Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
POLITICS
New rule would stop civil service from turning into spoils system
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
April 11, 2024
“One reason for the stability of our federal government is federal employees continue doing their jobs and serving the American public even as political administrations come and go,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley after OPM formally published its new rule on April 8. “Turning positions that demand technical expertise into political appointments filled based on partisan loyalty would undermine this fundamental tenet of our government and lead to chaos and corruption. Such actions would undermine our democratic, nonpartisan government and take us back to the 19th century when civil servants were hired based on political loyalty rather than professional ability.”
ORGANIZING
WEKU
By Shepherd Snyder
April 11, 2024
Last month, student workers at Berea College announced their plans to organize a labor union — the first at any Work College in the country. Members of the United Student Workers of Berea are organizing for a number of reasons, including higher wages, negotiable job contracts and a formal grievance system. The group filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in mid-March to hold a unionization vote. More than 1,300 undergraduate students would be represented. If the vote passes, they will be able to start negotiations with the school’s administration. Maggie Neal is a junior at Berea College and union organizer.
UAOU unites for unionization amid university’s delays
The Post Athens
By Maggie Amacher
April 10, 2024
The United Academics of Ohio University, or UAOU, organized a solidarity event and discussion of the current state of unionizing at the Scripps Hall Amphitheater on Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. to show OU leadership that faculty are ready to vote for unionization. Around 50 faculty members attended the event, sporting red UAOU buttons and holding signs expressing their reasons for advocating for unionization. “I want a union at OU to stop admin bullying and to ensure a better learning environment,” read one sign. Other signs featured on UAOU’s Instagram state reasons for unionization such as, “Our working conditions are student learning conditions” and “We need shared governance back!” The gathering highlighted unity among various union groups present, including the Association of People Supporting Employment First, or APSE, and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.
JOINING TOGETHER
IBEW 46 Limited Energy Electricians are on STRIKE
The Stand
By Staff
April 11, 2024
ffective at 12:01 a.m. this morning, hundreds of Limited Energy Electricians represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 46 in the Puget Sound area are on strike against National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Unless they are working on a job site covered by a Project Labor Agreement/Community Workforce Agreement, these electricians — who install and maintain multiple life-safety systems, such as fire and security alarms, building access and HVAC controls, computers, phones, emergency radios, and more — are now on strike.
University of New Haven and striking workers reach tentative agreement
New Haven Register
By Brian Zahn
April 11, 2024
Unionized University of New Haven facilities workers walked off the job Thursday, 10 days after voting to authorize a strike over what they said are insufficient job protections in the university's contract proposal. Just before 3 p.m., the union called off the strike, having reached a tentative agreement during a meeting with university leadership at City Hall. A representative for the union said members will vote on the tentative agreement's ratification at 9 a.m. Friday.
United flight attendants rally outside O’Hare, demanding better pay
Chicago Sun-Times
By Amy Yee
April 11, 2024
Flight attendants for United Airlines and their supporters picketed Thursday outside of O’Hare Airport to demand better wages and work conditions, as part of a worldwide day of action. About 200 United flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), held signs and rallied outside Terminal 1 and 2. Pickets were also held at 16 other airports, including in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland and as far away as London and Guam.
PASSHE approves new contracts for faculty, coaches, and nurses
My Twin Tiers
By Mac Bell
April 11, 2024
The Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) recently approved three collective bargaining agreements with faculty members, coaches, and nurses. According to PASSHE, non-faculty members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF), along with members of the Office of Professional Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania (OPEIU) recently ratified their contracts. It is important to note that OPEIU includes registered nurses, university-certified registered nurse practitioners, or university-registered nurse supervisors.
Eaze cannabis delivery drivers threaten strike ahead of annual pot holiday
Los Angeles Times
By Suhauna Hussain
Apri. 11, 2024
California cannabis delivery company Eaze may face a work stoppage next weekahead of the annual pot holiday 4/20, a peak sales time for weed businesses. Nearly 600 cannabis delivery drivers and depot staff across California who work at Eaze and its subsidiary Stachs are represented by various locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
Culinary Union pickets Virgin Hotels Las Vegas seeking five year contracts
News3 LV
By News 3 Staff
April 11, 2024
Signs were held high as the Culinary Union picketed outside Virgin Hotel Las Vegas on Thursday during contract negotiations. Union members walked outside for an informational picket, encouraging visitors to cancel their reservations and check out of the property.
IN THE STATES
Laborers' International Union of North America endorses Sherrod Brown for reelection
The Chronicle
By The Chronicle-Telegram
April 11, 2024
The Laborers' International Union of North America on Wednesday endorsed U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, for reelection. "The Laborers' District Council of Ohio and the 20,000 working men and women throughout the great state of Ohio are proud to endorse Sen. Sherrod Brown for his reelection to the U.S. Senate," Laborers' District Council of Ohio Business Manager and Secretary-Treasurer Ralph Cole said in a statement released by the Brown campaign.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
UAW organizing at Troy Toyota benefits workers, community (Opinion)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Ed Finkelstein
April 11, 2024
The United Auto Workers (UAW) is striving to bring the benefits and protections of a union contract to the Toyota workers in Troy, Mo. In response, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce has launched a distortion campaign to discourage them from joining the UAW. In the recent op-ed “Unionization is a bad deal for Toyota workers in Troy“ (April 5), the Chamber spewed misinformation from its Big Business “destroy-unions” playbook. Here is a point-by-point response: Chamber: “Along with unionization comes the possibility of strikes.” An overblown threat. When workers get ground down by heedless management and see managerial salaries soar while their families suffer, a strike is an option. But, of over 14 million union workers in the U.S., only 3% of them went on strike last year. And with tens of thousands of union contracts in place across America, only 33 strikes occurred, 87% of them in the service industries.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
New federal guidelines address transit worker, passenger safety
KERA
By Pablo Arauz Peña
April 11, 2024
The Federal Transit Administration on Tuesday announced new guidelines addressing safety for transit workers and passengers on trains and buses. The new rules address longstanding issues such as assaults on transit workers, collisions and exposure to infectious diseases for agencies like Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Trinity Metro. The updated National Public Transportation Safety Plan calls on transit agencies to set safety goals based on a new set of criteria "in cooperation with frontline employee representatives." The criteria include metrics for collisions, injuries, assaults and fatalities. It also maintains that "assaults" include non-violent and verbal assaults that are recorded in the National Transit Database. The Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents transit employees across North America, applauded the new rules as a win for frontline workers. “For years, our members, especially transit bus drivers, have been the victims of vicious physical attacks. They get punched, shot, stabbed, and spit on. Passengers throw hot coffee and urine in their faces. They are sitting ducks with no protections,” said ATU International President John Costa in a written statement. “I’ve had grown men come into my office crying. It’s incredibly sad.”
WAGE THEFT
Wisconsin DOJ accuses Dane County business owner of $8,000 in wage theft
WKOW
By JT Cestkowski
April 10, 2024
The state has sued a local business in Dane County court, alleging that the company’s owner owes a set of former employees thousands of dollars in back wages. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Dane County court against Jeremy Kruk and his former apparel business by the Wisconsin Department of Justice on behalf of the Department of Workforce Development. The state alleges employees filed complaints against Kruk for failing to pay wages in April, 2022. The total wages owed to nine former employees are $8,230.68. DOJ is asking the court to order Kruk to pay the owed wages and an identical amount in penalties.