Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
MUST READ
Volkswagen workers in Tennessee pass historic vote to unionize
The Washington Post
By Jeanne Whalen and Lauren Kaori Gurley
April 19, 2024
Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., passed a historic vote to join the United Auto Workers, the union said Friday, becoming the first Southern auto factory to approve a union with an election since the 1940s. The union’s unofficial vote count, which still must be confirmed by federal labor officials conducting the ballot, showed 73 percent of workers had voted yes by 10 p.m. E.T. on Friday night. It will take a simple majority for the vote to pass. The vote marks a victory for the UAW and for organized labor, which has faced years of difficulty organizing factories in Southern states. The UAW has twice previously failed to unionize the VW plant, in 2014 and 2019. The plant will join a handful of other unionized auto factories in the South, where local laws and customs have made it hard for unions to make inroads. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest federation of labor unions, called the victory “a historic milestone for workers across the state and the broader South.”
POLITICS
Biden rallies IBEW members as he looks to highlight union support ahead of November
Spectrum News 1
By Maddie Gannon
April 19, 2024
President Joe Biden rallied union members at the IBEW Construction and Maintenance conference in Washington on Friday in his latest bid to put his self-declared pro-union bona fides front-and-center ahead of the 2024 election. “It’s good to be home,” Biden declared as walked to the podium in front of cheering members of the labor union, adding his grandfather would be “proud as hell I’m listed as the most pro-union president in history.” “Brothers and sisters, please join me in welcoming the biggest supporter of the IBEW, the most union-friendly, pro-labor president in the history of this great nation, our current and next president of the united states, Joe Biden,” IBEW International President Kenneth Cooper said to introduce the president on Friday.
President Biden delivers remarks at IBEW Construction and Maintenance Conference
News4Jax
By Marcela Camargo
April 19, 2024
President Joe Biden delivered remarks at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Construction and Maintenance Conference on Friday at the Washington Hilton. The IBEW represents more than 800,000 active members and retirees who work in many fields including utilities, construction, telecommunications, broadcasting, manufacturing, railroads and government, according to its website.
First lady Jill Biden to kick off Educators for Biden to mobilize teachers
ABC News
By Libby Cathey, Fritz Farrow, and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
April 19, 2024
First lady Jill Biden, in Minnesota on Friday, will launch Educators for Biden-Harris -- a national organizing program intended to engage and mobilize teachers, school staff and parents to vote for President Joe Biden, the Biden-Harris campaign shared exclusively with ABC News. Kicking off the coalition in an evening speech to educators at the Education Minnesota Convention in Bloomington, the first lady, a classroom teacher for over 30 years, will brand her husband as "the education president."
MANUFACTURING
Maine can help our nation regain shipbuilding dominance
Bangor Daily News
By Brian Bryant
April 19, 2024
China is now building warships at a rate that could rival the United States during wartime. As international president of the 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Local S6 member and former pipefitter at Bath Iron Works, I write with a sense of urgency and deep concern for the future of our shipbuilding capabilities, as recent reports have pointed out that Chinese shipyards are thriving and primed to build at wartime rates, while U.S. shipbuilding is struggling to keep up. The Alliance for American Manufacturing just released a video, citing a leaked Navy briefing slide, showing China’s shipbuilding capacity is 232 times greater than the United States. The IAM and four national labor unions filed a petition urging President Joe Biden to launch an investigation into China’s predatory trade practices and get America’s shipbuilding industry back on track.
ORGANIZING
Volkswagen workers vote overwhelmingly to join the UAW, giving the union a groundbreaking win
CNN
By Chris Isidore
April 19, 2024
Hourly workers at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee overwhelming voted to join the United Auto Workers late Friday, a major breakthrough in the union’s effort to organize workers at plants nationwide. Shortly after 11 pm ET on Friday the National Labor Relations Board, the federal body that oversees such votes, announced that 73% of the 3,600 workers at the plant who cast ballots had voted in favor of joining the union. There was an 84% turnout among eligible voters.
Better Buzz Hillcrest baristas seeking unionization
Fox5
By Danielle Dawson
April 19, 2024
Workers at one of the locations of San Diego coffee chain, Better Buzz, has taken the first steps towards unionzing. In an open letter obtained by FOX 5/KUSI, the baristas at Better Buzz’s Hillcrest store said an election petition to join The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 135 was filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Friday. The workers cite access to benefits, fair wages and a safe work environment as the driving force behind the decision.
Unions Take Aim at South After UAW Win
The Wall Street Journal
By Kris Maher and Arian Campo-Flores
April 20, 2024
“One of the things that history teaches us is that organizing is a little bit contagious,” said Christian Sweeney, deputy organizing director with the AFL-CIO. “Workers in the South are saying, ‘Wait a minute, we’re working for wildly profitable companies.’”
Could the Union Victory at VW Set Off a Wave?
The New York Times
By Noam Scheiber
April 20, 2024
By voting to join the United Automobile Workers, Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have given the union something it has never had: a factory-wide foothold at a major foreign automaker in the South. The result, in an election that ended on Friday, will enable the union to bargain for better wages and benefits. Now the question is what difference it will make beyond the Volkswagen plant. Labor experts said success at VW might position the union to replicate its showing at other auto manufacturers throughout the South, the least unionized region of the country. Some argued that the win could help set off a rise in union membership at other companies that exceeds the uptick of the past few years, when unions won elections at Starbucks and Amazon locations.
JOINING TOGETHER
Sesame Workshop Averts Strike: Tentative Deal Struck With Writers
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
April 19, 2024
The Sesame Workshop has averted a picket line outside its New York headquarters, as a new contract deal with its unionized writers was reached on Friday night. Sesame Workshop announced the five-year agreement hours before the educational nonprofit’s current labor contract with its writers expired. “We value our writers and their significant contributions to the creative process, which are integral to our ability to deliver on our nonprofit mission,” said a spokesperson. “This agreement is a testament to our dedication to our creative talent, and we appreciate the WGA’s collaboration in working with us to establish this new industry benchmark.”
Guggenheim Museum Workers Rally for Fair Contract in Lunch Break Action
Hyperallergic
By Elaine Velie
April 19, 2024
Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” blared outside the Guggenheim Museum in New York City today, April 19, as around 20 art handlers and facilities workers used their lunch break to rally for a second union contract. Negotiations are entering their sixth month, and the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 30 alleges that museum leadership has not made “significant progress” in bargaining. The previous contract expired in January.
IATSE Local 705 Reaches Tentative Agreement on Craft-Specific Issues With Studios
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
April 19, 2024
The union representing West Coast costumers has reached a tentative agreement on its craft-specific issues with studios and streamers. IATSE Local 705 struck a provisional deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Wednesday, the crew union IATSE announced Friday. Like with other recent IATSE Local tentative deals, the details of the agreement are not yet public, and will be communicated with union members once a memorandum of agreement (a more detailed summary of the deal) is drawn up, the union added.
Nurses, technicians at Machias hospital to strike
The Maine Monitor
By Kate Cough
April 19, 2024
Registered nurses and technicians across a range of specialties at a Machias hospital will strike for two days starting April 30, the union representing the group said, in protest of the administration’s “refusal to address their deep concerns about recruitment and retention.” Some Down East Community Hospital staff have worked under an expired contract since mid-October and been in contentious talks with officials for months. Negotiations stalled in January when the union pushed for a bigger salary bump, and more definitive language on issues such as part-time staffing and traveling nurses, according to previous reporting in The Maine Monitor.
‘Sesame Street’ writers avert strike with tentative contract agreement'
The Washington Post
By Herb Scribner and Kelsey Ables
April 20, 2024
Writers for the widely acclaimed children’s program “Sesame Street” reached a tentative agreement Friday on a new contract with its nonprofit producer Sesame Workshop, narrowly averting a strike that could have upended the show’s 56th season. In a statement, the Writers Guild of America said the writers won “historic jurisdiction and minimum rates” for animated and social media “Sesame Street” content; AI protections; paid parental leave and “substantial improvements” to social media residuals.
Shedd Aquarium workers vote to form union
ABC Chicago
By ABC7 Chicago Digital Team
April 19, 2024
Workers at Shedd Aquarium have announced they're unionizing. Employees say they're hoping Shedd Workers United will help improve their work-life balance, finances, and communication from aquarium management. The trade union will represent about 300 employees in several departments including animal care, learning and community, guest relations, facilities and more. The union will be an affiliate of AFSCME Council 31.
University of Michigan Lecturers’ Union to vote on strike authorization
WNEM
By George Castle
April 20, 2024
Leaders of the University of Michigan Lecturers’ Union, LEO - AFT MI Local 6244, have launched a strike authorization vote following negotiations Friday. According to the union, there was a “lack of movement” on salary increases for lecturers working for the Dearborn and Flint campuses. Local 6244 is encouraging its members to vote for the strike authorization. A winning vote would allow union leadership to call for a strike if negotiations don’t result in a contract that leadership believes is “fair and ratifiable,” LEO said.
NLRB
Pittsburgh Union Progress
By Bob Batz Jr.
April 19, 2024
Exactly 18 months and 1½ hours into their unfair labor practices strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a small and tired but still-hanging-in-there group of unionized newsroom workers gathered Thursday afternoon, in person and on Zoom, for a hastily called meeting to hear what had been described in urgent messages as a “strike announcement.” Zack Tanner, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, stood in the union’s temporary offices at the United Steelworkers Building, Downtown, and adjusted his computer’s camera so members online could see. In the room with him were about 10 of the journalists, who began their strike at noon on Oct. 18, 2022. Once everything was set, Tanner announced he had some “pretty major news. I’ll just cut to the chase on it.”
Labor Officials To Seek Injunction Against Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
April 19, 2024
Labor officials have received a green light to pursue an injunction in federal court against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper for allegedly violating its employees’ rights. A spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board confirmed to HuffPost that the agency approved a request by a regional director in Pennsylvania to seek the temporary injunction. The petition is likely to be filed in federal court in the coming days.
STATE LEGISLATION
Required meal breaks for child workers in Louisiana could be repealed
KLFY
By Shannon Heckt
April 19, 2024
The Louisiana Legislature is looking to roll back some of the child labor laws. It could have an impact on break times for children. HB156 removes the state’s requirement for minors to take a 30-minute meal break if they work for at least five hours. The bill is being carried by state Rep. Roger Wilder, R-Denham Springs, who owns a number of Smoothie King franchises across the state. He believes removing the rule is a positive thing. Dozens of labor groups and other workers put in cards against the bill. The president of the Louisiana AFL-CIO said in a statement that there are much bigger issues the legislature should be focusing on rather than children’s meal breaks.
IN THE STATES
KNOP News 2
By Justin Craft
April 18, 2024
Nebraska State AFL-CIO President/Secretary-Treasurer Sue Martin was in attendance, and said why she was there picketing, and how these changes impact so many people. “People in the western part of the state that may not have access to a pharmacy, so they do mail order for prescriptions and you’re adding an extra two days processing on that, and that’s just not reasonable,” said Martin. “The public just needs to be aware of what they’re trying to do here.”
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
IBEW electricians volunteer to repair St. Louis-area homes
Fox2
By Joey Schneider
April 20, 2024
Electricians volunteered to repair homes Saturday morning for people in need around the St. Louis area. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers dispersed union members to 15 homes all over the region, including homes in Pine Lawn. The day began with breakfast at the IBEW Union Hall before workers got their assignments for the day. The union aims to help community members who are low-income, elderly, or disabled. After Saturday’s service, IBEW has helped with repairs for more than 600 homes in the St. Louis area over the last 21 years.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
2024 Workers Memorial Day events April 24-29
The Stand
By Staff
April 19, 2024
Each year on Workers Memorial Day, April 28, working people throughout the world remember those who were hurt or killed on the job, and renew our struggle for safe workplaces. “The best way we can honor the people killed or injured at work is to recommit to fighting for safer workplaces,” said April Sims, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “If you have a union, you can join together with co-workers to demand safe and healthy conditions. If you don’t, you must rely on state and federal safety laws that, too often, aren’t enforced or have penalties that are too weak. Washington’s union movement will continue to fight to improve workplace safety laws, but if you really want a voice in making your workplace safer, form a union.”