Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
POLITICS
Why Julie Su’s Nomination as Secretary of Labor Matters to Asian-Pacific Americans and Beyond (Opinion)
Tuscon.com
By Fred Yamashita
May 6, 2023
As an Asian-Pacific American, I’m filled with pride to support Julie Su as Secretary of Labor. Julie Su is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Her mother came to the United States on a cargo ship because she couldn’t afford a passenger ticket, her parents later built a small laundromat business and raised a daughter who became a worker’s advocate and civil rights leader. Su’s unwavering dedication to confronting corporate greed and championing workers’ rights is genuinely inspiring.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Biggest Grocery Union Opposes $20 Billion Kroger-Albertsons Deal
The Wall Street Journal
By Jaewon Kang
May 4, 2023
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said it opposes the planned merger between Kroger KR 1.37%increase; green up pointing triangle and Albertsons ACI 0.24%increase; green up pointing triangle, adding to tensions over the $20 billion supermarket deal. UFCW International, the biggest U.S. union representing grocery workers, is concerned about what President Marc Perrone said was a lack of information provided by the companies about the merger, including on potential store divestitures. The labor group is also worried about the viability of stores that could be sold and whether buyers might be saddled with heavy debt loads, he said. “We are not getting any definite assurances right now,” Mr. Perrone said.
Jobs report: Which industries are hiring workers?
ABC7
ByMax Zahn
May 5, 2023
"There are good signs and there's broad growth," William Spriggs, chief economist for the labor federation AFL-CIO, told ABC News. "But many of the sectors didn't do very much."
Unemployment rate sinks in April for Black and Hispanic workers, but holds steady for Asians
CNBC
By Darla Mercado
May 5, 2023
“The Black unemployment rate fell for quirky reasons in a way,” said AFL-CIO chief economist William Spriggs. That’s because the labor force participation rate for Black workers declined in April, he said, dropping to 63% from 64.1% in March. For Black men, the rate slipped to 67.8% from 70.5%.
JOINING TOGETHER
Focus organizing drives on workers without college degrees, US unions told
The Guardian
By Steven Greenhouse
May 5, 2023
“Just because we’re not seeing many wins yet in blue-collar doesn’t mean things aren’t happening ” said Cindy Estrada, a former UAW vice-president who was recently named director of the AFL-CIO’s Center for Transformational Organizing. “There’s a lot of stuff happening on the ground. I’m excited about this moment.” That center will seek to spearhead and coordinate large, more innovative unionization campaigns. Estrada voiced confidence that her center will work with various unions to organize thousands of workers in new jobs created by the infrastructure act, the Chips Act to encourage semiconductor production in the US, and the climate-change provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. “We’re looking at how do we capture this moment right now when federal dollars are subsidizing whole industries,” Estrada said. She talked of “sectoral strategies” to unionize electric bus factories and battery plants as well as workers modernizing the electric grid and making schools more energy-efficient. “We have this narrative about manufacturing that it’s going to rebuild the middle class,” Estrada said. “That’s not going to happen unless workers have democracy in the workplace and an ability to bargain.”
Barnes & Noble workers at NYC store await union vote date
People’s World
By Press Associates
May 5, 2023
Some 105 workers at Barnes & Noble’s flagship store at New York’s Union Square—a grand late 1800s Manhattan edifice filled floor-to-high-ceilings with books—await a decision by the National Labor Relations Board’s regional office on when they can vote to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Union Square workers turned in so many union recognition election cards that they asked B&N management for voluntary recognition—card check—on April 28. Management refused. So the NLRB will run the election. That gives RWDSU time to campaign, and B&N bosses time to denigrate it.
Touring Broadway shows in Philly will go on, as traveling actors’ union ratifies a new contract
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Lizzy McLellan Ravitch
May 5, 2023
Touring members of the Actors’ Equity Association, some of whom passed out fliers at the Kimmel Cultural Campus last month warning of a potential strike, have ratified a new contract. The union, which represents thousands of professional actors and stage managers, reached a new touring agreement with the Broadway League, the organization that represents show producers. “Creating a new, unified touring agreement has been a long-term goal, and it was a massive undertaking,” said Kate Shindle, president of Actors’ Equity Association, in a statement announcing the agreement April 28.
Employees at REI store seek to unionize, be first in Washington
The Seattle Times
By Renata Geraldo
May 5, 2023
There is no date set for the Bellingham store elections, according to Ben Reynolds, a spokesperson from UFCW Local 3000, the labor union that will represent the Bellingham workers if they decide to unionize. Reynolds described the unionization drive as a “movement to return the co-op to its founding values.” “We would hope to see a progressive company like REI respect the rights of its workers to unionize and bargain together for the changes they’d like to see,” Reynolds said.
IN THE STATES
Oregon bill would let workers refuse unsafe work
Northwest Labor Press
By Mallory Gruben
May 5, 2023
A coalition of labor and workers rights groups — including Oregon AFL-CIO, Oregon AFSCME, and Northwest Workers Justice Project — proposed the bill this session. It was amended in late March to resolve opposition from multiple business associations, who had argued that the original language was too subjective and vague. Now, those groups support a “summer of rulemaking” that will bring Oregon’s right to refuse law in line with federal OSHA’s easier to understand counterpart.
Freelance workers win new wage protections in Columbus, Ohio
People’s World
By David Hill
May 5, 2023
Freelance workers in Central Ohio will soon have access to basic wage protections under a new ordinance in the city of Columbus. The city council voted in favor of changes to wage protection laws within the city’s municipal code on May Day, Monday May 1. This law was sponsored by City Councilman Rob Dorans, President Pro Temore of Columbus City Council and outspoken advocate for labor. Dorans was encouraged by the persistent efforts of the Freelance Solidarity Project, a group of freelance media workers organized within the National Writers Union, to adopt legislation to prevent wage theft against freelance workers. The Ohio AFL-CIO also provided crucial support for this legislation.
WisPolitics
By Staff
May 5, 2023
Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale released the following statement: Set ‘em up, bartender. And don’t forget to clean your room and do your homework…That’s a request Wisconsin bar patrons might make if State Sen. Rob Stafsholt (R-New Richmond) and State Rep. Chanz Green (R-Grandview) have their way. The two lawmakers have sponsored a bill that would let children as young as 14 serve alcohol. Currently, servers must be 18 to pour alcohol, mix drinks or deliver beer, wine, or spirits to a table. If passed, Wisconsin would have the nation’s lowest age limit for workers allowed to serve alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Overturning Labor Laws: A New Republican Assault on Children
LA Progressive
By Sonali Kolhatkar
May 6, 2023
Now, advocates of fair labor standards are aghast, watching in horror at the Republican-led rollback of laws protecting children. Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa AFL-CIO, told the Guardian newspaper, “It’s just crazy to me that we are re-litigating a lot of things that seem to have been settled 100, 120, or 140 years ago.”
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Foodbank partners with letter carriers to stamp out hunger
Santa Barbara News-Press
By Annika Bahnsen
May 6, 2023
The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County will take part in the National Association of Letter Carriers annual food drive on May 13. Postal customers can donate non-perishable food items by leaving them next to their mailboxes before mail is delivered on the day of the drive. The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive accepts all shelf-stable, non-glass food items. The most needed foods for the drive are nut butters, canned protein such as tuna, chicken and salmon, whole grain cereals, pasta, canned pasta sauce, dried beans, canned beans, canned corn, healthy soups and stews, oatmeal, bouillon, olive oil and rice, according to the Foodbank.