MUST READ
UAW workers launch unprecedented strike against all Big Three automakers
CNN
By Chris Isidore and Vanessa Yurkevich
Sept. 15, 2023
The United Auto Workers union is on strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the first time in its history that it has struck all three of America’s unionized automakers at the same time. Workers on Friday walked out of three plants – one each from the Big Three automakers – in Missouri, Michigan and Ohio. Picketers were met with cheers from sign-waving union members. The UAW referred to its targeted strike of three plants as a “Stand Up Strike,” which it called a strategic “new approach” to walking off the job.
JOINING TOGETHER
Union and 3 Detroit Automakers Resume Talks
The New York Times
By Neal E. Boudette
Sept. 16, 2023
The United Auto Workers union and the three Detroit automakers on Saturday resumed negotiations on a new labor contract as a targeted strike entered its second day. The union is striking against all three manufacturers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — but for now has limited the work stoppages to one plant at each of the companies: a Ford plant in Michigan, a G.M. plant in Missouri and a Stellantis plant in Ohio.
SEPTA must negotiate contracts with nearly all its labor unions amid looming financial crisis
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Thomas Fitzgerald and Lizzy McLellan Ravitch
Sept. 17, 2023
At least 14 separate bargaining units represent SEPTA’s vast workforce, and the transit agency faces contract negotiations with almost all of them in the coming months. Labor negotiations are often fraught for companies and workers, but SEPTA is known as one of the most strike-prone large transit systems in the country — unions have walked off the job at least 11 times since 1975. This year, SEPTA ridership remains depressed and its own financial future depends on coaxing more money from state and local governments. Active talks are underway on new agreements with three unions, and SEPTA officials are meeting with a fourth, the 4,500-member Transport Workers Union Local 234, with a contract set to expire Oct. 31. Three more collective bargaining agreements expire in November, and eight others in the first two months of 2024, SEPTA says.
Hormel meatpackers in Austin, Minn., reject contract offer, setting the stage for strike
Star Tribune
By Trey Mewes
Sept. 15, 2023
Union workers and meatpackers in Austin have rejected a four-year contract proposal from Hormel Foods Corp., setting the stage for further discord and a potential strike in the company's hometown. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 663 said in a statement Friday that workers overwhelmingly voted against Hormel's latest proposal for a new contract. The union, representing more than 1,700 workers in Austin, is calling on the company to return to the negotiating table. "Hormel's record profits are just wages not shared fairly with the rest of us," the UFCW bargaining committee said in the statement. "The reality is that we keep Hormel running. We demand that Hormel does better and comes to the table for a fair agreement quickly."
Flight attendants threaten strikes over low pay and unpaid work
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
Sept. 17, 2023
The AFA-CWA represents more than 6,500 flight attendants at Alaska Airlines, who have held pickets at airports in their fight for a new union contract. The union is still working under a 2014 contract that was extended twice and has requested mediation with the National Mediation Board. Kiara O’Bryant, a Seattle-based flight attendant at Alaska Airlines for over 12 years and negotiating committee member for the union, said flight attendants were currently only paid from door closure until door open on flights. “All of that time we spend with passengers on the ground or sitting and waiting for other aircrafts in between flights goes unpaid,” said O’Bryant.
New Vegas Strip Resort Will Permit Its Hospitality Staff to Decide Whether They Want to Form a Union
U.S. News & World Report
By Associated Press
Sept. 15, 2023
A new Las Vegas casino and resort set to open on the Strip later this year will not stop workers from unionizing, union groups said Friday. The Culinary Workers Union, a political powerhouse in Nevada, and the Bartenders Union announced Fontainebleu Las Vegas has agreed to allow employees the right to decide whether to unionize. The Fontainebleu is taking over the soaring blue-glass tower that has sat empty for close to two decades on the Strip. It is set to open in December.
UAW’s Strike Strategy: Start Small and Keep ’Em Guessing
The Wall Street Journal
By Nora Eckert and Ryan Felton
Sept. 15, 2023
The United Auto Workers strike at three factories rippled across the industry Friday, as Detroit automakers set plans to temporarily lay off workers at other plants hobbled by the union’s unconventional tactics. Some 12,700 workers went on strike across the three plants—in Missouri, Ohio and Michigan—in a strategy that represents a major test for UAW President Shawn Fain. Rather than strike against one company at a time with all of its union workers, he instead is taking on all three at once, but with targeted walkouts.
Nurses set to strike at SSM Health hospital
Becker’s Hospital Review
By Kelly Gooch
Sept. 15, 2023
Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee are set to begin a 24-hour strike Sept. 25 at Saint Louis University Hospital in St. Louis. The union, an affiliate of National Nurses United, has represented nurses at the hospital since 2012, according to an NNOC news release. The hospital is part of SSM Health, also based in St. Louis. Union members voted to authorize a strike on Sept. 1. The union and hospital began negotiating a new labor contract in May. A hospital statement shared with Becker's says that "since Aug. 29, the NNOC has declined to respond or counter our proposals on key wage issues."
Star studded strikes: Celebrities show up for WGA, SAG-AFTRA pickets
USA Today
By James Powel
Sept. 15, 2023
As the Writer's Guild of America strike reaches its 136th day on the picket line with SAG-AFTRA joining them on strike 63 days ago, plenty of star power has been spotted on the picket lines. The first combined strike since 1960, which has received strong public support, has brought television and film production to a standstill. Those who have crossed the picket line have taken scorn from both the unions and major figures in the industry. Negotiations have yet to yield results though the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the industry's studios, floated that negotiations could resume next week.
Deadline
By David Robb
Sept. 16, 2023
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, saying that “right now is the time to show our solidarity,” is urging her members to authorize a strike against the video game industry. The guild, which has been on strike against the film and TV industries since July 14, could go on strike against the gaming companies any time after September 25, when voting on the strike authorization ends. The guild’s first and only strike against the gaming companies lasted 183 days in 2016-17. In a new video, Drescher notes that voting for a strike authorization doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be a strike. But rather, it authorizes the board to “to call a strike if needed.”
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Phoenix Sky Harbor workers vote to strike, file OSHA complaint
Your Valley
By Reagan Priest
Sept. 16, 2023
Two groups of airport workers are speaking out about what they say are dangerous working conditions and low wages at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Concession workers contracted by SSP America voted on Sept. 1 to authorize a strike after negotiations between the union, UNITE HERE Local 11, and the employer broke down. As of Wednesday, there were no plans for the workers to walk out. Service workers contracted by Prospect Airport Services filed a complaint with the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health on Sept. 6 alleging violations of federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. Service workers include employees who handle bags, clean airplane cabins, assist passengers in wheelchairs and more.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Local union invites Marietta youth to free fishing event Saturday
The Marietta Times
By Staff
Sept. 15, 2023
Local boys and girls age 2 to 15 and their families will learn about conservation and the joys of fishing in a free event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Buckeye Park in Marietta. Take Kids Fishing Day is sponsored by the Ohio AFL-CIO and is organized by the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 972. Participants will receive a free fishing rod and reel to keep. Volunteers from local labor unions will provide youngsters with instruction and assistance and provide a picnic-style lunch. The event is part of a series of free, community-based youth outreach activities organized under Work Boots on the Ground, the alliance’s flagship conservation program.
Hispanic Heritage Month begins Friday
CBS 2 Iowa
By Meghan Hanley
Sept. 15, 2023
“Iowans know that diversity strengthens our communities and our state,” said Paula A. Martinez, President South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “This month we celebrate the long history, rich culture and numerous contributions of those whose ancestors hail from Mexico, Central, Latin, and South America and the Caribbean. We care for the sick in this state. We educate children in Iowa’s public schools. We run small businesses and farm our land in every corner of our state. Iowa relies on Hispanic residents who call this state home. During Hispanic Heritage Month we deserve to be recognized and celebrated not just for our rich history but for who we are and for what we continue to contribute to Iowa as part of this community.”