ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Organized labor is committed to building sustainable offshore wind energy
People’s World
By Gil Netter
March 27, 2024
Labor leaders presented a pro-worker vision for generating sustainable offshore wind energy along the Southern New England coast at a virtual press conference, on Friday, March 15. This effort unites organized labor, the environmental movement, coastal communities, and elected officials. The press conference was moderated by Patrick Crowley, Secretary-Treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. The national significance of this commitment was highlighted by introductory remarks from Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO. Shuler said that good union jobs, environmental issues, offshore wind energy, and building a renewable energy industry are tied together.
ORGANIZING
Residents at WMU’s Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine vote to unionize
WKZO
By Ken Delaney
March 27, 2024
By an overwhelming margin, residents at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine have voted to form union. Last week, more than 90% of residents who voted, voted in favor of unionizing as the Resident and Fellow Alliance, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO unions. The union vote still has to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board.
KCUR editorial staffers begin the process of forming a union. Pay is a key issue
Dodge City Daily Globe
By Dan Margolies
March 27, 2024
Editorial staffers at KCUR, the NPR-member station in Kansas City, and its partners have petitioned to organize a union, the second public radio station in Missouri to do so. If successful, KCUR would become the second unionized public radio station in Missouri. The station’s general manager promised a continued focus on “trusted journalism and entertainment that is freely accessible to all.” Members of the union organizing committee said that 70% of eligible staffers, including reporters, producers, on-air hosts, newscasters and audience development specialists, joined the petition to form a collective bargaining unit with the Communication Workers of America.
Richmond bookstore unionizes; first in the region
The Commonwealth Times
By Jack Glagola
March 27, 2024
Five employees of Shelf Life Books, a local bookstore in Carytown, unanimously voted to form a union with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 last week. They are the first bookstore in Richmond to unionize, according to a press release. Growing numbers of bookstores have formed unions recently. Two bookstores in Washington, D.C., Politics and Prose and Solid State Books, who unionized in 2022 and 2023, respectively, inspired the workers at Shelf Life to launch their own effort, according to the press release.
JOINING TOGETHER
Sega of America workers ratify union contract, protecting 150 employees
Polygon
By Michael McWhertor and Nicole Carpenter
March 27, 2024
Workers at Sega of America voted Tuesday to ratify their first collectively-bargained contract with the U.S. arm of the video game company, granting new protections and raises for about 150 full-time and temporary employees. Workers in the union, known as Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS), won important concessions from Sega of America as part of the contract, including base-building raises for all employees, layoff protections, and a commitment to crediting people on games they’ve worked on, including early QA testers. It also affords employees in the union other protections, including letting workers pursue creative work in addition to their work at Sega and a guaranteed continuation of hybrid work.
After contract agreement reached, MASS MoCA union employees end strike and return to work Wednesday
New England Public Media
By Jill Kaufman
March 27, 2024
MASS MoCA, the contemporary art museum in North Adams, Massachusetts, will be staffed as usual Wednesday, after unionized workers voted late Tuesday to ratify an agreement on wages, ending a three-week strike that began March 6. “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with the MASS MoCA that raises minimum pay rates and improves working conditions. We are looking forward to getting back to the jobs we love," the United Auto Workers bargaining committee said in a statement Tuesday night.
Somerset County, union reach deal boosting pay 19% over three years
The Tribune-Democrat
By David Hurst
March 27, 2024
A new contract with Somerset County’s largest union will raise most existing wages by 19% over three years – and increase the minimum entry level county wage to $12.50. The deal between Somerset County commissioners and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees workers approved Tuesday boosts wages for 174 union positions, including Area Agency on Aging care managers, Children & Youth Services caseworkers, maintenance staff, sheriff deputies and 911 telecommunicators, among others.
Bricklayers union protests outsourced project at Heritage High School
WANE
By Lydia Reuille
March 27, 2024
Members of the Bricklayers Local 4 protested a project Wednesday with signs and inflatables outside Heritage Junior/Senior High School. The labor union was protesting the contractor heading up an ongoing project at the school. “With East Allen County Schools, they expect us to bring in their students and put them to work, but then the fact of it is, we don’t have a place to put them because they’re giving it to a contractor that’s not even part of this community,” said Glenn Head, field representative for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.
NLRB
SPEEA wins reinstatement for 7 Boeing pilots in labor case
The Stand
By SPEEA, IFPTE Local 2001
March 27, 2024
The Boeing Company violated federal labor law by retaliating against seven of its instructor pilots who had engaged in union activity, a federal administrative law judge ruled. “I find that Boeing was motivated by anti-union animus and was punishing its (Flight Training Airplane) pilots for their union activity in April 2020,” Judge Gerald M. Etchingham wrote in his order issued March 22 for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). “No other rational explanation exists.”
STATE LEGISLATION
Phoenix passes landmark rule requiring heat protection for outdoor workers
The Guardian
By Aliya Uteuova
March 27, 2024
Phoenix, Arizona, passed a landmark rule this week that will provide protections from extreme heat for thousands of outdoor workers in the hottest US city. In a unanimous 7-0 vote, Phoenix city council passed an ordinance on Tuesday requiring employers to provide access to rest, shade, water and air conditioning, as well as training on recognizing signs of heat stress. The rule applies to city contractors and their subcontractors who work outdoors, including construction and airport workers.
North Alabama Area Labor Council condemns “anti-worker” legislation
Alabama Political Reporter
By Patrick Darrington
March 27, 2024
On Tuesday, the North Alabama Area Labor Council released a statement condemning, “anti-worker” legislation recently filed in the Legislature that could dissuade business owners from recognizing unions at the workplace. The bill, SB231, was introduced by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur. The legislation states that it will “condition an employer’s eligibility for economic development incentives upon the employer refraining from certain practices relating to employee representation by a labor organization.” The incentives include grants, loans or tax credits that the state or local government could provide to an employer. Under current law, an employer can recognize a union if a majority of employees signed up to join the union. However, Orr’s bill would make employers ineligible for economic incentives if they recognize a union based solely on signed authorization cards if that bargaining representative could be selected through a secret ballot process.
IN THE STATES
Party plans for Dem convention
Politico
By Shia Kapos
March 27, 2024
A group of Illinois power players has created a new organization to manage events and organize Illinois’ delegates and stakeholders during this summer’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Tim Drea, head of the Illinois AFL-CIO, will serve as president.
Wisconsin Supreme Court lets ruling stand that declared Amazon drivers to be employees
PBS
By Scott Bauer
March 26, 2024
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that declared some delivery drivers for Amazon were employees as the state argued, not independent contractors as the online retail giant contended. The court, in a unanimous decision, said the appeal was “improvidently granted,” meaning the Supreme Court should not have reviewed the case. That decision dismissing the case, issued after the court heard oral arguments, leaves a 2023 Wisconsin appeals court ruling against Amazon in place. Stephanie Bloomingdale, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, hailed the court’s action, calling it a “win for working people.” “Far too often, especially in the emerging gig economy, big and powerful companies like Amazon use the misclassification of employees as independent contractors to deny working people essential workplace rights like minimum wages, overtime pay, and unemployment insurance,” she said.
April Sims And Cherika Carter: Trailblazing Leaders Transforming Labor Movement In Washington State
The Seattle Medium
By Aaron Allen
March 27, 2024
April Sims and Cherika Carter will forever be connected when it comes to the history of the labor movement. Sims, who serves as President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and Carter, who was appointed as the Secretary Treasurer of the organization, are the first two African American women to hold both leadership positions at the same time. “I learned at a young age the difference a good union job can make in the life of a worker, their families, and their communities. And that knowledge has driven my service in the labor movement, it is what drives my vision for the labor movement we can create, a movement that is bold and dynamic, inclusive and rooted in equity,” says Sims. “I often tell folks it was discounted movie tickets that got me to walk into a union hall for the first time, but it’s the solidarity that keeps me coming back,” says Carter. According to Sims, The Washington State Labor Council, (WSLC), AFL-CIO, which represents over a half million workers statewide, and as “the umbrella organization for all of the labor unions in the state,” is considered to be the local “voice of labor.”
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
'Hero of the Year': Texas USPS worker saved woman from dog attack. Here's his heroic story
Amarillo Globe-News
By Brandi D. Addison
March 27, 2024
United States Postal Service worker Philip Moon was on his route in Amarillo when he witnessed a resident and her two dogs engaged in a harrowing battle against a pit bull. In a remarkable sequence of events, Moon intervened and saved her life. Although the National Association of Letter Carriers recognized Moon as "Hero of the Year" during its annual award ceremony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Moon told them that he didn't necessarily consider his actions heroic. "Knowing the people I work with, anybody would have done what I did," he said in a news release.
LABOR HISTORY
On this day in 1946: Walter Reuther is elected UAW president
Michigan Advance
By Ken Coleman
March 27, 2024
On March 27, 1946, Walter Reuther was elected president of the United Auto Workers (UAW). He defeated incumbent president R.J. Thomas by about 100 votes with about 9,000 votes cast. “There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak,” Reuther said during his tenure as UAW president. “There is no greater satisfaction than to do it well.” He later co-founded the AFL-CIO in 1955 with George Meany.