JOINING TOGETHER
Union president for 600 train inspectors in New York and Connecticut says strike could begin in fall
CT Insider
By John Moritz
July 10, 2023
Members of two locals for the Transportation Workers Union — representing roughly 600 inspectors in New York and Connecticut — voted last week to authorize a strike as soon as this fall, when the union could be released from ongoing talks before the National Mediation Board. While the union represents just a fraction of the workers for the nation’s second-busiest commuter railroad, TWU’s international president, John Samuelson, said that he’s received commitments from the other unions representing conductors and Metro-North workers to support a strike should it take place. “The trains cannot function without the car inspectors,” Samuelson told CT Insider on Monday. “We’re confident that the picket lines will hold and that the trains won’t be running.”
Hollywood studios could face two strikes for the first time in 63 years. How did we get here?
Los Angeles Times
By Stacy Perman and Anousha Sakoui
July 10, 2023
Sixty-three years later, Hollywood is once again in the midst of a historic labor battle in which studios are facing a possible strike on two fronts in a protracted battle over new forms of distribution. SAG-AFTRA members have authorized their leaders to call a strike if they can’t reach a deal with the major studios by Wednesday night, when their extended contract officially expires. They would join members of the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike since May 2, broadening a labor conflict that has already disrupted film and TV productions nationwide. How did such an extraordinary standoff come about? Historians and labor experts cite several explanations, including greater cohesion among Hollywood unions, a nationwide rise in labor activism after the COVID-19 pandemic and, perhaps most important, dramatic technological change.
Hotel workers walk off job again near LAX as strike continues
CBS News
By City News Service
July 10, 2023
After a nearly weeklong pause in picketing, hundreds of Southland hospitality workers walked off the job Monday in what their union billed as the second wave of a strike called in hopes of securing higher wages and improved benefits. The workers, including cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front desk agents, walked a picket line Monday morning at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel on Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport. Members of the Unite Here Local 11 union initially walked off the job on July 2, continuing their picketing through the Fourth of July holiday. That picketing targeted 21 hotels involved in contract negotiations with the union.
Public Radio workers vote to form a union
Labor Tribune
Elizabeth Donald
July 10, 2023
St. Louis Public Radio made history recently as its employees overwhelmingly voted to create the first public media union in Missouri. Nearly 80 percent of the St. Louis Public Radio Guild members voted in favor of union representation under the umbrella of Communication Workers of America. The vote took place months after management staff and the University of Missouri-St. Louis declined to recognize the union, with 75 percent signing its statement of interest, forcing them into the longer legal process.
UAW prepares to begin contract talks with Detroit 3
Detroit Free Press
By Eric D. Lawrence
July 10, 2023
UAW contract talks kick off this week, with Jeep-parent Stellantis starting Thursday followed by Ford on Friday and General Motors on July 18, and the union is already ensuring a departure from previous bargaining. UAW President Shawn Fain said members come first. “I’ll shake hands with the CEOs when they come to the table with a deal that reflects the needs of the workers who make this industry run. When the 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, GM, and Stellantis receive the respect they are due for their sacrifice in generating the historic profits of the past decade, then we can proceed with a handshake,” he said in the release.
Nurses at UHS hospital vote to unionize
Becker’s Hospital Review
By Kelly Gooch
July 10, 2023
Nurses at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., have voted to join the District of Columbia Nurses Association, the union said in a news release on its Facebook page. The union, an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, represents about 2,000 nurses and licensed professional healthcare workers in Washington, D.C., according to the July 1 release. George Washington University Hospital is part of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services.
Worker strikes grip Los Angeles as nation faces ‘hot labor summer’
The Washington Post
By Erica Werner and Lauren Kaori Gurley
July 10, 2023
First it was nurses. Then graduate students. Then elementary school workers. Now it’s hotel employees, and TV and movie writers. Next up could be actors. Workers in Los Angeles are feeling emboldened as they eye post-pandemic corporate profits and sky-high housing costs, and after a cascade of successful walkouts in Southern California and beyond. They are striking for higher pay and better working conditions, even if it means taking a financial risk and hampering life in the nation’s second most populous city. Just Monday, several thousand workers from hotels near the Los Angeles International Airport walked off the job, disrupting travelers.“It doesn’t matter if you’re a writer or a hotel worker, this city is not livable,” said Brenden Gallagher, a TV writer and 10-year L.A. resident who joined Unite Here hotel strikers on the picket lines on July 3, to show solidarity and support. “Our fight is the same fight.”
Sega of America workers win union vote
Polygon
By Nicole Carpenter
July 10, 2023
Sega of America workers voted “yes” to officially form a union. The National Labor Relations Board counted the group’s mailed-in votes on Monday, with the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega, or AEGIS, winning the vote. One hundred seventeen votes were counted, 91 votes for the union and 26 votes against. (Several votes were challenged and not counted.) The unit will include more than 200 roles at Sega of America’s Irvine, California office, Communications Workers of America said in a news release. The union spans several different departments: marketing, games as a service, localization, product development, and quality assurance. The Irvine office, which opened in 2022, houses up to 235 workers. With this win, AEGIS-CWA is the first video game industry union at a major company that spans multiple departments.
IN THE STATES
Questions on minimum wage, paid sick leave and campaign funding could be heading to Alaska voters
Alaska Beacon
By Andrew Kitchenman
July 10, 2023
Proposed ballot measures would raise Alaska minimum wage, add mandatory paid sick leave, as well as limit campaign contributions and state spending on party candidate nominations. Alaska AFL-CIO labor federation President Joelle Hall supports the measure and said union members would work to get it on the ballot and approved by voters. She said all three pieces of the bills set standards that all workers should expect. Without paid sick leave, Hall said some sick workers have to ask themselves the question: “Do I not work today and make no money or do I go to work sick?” Paid sick leave protects not only workers, she said, but everyone they come into contact with.
Illinois law will protect paid time off
Labor Tribune
By Staff
July 10, 2023
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a measure making Illinois the third state in the nation, and first in the Midwest, to mandate paid time off that can be used for any reason. The historic legislation provides employees with up to 40 hours of paid leave over 12 months. “No one should ever be faced with having to decide between their job, family or their physical or mental health,” said Tim Drea, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. “Now workers in our state will have a guaranteed, minimum amount of paid time off that they can use for any reason – whether it is visiting a doctor, attending a parent-teacher conference, caring for a family member, or recovering from domestic violence.”