Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
JOINING TOGETHER
Twin Cities postal workers rally over reported spike in targeted robberies, assaults
KSTP
By Renée Cooper
Jan. 7, 2024
Letter carriers for the United States Postal Service (USPS) say violent crimes — namely assaults and robberies — against them have been through the roof in recent years. Union leadership for the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) at a rally on the steps of Minneapolis’ central post office on Sunday said U.S. Postal Inspection Service data shows there have been 2,000 attacks against letter carriers across the country since 2020.
NLRB
NLRB complaint alleges Lucid fired employees for union effort
CNN
By Chris Isidore
Jan. 5, 2024
A federal labor regulator has filed a complaint against electric vehicle maker Lucid, accusing the company of firing two employees who supported a United Auto Workers union organizing effort at the company. The complaint was filed Tuesday by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Arizona, who investigated the claim about the firings early last year. It was disclosed by the agency late Thursday.
TRANSPORTATION
Plague of violence against transit workers must to be addressed by federal action (Opinion)
The Hill
By John Samuelsen
Jan. 7, 2024
All across the country, transit workers are outrageously getting attacked and abused every single day. They are being harassed, menaced, spat upon, beaten up — even shot and killed. According to data from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in 2021 there were more than 345 assaults on transit workers — including bus drivers, station agents, track workers, cleaners and others who just showed up to work. That’s why The Transport Workers Union of America welcomed the FTA’s recently issued General Directive to urban transit agencies regarding assaults. Once finalized, this first-of-its-kind directive will require every such agency in the country to take several actions: • Analyze the cause of assaults in their systems. • Use the analysis to craft a plan to prevent violence in conjunction with boots-on-the-ground workers. • Submit to the FTA both the analysis and the safety plan so it may develop further safeguards.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Philly Voice
By Mark Lynch, Jr.
Jan. 5, 2024
The Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council has set a fundraising goal of $200,000 for the 2024 All Star Labor Classic, which would be the largest charitable donation the Superhero Project has ever received. This year’s showcase of the region’s best high school basketball players will be played on Sunday, April 14th at Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia.
Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers seeking apprentices
WIVT
By Samantha Rich
Jan. 6, 2024
Individuals interested in a career in bricklaying or craftsmanship will soon be able to apply for recruitment. The New York State Department of Labor announced that the Joint Apprenticeship Committee for the International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers (IUBAC), Local Union #3 is seeking 15 Bricklayer, Mason, and Plasterer apprentices; five Pointer, Caulker and Cleaner apprentice; two Cement Mason apprentice; and one Tile Setter apprentice.
RAISING WAGES
At least five states are considering requiring full minimum wages for tip earners this year
NBC Bay Area
By Staff
Jan. 6, 2024
Five states are deciding this year whether to ditch the practice of paying workers who earn tips less than the minimum wage. And activists say they’re bringing that fight to at least as many others, framing it as a key cost-of-living issue in an election year. Ballot measures pending in Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Massachusetts, and a bill being reintroduced in Connecticut would eliminate a longstanding two-tiered pay system for tip-earning hourly workers like restaurant servers and bartenders, who earn a lower “subminimum” wage than their nontipped counterparts. Only seven states already pay a single minimum wage regardless of tips. While more than two dozen others have raised subminimum pay for tip earners above the federal $2.13-an-hour floor — a rate last increased in 1991 — those workers still earn less in base pay than their states’ minimum wage.