POLITICS
Republicans try to square pro-worker rhetoric with anti-union policies
The Washington Post
By Dan Balz
July 16, 2024
Through a spokesperson, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler issued the following statement in response to O’Brien’s speech: “President O’Brien rightfully criticized corporate greed and called out tactics corporations use to intimidate workers from forming unions. The problem is that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are on the bosses’ side, not the workers… Trump would love workers to take him at his word and forget what he actually did as president, but we haven’t forgotten.”
'A Corporate CEO's Dream': Labor Unions Blast Trump-Vance Ticket
Common Dreams
By Jake Johnson
July 16, 2024
Leading U.S. unions warned voters on Monday not to be fooled by the pro-worker facade constructed by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio who has opposed congressional efforts to strengthen organizing rights, allowed corporate lobbyists to influence his legislating, and raked in donations from the elites he claims to despise. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO—the nation's largest federation of unions—said in a statement the combined records of Trump and Vance make clear that, if elected, they "would eviscerate unions and empty workers' pockets just to boost the profits of their corporate friends and donors."
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler responds to Trump vice president announcement
Forward Kentucky
By Staff
July 16, 2024
Donald Trump has a miserable record of breaking every promise he’s made to working people – from failing to pay his workers and crossing a picket line to his disastrous four years in the White House. That betrayal would continue if he is re-elected – so it’s no surprise Trump chose a vice president who will be nothing more than a rubber stamp for that anti-worker vision. Sen. JD Vance likes to play union supporter on the picket line, but his record proves that to be a sham. He has introduced legislation to allow bosses to bypass their workers’ unions with phony corporate-run unions, disparaged striking UAW members while collecting hefty donations from one of the major auto companies, and opposed the landmark Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would end union-busting “right to work” laws and make it easier for workers to form unions and win strong contracts.
Another Trump Presidency Could Be Disastrous For Unions
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
July 16, 2024
Things have been looking up for the labor movement these days. More workers are trying to unionize their workplaces. Employees have been going on strike in numbers not seen in years. And unions have been notching some major organizing breakthroughs, including in the anti-union South. So what could undermine this hopeful moment for organized labor as it tries to rebuild after decades of decline? Another Donald Trump presidency.
Chastened by Trump shooting, Democrats recalibrate messaging with economic counterpunch
USA Today
By Laura Gersony
July 16, 2024
The Trump campaign, which did not immediately return a request for comment, has argued unions and the middle class support them. At Tuesday’s press conference, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler dismissed that talk as “spin.” Biden “was the first sitting American president to walk a union picket line,” Shuler said. “JD Vance showed up for the first time ever. … And it was basically in preparation for his political career.”
The Biden campaign is sounding the alarm over ‘Project 2025’
AJC
By Shaddi Abusaid and Greg Bluestein
July 16, 2024
“Donald Trump’s Republican Party will always choose big, greedy, anti-union extremists over the working men and women of America,” said Quentin Fulks, a veteran Georgia operative who is Biden’s deputy campaign manager. He was joined by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Both raised concerns Trump and his vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, would dismantle union protections for blue-collar workers and side with large corporations wherever possible.
Outside RNC, Democrats hit Trump on abortion, unions, Milwaukee 'horrible city' comment
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Laura Schulte and Rachel Hale
July 16, 2024
AFL-CIO president Liz Schuler highlighted workers’ rights, which she said could be decimated under another four years of Trump. “If you're a working person out there, and you're considering this question of who do I vote for, I think you should ask yourself, 'Does this Project 2025 agenda make my life better if it were to become law,'” Shuler asked. “Will my life be better when Trump lets my company force me to work overtime without overtime pay?”
Local labor leaders push back on Republican National Convention
WKOW
By JT Cestkowski
July 15, 2024
Madison’s mayor, and representatives of organized labor held a news conference to contrast the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on job creation and supporting working people. The news conference was hosted by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 159. The organization represents unionized electricians in south central Wisconsin. It’s members have benefited from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed and championed by Biden. The laws subsidized clean energy projects employing the union’s electricians.
J.D. Vance says he is pro-worker. Here’s what he really believes
Fast Company
By Pavithra Mohan
July 16, 2024
It’s notable that labor leaders have been quick to come out against Vance, following the announcement yesterday. AFL-CIO president Liz Schulyer described the Trump-Vance ticket as “a corporate CEO’s dream and a worker’s nightmare.”
LABOR AND TECHNOLOGY
Meta, Apple, Microsoft Expand AI Risk Transparency Amid Pressure
Bloomberg Law
By Clara Hudson
July 16, 2024
The pressure is not going to stop companies from moving forward with AI. Businesses are banking on AI as a monumental financial opportunity and touting their AI focus in filings to investors: Bloomberg Law reported in February that over 40% of S&P 500 companies mentioned AI in their most recent annual report—an uptick since 2018 when AI was rarely mentioned. The campaigns are, however, starting to prompt some businesses to modify their behavior. Earlier this year, the AFL-CIO said it withdrew AI-related bids at The Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp. after those companies reportedly agreed to disclose more information on the use of AI. Carin Zelenko, director of capital strategies for the AFL-CIO, said the entertainment industry strikes demonstrated what happens when businesses don’t engage workers in thinking through how the use of technology could impact jobs and the future of the industry. “I really believe it’s important that, as companies are introducing these technologies, that they engage the workforce in how the technology can be used,” Zelenko said.
IMMIGRATION
Capital Has No Borders—Why Should We?
In These Times
By Maurizio Guerrero
July 16, 2024
Despite the corporate efforts to maintain an exploitable underclass, the labor movement is expanding protections to immigrants and guest workers, in part, as a matter of strategy, considering that almost one in five workers in the country (18.6%) is not a U.S. citizen. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), associated with the AFL-CIO, has organized thousands of H-2A workers across North Carolina, similar to what the United Farm Workers (UFW) has done in California and recently in New York, where undocumented and H-2A laborers are pressing for union contracts.
JOINING TOGETHER
Support for unions growing strong among young workers
CBS News
By Janet Shamlian
July 16, 2024
Support for organized labor is at a high not seen since the 1960s, with 71% of Americans saying they approve of unions, according to Gallup. Among members of Generation Z, unions have a 64.3% approval rating, according to the Center for American Progress.
The rise of the ‘union curious’
Economic Policy Institute
By John S. Ahlquist, Jake Grumbach, and Thomas Kochan
July 16, 2024
Americans’ approval of unions and willingness to vote for them at their workplaces have increased although union membership has continued to drop in recent years. Even more remarkable than the growth of union support has been the decline of outright opposition to unions and the rise of the “union curious.” A large generational divide that was not apparent even a few years ago is emerging. Workers 30 and under are far more likely than older workers to report both support for and uncertainty about unionization.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
United Airlines flight attendants to vote on strike authorization
Reuters
By Rajesh Kumar Singh
July 16, 2024
United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab flight attendants will vote whether to authorize a strike if agreement on a new employment contract cannot be reached, their union said on Tuesday.
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), which represents 28,000 flight attendants at the Chicago-based carrier, said the vote will open on Aug. 1 and close on Aug. 28.
The last contract became eligible for an amendment in August 2021.
Lowcountry AT&T workers rally for better wages and benefits amidst negotiations
ABC News 4
By Abigail Quinn
July 16, 2024
Lowcountry A-T&T workers are hosting a rally Tuesday evening in support of continued contract negotiations for improved conditions. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) local 37-04 is part of a larger group representing the southeast in the negotiations. The local CWA Chapter president said that A-T&T rejected their initial offer and so negotiations must continue.
United Airlines flight attendants will vote on whether to strike
Quartz
By Melvin Backman
July 16, 2024
Another airline’s flight attendants are shifting to strike footing. The ones working at United Airlines announced Tuesday that they were calling a vote to approve a mass work stoppage as negotiations over a new contract prepare to enter their fourth year. “United Flight Attendants can’t afford to wait for improvements,” said Ken Diaz, president of the United Airlines chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants union that represents 28,000 members. “We deserve an industry-leading contract, and we are ready to show United management that we will do whatever it takes. There is no time to waste. Our negotiations are at a critical state, the issues are clear, and the time to act is now.”
NLRB
NLRB Overrules Metal Powder Products' Election Objections, Affirming Workers' Union Victory
ABC 27
By Communications Workers of America
July 15, 2024
A hearing officer for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisively recommended that Metal Powder Products' (MPP) objections to the April 10th union election be overruled, where a majority of workers at the Campbellsburg plant voted to join the industrial division of the Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA). This ruling underscores MPP's persistent and underhanded attempts to obstruct its employees' rights to unionize and seek fair representation.
VETERANS
CBS News
By Ted Scouten
July 16, 2024
Army veteran Lawrence Bailey was shocked by the conditions he encountered when he went to the Miami VA Medical Center. "I was on the 10th floor and I saw water, just when it was raining, just leaking. ... They put buckets out there. You know, so it is bad," he said. Bill Frogameni is a nurse at the VA hospital and the local director of the National Nurses United union. "There's been leaks, as far as we can tell for several years. But they've been a whole lot worse, I want to say, in the last year," he said.