Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
POLITICS
OPM’s labor-management forum guidance charts new ground for union policies
Government Executive
By Erich Wagner
March 18, 2024
The Office of Personnel Management last week issued new guidance aimed at helping federal agencies reinstitute forums for management and federal employee unions to work collaboratively to solve problems and, for the first time, measure how the initiative affects employee engagement and agency mission fulfillment. Earlier this month, President Biden signed an executive order restoring labor-management partnerships at federal agencies, rescinding a Trump-era edict banning the practice, as well as encouraging agencies to expand the use of registered apprenticeship programs to boost recruitment of young jobseekers into public service.
The American Prospect
By Robert Kuttner
March 18, 2024
You’d think it would be hard for Biden to top his full-on embrace of the UAW and their stunningly successful strike against the Big Three automakers. But Biden has just done it by declaring that he opposes the takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel of U.S. Steel. The U.S. needs to “maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers,” Biden declared, adding: “U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.”
TRANSPORTATION
Boeing labor contract is opportunity for overdue culture change
The Seattle Times
By The Seattle Times editorial board
March 15, 2024
You know a company is in deep trouble when comedians and stock analysts take similar jabs. With almost every day bringing more negative headlines about the quality and airworthiness of its products, Boeing is both a punchline and a cautionary tale. In response, the company has made a series of moves to reassure nervous airline customers, investors and the flying public. Much of it has been deemed too little, too late.
APPRENTICESHIPS
LOCAL Laborers’ Local 242 is building for the future
The Stand
By Staff
March 18, 2024
Laborers’ Local 242, an affiliate of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday to commemorate the construction of a new training facility. This ceremony commemorates the expansion of the union’s current training facility due to increased demand for construction craft Laborers in King County through city, county, state and federal funding. This includes funding for new projects under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and the new PLA Executive Order from the Biden Administration.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Unions Won Sky-High Pay Hikes in 2023 Negotiations
Bloomberg Law
By Robert Combs
March 19, 2024
Collective bargaining can be added to the list of areas in which US unions scaled new heights in 2023, along with organizing and striking. Union contracts negotiated in 2023 gave workers an average first-year wage increase of 6.6%, the highest average pay raise for any year since Bloomberg Law began tracking union wage settlements in 1988.
ORGANIZING
Nitehawk Cinema workers unionize, accuse management of ‘aggressive union-busting campaign’
Brooklyn Paper
By Kirstyn Brendlen
March 19, 2024
After a “clandestine” monthslong organizing campaign, workers at Nitehawk Cinema’s Prospect Park location voted to unionize last weekend in a two-day election. Employees at the beloved dine-in theater notified management of their plan to join up with United Auto Workers Local 2179 last month — citing unfair labor practices, unstable pay and scheduling, and safety concerns.
University of Michigan – Flint faculty union wins recognition by university administration
East Village Magazine
By Jan Worth-Nelson
March 19, 2024
A union for University of Michigan – Flint tenured and tenure-track faculty has come one step closer, with university administration agreeing March 13, 2024, to recognize the bargaining unit. Union organizers from the nascent UM – Flint AFT-AAUP, AFT Local 5671, notified members via email on March 14 of the administration’s decision. “We are so happy to be able to send this message today,” the email read. “Last night we were informed that the University has agreed to recognize our bargaining unit. This is HUGE.”
U. of C. Medical Center nurses ratify new contract with hospital
Hyde Park Herald
By Zoe Pharo
March 18, 2024
Nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) ratified a new four-year labor contract with hospital administrators last week, narrowly avoiding a planned strike. Last month, 2,800 nurses at UCMC, members of the union the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, voted to authorize a one-day strike for March 14 if a tentative agreement was not reached.
JOINING TOGETHER
They’re bargaining to improve safety, quality of life
The Stand
By Staff
March 19, 2024
More than 1,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 46 employed in the union’s second largest unit — Limited Energy Electricians — are at the bargaining table trying to improve their quality of life, including by introducing paid holidays. But negotiators from the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) have been refusing to even discuss the possibility. In the contract negotiations three years ago, NECA pushed IBEW 46 Limited Energy Electricians to the brink of a strike before they finally won a contract agreement. With that agreement set to expire on March 31, the union is hoping to avoid any potential work stoppage and is urging NECA to negotiate a fair contract that values these electricians and their safety.
IATSE Back at the Bargaining Table With a Focus on Cinematographer Issues
Variety
By Gene Maddaus
March 18, 2024
IATSE resumed negotiations with the major studios on Monday, with a day spent focused on items relevant to the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600. IATSE began talks earlier this month, as it seeks to address artificial intelligence, see wage increases to make up for inflation, and close a significant shortfall in its pension and health fund.
TSA Employees Tout Benefits After Ratifying New Union Contract
Fed Manager
By Staff
March 19, 2024
Employees at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) ratified a new union contract with the American Federal of Government Employees (AFGE). The seven-year collective bargaining agreement is the first contract since TSA employees received a significant raise and saw their employee rights expanded. “The new agreement puts us on the road to full Title 5 rights, better retention at TSA and will greatly increase the quality of life for the TSOs (transportation security officers) that we represent,” said AFGE Council 100 President Hydrick Thomas in a statement. The new contract features several changes meant to improve collective bargaining and employee morale. “AFGE has more than doubled the number of articles that could be bargained with TSA. But it’s more than just numbers – the substance is there, too,” said AFGE legal rights attorney Chris Blessing, who took part in the negotiations.
Deadline
By Dominic Patten
March 19, 2024
Back at the bargaining table with the studios this week after several days of caucusing, IATSE on Tuesday laid out its plans for the next phase of talks as a contract-expiration date inched closer for a tense Hollywood. “Following a caucus week, negotiations between the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) resumed Monday, with talks entering a new phase where each of IATSE’s 13 West Coast Studio Locals (WCSL) individually negotiate their Locals’ craft specific issues with the studios,” the Matt Loeb-led union said today in its first official missive since talks started up. “This phase of the process is expected to last from March 18 to April 26.”
County 10
By Katie Roenigk
March 19, 2024
Wyoming AFL-CIO executive director Tammy Johnson used Fremont County as an example this month to show how collective bargaining agreements could help stabilize the Emergency Medical Services system in the state. She was addressing the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee, which was discussing the topics it might want to tackle during the interim before next year’s legislative session.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Wanda Sykes to Receive Herb Sargent Award at Writers Guild of America East Ceremony
Variety
By Jack Dunn
March 19, 2024
Wanda Sykes will be honored with the Writers Guild of America East’s Herb Sargent Award at the 76th annual Writers Guild Awards, set for April 14 at the Edison Ballroom in New York. “Wanda Sykes is a master storyteller with a heart of gold. Her singular voice as a writer, performer, producer and mentor has given us decades worth of laughter and joy,” said Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, president of WGA East. “Even while wearing all of these hats, Wanda has prioritized scouting and mentoring the next generation of comedy writers. She’s a true champion of diversity, and also of labor — as anyone who saw her leading the picket lines in New York City last summer would attest. We’re so proud to have Wanda as a Writers Guild member, and to present her with this award.”
Animation Guild Artists Transform Kids with Serious Illnesses into Superheroes
Animation Magazine
By Mercedes Milligan
March 19, 2024
Members of The Animation Guild (TAG, IATSE Local 839) —animation artists working on popular TV shows and movies — have created posters of superhero personas for youth from Ronald McDonald House Pasadena, Gigi’s Playhouse in Orange County and other organizations around the U.S. and U.K. for a new exhibit, created in collaboration with The Superhero Project. “I hope my drawing can brighten a kid’s day and outlook on life even if it is just for short moment. Childhood is so precious but also fleeting — I hope this can be a happy memory in one child’s collection of many,” said Elaine S. Choi, Character Designer, Orion and the Dark.