Today's AFL-CIO press clips
RETIREMENT SECURITY
Democrats put a spotlight on more than 1 million pensions saved under a 2021 law
AP
By Fatima Hussein
June 21, 2024
As the general election nears, Democrats are keen to remind union voters in Pennsylvania that pensions for many workers have been preserved as part of a coronavirus pandemic-era aid package that keeps on giving. As of Friday, the White House said, more than 1 million union workers and retirees’ pensions will have been saved by the Butch Lewis Act, which became law in the spring of 2021. The law, enacted as part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, will ultimately stop cuts to the retirement benefits of 2 million workers and retirees across the country.
ORGANIZING
Apple TV Visual Effects Workers File to Unionize With IATSE
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
June 21, 2024
As it continues to press forward with its campaign to organize visual effects workers, IATSE has made a bid to represent a small group of these professionals who work on Apple television series. On Friday the union announced that it had submitted a petition to the National Labor Relations Board to represent 17 workers at six Apple Studios LLC shows including Bubbi, Jiminy, Foxtrot, Government Cheese, Surface and Blackbird. The union is seeking to represent roles such as VFX production supervisor/manager, VFX coordinator, VFX production assistant, VFX witness camera operator and VFX on-set supervisor, among other classifications. According to IATSE, a “supermajority” of the proposed bargaining unit has signed union authorization cards.
APPRENTICESHIPS/TRAINING
Laborers Union Looking for Apprentices, Has Jobs to Fill
The Southern Illinoisan
By Staff
June 22, 2024
They’re called “Construction Craft Laborers,” but perhaps you know them through the work they do — residential, commercial and public project construction jobs. In Southern Illinois, these laborers are all part of Local 773 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. The Marion-based branch has more than 4,000 professional members.
JOINING TOGETHER
UNMH under fire for stalled negotiations with union
KOB
By Feliz Romero
June 21 2024
For months, members of the United Health Professionals of New Mexico union have been trying to get UNMH to the negotiating table. “The state labor board issued two orders and they told the hospital, ‘Bargain immediately on all terms and conditions of employment,’ and they just refused,” said Shane Youtz, an attorney representing the union. “They filed an emergency motion with the district court to stay the bargaining order. The district court judge said no, you must bargain, and they simply just won’t bargain.”
Union Food 4 Less workers rally in Coachella ahead of contract negotiations
KESQ
By Bianca Ventura
June 21, 2024
Negotiations between the union representing thousands of Regional Food 4 Less workers and its parent company, Kroger have come to a standstill. On Friday afternoon, several dozen Food 4 Less workers rallied earlier today in Coachella. The store is just one of three Food 4 Less locations in the Coachella Valley that’s represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. The UFCW and it’s parent company, Kroger were in negotiations earlier this week but failed to reach an agreement because it did meet the unions needs regarding higher pay, better hours and improved benefits.
Con Edison, utility workers narrowly avert strike with tentative deal
Audacy
By Erin White
June 23, 2024
Following extensive negotiations and the threat of a strike, the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2 reached a tentative four-year collective bargaining agreement with Con Edison on Sunday morning. UWUA Local 1-2 spokesperson John Melia told 1010 WINS that before the agreement was reached, picket captains were at various locations around Con Edison and its territory in New York City and Westchester, and members were ready to walk off the job.
LI Stop & Shop Workers Vote To Authorize Strike, Supermarket Confirms
Patch
By Jerry Barmash
June 21, 2024
Workers at Stop & Shop supermarkets across Long Island are preparing for a potential strike. Members of UFCW Local 342 voted on Thursday to authorize a strike after several months of negotiations since their contract ended, the supermarket chain announced. "Stop & Shop continues to negotiate in good faith with Local 342, which represents our meat, seafood, and deli associates in New York, and strike authorization votes are a standard part of the negotiation process. We are hopeful we will come to a fair new agreement," the supermarket said in a statement.
Alaska Airlines, flight attendants reach ‘record’ tentative labor deal
CNBC
By Leslie Josephs
June 21, 2024
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines’ flight attendants union said Friday that it reached a “record” tentative labor deal with the carrier, ending a drought of new contracts for cabin crews that have clamored for pay raises for years. The details of the deal, struck under federal mediation, weren’t immediately made public. It will be reviewed by union leadership and then voted on by rank and file members, the Association of Flight Attendants said.
Alaska Airlines reaches tentative deal with flight attendants
The Hill
By Lauren Sforza
June 23, 2024
Alaska Airlines reached a tentative agreement with its union of flight attendants, marking the latest labor win for aviation industry workers. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA for Alaska Airlines announced on Friday that they had reached a deal with the airline, but did not release the details of the agreement. The union represents more than 6,500 flight attendants at Alaska Airlines, according to its website.
Hollywood Basic Crafts Leaders Claim Studios Exhibiting “Lack of Urgency” in Ongoing Negotiations
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
June 22, 2024
In their latest update on ongoing negotiations with studios and streamers, leaders of the Hollywood Basic Crafts union coalition singled out an alleged “lack of urgency” on the employer side of the discussions. “At the conclusion of our scheduled dates for June, we want to make it clear that we are not interested in bargaining against ourselves,” Hollywood Basic Crafts chairperson Lindsay Dougherty and four other leaders said in a statement on Friday, after finishing up their second week of targeted negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “There is a perceived lack of urgency on the employers’ end in addressing issues affecting our members.”
UAW Is Getting Serious About Contract Negotiations With BMW, Striking Is on the Table
Autoevolution
By Florin Amariei
June 23, 2024
Last year, the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, aka the UAW, scored a major win against America's most well-known automakers. GM, Ford, and Stellantis tried to fight them off, but the workers were smart and acted methodically. They gradually expanded the strikes until the Detroit Three brought forward counteroffers that were good enough to be put to a vote. In the end, their plan worked, and virtually anyone working for GM, Ford, or Stellantis scored a raise or a major improvement in their working conditions. Last month, the UAW announced that it was BMW's turn to come to the negotiation table. They are asking for an end to wage tiers, big wage increases, a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) formula that protects workers from inflation, more profit sharing, better restrooms, and reduced healthcare costs.
High Point firefighters upset over pay disparity in salary increases
Myfox8
By Michaela Ratliff and Sarah Winkelmann
June 23, 2024
Firefighters in High Point are upset over what they say is a pay raise disparity in the recent city budget. On Saturday, the High Point Firefighters Association put out a Facebook post that calls into question the decision to give the High Point city manager a 12% increase in pay, or about $28,000 annually. The 1.25% raise given to firefighters amounts to $500 to $700.
Deadline
By Katie Campione
June 21, 2024
The Hollywood Basic Crafts are putting the ball firmly in the studios’ court to strike new three-year deals with the below-the-line unions before the clock strikes midnight on July 31. The Basic Crafts — which include Teamsters Local 399, LiUNA! Local 724, IBEW Local 40, OPCMIA Local 755, and UA Local 78— wrapped their second week of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Friday, concluding their scheduled dates for June. They return to the table on Monday, though, alongside IATSE to reopen talks on their joint benefit plans.
Penn Libraries staff file petition to unionize with National Labor Relations Board
The Daily Pennsylvanian
By Ethan Young
June 23, 2024
Penn Libraries staff members have expressed their intent to unionize by sending a letter to the director of the Penn Libraries and filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board. The letter was signed by Penn Libraries librarians, curators, developers, and other staff and sent to Brigitte Weinsteiger, the H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and director of the Penn Libraries, on Friday morning. The letter expressed the signatories’ intent to unionize as Penn Libraries United. According to a press release from PLU, a “supermajority of eligible library staff have signed union representation cards.” Penn Libraries support staff have been unionized since 1969 as the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees District Council 47 Local 590, and the new group aims to join the same local union.
SPORTS UNIONIZATION
NBA, NFL Pros Back Dartmouth Labor Push as AFL-CIO Files for SEIU
Sportico
By Michael Mccann
June 22, 2024
The biggest U.S. pro sports unions are backing a push to classify college athletes as employees, according to an amicus brief filed Friday with the National Labor Relations Board. The sports council of the AFL-CIO, along with the NBPA and NHLPA, say the NCAA has “given up the ghost” of amateurism by offering a cash settlement and that unions should lead college athletes. The council represents the NFLPA, MLBPA, WNBA, NWSLPA, MLSPA and other associations who are throwing their weight behind the 15 Big Green players. In February, NLRB regional director Laura Sacks found those players were employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. A month later they voted 13-2 to unionize with the SEIU Local 560.
NLRB
The NLRB Is Testing Out a New Tool to Stop Union Busting
Jacobin
By Alex N. Press
June 22, 2024
When workers at three Station Casinos properties in Las Vegas, Nevada — the Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa, the Boulder Station Hotel & Casino, and the Palace Station Hotel & Casino — started organizing to join the Culinary Workers Union in 2019, Station Casinos management kicked off a heavy-handed union-busting campaign. Now, thanks to a first-of-its-kind National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling, the casino chain may be forced to recognize a union despite its workers not having won a union election.
LABOR HISTORY
West Virginia Mine Wars Museum announces launch of Black history project
The Herald-Dispatch
By The Herald-Dispatch Staff
June 22, 2024
The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, located in Matewan, West Virginia, is launching the Mingo County Black History Project, according to a news release. In the Mine Wars era, more than 64,000 African Americans lived in West Virginia and made up about 20% of the state’s coal-mining workforce. In 1920, when miners in Mingo County went on strike for union recognition, about one in four were Black. And in 1921, Mingo County coal miners elected Frank Ingham, a Black miner, to represent them as a delegate at the national convention of the United Mine Workers of America.