MUST WATCH
President Biden Attends Meeting With Union Leaders at AFL-CIO (Video)
C-Span
July 10, 2024
President Biden delivered remarks at a meeting with national union leaders at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, DC. “We’re gonna build this country from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down,” he said, and drew a contrast between himself and his Republican presidential challenger Donald Trump on plans for the economy and labor. He was introduced by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. This event occurred amid talks within the Democratic Party on whether President Biden should remain as the Democratic presidential candidate, following widespread criticism of his debate performance against former President Trump.
MUST READ
Biden will meet Wednesday with top union leaders as he seeks to reassure worried Democrats
AP
By Josh Boak
July 10, 2024
“President Biden and Vice President Harris have always had workers’ backs — and we will have theirs,” Shuler, the AFL-CIO president, said after the debate.
POLITICS
Biden to meet with union leaders amid effort to solidify base following debate
The Hill
By Brett Samuels
July 10, 2024
President Biden will meet with national union leaders on Wednesday, huddling with some of his top supporters as part of a week-long effort to solidify his base in the face of calls from some Democrats for him to drop out of the 2024 race. Biden will visit the AFL-CIO’s Executive Council meeting in Washington, D.C., to meet with leaders in attendance and discuss the stakes of November’s election, his campaign said. Biden will deliver brief remarks and answer questions from union leaders.
INFRASTRUCTURE
DDOT receiving $30.8 million in federal funding to buy new electric buses
WXYZ
By Kellen Voss
July 9, 2024
The Detroit Department of Transportation is receiving $30.8 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to buy new diesel-electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric buses. According to a release from the federal department, this money is to support DDOT's green bus fleet of the future. The money is part of $1.5 billion in funding to support 117 public transportation projects across 47 states. The federal government plans to produce more than 4,600 new buses in U.S. factories.
TRANSPORTATION
California High-Speed Rail Plans Given Boost
Newsweek
By James Bickerton
July 10, 2024
Plans to link two high-speed rail projects currently under construction in California received a major boost Monday when two major labor agreements were signed by the body with oversight of the scheme, and labor unions. The High Desert Corridor Joint Powers Agency (HDCJPA) wants to construct a 54-mile high-speed intercity rail line connecting Palmdale, Los Angeles County, to Victorville in San Bernardino County.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
See which Kroger, Albertsons stores will be sold off in contested $25B merger
Cincinnati.com
By Alexander Coolidge
July 10, 2024
Kroger and Albertsons on Tuesday revealed the specific locations of the 579 stores they plan to sell off in their contested $25 billion merger. Besides what states would be most affected, the list also reveals many of the stores (485 of them) being sold off are from Albertsons, not Kroger. The divestitures of the stores plus other facilities, such as distribution centers, is intended to mollify federal and state regulators, many of which are suing to permanently block the transaction. Under the proposal, the stores would be sold to New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers, an independent operator to maintain competition.
ORGANIZING
Skagit Valley & Cascade Valley Hospitalists organizing
The Stand
By Staff
July 10, 2024
Doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants working as hospitalists at Skagit Valley Hospital and Cascade Valley Hospital have filed for union representation with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD). “Our community has been growing in population and we are seeing and caring for higher volumes of more medically complex patients without expansion in nursing care or specialty services to help offset care demands,” a hospitalist said. “This is leading to less time with the sickest of patients, decreasing time to educate and explain treatment needs and resulting in a system backlog trying to get patients to the appropriate level of care.”
Despite Bargaining Slowdowns, RA Unions Are Still Booming
The Nation
By Lucy Tobier
July 10, 2024
RAs generally say their unionization is primarily directed toward the larger administration and housing system, not the area or community directors. At Swarthmore, three of the four area coordinators left in the middle of the 2023–24 academic year—leaving just one behind to manage all 56 RAs. Georgetown saw similar turnover, and noticed more variation in discipline and treatment with the newer hires, a major motivation for unionizing and creating stable rules.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
IATSE Releases the Full Details of Their Tentative Deal; Sets Dates For Ratification Vote
Variety
By Carolyn Giardina
July 10, 2024
IATSE has published the Memorandums of Agreement for the Hollywood Basic, Videotape and Area Standard Agreements–which is the specific contract language of the tentative deals reached between IATSE and the AMPTP–ahead of a ratification vote that begins on Monday. Eligible IATSE members will vote on whether to ratify these agreements between July 14-17, with the results scheduled to be announced July 18th.
Minneapolis park workers' strike will continue indefinitely, union says
Star Tribune
By Elliot Hughes
July 10, 2024
The Minneapolis park workers' strike will continue indefinitely, past the one-week timeline they initially set shortly before the July 4th holiday weekend. "We are united. We have each others' backs. Organized labor has our back. The community has our back, and we will fight until we get a fair contract and the respect we deserve," said AJ Lang, the business manager for the union, Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 363.
2 Las Vegas Strip hotels reach labor deals with hospitality union
Las Vegas Review-Journal
By McKenna Ross
July 10, 2024
Culinary Local 226 said Tuesday it reached tentative contract agreements at two Strip hotel properties. The hospitality workers union announced the agreements with Vdara, a 1,395-room hotel next to Aria hotel-casino, and The Signature, with its 730 rooms neighboring MGM Grand. The union said the agreements would cover more than 1,000 workers. Culinary members still must ratify the agreements, which received overwhelming support at other resorts. MGM Resorts International workers at most of the company’s other Strip properties ratified a five-year contract with the operator last fall. Roughly 25,000 members were covered at those properties.
Read IATSE’s Tentative New Deals Here — Union Reveals Full Agreements Ahead Of Ratification Vote
Deadline
By Katie Campione
July 10, 2024
It’s been nearly two weeks since IATSE reached a tentative agreement with the studios on a new film and TV contract, and the union is now ready to reveal the full contract to its members. The complete memorandum of agreements between IATSE and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for the Area Standards, Videotape and Basic Agreement were sent in a memo to members on Wednesday, which Deadline has obtained. Read the full Basic Agreement here and the videotape agreement here.
14,000 Disneyland employees to vote on union strike
Orange County Register
By Brady Macdonald
July 9, 2024
Nearly half of Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney cast members could soon be on strike if the workers authorize a mass walk-out as union negotiations continue over a new contract for 40% of the 35,000 park employees. Master Services Council, which represents 14,000 Disneyland employees from four unions, announced on Tuesday, July 9 that a strike authorization vote will be held next week.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
It’s Time For Newark to Invest in its Public Library System, Union Says (Opinion)
Tap Into
By Beth Zak-Cohen and Karl Schwartz
July 10, 2024
Where in New Jersey can one go to receive 1-on-1 help from a social worker, record an album or podcast in a state-of-the-art recording studio, see Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Roth’s personal library, take classes in everything from English and sign language to entrepreneurship and CPR, receive free lunches all summer long for kids, go to lectures from world-renowned scholars in Black history, view unique historical archives, and attend a legendary Friday night dance party? Such a place may seem too eclectic to exist, but the Newark Public Library (NPL) offers all of these things, among many more programs and services that we cannot possibly fit into a single article. As the public library system for the largest city in New Jersey, NPL is one of the state’s most cherished cultural institutions.