Today's AFL-CIO press clips
SPORTS UNIONIZATION
The ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ event that will reset the WNBA
The Washington Post
By Kareem Copeland
June 26, 2024
When the time comes to negotiate a new CBA, Women’s National Basketball Players Association executive director Terri Jackson said, WNBA players are “laser focused” on specific salaries instead of a compensation model that currently gives players the opportunity to earn more through other means such as bonuses and marketing agreements. “All eyes on that deal and what it could set us up for next,” Jackson said. “Many [players] crafted their contracts to give them greater opportunity to renegotiate something that is more appropriate and closer to their value, particularly in this new system that we have.”
JOINING TOGETHER
Hollywood crew members reach tentative deal with major studios
Los Angeles Times
By Christi Carras
June 25, 2024
Film and TV crew members have reached a tentative contract deal with the major Hollywood studios after months of bargaining, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced Tuesday night. The resolution arrived before the current contract’s expiration date, finally permitting the entertainment industry to breathe a sigh of relief in the wake of two marathon strikes waged by actors and screenwriters. IATSE’s Hollywood Basic Agreement spans three years and covers some 50,000 craftspeople primarily based in Los Angeles.
Hollywood workers union reaches pay, AI-use deal with top studios
Reuters
By Reuters
June 26, 2024
A union representing Hollywood film and television crew said on Tuesday it has reached a tentative three-year deal with major studios that includes agreed-on pay hikes and guardrails against the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) members, which include lighting technicians and costume designers, are to ratify the deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab, Netflix (NFLX.O), opens new tab and others.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Sean Collins Walsh
June 26, 2024
Most city employees could be working without labor contracts starting next week if Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration is unable to reach agreements with the unions for non-uniformed workers like trash collectors and rec center staff. While a disruption of city services is unlikely when the current contracts expire on Sunday, any delays in reaching new deals could postpone scheduled raises for some workers and increase tensions between the unions and Parker’s administration. And it comes as Parker needs those workers to execute much of her agenda, such as cleaning every block in the city this summer.
Ending two-tier wage system key Postal Workers goal in talks
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
June 26, 2024
Eliminating yet another two-tier wage system and lifting the lowest ranks of its members out of the ranks of poverty-wage workers are among the key goals of the Postal Workers as they opened talks on June 25 on a new contract with the US Postal Service. Any agreement, whether it’s achieved through collective bargaining, as APWU hopes, or by a pact which arbitrators impose, would be the largest single contract unions and bosses would achieve this year. The current contract, covering 190,000 workers, expires in September. The two sides in the talks appeared to have a very different focus. APWU President Mark Dimondstein emphasized raising wages, eliminating two tiers, and expanding the USPS into new lines of business to increase its revenues, He also pushed achieving safety, stability and better working conditions for union members, including an end to a management culture of toleration or worse of bullying and harassment on the job. APWU received massive and strong support the evening before bargaining began, during a mass nationwide zoomed rally of union members. Support came from, among others, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt., Letter Carriers President Brian Renfroe, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond, AFL-CIO Special Assistant Clayola Brown and Association of Flight Attendants/CWA President Sara Nelson.
Your View: We work at the Lehigh Valley BMW distribution center. Here’s why we may go on strike. (Opinion)
The Morning Call
By Zachary Haas, Reyna Lopez and Megan Dowling
June 26, 2024
As workers at the BMW Regional Distribution Center in Palmer Township, we package and ship parts, as well as all BMW motorcycles, to BMW’s dealer network throughout the country. In the sprawling facility, our paths rarely cross when we’re on the job. We work different shifts, speak different languages and come from varied backgrounds. But when it comes to winning a record contract, we’re united with our co-workers and ready to stand up. We recently voted with 99% support that without a deal that ends wage tiers, raises wages, and increases safety, we will strike if necessary. The story at our facility is a familiar one: BMW is raking in record profits, and executives and shareholders are lavished with outrageous salaries and payouts. In BMW’s case, they paid out $7.2 billion last year to shareholders. Yet, the workers here in the Lehigh Valley who actually process and distribute the product continue to struggle to make ends meet.
Union members fill Vallejo council chambers to demand wage hikes
Vallejo Sun
By Ryan Geller
June 26, 2024
Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 filled the Vallejo City Council chambers at a meeting Tuesday to emphasize their demands for wage and benefit increases in stalled negotiations. The union has been negotiating a new contract since March, but said negotiations are at a standstill with the contract set to expire on Sunday. Union leaders said that the wages of Vallejo city employees are, on average, 22% below market rate and they pay significantly higher medical premiums compared to those employed at other agencies.
Soo nurses ratify new contract with MyMichigan after months-long standoff
UP Matters
By Schyler Perkins
June 26, 2024
Nurses working at MyMichigan Medical Center Sault have officially struck a deal with hospital management after over six months of gridlocked negotiation efforts. In a Wednesday news release, a spokesperson for the Michigan Nurses Association announced that union nurses at the Sault hospital voted in favor of the latest contract offer from management.
Michigan Kroger workers ratify new contract. What it means
Lansing State Journal
By Mike Ellis
June 26, 2024
Unionized Kroger workers in Michigan ratified a new contract that they say will mean better wages, more time off and improved health care for more than 1,000 employees including those at Lansing area stores. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 951 said in a Wednesday release they voted this week to ratify the contract. The union touts itself as the largest private sector union in Michigan, with 30,000 workers, including more than 1,000 Kroger employees. Local 951 also represents Meijer and Rite-Aid workers.
Harrison resort workers vote "yes" on strike action
Agassiz-Harrison Observer
By Adam Louis
June 25, 2024
Members of UNITE HERE Local 40 working at Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa voted 96 per cent in favour of strike action on Monday, June 24. According to a release from the union, room attendants, front desk agents, servers, cooks, dishwashers and other resort workers are calling for fair wages, fair scheduling, improved medical benefits, banquet tip transparency and adequate pension.
What pharmacy workers unionizing could mean for CVS and Walgreens
Healthcare Brew
By Maia Anderson
June 25, 2024
Roughly six months since the Pharmacy Guild was formed, a handful of retail pharmacies across the US have filed to join the union. While unionizing is common for other healthcare workers like nurses, pharmacists historically haven’t organized. In 2023, just 4.6% of pharmacists (or about 15,260 people) were covered by union contracts, the Wall Street Journal reported. The creation of the Pharmacy Guild and the subsequent unionizations followed a series of pharmacy worker walkouts in late 2023. But Gerald Friedman, a union expert and economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is skeptical of how much of an effect a union could have against large corporations like CVS or Walgreens.
TriMet, ATU Local 757 reach tentative four-year Working and Wage Agreement
Mass Transit
By Brandon Lewis
June 26, 2024
TriMet and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757 leadership have reached a tentative agreement on a proposed new Working and Wage Agreement. The new contract includes compromises and improvements that benefit TriMet’s union employees, the agency and TriMet riders. If ratified by TriMet union members and approved by the TriMet Board of Directors, the new, four-year contract will take effect on Dec. 1, 2024, though an increase in the agency contribution to union employees’ 401a plan would go into effect after board approval.
ORGANIZING
Willimantic’s Fine Fettle Dispensary workers vote to unionize
The Chronicle
By Dylan Braccia
June 26, 2024
Willimantic’s Fine Fettle Dispensary workers voted to form their union with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 919 by a 2-1 margin on Monday. UFCW Local 919 President Mark A. Espinosa said he was excited for them to join. “This vote demonstrates the new generation of cannabis workers discovering that unionizing plays a critical role in maintaining good, safe, jobs in any industry,” Espinosa said.
IN THE STATES
Middle Georgia union workers worried about presidential election (Video)
41 NBC
By Tanya Modersitzki
June 25, 2024
Ahead of Thursday’s debate with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Middle Georgia union workers tell 41NBC everyone needs to pay close attention because the future of unions is uncertain if Trump wins. During a news conference Tuesday morning, some union workers said if Biden is re-elected, their protections are guaranteed, but if Trump wins, they worry those laws will be taken away. “You only have to look at the four years he served. The unions were under attack. He gutted our abilities to represent the rank and file members. It was just a nightmare,” said Henry Brown with Union 786 in Warner Robins.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Connecticut firefighters sue DuPont, 3M, Honeywell over allegedly contaminated gear
Reuters
By Jonathan Stempel
June 26, 2024
DuPont (DD.N), opens new tab, 3M (MMM.N), opens new tab, Honeywell (HON.O), opens new tab and 16 other defendants were sued on Tuesday by Connecticut firefighters who said their protective gear was contaminated by toxic "forever chemicals" linked to cancer.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they believed the proposed class action filed in the New Haven, Connecticut, federal court is the first to exclusively target firefighter gear containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
Union Pushes for OSHA Mandate in Public Sector
WENY News
By Kara Jeffers
June 26, 2024
Unions across the Commonwealth are advocating for OSHA mandates in the public sector. A bill passed by the house earlier in the session is sitting in Senate committee, waiting for action this budget week. Right now, employees for local governments, municipalities, public schools—anyone in the public sector— are not under any OSHA regulations. Pennsylvania’s AFL-CIO president Angela Ferritto gave an example of how the lack of regulations can have an impact in the real world; saying if a PennDOT worker and private contractor were both working on a road project…“If there was an injury, the [private contractor] worker over here would have an investigation done. They would have reporting standards that needed to be met,” said Ferritto. "The public sector worker, there would be no requirement of an investigation. There would be no reporting standard to be met.”