Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
MUST WATCH
Wis Politics
By Staff
July 17, 2024
Today in Milwaukee, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, AFL–CIO President Liz Shuler, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, and Biden-Harris 2024 Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks hosted a press conference calling out Donald Trump and J.D. Vance’s extreme Project 2025 agenda to rip away health care access, slash Social Security and Medicare, and rig the economy for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations at the expense of working families. “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? Would it make my life better? […] You’ve seen workers, they’re rising up all across this country because they’re fed up,” said AFL–CIO President Liz Shuler. “I believe when working people have the facts and they see the stark choices that we’ve been talking about this morning, we are going to invest in ourselves. We are going to invest in our future, and we are going to support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who have a clear record and stand with working people.”
POLITICS
JD Vance’s populist persona leaves pro-worker groups skeptical
CNN
By Allison Morrow
July 17, 2024
“A Trump–Vance White House is a corporate CEO’s dream and a worker’s nightmare,“ AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement Monday. “Sen. JD Vance likes to play union supporter on the picket line, but his record proves that to be a sham.” Vance’s short voting record — he’s been in the Senate just shy of two years — doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence among labor advocates. He voted against Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which directed hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to American manufacturers. According to the AFL-CIO, the nation’s biggest union federation that represents some 12.5 million workers, Vance has introduced legislation that would allow bosses to bypass their workers’ unions, and opposed legislation that would make it easier for workers to form unions.
‘Betrayed’: Unions, White House irate over Teamsters president’s RNC speech
The Washington Post
By Lauren Kaori Gurley and Jeff Stein
July 17, 2024
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest federation of unions, said in a statement that although she agrees with O’Brien’s critiques of corporate greed, “Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are on the bosses’ side.” “We won’t be fooled,” Shuler said.
Teamsters president's RNC speech highlights Trump's union push. Will it work?
Spectrum News
By David Mendez and Reuben Jones
July 16, 2024
Liz Shuler, the president of the AFL-CIO, told Spectrum News that O’Brien was "right to call out corporate greed," which is an issue that she believes people aren’t focused on, "especially at the RNC, that corporations have tilted labor laws in their favor."
Project 2025 is coming for your union
Forward Kentucky
By Bruce Maples
July 17, 2024
“Have you heard about Project 2025?” Robert Reich asks in a follow up fund-raising email from Inequality Media Civic Action. “If not, you might want to sit down before reading the rest of this email — because frankly, it’s terrifying.” Added Reich: “Project 2025 is a nearly 1000-page step-by-step playbook for Donald Trump’s second term that would literally turn America into an authoritarian MAGA police state and shred our most cherished freedoms.”
ORGANIZING
Unionization Petitions Up 30% in 2024 in Wake of Cemex Decision
Bloomberg Law
By Parker Purifoy
July 17, 2024
US workers are seeking to unionize at increasingly higher rates, having filed over 30% more election petitions with the National Labor Relations Board than at this point last fiscal year, the agency announced. The NLRB so far has received more than 2,600 union election petitions in fiscal year 2024, more than the 2,594 petitions filed in all of fiscal year 2023, an agency spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday. The increases largely were driven by a 2,000% surge in the number of employer-filed petitions after the board’s decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC altered its framework for policing alleged legal violations before an election.
US union organizing, and unions' election win rate, is surging, NLRB says
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
July 17, 2024
Unions are filing petitions to hold elections and winning them at rates not seen in decades, according to data released by the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, likely a reflection of the agency's adoption of policies favored by unions during the Biden administration. The board in a release said it has already received more than 2,600 union election petitions during the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, surpassing the total for the full previous fiscal year. NLRB regional offices have seen a 32% increase in the number of petitions filed compared with this time last year, the agency said.
Union Election Requests Hit Their Highest Level In A Decade
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
July 17, 2024
Federal officials continue to see an upsurge in union organizing among U.S. workers in the private sector, an optimistic sign for organized labor amid years of declining membership. The number of union election petitions recently hit its highest level since 2015, according to a spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversees unionization efforts.
Kalamazoo Planned Parenthood workers unionize, first to do so in West Michigan
MLive
By Ryan Boldrey
July 17, 2024
With a recent vote, Planned Parenthood’s Kalamazoo Health Center has become the first Planned Parenthood site in West Michigan to unionize. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 951 announced Wednesday, July 17, that Planned Parenthood workers from the Kalamazoo Health Center have voted in favor of UFCW 951 representation. All workers at the health center signed up to join the union and a committee will soon start to bargain their first contract, a news release from UFCW Local 951 stated. Workers at the health center see union representation as a step in the right direction to a lasting career, per the release.
JOINING TOGETHER
University of Missouri employees voice concerns about benefits, wages at union town hall
Missouri Independet
By Grace Burwell
July 17, 2024
University of Missouri custodian Cathy Persinger had to move out of Columbia, because she can no longer afford to live in the city, she said during a town hall Saturday afternoon at the Unitarian Universalist Church. “When I asked (the university) for a raise because I was stressed out, they told me about food banks and stuff on campus, which I’ve been going to those already,” said Persinger, who makes a little over $15 an hour. “And it’s not enough.” Several university workers and community members echoed similar concerns. More than 150 attended the town hall, which focused on discussions surrounding MU’s new proposed parking model, changes to employee benefits, wages and more. The event was organized by MU Workers United and Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 955.
San José Hotel Workers Rally Downtown, Demanding Better Wages and Benefits
KQED
By Joseph Geha
July 17, 2024
Hundreds of hotel workers marched the streets of downtown San José Tuesday evening, calling for increased wages, affordable health care and job security from the chains that employ them. The unionized workers include housekeepers, dishwashers, bellmen, front desk clerks, servers and engineers, among other critical service roles. They are members of a local chapter of the massive hospitality union called Unite Here, which said the contracts for these workers expired in June with the management of five hotels in San José, including ones owned by Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
Boeing’s largest union says it will strike if contract negotiations fail
The Washington Post
By Lori Aratani
July 17, 2024
Boeing’s largest employee union voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to authorize a strike, increasing the pressure on the company to meet its demands for higher wages and better working conditions or risk a crippling walkout later this year. Wednesday’s yes vote by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 was largely expected but injects yet another element of uncertainty into Boeing’s business as it attempts to recover from a string of crises that have weighed on its reputation all year. Union officials said the vote passed by nearly 99.9 percent.
Disneyland union protesters chant ‘shut it down’ ahead of strike vote
The Orange County Register
By Brady MacDonald and Jeff Gritchen
July 17, 2024
Disneyland’s largest union coalition protested on the Anaheim theme park’s birthday with ride operators, candy makers and ticket takers fighting for a pay raise ahead of a planned strike vote. Disneyland union employees rallied outside the park’s entrance on Wednesday, July 17 in support of union contract negotiations seeking fair wages. The symbolic date marked the 69th anniversary of the park’s opening on July 17, 1955.
Two years after unionizing, REI workers continue fighting for an agreement
Prism
By Eddie Velasquez
July 17, 2024
Two years have passed since workers at the Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) location in SoHo in New York City voted to form the first union in the outdoor equipment retailer’s history. Since then, workers at nine other locations across the country have unionized. They all remain without a contract. However, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)—the organizations representing REI workers at the 10 unionized stores—have filed close to 100 unfair labor practice claims (ULP) with federal regulators in the last two years to substantiate their claims.
190,000 Postal Workers are engaged in the country’s biggest contract fight
People’s World
July 17, 2024
The American Postal Workers Union – fresh out of discussion, debate, and workshops at their 27th Biennial National Convention here – held a rally to build support for their new contract fight with the U.S. Postal Service. Bargaining talks between the union and management opened June 25. During the convention, which was attended by 2,100 delegates, APWU President Mark Dimondstein condemned recent assaults by corporations and reactionary politicians on workers’ and women’s rights. He slammed the bigotry and voter suppression of multiple recent Supreme Court rulings that set back democratic rights.
Park labor talks break down again over gaping disagreement over wage facts
Star Tribune
By Susan Du
July 17, 2024
With key factual disputes over wages at the heart of the ongoing park workers strike, negotiations between the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) and the Laborers Local 363 union broke down again Tuesday night after park officials walked out. With the strike now entering a third week, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is offering to step in as convener, "helping bring both sides together to move good-faith negotiations forward."
They will strike if they have to: UAW’s hardball negotiation tactics come to Cornell
The Ithaca Voice
By Jimmy Jordan
July 17, 2024
The United Auto Workers Local 2300 has signaled it is willing to strike if Cornell University does not meet the demands of workers in an ongoing labor contract negotiation. The warning comes after about four months of negotiations between Cornell and the union, but that window of time has shown the two parties appear to have disparate ideas of a reasonable labor contract.
Boeing Seattle workers pass strike sanction vote, union says
Reuters
By Allison Lampert and David Ryder
July 17, 2024
Boeing's (BA.N), opens new tab Washington state factory workers voted by more than 99% in favor of a strike mandate, their union said on Wednesday evening, as they seek a 40% raise in their first full negotiation with the planemaker in 16 years. Union local president Jon Holden of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said bad decisions made at the executive level of Boeing are putting workers' livelihoods at risk.
Hundreds of Disneyland workers rally in front of park ahead of strike vote
Courthouse News
By Sam Ribakoff
July 17, 2024
Hundreds of unionized Disney workers marched to the gates of Mickey Mouse’s kingdom on Wednesday to demonstrate their anger and solidarity ahead of a vote on whether they'll strike as contract negotiations drag on. “We want just what is fair. A living wage. They want to just give us .50 cents. That’s not going to make it with all the prices going up. Everything’s going up. We can’t make it,” said Maria Ellena Romano, holding a homemade sign that said “pay fair show you care” with a drawing of Mickey Mouse’s white glove clenched in a fist.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
A Proposed Regulation Could Protect Millions of Workers From Extreme Heat
The Nation
By Aina Marzia
July 17, 2024
On July 2, the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a new rule that would protect more than 36 million workers from heat-related illnesses and deaths. Regulations included employers’ responsibility to designate rest time, provide adequate water, and monitor heat-induced symptoms. The rule, “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings” includes stipulations once the temperature hits the 80-degree or 90-degree mark. “Heat is the leading cause of death among all hazardous weather conditions in the United States,” wrote OSHA. “This is a significant step toward a federal heat standard to protect workers.”
RETIREMENT SECURITY
Musicians’ Union Pension Plan Gets More Than a Billion Dollars in Federal Funds, Avoiding Insolvency
The Hollywood Reporter
By Caitlin Huston
July 17, 2024
The pension plan for the American Federation of Musicians and Employers is set to receive a $1.5 billion cash influx to save the plan from becoming insolvent. The money comes as part of the American Rescue Plan, backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), which was passed in 2021. The pension plan for the musicians’ union, which represents close to 50,000 members in New York who work on Broadway, in bands, in orchestras and in film and theater, is now set to receive the funding. Without the funding, the plan was set to run out of money in 2034. At that time, the plan would have been required to reduce participants’ benefits by roughly 50 percent below the amount payable.