Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
MUST READ
SAG-AFTRA, WGA hold National Day of Solidarity amid strike
11 Alive
By Cody Alcorn
Aug. 22, 2023
In a show of support, nearly 4,000 actors and writers gathered Tuesday night for a "National Day of Solidarity" rally in Atlanta. Unions SAG-AFTRA and WGA joined forces with the AFL-CIO and its affiliates from across the nation and across industries for the movement, SAG-AFTRA said in a statement. There were a number of speakers including Liz Shuler, who is the president of AFL-CIO, the democratic federation of 60 national and international unions that represent 12.5 million working people. Shuler is the first woman leader of America's labor movement. During several moments of her speech, members jumped to their feet, cheering and holding signs in support of the strike. At the end of her speech, Shuler and the crowd chanted, "We will win."
Atlanta SAG-AFTRA members hold rally as Hollywood writers’ strike continues
Atlanta News First
By Chelsea Beimfohr
Aug. 22, 2023
“You know this. You cannot replace human creativity and human imagination,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said.
ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Renewable Energy Jobs Are Coming to Appalachia
Mother Jones
By Dharna Noor
Aug. 22, 2023
“They’ve made the US the place for the private sector to invest in clean energy,” Samantha Smith, senior adviser for clean energy jobs at the AFL-CIO, said of the IRA’s incentives.
JOINING TOGETHER
Approved BIW contract raises pay for union members
Maine Biz
By Renee Cordes
Aug. 22, 2023
Bath Iron Works and its largest union have signed a three-year labor contract that will raise pay and increase benefit contributions. The agreement was approved by 72% of IAM (International Association of Machinists) Union Local S6 members, averting a repeat of a nine-week strike in 2020 at the shipyard.
Deadline
By Sean Piccoli
Aug. 22, 2023
“You’re the tip of the spear,” Charles Wowkanech, head of the million-member New Jersey AFL-CIO, told members of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America in one of a handful of speeches delivered by bullhorn to picketers massed in the city’s Hudson Yards business corridor. More than once, speakers criticizing CEO practices inside and outside of the entertainment industry had to pause for lengthy horn blasts from a passing Teamsters semi painted in patriotic red, white and blue.
Hollywood unions (and stars) rally near Disney amid strikes. ‘They underestimated our resolve’
Los Angeles Times
By Meg James
Aug. 22, 2023
More than 3,000 union members gathered near Walt Disney Co.’s Burbank headquarters in support of striking Hollywood actors — buoyed by impassioned speeches from Olivia Pope, President Jed Bartlet and Hellboy. The event marked the 40th day of a strike by members of the performers’ union SAG-AFTRA against the major media companies, and members of the Writers Guild of America were also out in force — on the 113th day of their walkout.
Informational Pickets Go Statewide As CWA, Frontier Contract Negotiations Continue
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
By Randy Yohe
Aug. 22, 2023
The picket lines at Frontier offices from Martinsburg to Huntington are informational pickets. CWA Local 2001 President J.D. Thompson said reasons for the pickets were threefold. “We’re letting the company know, hey, we’re still here and we’re not going away because we want a fair contract,” Thompson said. “It’s, of course, informational for the public, letting everybody know that we’re fighting right now. And last, it’s showing support for our bargaining committee that they’ve been putting in some long, hard days negotiating.”
Philly unions rally to show solidarity for actors, writers, and others striking against the studios
WHYY
By Tom MacDonald
Aug. 22, 2023
Members of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of America came to City Hall Tuesday afternoon to show that they are not giving up their fight against big studios and production houses. SAG-AFTRA member Lou Pacheco used his talent as an opera singer to sing in Italian a selection from the opera Turandot in Italian to demonstrate that the unions aren’t giving up. “We shall be victorious,” Pacheco said as he finished the song.
LiUNA Local 995 ratifies new contract with 6% pay increase
KOMU
By Kate Devine
Aug. 22, 2023
Members of LiUNA Local 955 could see a minimum 6% pay increase after a successful vote to ratify their new union contract Sunday night. The contract now goes to the Columbia City Council for discussion and a vote. The contract holds the potential to bring about substantial improvements in the working conditions and benefits of the city of Columbia's workforce, according to union representative Andrew Hutchinson. LiUNA Local 955 represents about 230 service and maintenance workers for the city of Columbia, including public works, utilities and the airport, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.
El Paso nurses hold ‘informational picket’ at Hospitals of Providence
KTSM
By Dave Burge
Aug. 22, 2023
El Paso nurses held an “informational picket” session urging The Hospitals of Providence to invest more in patient safety and hire more nurses. Registered nurses from Sierra, Memorial, and East Campuses picketed at Memorial Campus on Tuesday, Aug. 22. They were protesting “the administration’s refusal to address RNs’ deep concerns about patient safety due to unsafe staffing and chronic problems with recruitment and retention of nurses,” according to the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU).