POLITICS
Latest AFL-CIO lawmaker ratings show deep partisan split
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
March 1, 2024
It should come as no great surprise, but the AFL-CIO’s annual study of lawmakers’ key votes showed a highly partisan split last year on issues workers really cared about: Democrats, and the Senate’s three independents, for; Republicans against—really against. “Working people fought to elect champions in Congress who together with President Biden have delivered on key priorities, including ensuring we have the freedom to organize and form unions,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement about the voting study.
JOINING TOGETHER
IATSE and Teamsters Warn of Another Hollywood Strike at Massive Rally: ‘Put Your Helmets On’
Variety
By Katcy Stephan, Gene Maddaus, Carolyn Giardina
March 3, 2024
Negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are set to begin on Monday. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Teamsters and the Hollywood Basic Crafts will jointly bargain health and pension benefits. Over the next few months, IATSE and the Teamsters and Basic Crafts will then bargain their separate agreements, with the hope of having the deals ratified by the deadline. At the rally, Matthew Loeb, the international president of IATSE, struck a somewhat more moderate tone than O’Brien, repeatedly emphasizing, “There’s enough to go around.”
'The fight is honestly just beginning' | YouTube Music employee discusses sudden layoffs
KVUE
By Kelsey Sanchez
March 2, 2024
A YouTube Music contract worker said that he was prepared to make a victory speech at the Austin City Council meeting on Feb. 29 after pleading with the council to support their cause toward bringing their employers to the negotiating table with their union. Instead, during his speech that was captured on video, he and roughly 40 of his team members learned that their contracts had ended. The job cuts come after YouTube Music workers who became a union through the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) went on strike citing unfair working conditions.
Kroger union workers reject contract offer, vote to strike
The Herald-Dispatch
By Fred Pace
March 1, 2024
Kroger union members working at 38 stores in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio voted overwhelmingly to reject the company's last contract offer and also voted to approve a strike. HD Media watched the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union vote count live Friday morning on Zoom. Ballots were cast by union workers on Wednesday and Thursday. The vote was conducted in select stores this week and ballots were tallied Friday. Members voted 1,375–214 (87%) to reject the company’s contract proposal and 1,347–229 (85%) to authorize a strike.
Citing contentious bargaining talks, Mass MoCA union to go on strike starting Wednesday
The Berkshire Eagle
By Sten Spinella
March 1, 2024
Meg Labbee has been working at Mass MoCA since the fall of 1999. In those 25 years, she said, employees have never carried out an all out strike. That could change next week. Amid “acrimony” with management, the union at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art has decided to strike — 97 percent of workers voted in favor. The union and the museum have been bargaining, unsuccessfully, over wages since October, leading to the planned all-out strike, to start Wednesday. “We plan on being out there until we come to the conclusion that we are both happy with,” said Labbee, artist services director at the museum.
Met Council, Metro Transit workers approve labor agreement, raising wages
CBS News
By Aki Nace
March 1, 2024
The Metropolitan Council and the union representing Metro Transit bus and train operators approved a labor agreement that will increase wages effective immediately. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 represents roughly 2,000 bus and train operators, technicians, and public facility workers.
Desert Sun journalists are on strike with a planned local rally on Monday
KESQ
By Clarissa Ayala
March 1, 2024
Unionized journalists from the Desert Sun’s newspaper announced a strike Friday morning after three years of talks with the paper’s publisher, Gannett. The Desert Sun Newsguild is accusing Gannett of refusing to offer consistent raises or any protections against health care cost hikes. The Desert Sun Newsguild is part of the Newsguild-CWA which represents more than a thousand employees.
Wesleyan University dining workers to rally for equal wages, benefits
WTNH
By Courtney Ingalls and Natasha Lubczenko
March 1, 2024
A rally is set to take place Friday afternoon on Wesleyan University’s campus to fight for better treatment of restaurant workers at two of the university’s restaurants. Unionized dining workers here are demanding the university resolve the “labor crisis” on campus. They’ll specifically be fighting for equal wages and benefits. The workers rallying Friday are from two restaurants on campus, WesWings and the Red and Black Café. They are currently represented by Local 217 UNITE HERE, which represents workers at colleges and universities throughout the state, including Connecticut College and Trinity College to name a few.
Variety
By Gene Maddaus
Feb. 29, 2024
Matthew Loeb is heading into what is likely to be the most consequential negotiation of his 16-year tenure to date as international president of IATSE. The union’s contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are set to begin March 4. After last year’s protracted strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the industry is on edge about the possibility of another work stoppage. This time around, IATSE is bolstering its bargaining muscle by negotiating key aspects of the contract jointly with the Hollywood Basic Crafts union as well as Hollywood Teamsters.
Kroger union workers at 38 stores in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio reject contract offer
CBS News
By Staff
March 1, 2024
Union workers at 38 Kroger stores in West Virginia and two other states have voted to reject the grocery chain's contract proposal and give their bargaining committee the authority to call a strike. Members of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 Union voted 1,375 to 214 against the three-year contract offer and 1,347 to 229 to authorize a strike. Workers will remain on the job unless the bargaining committee tells them to walk out, the union said in a statement Friday.
STATE LEGISLATION
I almost lost my fingers working as a teen. Our kids deserve better than this labor bill. (Opinion)
Courier Journal
By Adam K. Raymond
March 1, 2024
When I was 16, I nearly sliced two fingers off my left hand while working at a plastics factory. A tenacious strip of tissue and pins inserted through my fingertips gave me a second chance. I thought of my near-amputation as the state House passed House Bill 255, which would weaken Kentucky’s already permissive child labor laws. That bill will put more children at risk of falling behind at school, being exploited by unscrupulous employers eager for low-wage workers and getting hurt at work.
Labor organizers push back on 'union-busting' bill
KMALAND
By Mark Moran
March 2, 2024
Labor organizers are pushing back on a measure in the Iowa Legislature they say is designed to undermine unions. It would create an additional step in order for a labor union to be certified by the state. Senate Study Bill 3158, introduced by the Republican majority, would require public employers that hire union-backed workers to submit a list of employees who are in the bargaining unit to the state within 10 days of a union recertification election. American Federation of Labor (AFL) Iowa chapter President Charlie Wishman called the bill a clear attempt to disrupt unions. "If they're not sending in the list, why are they punishing the union by saying that the union needs to take the employer to court?" said Wishman. "It's just totally upside down, on its face."
IN THE STATES
New Hanover County NAACP hosts Souls to the Polls event
WECT News 6
By Reyna Crooms
Feb. 25, 2024
“It’s important because this is where we choose our candidates that are going to be in the general election. But I also believe in the power of the people. And I believe that we have to show up and show out and vote for the candidates who are going to support the people and the will of the people,” said Lynn Shoemaker, president of the Southeastern North Carolina Central Labor Council. Shoemaker says she believes every ballot can make a difference. She says she supports Souls to the Polls because the event encourages people to vote no matter who they are. “People died for my right to be able to vote. It came late to women. It came even later to black women, and I’m going to protect what they fought for,” said Shoemaker.
The Most Important Labor Story Right Now Is in Minnesota—It Might Be the Model We All Need
Workday Magazine
By Sarah Jaffe
March 2, 2024
Local 26 is just one of a major network of unions and community groups in Minneapolis and St. Paul that lined up bargaining processes for new contracts — and in some cases, strike votes — around a March 2 deadline, deliberately set in order to maximize their leverage and win collectively-determined community demands around four key issues: dignified work, stable housing, a livable planet and good schools. That deadline is today, and a rolling Week of Action that will likely include thousands of workers on strike, street protests, and art and theater events, is set to begin.
Labor report card is out. How did our electeds do?
Forward Kentucky
By Berry Craig
March 3, 2024
“Elections have consequences,” former Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan is ever-reminding Kentucky union members from Jordan to Jenkins. On Thursday, the national AFL-CIO provided proof that Londrigan is right. The country’s largest labor organization unveiled its 2023 Legislative Scorecard. “This voting record lets you know where your lawmakers stand on issues important to working families, including strengthening Social Security and Medicare, freedom to join a union, improving workplace safety, and more,” says the scorecard webpage.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
RWDSU Union Members to Support New York’s Retail Workers Safety Act
Women’s Wear Daily
By Rosemary Feitelberg
March 1, 2024
Supporters of the Retail Workers Safety Act will be making the legislation’s case on Tuesday in Albany, as companies continue to express concern over retail theft and violence. Retail workers, union members and leaders from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union will travel to host a press conference and lobby for the legislation. A few dozen people from the union will be making the trip upstate, including RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, according to a RWDSU spokesperson.
RETIREMENT SECURITY
CNBC
By Lorie Konish
March 1, 2024
Many Americans long for the days when companies guaranteed workers income in retirement. That includes Sara Schambers, a fourth-generation Ford auto worker and member of the United Auto Workers union, who saw her grandparents retire with financial security. But after obtaining a permanent position in 2012, the same benefits have not been available to her. “Without a pension and post-retirement health care, you have people leaving this company after 30 years’ service with nothing more than a, ‘Have a nice day, hope the stock market doesn’t crash,’” Schambers told Senate leaders during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.