MUST READ
Unions are America’s future. The numbers say so (Opinion)
Labor Tribune
By Liz Shuler
Sept. 18, 2023
A few weeks ago, I stood on the streets of New York City with working actors, performers and writers from SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America who have been on strike for months now: risking their livelihoods to win a fair contract for themselves and all who come after. We chanted. We walked the picket line. But what inspired me most was when working people all around us — overwhelmingly young workers, in their 20s and 30s — saw what was happening and joined in: UPS drivers who laid on their horns to show support. Construction workers who clapped as they passed by. Food delivery workers who stopped for a minute to cheer us on. Some people don’t understand that. They ask: What could a UPS driver, a retail worker, an auto worker possibly have in common with Hollywood writers and actors?
The answer is the story of the Labor Movement in America at this moment — people all over this country who have realized, no matter their job or industry, how much they have in common with their fellow workers. They are fed up with an economy that has been rigged against them. They are rebelling against a broken status quo. And they are turning to unions and the Labor Movement as their answer because they understand that a union is the vehicle for them to build and hold power to change their lives.
LABOR AND TECHNOLOGY
Unions Keep Pressure on Statehouses to Regulate AI, Protect Jobs
Bloomberg Law
By Zach Williams
Sept. 18, 2023
Unions say state lawmakers shouldn’t wait to confront potential threats from artificial intelligence despite vows in Congress that the federal government would act following a flurry of activity in Washington last week. “I don’t think the states should hold back in pursuing state-level strategies,” said Amanda Ballatyne of the AFL-CIO Tech Institute in an interview, adding that federal activity can “set a tone and a framework for the states.” “We’ve seen a lot of demand, both from state policymakers and also from our state federations and central labor councils, to start building educational strategies so that the labor movement can play a more active role in shaping state-level AI policy,” she said.
JOINING TOGETHER
UAW president sets Friday deadline for more strike action unless ‘serious progress’ made
ABC News
By Morgan Winsor and Zunaira Zaki
Sept. 18, 2023
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said the union’s strike will expand if “serious progress” isn’t made in the contract negotiations with automakers by Friday. Fain said in a Monday evening update posted on social media that the deadline for greater progress in the union’s talks with Ford, GM and Stellantis is Friday, Sept. 22, at noon. “That will mark more than a week since our first members walked out. And that will mark more than a week of the ‘big three’ failing to make progress in negotiations toward reaching a deal that does right by our members,” he said in his video message.
Writers union will resume strike negotiations with studios this week
CNBC
By Drew Richardson
Sept. 18, 2023
The Writers Guild of America said Monday that the union will resume negotiations with Hollywood studios on Wednesday as a shutdown of productions across the TV and movie business drags on. The announcement comes on the 139th day of the strike, which began May 2. The union told its members to continue joining picket lines as the talks resume. “You might not hear from us in the coming days while we are negotiating, but know that our focus is getting a fair deal for writers as soon as possible,” WGA said.
Maryland Matters
By Danielle J. Brown
Sept. 18, 2023
Some 3,800 union healthcare workers in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., are threatening to go on strike at the end of this month if the leadership at Kaiser Permanente and the union cannot agree to a new contract addressing staffing shortages and low pay for workers. According to a Monday statement from OPEIU Local 2, which represents 8,000 workers in the region, about 98% of health care workers from the union voted to authorize a strike to protest “unfair labor practices” if no agreement is reached by Sept. 30. The health care workers represented by OPEIU Local 2 union include optometrists, pharmacists, nurses and certified nursing assistants. The union includes a variety of technicians involved in health care too, including surgical, imaging and emergency department technicians.
ABC 15
By Reagan Priest
Sept. 18, 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.
Contracts expire for 40,000 Las Vegas culinary union workers
Fox5 Vegas
By C.C. McCandless
Sept. 18, 2023
As of Friday, September 15, contracts covering 40,000 workers who are represented by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 expired. That number comprises approximately two-thirds of the total membership in those unions, according to a media release. 53,000 are based in Las Vegas and are in active negotiations with casino/hotel employers for a new 5-year contract and are participating in the Tuesday, September 26 Strike Vote. Last week, the Culinary and Bartender Unions sent a formal letter to each of the MGM Resorts International properties, Caesars Entertainment Corporation properties, and Wynn/Encore to initiate a 7-day notice to end the contract extensions that were in place.
Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios expected to resume negotiations
NBC News
By Chloe Melas and Daniella Silva
Sept. 18, 2023
The Writers Guild of America is expected to resume talks with Hollywood studios Wednesday, more than four months after writers went on strike after failed contract negotiations, the union said Monday. “You might not hear from us in the coming days while we are negotiating, but know that our focus is getting a fair deal for writers as soon as possible,” the guild said in a message to its members. “In the meantime, please continue to demonstrate your commitment and unity by coming out to the picket lines — for yourselves and fellow writers, SAG-AFTRA, other unions’ members, and all those in our community who are impacted by the strikes,” the guild said.