MUST READ
I lead the Michigan AFL-CIO. Trump has never shown up for union workers. (Opinion)
Detroit Free Press
By Ron Bieber
Sept. 27, 2023
When Donald Trump’s private jet touches down in Michigan tonight, working people know what to expect from the former president. Underneath his multimillionaire-class status and luxurious private estates, his $100,000 plated Bedminster dinners and Mar-a-Lago golden galas, he’ll claim to lend a hand to working people. It’s the same lie he told us in 2016, when he first ran for president. But there’s a critical difference now: Trump has a record. And that record was nothing short of catastrophic for workers, highlighting an open hostility especially to union families. He never cared about our jobs. Or our wages. Or our pensions and health care. Or even our safety. Trump just cared about making his rich buddies even richer at our expense.
JOINING TOGETHER
UAW could expand strikes at Detroit Three on Friday
Reuters
By David Shepardson and Joseph White
Sept. 27, 2023
The United Auto Workers union could strike additional Detroit Three automotive facilities on Friday if there is no serious progress in labor negotiations, a source familiar with the talks said. The union did not elaborate ahead of a planned video address by UAW President Shawn Fain at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Friday. Bargaining continues at Ford (F.N), General Motors (GM.N) and Chrysler parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI).
UAW aims for drivers’ attention by striking parts warehouses, including two in the Inland Empire
Los Angeles Times
By Ronald D. White
Sept. 26, 2023
Picketing UAW workers outside an Ontario automotive parts distribution center say jobs that once lifted them into flirting with middle-class status no longer provide them enough for a decent living. The workers were protesting outside the Stellantis Mopar facility that supplies thousands of parts for automotive repairs and upgrades. It is part of the United Auto Workers’ expansion last week of the strike against Detroit automakers that began Sept. 15.
SAG-AFTRA & Studios To Meet Monday – Update
Deadline
By Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten
Sept. 27, 2023
As Deadline first told you yesterday, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are meeting next week. The actors guild and the studio reps released a joint statement Wednesday evening saying that both sides are coming back to the table on Monday, October 2. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will resume negotiations for a new TV/Theatrical contract on Monday, Oct. 2. Several executives from AMPTP member companies will be in attendance,” read the statement.
Las Vegas hospitality workers authorize strike against hotels, casinos
The Hill
By Nick Robertson
Sept. 27, 2023
The Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas, the largest union in Nevada, voted to authorize a strike against major casinos on Tuesday if contract disputes continue. The union represents more than 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and is one of Nevada’s strongest political forces. More than 95 percent of workers voted to authorize a strike Tuesday, the union announced.
Art Institute of Chicago Union Finalizes First Contract, Secures “Across the Board” Wage Increases
Art News
By Daniel Cassady
Sept. 27, 2023
Unionized employees of the Art Institute of Chicago museum (AIC) and its affiliated school, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), have secured their first contract, which guarantees wage increases “across the board” over a four-year period. Notably, employees who currently make the lowest wages receiving the highest raise at 16.25 percent. The Art Institute of Chicago Workers United (AICWU/AFSCME)is comprised of more than 500 workers from the two institutions. According to their website, the contract also “begins to address critical workplace culture issues that have plagued workers for years.”
Student Organizing Bids on Campus Seed New Labor Generation
Bloomberg Law
By Robert Iafolla
Sept. 27, 2023
An undergraduate student unionization vote at the University of Oregon next month is among the latest signs of a growing labor movement in higher education that promises to echo in the professional workforce. The Oregon students will vote on whether to form what would be the largest US undergraduate worker union. Undergraduates at the California State University system could go even bigger if the state labor agency approves a pending election bid. Student organizing on college campuses could affect workplaces for years to come. Students are gaining direct experience with acting collectively, asserting labor law rights, bargaining with employers, and navigating disparate power relationships—all before they begin their careers.
Autoworkers union may expand its strike again
CNN
By Chris Isidore and Vanessa Yurkevich
Sept, 27, 2023
he United Auto Workers union is preparing to announce a possible expansion of its strike against General Motors, Stellantis and maybe Ford this Friday if there isn’t more progress in talks, a union source familiar with plans said Wednesday. UAW President Shawn Fain is set to update members on the state of the negotiations at 10 am Friday. If the union decides there has not been enough progress in the talks, it will announce new targets for the strike at that time, and UAW members at those facilities would join the strike at noon on Friday, according to the union source.
Las Vegas Culinary Staff Give Union Authority to Call Strike
Bloomberg Law
By Parker Purifoy
Sept. 27, 2023
More than 50,000 Las Vegas-based hospitality workers have voted to authorize a strike if negotiations with the city’s biggest resorts fail to yield a new contract. The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, which represent about 53,000 culinary workers in Las Vegas, voted by a 95% margin Tuesday to allow union leadership to call a strike. The union’s members include room attendants, servers, bartenders, and kitchen workers.
SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP to meet on Monday, resuming strike negotiations
ABC News
By Riley Hoffman
Sept. 27, 2023
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) will be heading back into negotiations on Monday, Oct. 2. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will meet for bargaining on Monday, Oct. 2. Several executives from AMPTP member companies will be in attendance,” SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP announced in a joint statement Tuesday evening.
IATSE Notches First Video Game Union Win in NLRB Election
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Sept. 27, 2023
IATSE is well on its way toward representing video game workers. In a National Labor Relations Board ballot count on Wednesday, workers from Workinman Interactive unanimously voted to join the Hollywood crew union, which made its first public foray into the video game space with an organizing campaign at the games studio. Out of 20 eligible voters in roles like project manager, art director, senior artist, graphic artist, senior technical director, senior developer, developer, junior developer, production assistant and quality assurance tester, 16 voted in favor of joining IATSE and none voted against.
U.A.W. Says It Could Expand Auto Strikes on Friday
The New York Times
By Neal E. Boudette
Sept. 27, 2023
The United Automobile Workers union said on Wednesday that it planned to expand its strike against the big three Michigan automakers on Friday if negotiators failed to make substantial progress on new contracts. The union ordered workers to walk off the job nearly two weeks ago at three vehicle assembly plants — each owned by one of the companies, General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler and Jeep. Last Friday the union broadened the strike to include spare parts-distribution centers owned by G.M. and Stellantis, saying it had made progress in its talks with Ford. The U.A.W. president, Shawn Fain, is scheduled to update members in a video streamed live on Facebook on Friday morning.
IN THE STATES
Wisconsin labor leaders say federal rule changes could help reverse declines in union membership
Wisconsin Public Radio
By Joe Schulz
Sept. 27, 2023
Making the path to unionization more fair and living up to its expectation in the United States is really important for all workers," said Stephanie Bloomingdale, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. "Having a speedier election, dissuading employers from using union-busting tactics, are all going to be to the betterment of workers."