TRANSPORTATION
Union group opposes Ancora’s attempts at Norfolk Southern takeover
Railway Technology
By Noah Bovenizer
March 11, 2024
The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of trade union centre AFL-CIO has said it is “gravely concerned” by the attempts from Ancora Holdings to oust Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw in a letter sent to shareholders ahead of a vote on Ancora’s proposed replacement. A letter sent by TTD President Greg Regan, on behalf of TTD’s 37 member unions, said that the replacement of Shaw with Jim Barber, a former executive at UPS, would have “lasting deleterious effects on the safety and service” of the railroad company and the wider rail industry.
ORGANIZING
Dartmouth basketball's union vote is just a small part of the campus organizing wave
CNN
By Chris Isidore
March 11, 2024
The Dartmouth College men’s basketball team achieved a significant milestone last week when they became the first college athletes to vote to join a union. But they are only a small part of a much larger trend – that of college and graduate students voting in big numbers to join unions in their on-campus jobs. Organizing vote wins in higher education have added more new union members than in any other sector of the economy in recent years, said Christian Sweeney, deputy organizing director at the AFL-CIO. “It’s been happening for a while,” he said. “It’s young people saying we’ve got to protect our interests here. It’s really very much grassroots driven.”
Patagonia in Reno becomes first in the US to unionize
KOLO
By Kevin Sheridan
March 11, 2024
The Patagonia Store in Reno has voted to become the first such store in the nation to form a union. The store, located at 130 S Center Street, will be joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 711. “My fellow co-workers and I are now standing together with the protections of union representation and about to negotiate a contract, all thanks to our union siblings over at REI whose progress inspired us to continue the hard work of unionizing this industry. “We are ready to fight for a contract that protects our rights and provides the wages and benefits we’ve earned making Patagonia the success that it is in Reno,” said Nick Helmreich, a retail team lead at the Reno Patagonia store.
Goodman Theatre’s house staff files petition to unionize
Chicago Tribune
By Chris Jones
March 11, 2024
Chicago’s Local 2 branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has filed a petition to organize the front-of-house, box office and concession staff at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. The unionization push at the Goodman follows similar, successful efforts at the Steppenwolf Theatre and other nonprofit arts organizations. “We look forward to representing Goodman front-of-house workers and getting them a fair, collectively bargained agreement,” said IATSE business manager Craig P. Carlson.
In A First In Colorado, Denver Art Museum Workers Vote To Unionize
The Art Insider
By Karan
March 11, 2024
The workers at Denver Art Museum voted to unionize last week – making them the first unionized art workforce in Colorado. The workers successfully voted to become a part of AFSCME Council 18, a national organization composed of workers at libraries, zoos, and museums. The voting took place on Thursday and passed with 67% votes in favor. This was a supermajority, as more than two-thirds of the voters supported the motion. Once formalized, the union will represent over 200 workers working in various departments at the Denver Art Museum.
JOINING TOGETHER
Labor Tribune
By Tim Rowden
Registered nurses at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital (SLUH) held a candlelight vigil for patient safety on Feb. 29. SLUH nurses are fighting for patient safety and a fair contract that addresses their concerns about nurse retention and recruitment. The RNs have been in contract negotiations since May 2023 with little to no movement on key issues. Their contract expired on June 15, 2023. RNs say chronic short-staffing is affecting patient care. Over the past few months, nurses say, they have seen an increase in patient falls, pressure sores, and delays in patient care due to SLUH’s staffing crisis.
Microsoft voluntarily recognizes 600-strong Activision Blizzard QA union
Game Developer
By Chris Kerr
March 11, 2024
"Microsoft continues to keep its commitment to let workers decide for themselves whether they want a union," said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. "Time and again, other big companies in the industry have made the decision to undermine and attack their own employees when they join together to form a union. Microsoft's choice will strengthen its corporate culture and ability to serve its customers and should serve as a model for the industry."
CT Governor Lamont, unions agree on 2.5% wage hike plus step increase
The Bulletin
By Keith M. Phaneuf
March 10, 2024
Nearly 45,000 state employees would receive a 2.5% general raise and a step increase next fiscal year under a tentative deal announced Wednesday afternoon by Gov. Ned Lamont and labor leaders. The agreement, which still must be considered by the General Assembly and by bargaining units within the State Employees Bargaining Agents Coalition, covers nearly the entire state government workforce.
The New School and Academic Student Workers End Strike and Reach a Tentative Deal
Women’s Wear Daily
By Rosemary Feitelberg
March 11, 2024
After months of negotiations and a three-day strike, academic student workers at The New School have reached a tentative agreement with the university for a successor contract. Pending ratification, the deal would give the university’s academic student workers, who are members of the ACT-UAW Local 7902, across-the-board raises ranging between 24 percent and 31 percent, and 80 percent health care coverage would be provided for all graduate workers.
University of Chicago Medicine, nurses reach tentative contract to avoid Thursday strike
Chicago Sun-Times
By Violet Miller
March 11, 2024
University of Chicago Medicine and its registered nurses reached a tentative agreement Monday, ahead of a planned strike that has since been canceled. National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United — which represents 2,800 nurses in the health system — said the one-day strike set for Thursday was canceled after a tentative contract was reached. The nurses are set to vote on the new contract Tuesday and Wednesday, the union said in a statement.
Drexel University resident assistants file petition to unionize
The Triangle
By Kejsi Ruka and Ryan Keating
March 11, 2024
Resident assistants at Drexel University announced their intent to unionize in a petition submitted to Drexel President John Fry on March 11. 80 percent of Drexel resident assistants, which includes 102 students, signed the petition to form a union with OPEIU-152 and to demand voluntary recognition, according to a press release. The petition calls for (1) Drexel to voluntarily recognize the union and (2) “If Drexel instead proceeds to a union election, the University will not employ deceptive, manipulative, and unethical union-busting tactics, and instead, let the student workers form an educated decision on their terms.”
NLRB
Major US corporations threaten to return labor to ‘law of the jungle’
The Guardian
By Steven Greenhouse
March 10, 2024
Upset by the surge in union drives, several of the best-known corporations in the US are seeking to cripple the country’s top labor watchdog, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), by having it declared unconstitutional. Some labor experts warn that if those efforts succeed, US labor relations might return to “the law of the jungle”.
IN THE STATES
Labor Tribune
By Staff
March 11, 2024
The Missouri Alliance for Retired Americans has announced the 2024 Workers Memorial Day Interfaith Prayer Service and Brunch, being held on Sunday, April 28, at the Shrine of St. Joseph at 11th and Biddle streets in downtown St. Louis. Every April 28, the unions of the AFL-CIO across America observe Workers’ Memorial Day to remember those who have been injured, contracted an illness, or died as a result of simply doing their jobs over the past year. The date is the anniversary of the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), which was enacted on April 28, 1970. This will be the 44th annual Labor Mass in St. Louis, one of the longest running Workers Memorial Day events in the nation.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Top Women in Construction 2024: Outstanding Tradesperson/Craftswoman
Finance & Commerce
By Brian Martucci
March 11, 2024
Rosey Grab is a fourth-generation operating engineer who’s spent the past few years running cranes on MnDOT’s massive Twin Ports Interchange project in Duluth as a journeyman crane operator for Kraemer North America. Before changing careers, Grab spent 20 years stringing together low-paying jobs — as many as five at one point — to help support her family of six. Retail, nonunion manufacturing, bartending, educational aide: She did it all. Grab made her move in 2016, beginning a six-year apprenticeship with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 49. According to a Minnesota Building & Construction Trades Council write-up, she started out on the backfill crew for Mortenson Construction’s Blazing Star 1 wind farm, a 200-megawatt project in western Minnesota. The project gave Grab a firsthand look at the key roles union tradespeople played in building future energy systems and “cemented Grab’s desire to make construction a career,” the write-up said. Grab remains active with the IUOE Local 49, and one of its strongest advocates for women in the trades. She sits on the IUOE Local 49 Women’s Committee and is a regular presence on tradeswomen-focused social media groups: Women of IUOE Local 49, MN Women in the Trades, and IUOE Women, among others. Recently, she’s become a fixture at events hosted by Building Strong Communities, an apprenticeship program that prepares women and people of color for careers in construction and the trades.