Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Workplace fatalities up 5.7% in 2022
Labor Tribune
By Staff
Jan. 8, 2024
“Every workplace fatality represents a family member who will never return home after a shift. An empty chair at the dinner table that never again will be filled. A loss that ripples through entire communities,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement “We cannot and will not accept these tragedies as inevitable. Workplace deaths are preventable, but unchecked employers blame workers and treat people as disposable.”
LABOR AND TECHNOLOGY
‘Constantly monitored’: the pushback against AI surveillance at work
The Guardian
By Steven Greenhouse
Jan. 7, 2024
“In sectors where performance monitoring and algorithmic management are present, you can have a lot of negative impact,” said Amanda Ballantyne, director of the AFL-CIO’s technology institute. “If you dive into a sector like Amazon, many workers wear wearables that track every movement their body makes, everywhere they go, how fast they complete tasks, how long they’re off task, how long they take in the bathroom. It’s [scientific management] on steroids.”
JOINING TOGETHER
Las Vegas hospitality worker unions set Feb 2 strike deadline
Reuters
By Reuters
Jan. 8, 2024
Unions representing hospitality workers in Las Vegas said on Monday they will ask their 7,700 members to go on a strike on Feb. 2, if they do not have a labor contract by then. The Culinary Workers and Bartenders Unions are engaged in contract negotiations with 21 casino resorts in Las Vegas. The unions warned that they might launch targeted strikes sooner at individual properties if contract negotiations break down ahead of the strike deadline.
OPEIU Local 11 wants big changes at NW Natural
Northwest Labor Press
By Mallory Gruben
Jan. 8, 2024
Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 11 started bargaining Nov. 2 with NW Natural, a regulated monopoly that employs about 600 Local 11 members. Local 11’s largest contract, it covers office staff and outside gas and construction workers and expires June 1, 2024. Local 11 wants major improvements this time around. It’s proposing that NW Natural stop outsourcing to non-union contractors, re- enter the union pension plan, improve the company 401(k), preserve health benefits, and raise wages to keep up with inflation.
Postal workers rally in Minneapolis over increasing violence
CBS News Minnesota
By WCCO Staff
Jan. 7, 2024
A rally on Sunday sought to deliver a simple message in the face of increasing violence against postal delivery workers. The National Association of Letter Carriers held the "Enough is Enough" rally outside the Main Post Office in Minneapolis to bring attention to and demand an end to the assaults and robberies of letter carriers. Members said they want more protections from the U.S. Postal Service so they can feel safe delivering mail. They also want those who commit assaults and robberies against carriers prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Bodyvox dance company stagehands win IATSE Local 28 contract
Northwest Labor Press
By Mallory Gruben
Jan. 8, 2024
Union stagehands at nonprofit Bodyvox dance company in Portland unanimously ratified a first contract Dec. 19. The agreement doubled wages from what workers made before they announced their plans to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 28. The contract sets a base wage of $32 an hour for temporary and casual stagehands. Prior to 2023, Bodyvox had paid these workers $16 an hour. However, the company had raised wages to $25 an hour after workers asked the National Labor Relations Board for an election in January 2023.
Culinary Union sets strike deadline for Feb. 2 for remaining contract negotiations
KTNV
By Jarah Wright
Jan. 8, 2024
The Culinary and Bartenders Unions have set a strike deadline for reaching new contracts for 7,700 hospitality workers in Las Vegas.
Laborers Local 483 wins wage hikes for zoo and parks workers in tentative deal with Metro
Northwest Labor Press
By Mallory Gruben
Jan. 8, 2024
Laborers Local 483 reached a tentative agreement with Metro that will increase wages and paid time off for roughly 250 workers at the Oregon Zoo and regional parks. If ratified by members, the four-year agreement would give workers an 8% cost of living raise retroactive to July 1, 2023, when the last contract expired. That would be followed by a 4% raise July 1, 2024, and 3% raises July 1, 2025, and July 1, 2026 — and the union would have the right to reopen negotiations for pay if regional inflation exceeds 5%.
LABOR LEADERS
Former Bath Iron Works pipefitter installed as new leader of international union
Central Maine
By Jason Claffey
Jan. 8, 2024
A former Bath Iron Works pipefitter has been installed as president of one of the largest labor unions in North America. Brian Bryant was sworn in Friday as the new leader of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents about 600,000 active and retired workers in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. It’s the parent union of Machinists Union Local S6, which represents about 4,250 of BIW’s 6,500 workers.
IN THE STATES
With government workers scarce, some agencies look to AI for help
Times Union
By Raga Justin
Jan. 6, 2024
In a statement, AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento pointed to a protracted strike among the major actors’ union in 2023 that was spurred by the risks that AI posed for entertainment employees’ livelihoods. “When it comes to using artificial intelligence, we must be vigilant in ensuring we are protecting jobs, workers' rights and their privacy,” Cilento said. “This will affect all workers. We have to get it right.”