EDITOR'S NOTE: The Forward Kentucky article (Workers Memorial Day is this Sunday) in the "WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH" section first appeared on the website on April 19.
POLITICS
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Forward Kentucky article listed in the
Vice President Harris announces final rules mandating minimum standards for nursing home staffing
The Seattle Times
By Adriana Gomez Licon
April 22, 2024
The federal government is for the first time requiring nursing homes to have minimum staffing levels after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed grim realities in poorly staffed facilities for older and disabled Americans. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the final rules on Monday before a trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where she will talk to nursing home care employees about their work. In the battleground state, Harris also will hold a campaign event focused on abortion rights.
ORGANIZING
Volkswagen ‘the first domino to fall’ after union vote, says UAW president
The Guardian
By Steven Greenhouse
April 22, 2024
After celebrating his union’s historic victory at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee, Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, told the Guardian that he was confident of more unionization wins at auto plants across the US, saying: “The workers at VW are the first domino to fall. “They have shown it is possible,” Fain added in an interview on Sunday evening. “I expect more of the same to come. Workers are fed up.” The three-day unionization vote at Volkswagen ended last Friday, with the union winning overwhelmingly, 2,628 to 985 – the first time workers at a foreign-owned auto plant in the south have unionized. It was the world’s only non-union VW plant. The vote in Chattanooga was the first union vote in the UAW’s ambitious $40m campaign targeting 13 automakers, including VW, Mercedes, Tesla, BMW, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai, with a total of 35 non-union plants across the US.
Boulder County workers file for union recognition
CPR News
By Paolo Zialcita
April 22, 2024
Employees working for Boulder County have filed for union recognition, taking advantage of a relatively new piece of legislation that grants county employees the right to form unions. Organizing members of the Boulder County Employees Union said they want to address several issues affecting employees, including high turnover and relatively low wages. “As Boulder County workers, we must have a say in decisions that shape our lives, as efforts to combat turnover and promote retention are crucial for stability,” Stavan Vanscoy, a member of the organizing committee, said in a press release. “Upholding racial equity principles and ensuring fair wages and benefits are essential for a thriving community in Boulder County.”
As We celebrate Care Workers Recognition Month Care Workers Are Organizing And Mobilizing
Chicago Crusader
By Crusader Staff
April 22, 2024
In recognition of the month of April as “Care Workers Recognition Month,” American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) President Lee Saunders recently attended and offered remarks at the “Care Can’t Wait” event in Washington, DC honoring the nation’s care givers. President Biden also offered remarks at the event. In addition to attending the “Care Can’t Wait” event, AFSCME President Saunders also released the following statement: “Care workers are an essential part of our lives – whether providing early childhood education, end of life care or supporting people with disabilities. This month, we are honored to shine a light on the important work they do and recognize their struggle for dignity and respect. For too long, care workers, who are overwhelmingly women of color, have been underpaid and overlooked. By organizing for fair wages, safer working conditions and a voice on the job, they are building power and improving their profession.
Chattanooga VW Worker: “This Will Change What People Think Is Possible”
Jacobin
By Alex N. Press
April 22, 2024
On Friday night, workers at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, unionized. The victory was decisive: 2,628 to 985, meaning 73 percent of ballots were in favor of unionizing with the UAW. Of 4,300 eligible voters, 83.5 percent cast ballots, a remarkably high turnout. These workers really wanted a union. The win makes VW the only unionized foreign-owned auto plant in the South. While the UAW represents several Big Three shops in the region — Ford and GM have plants in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas — the VW shop is the first Southern auto plant to unionize through a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election since the 1940s. That’s momentous: the UAW has committed $40 million in additional funds to organize nonunion and electric vehicle (EV) workers, and with this win, that campaign will accelerate. No longer can anyone say that it can’t be done.
JOINING TOGETHER
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center workers to begin strike Monday afternoon
KREM2
By Brandon Jones
April 22, 2024
On Monday afternoon, around 500 healthcare workers are expected to go on strike for over a week. The strike involves hundreds of technicians at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center who work side by side with surgeons and provide imaging, respiratory and psychiatric care. The strike means that they will not be treating patients through the end of the month. The technicians are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) 3000 union representing the technicians. They say this strike is based on unfair labor practice what they are calling unlawful labor practices during negotiations.
Pharmacy workers stand up and fight back against corporate greed
People’s World
By Cameron Harrison
April 22, 2024
The nation’s pharmacists are fed up! “Every night I pray for guidance from God to avoid oversights,” a Detroit-based pharmacist told People’s World. The enormous volume of prescriptions she handles with very limited help during her 11-hour shift is what’s behind her nightly practice of asking for divine intervention to ensure her patients care. With similar concerns, the National Pharmacists Association-LIUNA will be demonstrating at 46 Walgreens stores here. NPhA-LIUNA represents nearly 900 pharmacists employed by Walgreens in Chicagoland. The action commenced on April 18, and the main push is to demand better pay and working conditions for Walgreens pharmacists. The series of coordinated actions is dubbed the “Phed Up Pharmacists” tour.
Union reports tentative agreement in grocery workers' negotiations
Brainerd Dispatch
By Dispatch staff report
April 22, 2024
A tentative agreement was reached in Brainerd Monday, April 22, between United Food and Commercial Workers Local 663, Quisberg’s and Miner’s grocery food stores in Brainerd Baxter, Crosby and Pequot Lakes. Union members were informed of the tentative agreement and were learning more about it, Jessica Hayssen, Communications and Legislative/political director, UFCW Union Local 663, stated in an email update.
IATSE President Congratulates ATPAM Amid Local's Negotiations with Broadway League
Broadway World
By Chloe Rabinowitz
April 22, 2024
Matthew D. Loeb, International President of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has reelased a statement congratulationg ATPAM on their 30th anniversary together. Read the stagement below: “I, along with the 170,000 kin of IATSE wish to extend a heartfelt congratulations to The Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers (ATPAM) on their upcoming 30th anniversary of joining our family. ATPAM has long been an integral part of our union, and we are proud to celebrate this milestone. Press agents, publicity and marketing specialists, company managers, as well as theater and facilities managers, all play a crucial role in the world of live theater. Your work is essential to the success of productions on and off Broadway, and across North America. Without you, the seats would be empty.
IN THE STATES
Two California Senators Take Aim at CLEAR Airport Security
Travel Market Report
By Daniel McCarthy
April 22, 2024
A pair of bipartisan California state senators are pushing a bill that would dramatically alter how CLEAR operates in that state’s airports. POLITICO reported on Monday morning that Democratic State Senator Josh Newman and Republican Janet Nguyen are backing a bill that would require CLEAR to either get its own security lane at California airports or risk dropping its California operations altogether. Both Newman and Nguyen cited a level of unfairness with CLEAR, which allows travelers to pay $189 a year to have their identities digitally verified and then cut to the front of security lines, as the reason for their support.
Despite failure of patient ratio bill, Maine nurses union celebrates progress in staffing fight
Maine Morning Star
By Evan Popp
April 22, 2024
Nurses rallied in Portland on April 2024 calling on the Maine Legislature and Gov. Janet Mills to support a safe staffing bill. The Maine Legislature adjourned last week without taking action on a bill that would have created mandated nurse-to-patient ratios in certain health care settings — a move advocates argue is needed to enhance patient safety. LD 1639 would have established minimum staffing requirements based on various circumstances, such as the level of care patients are receiving. It would also have protected nurse whistleblowers who speak out about unsafe assignments and authorized the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to enforce nurse-to-patient limits.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Tickets still available for 2024 Workers Memorial Day union Labor mass and brunch April 28
Labor Tribune
By Staff
April 22, 2024
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. Each day, more than 340 workers are killed and more than 6,000 suffer injury and illness because of dangerous working conditions that are preventable. “The Alliance for Retired Americans is honored to be able to help continue this tradition and coordinate the Labor Mass honoring workers lost and committing ourselves to the fight for a safer future,” said Mike Louis, retired IAM member, retired president of the Missouri AFL-CIO, and President of the Missouri Alliance for Retired Americans.
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 562, retirees donate more than $5K to Foundations for Divergent Minds
Labor Tribune
By Staff
April 22, 2024
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 562 and its retiree’s club have donated an extra $5,250 to Foundations for Divergent Minds, an all autistic-run, non-profit organization rooted in the principles of disability justice, as part of the 3rd Annual Local 562/IBEW Local 1 “Braggin’ Rights” hockey game held March 23 at The Mills Ice Zone in Hazelwood. The game itself raised $3,373 for the organization.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Labor Dept. to Honor Workers Killed On the Job
Roofing Contractor
By Roofing Contractor Staff
April 22, 2024
When the nation first observed Workers Memorial Day in 1970, an estimated 38 U.S. workers suffered fatal on-the-job injuries each day, according to the Department of Labor, and many more endured debilitating respiratory diseases and other life-altering illnesses related to workplace exposures. Today, that number has been cut by more than half, to about 15 people losing their lives on the job. In 2022, a reported 5,486 workers suffered fatal injuries, an increase of 296 worker deaths from 2021. To commemorate Workers Memorial Day, the department will host a week-long series of events from April 22-25 to educate employers on the importance of safe and healthy workplaces. The series will culminate with an in-person — and nationally live-streamed — event at 1 p.m. EDT at its Washington headquarters. OSHA and MSHA leaders will join AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Stacy Sebald with the United Support & Memorial for Workplace Fatalities, whose 19-year-old son Mitchell McDaniel suffered fatal injuries in an agriculture incident in 2019.
Workers Memorial Day is this Sunday
Forward Kentucky
By Berry Craig
April 22, 2024
Organized labor observes April 28 as Workers Memorial Day because “each day, more than 340 workers are killed and more than 6,000 suffer injury and illness because of dangerous working conditions that are preventable,” the AFL-CIO explains. The voice of history, the subject I taught in a community college for two dozen years, could hardly be louder or clearer when it comes to unions and to worker safety and health laws. We need them both. “Our workplace safety and health rights are not freely given,” says the AFL-CIO. “Working people have fought for them for decades and still do every day – from the shop floor to the halls of Congress. Anti-regulatory attacks have put our working conditions in danger – threats that would remove protections we take for granted. Congressional Republicans are attempting to defund the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), remove funding for mine safety law enforcement, and prevent future worker safety and health regulations from being developed.”