MUST READ
Union membership grew by 139,000 in 2023, thanks to worker wins
Labor Tribune
By Staff
Feb. 5, 2024
Union membership grew by 139,000 in 2023, according to a report on union density released Jan. 23 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Union membership in the private sector increased by 191,000 members, with a majority of new members under the age of 45. More than 900,000 union members won double-digit wage increases through new contracts last year. “Workers are fed up with low wages, few benefits, and a lack of dignity and respect on the job, which is precisely why more are interested in joining a union now than ever before,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO.
POLITICS
Biden touts pro-worker credentials in union-heavy swing state Nevada
The Gazette
By Julia Johnson
Feb. 4, 2024
President Joe Biden reminded voters in Nevada of his pro-union stance Sunday as workers are poised to play a pivotal role in the 2024 election. Biden told the crowd he is "the most pro-union president," a claim he's made several times before. He further touted his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which he said created numerous high paying union jobs. The president also said his plans for clean energy and high speed rail will bring in additional union jobs.
ORGANIZING
UArts faculty reach tentative agreement on first contract in school’s history
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Susan Snyder
Feb. 5, 2024
Faculty and the administration at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia have reached a tentative agreement after more than three years of negotiation on the first contract in the school’s nearly 150-year history. The agreement comes after an eight-hour negotiating session Sunday and as faculty prepared to take a strike authorization vote on Monday.
The latest union shop on Broadway? Phoenix Comics workers organize for retail representation
Capitol Hill Seattle Blog
By Hannah Saunders
Feb. 5, 2024
Broadway still might be a union street. After last spring’s celebration of ten successful years at 113 Broadway E, Phoenix Comics staff are kicking off the next ten having successfully formed a union represented by UFCW 3000. Elise Oziel, one of Phoenix’s six staff members, told CHS the team began discussing the formation of a union last summer.
Is Dance Poised for a Union Boom?
Dance Magazine
By Garnet Henderson
Feb. 5, 2024
Lots of dancers are union members—that isn’t new. Many of the country’s largest dance companies are unionized with the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), and dancers who work on Broadway are members of the Actors’ Equity Association. The Radio City Rockettes, Cirque du Soleil performers, and dancers at Disney and Universal theme parks are members of the American Guild of Variety Artists, and many other commercial dancers are members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
JOINING TOGETHER
No strike: Transit union reaches tentative deal with company that runs RTC
Las Vegas Review-Journal
By Marvin Clemons
Feb. 3, 2024
Bus drivers and mechanics will not be going on strike in the Las Vegas Valley. Amalgamated Transit Union 1637 members and Transdev, the company that operates the Regional Transportation Commission service, have reached a tentative new contract. A spokesman for Transdev announced the deal in an email Saturday morning.
City leaders, Springfield firefighters sign contract agreement
Springfield News-Sun
By Vicky Forrest
Feb. 5, 2024
City officials have signed a new contract with Springfield’s International Association of Firefighters Local 333 (IAFF 333), and both sides said they are satisfied with the agreement. IAFF 333 President Kevin Sanders offered praise for the process that led to the settlement, saying it’s important to note that the contract agreement is proof that collective bargaining works In Ohio.
Las Vegas Culinary Union avoids strike after agreeing with properties on new contracts
KVVU-TV
By Matt Kling
Feb. 5, 2024
Ahead of a Monday morning strike deadline, the Culinary Union announced deals over the weekend with several Downtown Las Vegas properties, and said they will not go on strike, even though workers at one Las Vegas resort do not have a contract. On Sunday night, the union announced a tentative five-year agreement with the Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino, hours after announced a deal was reached with the Golden Nugget Las Vegas. “These were tough negotiations,” Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said in a statement. “It took over 2 years of preparation, 10 months of negotiations, lots of hard work, committee meetings, sleepless nights, and worker-led organizing. No victory in our union’s history is ever guaranteed and thousands of workers who participated in rallies, protests, civil disobedience, picketing, surveys, picket sign making, strike voting, and delegations inside the properties sacrificed to win a better future for themselves and our families.
Strike averted as culinary union settles with Las Vegas hotel-casinos before Super Bowl week
ABC News
By The Associated Press
Feb. 5, 2024
A union representing hospitality workers says it has reached a tentative agreement with six more hotel-casinos in downtown Las Vegas and called off a strike deadline for another. The agreements averted a Monday morning walkout as the city kicks off Super Bowl week. The Culinary Workers Union announced Saturday that it had reached a tentative five-year contract with the Golden Nugget, Binion’s, Four Queens, Fremont and Main Street that covers about 1,000 workers. The union reached a tentative agreement Sunday with Downtown Grand, which represents about 200 workers. The culinary and an associated bartenders union are being given more time to reach an agreement with Virgin Las Vegas, an off-Strip resort. In a statement, Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said that a pact is expected “in the coming weeks.”
Tempe hotel employees go out on strike over working conditions
ABC 15 Arizona
By Josh Kristianto
Feb. 4, 2024
A group of Tempe hotel workers walked out of the job and took to the picket lines last week and over the weekend. Those workers at Hyatt Tempe Mission Palms are filing a federal unfair labor practice charge against their employer, citing threats and intimidation. "They wanted to intimidate me, intimidate us because we're out here trying to stand up for ourselves,” said David Borg.
Musicians Union ‘Has Not Resolved Our Core Issues’ With Studios, Sets Date to Resume Negotiations
Billboard
By Steve Knopper
Feb. 5, 2024
After negotiating a new contract with film and TV producers for the last 10 days, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), the 70,000-member union that represents musicians in orchestras and on-air performances, has “not resolved our core issues” and will continue negotiations later this month, according to a statement put out Monday (Feb. 5) by Tino Gagliardi, the union’s international president and chief negotiator.
SPORTS UNIONIZATION
US labor official says Dartmouth basketball players are school employees, sets stage for union vote
Associated Press
By Jimmy Golen and Ralph D. Russo
Feb. 5, 2024
A National Labor Relations Board regional official ruled on Monday that Dartmouth basketball players are employees of the school, clearing the way for an election that would create the first-ever labor union for NCAA athletes. All 15 members of the Dartmouth men’s basketball team signed a petition in September asking to join Local 560 of the Service Employees International Union, which already represents some other employees at the Ivy League school in Hanover, New Hampshire. Unionizing would allow the players to negotiate not only over salary but working conditions, including practice hours and travel.
STATE LEGISLATION
Newly filed legislation in Missouri aims to address workplace violence in health care
KSDK
By Paula Vasan
Feb. 5, 2024
Missouri State Rep. Justin Hicks (R-108th District) said "it was jaw-dropping" when he first heard about he issue of violence against health care workers. On Jan. 25, Hicks filed legislation that's the first of its kind in the state. "It gives the individual health care worker more power instead of the hospitals by itself," he said.House Bill 2556 would prevent hospitals from requiring employees to restrain patients if they fear for their own safety. Missouri does not have a state plan with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a government agency that enforces safe working conditions. It's why the nation's largest association of registered nurses, National Nurses United, said improved federal legislation is the answer to heighten standards within the industry overall, with better staffing for example to more effectively respond to violent patients.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Violence affects nursing recruitment, retention, NNU report finds
Beckers Hospital Review
By Ashleigh Hollowell
Feb. 5, 2024
Violence against nurses in the workplace is rising, and healthcare employers are failing to address it. The combination of the two is hurting recruitment and retention, according to a report published Feb. 5 from National Nurses United. A vast majority of nurses — 81.6% — reported to NNU for the report that they have experienced workplace violence, with half stating they have seen instances of violence increase in the last year.
UNION BUSTING
Restaurant workers wanted to unionize at this L.A. hotel. Now the restaurants are closing
Los Angeles Times
By Cindy Carcamo
Feb. 5, 2024
Eight days after restaurant workers at a hip downtown hotel filed cards to organize a union, the hotel’s food operator declared it would shutter the dining establishments that employed them, the latest in a string of showdowns and confrontations between workers and employers in L.A. area restaurants. The case is playing out at the Hotel Figueroa in downtown, home of Sparrow Italia, Cafe Fig, Bar Magnolia, the Cafeteria and La Casita at Driftwood. The historic building has for the last two decades built a following for its Mediterranean-inspired space and stylish dining rooms, but behind closed doors, tension has loomed between the third-party management company behind the restaurants, called Noble 33, and the estimated 100 food and beverage workers who run them. Discontent between Noble 33 and its employees at Hotel Figueroa started soon after the hospitality group took over food and beverage operations for the hotel in 2021, according to workers and union organizers who spoke with The Times.