. from hazardous working conditions, with the fatality rate rising in 2021 to 3.6 per 100,000 U.S. workers. In 2021, 5,190 workers were killed on the job, the union estimates, while another 120,000 died from job-related diseases.
JOINING TOGETHER
‘Colleges run on student labor’: Labor Spring 2023 provides hotbed for labor organizing
The Daily Cardinal
By Jasper Bernstein
April 27, 2023
“Colleges run on student labor. I think that students as workers get taken advantage of, and that they have tremendous power to build a more just higher ed system,” said Christl. “Get organized. There's a ton of organizations that exist to help. Reach out to Worker Justice [Wisconsin], reach out to the University of Labor Council, reach out to the South Central Federation of Labor, there are labor movements here to help anyone get organized.”
After long battle, New Bedford paraprofessionals say new contract may be in sight.
South Coast Today
By Matthew Ferreira
April 27, 2023
After working under an expired contract since August, and negotiations on a new one having started months before that, it appears New Bedford Public Schools paraprofessionals may be close to having a deal between their union and district. On Thursday, April 14, the union announced over social media that negotiators had come to "a tentative agreement" the night before. Local 2378 President Jill Zangao, a paraprofessional at Campbell Elementary School, said while the contract — set to be ratified on May 2 — doesn't offer everything paraprofessionals had hoped for, the goal is to at least have a contract by the end of the current school year.
Wildcat Materials employee strike ends with new contract agreement
KOMU
By Stephanie Southey
April 27, 2023
Employees of a Columbia construction supply company returned to work Thursday after a eight-day strike. Wildcat Materials employees, who are members of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 955, voted unanimously to ratify their contract Thursday morning, according to a news release.
American Federation Of Musicians Joins Chorus Of Unions Supporting WGA As Strike Looms
Deadline
By David Robb
April 27, 2023
The American Federation of Musicians is the latest union to pledge solidarity with the WGA in its ongoing negotiations for a new film and scripted TV contract. Earlier this week, SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, IATSE and the Teamsters all expressed support for the WGA in its contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. “We support the writers represented by the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East in their collective fight to win a fair contract,” said AFM President Ray Hair. “Writers are the backbone of the entertainment industry. They deserve to be paid fairly for their work in films, network television series, cable and new media productions. Streaming services are now the dominant force in the entertainment industry, and we stand with the writers asking to be compensated fairly for their work.”
Austin workers form first animation studio union in Texas; organize with IATSE
Texas Public Radio
By Josh Peck
April 27, 2023
Powerhouse Animation is the first animation studio in Texas to unionize. It is the first time that major entertainment union IATSE has organized in a right-to-work state. Workers announced their supermajority support for a union on Monday, and they asked their management to offer them voluntary recognition, which would avoid an official National Labor Relations Board vote. Workers organized for 10 months, according to character artist and union supporter Suzanne Sharpe.