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Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips

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JOINING TOGETHER

One Month: The Writers Guild of America strike enters its fourth week

23 ABC

By Dominique LaVigne

May 30, 2023

It's been nearly a month since the Writers Guild of America went on strike. The writers failed to reach an agreement with the studios and streaming platforms that make up the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. As the strike continues, it's becoming more likely that audiences will see an impact on their favorite movies and shows. If you were looking forward to catching new seasons of your favorite shows on streaming, you may have to wait a little longer. With the Writers Guild of America on strike for a fourth week, some shows and movies have already put production on hold. WGA East writer Brendan Fitzgibbons says when studios devalue writers, they're devaluing their content.

 

Graduate students at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College are on strike for better pay

New York Metropolitan

By Chris Walton

May 30, 2023

On March 29, over 2,000 graduate student workers at the University of Michigan went on strike, including a supermajority of graduate student instructors at the school’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Since their contract expired on May 1, graduate students have been holding teach-ins and pickets and meeting with administrators. They are demanding a $38,000 annual wage (the minimum annual pre-tax income for a living wage, per the MIT Living Wage Calculator); implementation of unarmed, non-police emergency responders; and increased healthcare benefits.

 

WGA Urges Netflix & Comcast Shareholders To Reject Pay Hikes For Companies’ Top Executives In Light Of Ongoing Strike

Deadline

By David Robb

May 30, 2023

WGA West President Meredith Stiehm is urging Netflix and Comcast stockholders to reject pay raises for the companies’ top executives at their upcoming shareholders meetings, saying that approving the proposed pay packages is “inappropriate in light of the ongoing WGA writers’ strike.” The Netflix shareholders meeting will be held on Thursday and Comcast will hold its on June 7.

 

LABOR AND COMMUNITY

Pennsylvania families are falling through the cracks financially, but we can help them (Opinion)

Penn Live

By Kristen Rotz

May 30, 2023

A new report released by the United Way of Pennsylvania points out that 1.4 million Pennsylvania households are what would be considered Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed, or ALICE for short. These families earn more than the federal poverty level but still cannot afford basic needs like housing, childcare and food. The United Way of Pennsylvania is not alone in supporting an EITC to help families in the state and knowing how much it could change people’s lives. Supportive groups include Maternity Care Coalition, PA AFL-CIO, PA Partnerships for Children, PA Workforce Development Association, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, First Up, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, Mission Readiness Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Head Start Association, Community Action Agency of PA, Children First, NFIB, Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Division of Maternal, Child, and Family Health, Just Harvest, Children’s Health Watch, the Hunger Coalition and Community Legal Services.
 

USA, Kentucky Union Volunteers Host Take Kids Fishing Day Events

Fishing Wire

By Staff

May 30, 2023

oung people from around Kentucky braved rainstorms to spend several hours honing their fishing skills on Saturday, May 20, during three separate Take Kids Fishing Day events hosted by the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 110 and the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Services. While the weather may have dampened the venues—Jacobson Park in Lexington, Waverly Park in Louisville and Bob Noble Park in Paducah—it didn’t lessen the kids’ spirit or excitement, according to event organizer Mark Adams, SMART 110 Business Manager. “Every child received a free rod-and-reel from the USA and got the chance to catch a few fish,” he says. “Everyone had a fantastic time, despite the weather.”

 

WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH

MBTA facing new scrutiny, deadline on worker safety from federal officials unhappy with plan

Boston Globe

By John Hilliard

May 30, 2023

The MBTA is staring down a deadline on Monday to propose critical new workplace safety measures, after federal regulators rejected an earlier plan as insufficient because it would take much too long to implement, and gave the agency just two months to launch more rigorous protections for crews working along its tracks.