MUST READ
Behind the Supreme Court's Anti-Union Gift to Starbucks
Common Dreams
By Chuck Idelson
June 14, 2024
In response, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler rightly noted the court had “sided with corporate power… in a direct attack on the fundamental freedom to organize a union on the job. The NLRB exists to resolve labor disputes and ensure workers can exercise our right to join a union, free from intimidation and retaliation. The board obtained an injunction in federal district court to reinstate the Memphis Seven while deciding the case. The system worked as it is supposed to—until the Supreme Court got involved.”
INTERNATIONAL
ALPA: WestJet Encore pilots ratify new contract with wage increases that ‘set a new standard’
Skies Magazine
By Skies Magazine
June 14, 2024
WestJet Encore pilots have ratified a new five-year contract that secures pay raises and more flexible schedules that enable better work/life balance, their union says. The new contract goes into effect immediately and is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024, said the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA), the world’s largest airline pilot union. “The ratification of this contract is a step toward our company and our pilots working together to put the airline in a more competitive position,” said Capt Carin Kenny, chair of the WestJet Encore ALPA Master Executive Council. “Since negotiations began, we were clear that to attract new pilots to the WestJet Group and retain the ones currently flying for our airline, we needed a contract that provides competitive compensation, improved scheduling flexibility, and a level of career progression.”
APPRENTICESHIPS/TRAINING
New IBEW job training program prepares Allentown high school students to be electricians
Lehigh Valley News
By Jenny Roberts
June 15, 2024
Melody Rodriguez has never been interested in an office job. She’d rather be on the move. That’s what she likes about electrical work — it’s hands-on and keeps her busy. “It’s stuff I like, so I’m learning it, and I’m getting happy, excited,” said Rodriguez, a recent Dieruff High School grad. Over the past 14 weeks, Rodriguez and a dozen other Lehigh Valley teens have participated in a new pre-apprenticeship program at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 375 in Allentown.
SUPREME COURT
Firm had to rehire fired workers at American Dream. Supreme Court ruling makes that harder
Northjersey.com
By Daniel Munoz
June 14, 2024
“In the past, you could fight that issue, and if you were in fact fired for union activity, you could be reinstated and possibly collect damages. But this sets that aside,” said Harvey Whille, president of the Local 1262 chapter of the grocery store union United Food and Commercial Workers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit — which includes New Jersey — historically sided with the NLRB and labor unions thanks to a more lenient "two-factor" test on whether there was reasonable cause to determine that an employer engaged in unfair labor practices, said James Cooney, a labor and employment law professor at Rutgers University.
ORGANIZING
Doctors at UMMC vote for forming a union by an overwhelming margin
The Baltimore Banner
By Cody Boteler and Clara Longo de Freitas
June 14, 2024
A group of more than 600 doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center voted to form a union, according to a preliminary vote tally. The tallied vote came in Thursday night as 628 voting for and 19 against. To win union certification, they needed just a simple majority of those who chose to vote.
JOINING TOGETHER
IBEW Local Union 98 all in for 76 Place
Philly Voice
By Mark Lynch, Jr.
June 14, 2024
IBEW Local 98 recently hosted a rally at our new Navy Yard headquarters, drawing more than 500 members and numerous dignitaries, including 76 Devcorp CEO David J. Adelman and Philadelphia City Councilmember James Harrity. The event was a powerful demonstration of support for 76 Place, a visionary new arena, residential, and retail complex poised to transform Market East. One of our honored guests was Philadelphia City Councilmember Harrity, who became the first member of City Council to publicly announce his support of 76 Place.
Nearly 4,000 DC hotel workers secure raises, maintain benefits in recent union contract
WJLA
By Winston Rogers
June 14, 2024
Thousands of unionized workers at 20 hotels in D.C. will soon see a roughly 25% wage increase and improved benefits after a Thursday night vote solidifying a four-year contract with local companies, according to UNITE HERE Local 25 on Friday. The union, which represented roughly 4,000 hotel workers, nearly avoided a strike after bargaining representatives from the union and hotels reached an agreement on May 31, months ahead of the previous contract's Sept. 15 expiration, officials said.
Unionized Food 4 Less workers vote in favor of strike authorization
NBC Los Angeles
By Amber X. Chen
June 15, 2024
In an overwhelming result Seven United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals voted in favor of a strike authorization on Friday, according to the committee. The UFCW Locals — which represents over 6,000 Food 4 Less/Foods Co. workers across California — cited unfair labor practices by parent company Kroger as a reason for their strike authorization vote. “Food 4 Less executives have decided to resort to unlawful tactics instead of following federal labor law and treating the bargaining process with the respect and seriousness that it deserves,” wrote the UFCW Food 4 Less/Foods Co. Bargaining Committee.
In the battle over Philly stadium wages, Fat Cat speaks loudly while offering nary a ‘meow’
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Jeff Gammage
June 16, 2025
The most popular person at the drum-banging, traffic-snarling Unite Here demonstration on Wednesday wasn’t a union leader who exhorted the crowd or a politician who pledged fealty to organized labor. It wasn’t a person at all. More of a purr-son. “Fat Cat,” they call him, a 20-foot inflatable feline who looked on impassively, smoking a stout cigar and flashing a diamond pinky ring, as dozens of union protesters were clicked into plastic handcuffs and led away by police. “A lot of symbolism on Fat Cat,” Unite Local 274 spokesperson Kristianna Brown said, noting how he grips the throat of a hard-hatted laborer with his right paw even as his left sparkles with jewelry.
Hospitality Workers Secure New Contract with Salary Increase, Benefits
The Washington Informer
By Sam P.K. Collins
June 15, 2024
With the ratification of a new contract, thousands of local hospitality workers averted a strike and what would’ve been years of labor disputes with industry leaders. Throughout much of Thursday, more than 1,000 hotel and restaurant workers voted on, and overwhelmingly approved, a four-year contract that their union, UNITE HERE Local 25, spent several months solidifying with more than 20 District hotels and restaurants. Provisions of that contract include a more-than-25% wage increase over four years, medical, vision, and dental coverage for workers and their families, an expanded pension package, no combination of job duties, and the guarantee of a positive work environment.
Lordstown Ultium Cells workers overwhelmingly approve 4-year contract at facility
WFMJ
By Robert McFerren and Mike Gauntner
June 16, 2024
Ultium Cells workers, members of United Autoworkers Union Local 1112, overwhelmingly approved their 4-year contract Sunday, with a 98 percent approval rate. The vote by the 1,600 Ultium Cells workers took place from Friday through Sunday. The pact includes wage increases, a 10 percent premium for night shift workers, overtime incentives, backpay for 401k, and local language specific for Ultium. UAW members will also receive a $3,000 lump ratification bonus. Union officials say the wages of production, quality, SRP, and material handling workers will increase by 30% over three years.
Breakthrough union contract for electric school bus workers promises better lives and cleaner air
Good Good Good
By Staff
June 16, 2024
For nearly a century, a substantial portion of America’s iconic yellow school buses have been manufactured at a factory in Fort Valley, a town of 9,000 people surrounded by peach and pecan orchards in central Georgia. Carolyn Allen has worked at Blue Bird for 13 years, and she talks about this fact almost as though it’s a surprise to her. “I live about 15 miles away and I never thought I’d be here,” she told Grist. “I never wanted to work here, because people were always being laid off all the time.” But life’s contingencies brought her to the company anyway: “I got to where I was looking for a job, and this is the one that came open.”
The tiny button that's kickstarting a Disneyland revolution
SF Gate
By Silas Valentino
June 14, 2024
Four unions representing thousands of Disneyland employees filed an unfair labor practice charge this week claiming that its members were “intimidated, surveilled and disciplined” for pinning union buttons on their park costumes in reference to an ongoing contract campaign.
National Association of Letter Carriers rallies for passage of bill to protect postal workers
WIFR
By Anna Sieg
June 14, 2024
The National Association of Letter Carriers held a rally Friday, June 14 in the Quad Cities calling for the passage of House Bill 7629, also known as the Protect our Letter Carriers Act. The proposed legislation addresses the rise in violent crime committed against letter carriers on the job. Since 2020, the organization says there have been more than 2,000 attempted or actual robberies and assaults against postal workers nationwide. The legislation was introduced March 13, two weeks before the stabbing death of Jay Larson in Rockford. “He was cherished in his community. 25 years, never a sick day, everyone was so happy to see him. We’re going to continue to mourn his loss and remember the things that were so great about him, but what we must also do is draw upon that; Challenge ourselves to work really hard and to convince congress to pass this important bill,” says Secretary Treasurer Pat Devaney.
Hundreds rally for passage of federal legislation protecting letter carriers
WVIK
By Brady Johnson
June 14, 2024
The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) held a rally in Moline today, June 14, calling for the passage of the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act. Over 350 letter carriers and other postal service employees, as well as union members, were in attendance. Illinois State Association of Letter Carriers President Luis Rivas Jr. says the rally should draw public attention to the bipartisan legislation introduced in the House of Representatives, which is currently in limbo within the Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight and Accountability since March 12.
UAW hopes to set new precedent for EV battery sector with new Ultium Cells agreement
Tech Brew
By Jordyn Grzelewski
June 14, 2024
The United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement on a contract for workers at an Ohio battery plant—a milestone the union hopes will help establish a precedent for the EV battery sector. Earlier this week, the union announced a deal with Ultium Cells, the GM and LG Energy Solution joint venture that makes batteries for GM’s EVs. In a statement, UAW Local 1112 Shop Chairman Josh Ayers said that workers at the Lordstown, Ohio, plant “want this agreement to become a cornerstone for current and future battery plants across the nation.”
Sault nurses vote to return to the picket line
SooLeader
By SooLeader Staff
June 14, 2024
Nurses at MyMichigan Medical Center Sault have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a second unfair labor practice strike – this time of indefinite duration – with the backing of a new Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) strike pay benefit to provide financial support. Ten-day notice would be given if a strike is called.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Army and Navy Academy alumnus helps to repair parts of campus
The Coast News
By Staff
June 15, 2024
The Army and Navy Academy received a much-needed facelift thanks to an alumnus who organized a collaboration between the San Diego Job Corps and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades to do the job. Herman Becario, a 1986 graduate of the Army and Navy Academy, organized the efforts. For the last eight years, Herman Becario, a 1986 graduate of the Army and Navy Academy, has returned to campus with a small group of other graduates from between 1983 to 1987. Over time, Becario noticed that some areas of the campus – like the beachfront recreation hall – needed to be repaired and beautified.
RETIREMENT SECURITY
Column: She's 80, washing dishes, and fighting for a better deal for younger workers
Yahoo! News
By Steve Lopez
June 16, 2024
In the land of killer commutes, Salud Garcia’s trek is such a slog, she should get a gold medal at the finish line each day. She leaves her home in Reseda before dawn, takes a bus to a train, then another bus, followed by another. When she arrives at her job site near LAX — more than two hours later — it’s just about 7 a.m. “I run to the bathroom and then get to work,” said Garcia, a dishwasher for a food catering company that serves airlines. After work, Garcia will sometimes get lucky and catch a ride home from a co-worker. But usually, she reverses her commute, which means eight or nine hours on the job and, then, several hours in transit.