MUST READ
Why unionizing is women’s work
Politico
By Sophie Gardner
Sept. 22, 2023
“There’s a misperception that unions are male dominated, when in fact, we are half the workforce, and we’re half the labor movement,” says Liz Shuler, president of AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S. “I think the stereotype comes from the origins of unions being more in industrial settings and hard physical labor, like construction and manufacturing. Those industries were male dominated,” Shuler tells Women Rule. “But over time, unions have grown in all kinds of professions — particularly in the retail, hospitality professional sectors that are more predominantly women.”
JOINING TOGETHER
Writers Guild Reaches Tentative Agreement With Studios and Streamers
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Sept. 24, 2023
After several long consecutive days of negotiations, the Writers Guild of America and the labor group representing studios and streamers have reached a tentative deal on a new contract in a major development that could precipitate the end of a historic, 146-day writers’ strike. The Writers Guild of America emailed strike captains the news on Sunday night, and shortly after, its negotiating committee informed all members. “We have reached a tentative agreement on a new 2023 MBA, which is to say an agreement in principle on all deal points, subject to drafting final contract language,” the latter message stated. “We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”
UAW strike reaches Milwaukee; 38 locations in 20 states affected
NBC 15
By Nick Viviani
Sept. 22, 2023
Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale said they stand with the locations in Hudson and Milwaukee. “Workers are striking for what we all deserve: fair pay, safety, job security and a retirement with dignity,” Bloomingdale said. “When working people stand together, united by justice and dignity and a righteous cause, we have the collective power to demand respect and fairness on the job.”
'We're asking the company to stay put': Local UAW joins national strike against automakers
CBS58
By Stephanie Rodriguez
Sept. 22, 2023
Milwaukee Area Labor Council shared the following statement in support of the UAW strike: "The Milwaukee Area Labor Council stands in solidarity with the strike action at the Stellantis Distribution Center and we lend our full support to UAW Local 75 union members. Autoworkers and workers in the supply chain have lost ground economically since the restructuring of the recession, while profits and CEO compensation skyrocketed. The workers create the value, they create the products. This is an honorable fight for fair compensation."
AFL-CIO: Two Wisconsin UAW local unions join historic ‘Stand Up Strike’ at the Big Three
WIS Politics
By Staff
Sept. 22, 2023
At 11:00 am local time, the United Auto Workers expanded their historic Stand Up Strike to thirty-eight GM and Stellantis parts and distribution locations across twenty states. This includes the GM parts distribution center represented by UAW Local 722 in Hudson and the Stellantis Mopar parts center represented by UAW Local 75 in Bay View (Milwaukee). Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale released the following statement of solidarity: “We stand in absolute solidarity with UAW Local 722 members in Hudson and UAW Local 75 members in Bay View as they take brave strike action to protect and preserve the future of our American middle class.
Actors' Equity Wants to Unionize Broadway Production Assistants
Broadway World
By Nicole Rosky
Sept. 22, 2023
Actors’ Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, has announced that it has organized the production assistants (PAs) who work as part of stage management teams on Broadway and sit-down productions produced by members of The Broadway League.
Frustrated by contract negotiations, Vegas hospitality workers consider strike
Las Vegas Sun
By Katie Ann McCarver
Sept. 24, 2023
Scott is one of 53,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas with contracts that expire this year — all members of the Culinary Union who will cast their vote Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center either for or against a strike authorization. Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer and chief negotiator of the union, said the organization has been in contract negotiations since April with MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts, which account for a combined 22 properties on the Strip. The contracts for 40,000 union workers at the three major hospitality companies were initially slated to expire in June, when union membership voted to extend the contracts, Pappageorge said. After five months of negotiations and a lack of any “substantial progress,” however, he said the negotiating committee voted to end the contract extensions, which officially expired Sept. 15.
What’s Next On The Labor Front After WGA’s Tentative Agreement? Quite A Lot, Actually
Deadline
By David Robb
Sept. 24, 2023
Now that a tentative agreement has been reached to end the Writers Guild’s strike, SAG-AFTRA, of course, is next, with IATSE waiting in the wings. When the Directors Guild reached its own deal for a new contract without a strike back on June 3, the WGA, which had already been on strike since May 2, insisted that it wouldn’t accept the industry’s longtime practice of “pattern bargaining,” in which the next union to come to the bargaining table is expected to follow suit and make a similar deal. That could prove to be a new re-starting point once SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations resume. Its leaders have said since the July 14 start of the actors strike that they are “ready, willing and able” to return to the bargaining table at any time, but just as the WGA had core issues that the DGA didn’t share, such as minimum staffing and duration of employment in TV writers rooms, SAG-AFTRA has performer-centric needs than neither the DGA nor the WGA contract addressed.
Where does the actors’ strike stand?
The New York Times
By Brooks Barnes
Sept. 24, 2023
The resolution of the writers’ strike will not restore Hollywood to normal, as the union representing more than 150,000 actors, SAG-AFTRA, is striking separately and has demands that exceed those of the Writers Guild. No talks between the actors’ union and the studios are currently scheduled. But the writers’ agreement could expedite negotiations, as some of SAG-AFTRA’s concerns are similar to ones raised by the Writers Guild. Both, for instance, had concerns about the use of artificial intelligence, with actors worried it could be used to create digital replicas of their likenesses (or that performances could be digitally altered) without payment or approval. The actors have been striking since July 14. Among other things, the actors want 2 percent of the total revenue generated by streaming shows, something that studios have said is a nonstarter.
UAW strikes could make 2023 the biggest year for labor activity in nearly four decades
CNBC
By Annie Nova
Sept. 22, 2023
The “summer of strikes” needs a new name — there is no sign of a slowdown in workers walking off the job. Some 362,000 workers have gone on strike so far in 2023, compared with 36,600 over the same period two years ago, according to data by Johnnie Kallas, a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and the project director of the ILR Labor Action Tracker. “We have found that many workers are increasingly frustrated with decadeslong rising income inequality,” Kallas said. If the United Auto Workers’ work stoppages expand to include most, or all, of the 150,000 workers who could strike, “then 2023 could end up being the highest since 1986,” Kallas said.
WHYY
By Amanda Fitzpatrick
Sept. 22, 2023
More than 100 union protesters rallied outside the School District of Philadelphia’s headquarters Thursday to demand higher pay. The members of Unite Here Local 634 consist of 1,900 cafeteria workers and climate staff, who work across the district’s 216 schools. Earlier this month they voted unanimously to empower union leadership to call a strike if no agreement is reached. The contract with the district is scheduled to expire September 30.
Wrigley Field concession workers authorize strike ahead of final homestand
WGN 9
By Larry Hawley
Sept. 22, 2023
In another effort to get a new contract, a number of workers at Wrigley Field could walk off the job this weekend. UNITE HERE Local 1, which represents a number of concessions employees in the ballpark who work for Levy Restaurants, announced that their membership voted by “an overwhelming majority” to authorize a strike ahead of the team’s final regular season series against the Colorado Rockies. That begins on Friday and runs through Sunday, and thanks to the vote, the union could call for a strike at any moment. This comes as UNITE HERE Local 1 and Levy haven’t been able to come to terms on a new contract since their old one expired on Oct. 31, 2020.
IN THE STATES
IBEW Local 86 opens new electrical union training center
Rochester First
By Zach Adams
Sept. 23, 2023
A local electrical union celebrated the opening of a new training facility Friday. They cut the ribbon on the new IBEW Local 86/Rochester Joint Apprentice and Training Center. The new space is designed for educating and training people to become electricians. IBEW Local 86 business manager Ray Ryerse hopes it will have a huge impact.