Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST READ
Black labor leaders say united front needed in November to save democracy
People’s World
By Cameron Harrison and Eric Brooks
May 30, 2024
Verrett and Saunders were expanding on similar sentiments expressed at the CBTU convention last Thursday by Fred Redmond, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO and the highest-ranking Black trade unionist in the U.S. “Whether we like it or not, this election comes down to us: Black people and the labor movement,” Redmond had said. The upcoming election determines “the future of this country and the future of our labor movement.” What’s at stake in the 2024 election, according to Redmond, is the continued ability for the working class to fight for “worker’s rights, voting rights, civil rights, healthcare, water rights, the right to live and have a good-paying union job.”
POLITICS
Biden's dealmaker: How Julie Su helped broker a union contract in hostile South
Axios
By Emily Peck
May 30, 2024
Acting Labor Department secretary Julie Su just helped secure a labor contract for more than 15,000 newly unionized workers at a school bus manufacturer in Georgia — a region typically hostile to unionization. Why it matters: The contract at Blue Bird Corp., ratified last week, shows how the administration's pro-labor stance, along with the money pouring in from its signature legislation, is changing how some U.S. businesses operate. The big picture: Su's been actively involved in several key labor negotiations over the past few years — from West Coast port workers to health care employees at Kaiser Permanente to the UAW's talks last year.
ORGANIZING
Staff at Coolidge Corner Theatre seek to unionize
Boston Globe
By Malcolm Gay
May 30, 2024
Staff at the Coolidge Corner Theatre have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board, a crucial first step to form a union at the Brookline cinema. The petition, which organizers filed Wednesday, lays the groundwork for the theater’s roughly 40 eligible employees to join United Autoworkers Local 1596, creating a collective bargaining for the movie house’s floor supervisors, box office, and concessions workers, among others. “We really just want all of us to get what we deserve for what we do for the place that we love,” said Andrew Schlehuber, a floor supervisor who helped organize the union drive. “We want to have a more transparent, more equitable workplace where we recognize every single person’s contribution to the theater’s success.”
Disneyland performers' vote to unionize certified by federal labor officials
6 ABC
By AP
May 30, 3034
Character and parade performers at Disneyland in California are officially unionized. Federal labor officials said Wednesday that they've certified the results of a three-day election that took place earlier this month in Anaheim. Actors' Equity Association will represent roughly 1,700 performers and assistants who help bring Disney's popular characters to life at its Southern California theme parks. The union already represents theatrical performers at Disney's Florida parks.
Workers at Las Vegas Cannapunch Cannabis Vote to Join UFCW Local 711
Cannabis Business Times
By CBT Staff
May 30, 2024
Recently, Cannapunch cannabis workers in Las Vegas voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 711 in order to have a voice on the job and secure the benefits that a union contract provides. This 32-person unit is the first cannabis processor in the state of Nevada to vote to join UFCW Local 711. As America’s largest cannabis union, the UFCW has spent over a decade in this emerging industry advocating for workers and fighting to establish critical labor protections to ensure that as the industry grows, cannabis industry jobs are safe, equitable, and family-sustaining.
Warnock weighs in, as Delta employees’ unionization campaigns heat up
Atlanta Civic Circle
By Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
May 29, 2024
Union organizing campaigns by Delta Air Lines flight attendants, mechanics, and ground workers gained ground last week when Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock asked the Atlanta-based airline’s CEO, Ed Bastian, to remain neutral towards unionization. “It is my understanding that a number of non-union workers at Delta are taking steps to organize and join a union. These moments represent democracy in the workplace. When these organizing efforts and elections occur, there are often unfortunate reports of threats or other undue pressure being placed on workers who will be voting,” Warnock said in the May 24 letter. About 55,000 Delta workers are non-union. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) is trying to unionize Delta’s 28,000 flight attendants, while the Teamsters and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) are conducting union campaigns for the mechanics and ground workers, respectively.
Eldora Withdraws Objections to Patrollers’ Vote to Unionize
Sam Info
By Staff
May 29, 2024
Eldora Mountain Resort president and general manager Brent Tregaskis informed members of the resort’s ski patrol today that Eldora is withdrawing its challenge to the patrollers’ vote to unionize and shared a desire to bargain in good faith. “After careful consideration, Eldora Mountain Ski Resort sent a letter to Isabel Aries, the Local 7781 Organizer with Communications Workers of America, stating that we are withdrawing our objections and asking for their commitment to work with us,” said Tregaskis in an email to patrollers. “The letter outlines our desire, upon the NLRB’s [National Labor Relations Board] certification of the vote, to bargain in good faith towards an agreement for our Patrol.”
JOINING TOGETHER
Boeing firefighters ratify a contract with big raises, which they say will end a three-week lockout
ABC News
By The Associated Press
May 30, 2024
Boeing firefighters ratified a new contract with major pay increases and expect to return to work this weekend after a lockout that has lasted more than three weeks, their union said Thursday. The deal covers about 125 fire and emergency-service workers in the Seattle area, who were locked out by Boeing when their previous contract expired May 4. The vote was 86-24 to ratify a tentative agreement, according to Local I-66 of the International Association of Fire Fighters union.
Auto Workers: UAW “loss” at Alabama Mercedes is not end of story
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
May 30, 2024
he Auto Workers formally petotioed the National Labor Relations Board to overturn the union’s election loss at the Mercedes-Benz auto factory in Vance, Ala., and order a rerun election. They contend company labor law-breaking prejudiced the vote results. “Over 2,000 Mercedes workers voted yes to win their union after an unprecedented, illegal anti-union campaign waged against them by their employer,” the UAW said. The unofficial final tally showed UAW losing to “no union,” 2042-2645(44%-56%). The union filed the complaint with the NLRB the day after its loss at the “transplant,” one of many foreign automakers’ plants deliberately located in the anti-union, worker-hostile South. “Let’s get a vote at Mercedes in Alabama where the company isn’t allowed to fire people, isn’t allowed to intimidate people, and isn’t allowed to break the law and their own corporate code, and let the workers decide,” the UAW stated.
Nurses preparing to strike over staffing levels
NJ Spotlight News
By Lilo H. Stainton
May 30, 2024
For the second time in a year, New Jersey nurses are preparing for a strike to protest hospital staffing levels they say are unsafe for patients and unfair to their colleagues who are leaving the workforce in droves because of burnout and frustration. Some 3,000 nurses voted last week to authorize a strike action at a trio of acute care providers — Englewood Health, Hackensack Meridian Health’s Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen and Cooper University Health Care, in Camden — if the contracts they are negotiating don’t include specific nurse-to-patient ratios. The current contracts expire Friday. Negotiations are also underway with CarePoint Health hospitals in Jersey City and Bayonne, union leaders said, and talks begin with University Hospital in Newark next month.
Q&A: CVS Pharmacy Technician on Rhode Island Unionization Efforts
Drug Topics
By Killian Meara
May 30, 2024
In April, pharmacists at CVS stores in Wakefield and Westerly, Rhode Island submitted petitions to the National Labor Relations Board to unionize with the Pharmacy Guild, the only national union that organizes and represents pharmacy professionals. The organizers said the decision to unionize was in response to poor working conditions and understaffing, which were having a negative impact on patient outcomes.
STATE LEGISLATION
Workers compensation bill ceremoniously signed into law, expected to improve compensation process
WIBW
By Tori Whalen
May 29, 2024
Governor Laura Kelly ceremoniously signs SB 430 - or what the governor calls the Enhanced Kansas Workers Compensation Act - a bill applying changes to the state’s workers compensation system. “The 2024 amendments to the Kansas Workers Compensation Act provide substantial help for Kansans who are injured at work,” said Jan Fisher, attorney at McCullough Wareheim & LaBunker, P.A. “The most important aspect of the new law is the long-overdue increase in compensation maximums for both temporary and permanent disability payments. In addition, the reduction to 50% for the social security offset is beneficial to working seniors who are injured on the job. The Kansas AFL-CIO and the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association thank Governor Kelly and the Kansas Legislature for their support of these reforms.”
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Union Sportsmen’s Alliance: 12th annual Take Kids Fishing Day – June 1st
WisPolitics
By Staff
May 30, 2024
For the 12th year, the Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO (WWAFLCIO) is teaming up with the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA) Boots on the Ground conservation program to host Annual Take Kids Fishing Day from 9 to noon on Saturday, June 1st at Chad Erickson Memorial Park, 3601 Park Lane Drive in La Crosse. Each registered youngster will receive a fishing pole that is his or hers to keep. So, register the kids, grab your camera, and get ready for a fun day at the lake! This event is free and open to the public, but it is limited to the first 125 children aged 2-15. A parent, guardian or chaperon must accompany all participants. Fishing poles (to keep!), bait, face painting, and a light lunch, will be provided by the WWAFLCIO. Again, Ace Hardware of La Crosse will be donating bait for the event. ““Take a kid fishing, you’ll be glad that you did,” said Mike Davis Jr, President Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO. Davis went on to note that, “by taking a kid fishing. You’ll capture their imagination.”
UNION BUSTING
KVUE
By John Diaz and Kelsey Sanchez
May 30, 2024
Lawmakers are urging for an investigation into Google following allegations that it retaliated against unionizing workers. The calls, led by Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas), come after YouTube Music contract workers found out they were laid off during an Austin City Council meeting earlier this year. The workers, who were employed through Cognizant, became a union through the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) and went on strike after citing unfair working conditions. During a February city council meeting, YouTube Music worker Jack Benedict spoke before the council to support their cause toward bringing their employers to the negotiating table with their union. Instead, he and roughly 40 of his team members learned their contracts had ended during his speech.
House Dems urge NLRB probe of Google's alleged union busting
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
May 30, 2024
Dozens of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday urged the National Labor Relations Board to swiftly investigate claims that Alphabet's Google illegally laid off workers who unionized, saying the case could have a national impact. The 46 lawmakers in a letter, opens new tab to NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said Google is flouting a January board decision requiring it to bargain with YouTube Music content moderators provided by staffing firm Cognizant who voted last year to join the Alphabet Workers Union. Google owns YouTube.