MUST READ
Biden, in historic but sensitive move, joins UAW picket line
The Washington Post
By Matt Viser
Sept. 26, 2023
It marked the first time a sitting president has joined a picket line, and on a dreary afternoon Biden stood on a wooden platform and spoke through a bullhorn with an American flag on it to a group of United Auto Workers members clad in red shirts. “President Biden is demonstrating once again that he is the most pro-union president in history,” Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Working people know he has our backs every day and that he understands that UAW members’ fight for a fair contract is deeply connected to the struggle over the soul of our country.”
JOINING TOGETHER
As UAW strike continues, MN AFL-CIO shows support
KTTC
By Quinn Gorham
Sept. 26, 2023
As United Auto Workers enter another week of striking, new facilities around the country are joining in. Dozens of manufacturing plants, including a Stellantis plant in Plymouth, joined in last Friday.
Stellantis is one of the “big three” auto manufacturers involved in the contract dispute with UAW leaders, the others being General Motors and Ford. Tuesday, the Minnesota AFL-CIO visited the picket to show support. “We are standing together with our UAW siblings, UAW members are fighting for all of us,” said MN AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham.
'Power in numbers': Coalition of Workers at Penn unites campus labor organizations
The Daily Pennsylvanian
By Emily Scolnick
Sept. 26, 2023
A newly formed association of unions across Penn’s campus, held their first open forum meeting on Sept. 21. The Coalition of Workers at Penn was created in collaboration with The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. According to the initial press release, the group “aims to join the energy in new organizing across Penn’s campus over the past two years with the unions that have represented Penn workers for decades and the not yet organized workers that make Penn the institution that it is.” Jana Korn, a 2018 Penn graduate and organizing director for the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, told the DP that an increased number of workers have been organizing at Penn over the last two years – including housestaff at Penn Medicine and graduate students.
Hollywood video game performers authorize strike if labor talks fail
NBC News
By Reuters
Sept. 26, 2023
Video game voice actors and motion capture performers have voted to authorize a strike if negotiations on a new labor contract fail, setting the stage for another possible work stoppage in Hollywood. After voting closed on Monday, the SAG-AFTRA union said 98.32% of those who cast ballots had voted in favor of authorizing a strike. The union is scheduled to begin contract talks with gaming companies on Tuesday.
Vegas casino worker unions hold strike vote, threatening first major walkout in 39 years
The Nevada Independent
By Howard Stutz and Jannelle Calderon
Sept. 26, 2023
With chants of “one job should be enough,” some 10,000 members of the Culinary and Bartenders unions filled UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center Tuesday morning for a vote to authorize the first citywide strike against the resort industry in 39 years. Representatives of Culinary Workers Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 said the results of the vote would authorize negotiating committees to call for a strike by some 53,000 non-gaming Strip and downtown casino employees. A vote in favor of a strike would be largely symbolic, but would give the labor leadership — who said they are negotiating with management in good faith — the ability to call for a walkout. The results are expected to be released following a second round of voting Tuesday evening.
Academy Museum Union Ratifies First Labor Contract
The Wrap
By Jeremy Fuster
Sept. 26, 2023
Unionized workers at the Academy Museum ratified their first union contract with 98.6% of the vote, AFSCME Local 126 announced Tuesday. Approval of the deal between the museum dedicated to film and Oscars history and the AFSCME-affiliated Academy Museum Workers United comes nearly a year after the first bargaining session. Back in July 2022, the Academy Museum voluntarily recognized the union shortly after film scholar and Turner Classic Movies host Jacqueline Stewart was appointed director and president.
OHSU nurses reach tentative agreement on new contract, avoid strike
KGW8
By KGW Staff
Sept. 26, 2023
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the union that represents nearly 3,200 nurses employed there said they reached a tentative agreement for a new three-year contract on Monday afternoon, avoiding a strike nurses had voted to authorize last week. The negotiations lasted 10 months, including nearly 60 hours of bargaining over the past five days, the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) and OHSU said in a joint release Tuesday morning.
Duquesne Light Company union authorizes strike as company prepares for walkout
WTAE
By Staff
Sept. 26, 2023
A union representing Duquesne Light Company workers has voted Tuesday night to authorize a strike against the electric provider. The vote, 711-14, sets in motion the process for a potential walkout on Saturday. According to the company, the current contract for members of the IBEW Local 29 expires at the end of this month, and the union is working to re-negotiate. DLC said earlier in the day that Tuesday night's decision would not mean a walkout right away. However, in a statement, the company said it was "activating operational continuity plans in the event an agreement cannot be reached by when the current contract expires on Sept. 30."
SLU Hospital nurses mount a 24-hour strike over working conditions
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Annika Merrilees
Sept. 26, 2023
Nurses at SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital walked off their jobs for a 24-hour strike on Monday, a measure they said was necessary after the hospital failed to address their concerns about short staffing. The union, National Nurses United, has represented nurses at the hospital since 2012. Though the nurses have held several protests to pressure SSM to increase staffing levels there, they had never before gone on strike. The nurses’ labor agreement expired June 15. They have been in negotiations for a new contract since May and claim there has been little movement in bargaining. With the exception of the VA St. Louis Healthcare System, SLU Hospital is the only hospital in the region where nurses are unionized.
Writers Guild of America to officially end strike
The Hill
By Miranda Nazzaro
Sept. 26, 2023
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) will officially lift its strike on Wednesday, allowing Hollywood’s writers to return to work after a nearly five-month halt on most TV and film productions. The WGA said Tuesday it voted to lift the strike as of 12 a.m. PST, which will authorize Hollywood writers to return to work before voting next month on a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents studios, streaming services, and production companies in negotiations.
IN THE STATES
Trump to speak Wednesday at non-union Macomb Co. automotive parts manufacturer
Michigan Advance
By Kyle Davidson
Sept. 25, 2023
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday is set to deliver remarks at Drake Enterprises, an automotive parts manufacturer and supplier in Clinton Township in Macomb County, according to an announcement from Trump’s campaign. The former president’s visit to the facility will follow President Joe Biden’s Tuesday visit to join striking United Auto Workers (UAW) union members on the picket line. “It’s time for a win-win agreement that keeps American auto manufacturing thriving with well-paid UAW jobs,” Biden said in a social media post.
Labor Tribune
By Staff
Sept. 26, 2023
Jake Hummel, president of the Missouri AFL-CIO, had the following response: “It’s no surprise that in an election cycle where Josh Hawley will face off against an actual champion for Missouri workers, he suddenly finds his way to a picket line. A champion of the ‘right-to-work’ scam, Josh Hawley, has always sided with massive corporations at the expense of American workers’ jobs. He’s a fraud who doesn’t give a damn about Missouri workers and only shows up when the camera flashes. That’s why we’re committed to helping Lucas Kunce beat him at the ballot box, just like we beat back his ‘right-to-work’ scam in 2018.” Hawley has a 12 percent lifetime score from the AFL-CIO and a zero percent agreement rating in the most recent United Auto Workers Labor Union scorecard.