MUST READ
Hollywood Writers Ratify New Contract With Studios
The New York Times
By John Koblin
Oct. 9, 2023
Hollywood film and TV writers voted overwhelmingly to approve a new three-year contract with the major entertainment studios, the Writers Guild of America said on Monday, formally bringing to a close a bitter five-month labor dispute. During the one-week voting period, more than 8,500 writers submitted ballots, and the contract was ratified with 99 percent of the vote, according to the Writers Guild, which represents more than 11,000 screenwriters.
JOINING TOGETHER
Maine wood pulp workers expect to go on strike in a week
Spectrum News
By Spectrum News Staff
Oct. 6, 2023
About 80 workers plan to go on strike starting Oct. 15 at a wood pulp facility in Baileyville, according to a statement from the Maine AFL-CIO. Workers “voted overwhelmingly to reject Woodland Pulp, LLC’s contract offer and to strike for a fair contract,” the union announced Friday, “barring a drastic change in a company proposal that would eviscerate the membership’s job security.” Spectrum News has reached out to Woodland Pulp for comment. “Company management is attempting to replace millwright, pipefitter, machinists and auto mechanic positions with a general mechanic classification,” the statement reads. “Membership surveys have made it clear that protecting their core trades is the bargaining unit’s top priority. The IAM filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the company for refusing to bargain in good faith after Woodland management waited until negotiations were well underway to reveal its concessionary job classification proposal, and then refused to provide satisfactory financial information.”
Culinary Union says no progress after contract negotiations with Las Vegas Strip properties
KVVU - Fox5 Vegas
By Alexis Fernandez
Oct. 6, 2023
The Culinary Union has been having back-to-back negotiations with three Las Vegas Strip properties this week and there is still no progress on a new contract for 50,000 workers. The union is meeting with Wynn Resorts all day Friday. A union spokesperson said that so far, there has been no movement on its demands from MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and is at the bargaining table with Wynn Friday. Right now, thousands of service industry employees are working without contracts -- and an overwhelming majority of members authorized a strike just last week. The union is negotiating a five-year contract for 53,000 Culinary workers. It is demanding better wages, more benefits and job protections.
SAG-AFTRA, major studios continue negotiations as strike nears three months
Los Angeles Times
By Meg James
Oct. 6, 2023
Leaders of SAG-AFTRA and the major Hollywood studios are wrapping up their first week of negotiations since the 160,000-member performers union went on strike in mid-July, but the sides aren’t yet close to a deal, sources familiar with the talks said Friday. The two groups met three days this week at SAG-AFTRA’s headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, and have agreed to resume talks on Monday. The sessions have been productive, these sources said, providing an opportunity for ranking company executives to hear directly from union leaders, including SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, who has been sharply critical of industry leaders.
Belvidere UAW Local 1268 workers rally in solidarity
Rockford Register Star
By Susan Moran
Oct. 6, 2023
Sara Dorner, president of Rockford United Labor, AFL-CIO, attends a solidarity rally for Belvidere UAW members Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, in Belvidere. Hundreds of members of United Auto Workers Local 1268 and their supporters attended the event outside the Belvidere Assembly Plant, which has been idled since February.
University of Maine graduate union receive certification
The Maine Campus
By Shaelea Perkins
Oct. 6, 2023
Last week, the University of Maine graduate union received its certification from the Maine Labor Relations Board. The Maine Graduate Workers Union-UAW was certified on Friday after an independent arbitrator decided that it had major support from graduate workers. The certification was announced by the Maine AFL-CIO. This all began back in August when bargaining began between the union and the University of Maine system after the university agreed it would recognize the union.
Hotel workers at LAX-area properties walk off the job over healthcare proposal
Los Angeles Times
By Suhauna Hussain
Oct. 6, 2023
In the latest wave of Southern California’s rolling hotel strike, workers at eight properties near Los Angeles International Airport walked off the job Friday morning. The hotels include Four Points by Sheraton, Sheraton Gateway, Hyatt Regency LAX Airport and Westin Los Angeles Airport Inn. Friday’s work stoppage came in response to a tense bargaining session Wednesday between a group of Southern California hotels and Unite Here Local 11. Unite Here Local 11 represents about 15,000 cooks, housekeepers, dishwashers, servers, porters and front desk agents at some 60 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties who have been conducting intermittent strikes over the last three months.
Las Vegas casino workers authorize strike
Northwest Labor Press
By Staff
Oct. 8, 2023
Members of UNITE HERE Locals 226 and 165 voted by a 95% margin Sept. 26 to authorize a strike. The union says workers want new five-year contracts that include the largest wage increases ever negotiated in the Culinary Union. Other issues are heavy workloads and employer use of technology to “track,” workers on the job. If they fail to reach agreement, about 53,000 Las Vegas housekeepers, bartenders and other workers would strike at The MGM Grand, Caesar’s Palace and the Wynn/Encore. No strike date has been set, and contract negotiations continue.
4,000 more UAW workers on strike after rejecting deal with Mack Trucks
CNN
By Chris Isidore and Artemis Moshtaghian
Oct. 9, 2023
The United Auto Workers union says nearly 4,000 members are on strike at heavy truck manufacturer Mack Trucks after voting down a tentative agreement reached a week ago. The union said 73% of its workers had voted against the proposed deal. “I’m inspired to see UAW members at Mack holding out for a better deal, and ready to stand up and walk off the job to win it,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement issued Sunday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Philly cafeteria workers, climate staff ratify new contract
The Philadelphia Tribune
By Chanel Hill
Oct. 9, 2023
The union representing 1,900 food service and student climate staff across 216 School District of Philadelphia schools has ratified a new contract. Unite Here Local 634 voted to ratify the four-year labor contract with the school district. The agreement was reached Sept. 28, 48 hours before the collective bargaining agreement was set to expire. “I am proud that our membership so overwhelmingly voted to ratify what is nothing short of a historic deal,” Nicole Hunt, president of Unite Here Local 634, said in a statement.
Culinary Union announces picket lines on the Strip as negotiations with MGM, Wynn, and Caesars stall
KSNV
By Brett Forrest
Oct. 9, 2023
The Culinary Union on Monday announced plans for large-scale picket lines in front of eight properties on the Strip as contract negotiations continue between the union and MGM, Wynn, and Caesars resorts. Union leadership called the negotiations “disappointing” so far and said the two sides remain far from a deal. “On economics for example, we're dollars apart–significantly apart,” said Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union. “Two of the companies made zero economic proposals or counters. And one made something so minimal, that was really not consequential.”
SAG-AFTRA, Studios to Resume Negotiations on Wednesday
The Hollywood Reporter
By Erik Hayden
Oct. 9, 2023
It’s not over yet. Leadership for performers union SAG-AFTRA and the studios, repped by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, issued a joint statement on Monday saying that talks have ended for the day and outlining next steps as the strike nears its three-month mark. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP held negotiations and have concluded for the day. Bargaining will continue on Wednesday, October 11, with the parties working independently on Tuesday,” the brief missive read. The Fran Drescher-led union, which represents about 160,000 members, has been on strike since July 14. After a summer of halted film and TV production and pickets in Los Angeles, New York and industry hubs around the country, the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA returned to the bargaining table on Oct. 2 at the union’s headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Talks end with no deal for striking New Jersey nurses who want staffing minimums
New Jersey Monitor
By Dana Difilippo
Oct. 6, 2023
Negotiations between striking nurses and administrators at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick ended Friday without a deal, but talks are scheduled to resume Tuesday. “We did not make progress toward a settlement today, but we gave management a proposal that we believe addresses any reasonable concerns they have raised,” said Judy Danella, president of United Steelworkers Local 4-200, which represents the nurses. “The ball is now in their court.” About 1,700 nurses walked off the job on Aug. 4 after administrators refused their demands for mandatory minimum staffing ratios that would require the hospital to schedule one nurse for every one to five patients, depending on the patient’s need.
LABOR LEADERS
Alan Eisenberg Dies: Longtime Exec Director Of Actors’ Equity Was 88
Deadline
By Greg Evans
Oct. 9, 2023
Alan Eisenberg, the longest-serving executive director of Actors’ Equity Association, died October 7 in Rhinebeck, New York. He was 88. His death was announced by Equity. A cause was not disclosed. Eisenberg led Equity from 1981 to 2006, a time of significant growth in membership, workweeks and member earnings, according to Equity.
Labor Movement mourns passing of United Steelworkers International President Tom Conway
Labor Tribune
By Staff
Oct. 9, 2023
Elected as the union’s president in 2019, Conway was known for his quick wit, formidable bargaining skills and unwavering devotion to workers and their families. His opinion pieces were frequently featured in the Labor Tribune. “From his earliest time making steel to his steady hand leading us through the darkest days of the pandemic, Tom followed two simple guiding principles: the dignity of work and the power of working people,” said David R. McCall, the USW’s international vice president of administration, who was selected last week to succeed Conway as president. “Tom was never afraid of a fight, and thanks to his ingenuity and determination, generations of workers can enjoy better jobs and brighter futures.” Conway relished going toe-to-toe with top leaders of some of the biggest corporations where USW members work, and over the course of his career, became one of the union’s most accomplished contract negotiators in steel, aluminum, oil and other major industries, often directing bargaining during crises.