JOINING TOGETHER
OPEIU39: Members at Trustage/Cuna Mutal Group vote to extend ULP strike
Wis Business
By Staff
May 24, 2023
Striking workers at TruStage (formerly CUNA Mutual Group) have voted to extend their strike. 450 workers represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 39 have been on an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike since May 19th, 2023. The Union has been without a contract since March 31st, 2022 – 419 days. A total of nine unfair labor practices have been filed, charging that TruStage has violated the law by refusing to bargain, retaliating against union members, failing to provide information, and surveilling union members. OPEIU 39 members held an emergency meeting on the evening of Tuesday, May 23, 2023, to evaluate the strike and consider its position before negotiations scheduled for May 24th. In addition to a positive evaluation of the strike, OPEIU 39 noted that other unions had stated their members will not cross the picket line: IBEW 2304, Teamsters 344, Teamsters 695, CWA 4652, UFCW 1473. More have donated to support the strike, such as SEIU-WI and AFSCME locals 720 and 6000.
The Labor Movement Just Scored One of Its Biggest Victories in the South This Century
In These Times
By Luis Feliz Leon
May 24, 2023
After a bruising three-year fight, workers at school bus manufacturer Blue Bird in Fort Valley, Georgia, voted May 12 to join United Steelworkers (USW) Local 697. “It’s been a long time since a manufacturing site with 1,400 people has been organized, let alone organized in the South, let alone organized with predominantly African American workers, and let alone in the auto industry,” said Maria Somma, organizing director with the USW.
DC News Now
By Daniel Hamburg
May 24, 2023
The D.C. Council is getting involved in a dispute between nurses and George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) over a potential union. The D.C. Nurses Association (DCNA) filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) at the end of March after, the DCNA said, a nurse was fired for supporting the union campaign. DCNA filed a petition with the NLRB asking for an election to organize a union on March 15.
Kenosha city transit workers rally for higher pay, increased staffing
Kenosha News
By Joe States
May 24, 2023
A dozen off-duty transit workers and demonstrators gathered at the Downtown Kenosha Transfer Center to call for better pay and increased full-time staffing Wednesday morning. Organizers said negotiations with management have been going on since January, if not earlier, with little success.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Building Trades Unions chief introduces ‘infrastructure generation’ to Lower Mills
Dorchester Reporter
By Seth Daniel
May 24, 2023
One of the country’s top union officials, Sean McGarvey, the president of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), brought an urgent message to the Sheetmetal Workers Union training center in Lower Mills last Wednesday, pitching a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build out massive infrastructure funded by the federal government. McGarvey, 60, of Philadelphia, sat down with the Reporter before headlining a morning of activities at the Local 17 hall on Adams Street. He said the trades unions need women, communities of color, at-risk young people, and even those currently incarcerated to train and join the “infrastructure generation” as a bridge to joining the middle class.
NLRB
NLRB sues colleges, says athletes are workers
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
May 24,2023
The big business of college sports is back in federal court again. And this time it’s over the right of the athletes to organize. That’s because the National Labor Relations Board’s top enforcement official, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Pac-12 conference, and several colleges to court in federal court in Los Angeles, seeking approval of its stand that college athletes are “employees” and have the right to organize under labor law.
IN THE STATES
How Minnesota’s New Paid Family and Medical Leave Protects LGBTQ+ Working Families
Workday Magazine
By Amie Stager
May 24, 2023
Labor unions, which evoke a sense of family and togetherness, have the bargaining power to negotiate paid leave into contracts and are able to support legislation providing paid leave at state and federal levels that includes workers who aren’t union members or traditional employees. “In the state of Minnesota, no matter who you love or where you live, you choose to be part of a family. We should have the expectation that everybody falls under this bill,” Minnesota AFL-CIO president Bernie Burnham told Workday Magazine after the rally.
The Rosies are coming to Portland for Rosie the Riveter convention
Valley Times
By Jason Vondersmith
May 24, 2023
Much like with the men who fought in World War II, the women who contributed to the war effort stateside by helping build airplanes, tanks, jeeps and other military equipment, as depicted by Rosie the Riveter in her iconic “We Can Do It” poster, should be cherished. Not too many of their segment of “The Greatest Generation” are still with us. Each year, people gather for the American Rosie the Riveter Association’s Rosie Convention, including some “Rosies.” Thanks to the efforts of Oregonians Yvonne Fasold and Luella Larsen, the convention landed in Portland during the same weekend (June 8-11) of the Grand Floral Parade on Saturday, June 10. The big parade always features a group of women IBEW Local 48 electricians representing Rosie the Riveter.