Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST READ
How Democrats at DNC are seizing on 'freedom' theme after years of GOP monopoly
ABC News
By Tal Axelrod
Aug. 21, 2024
"Are we fighting for freedom? That's what I thought," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said at a meeting of the Democratic National Committee's women's caucus. "Freedom is not drowning in medical debt. Freedom is earning the same salary as a man does for doing the same job…Freedom is about making our own decisions about our own bodies."
POLITICS
Amid a ‘really, really big week for labor,’ Illinois unions, Democrats held up as model
Capitol News Illinois
By Jerry Nowicki
Aug. 21, 2024
Organized labor has been everywhere at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, from the main stage to the Illinois delegation’s morning breakfast gatherings. “This has been a really, really big week for labor and very, very much appreciated, and it's heartwarming,” Illinois labor mainstay and state AFL-CIO President Tim Drea told attendees to the Illinois breakfast on Wednesday. Drea spoke to the Illinois delegation about how unions – and Democrats, he said – “get s--- done.” Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, kicked of the breakfast by noting a laundry list of union-backed initiatives that have been passed into law by a state government that’s dominated by Democrats at all levels. Throughout the years, union efforts and dollars have been instrumental in making that the case. But it wasn’t just the local leaders who took note of Illinois’ place as a leader for labor and progressive politics. National AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Fred Redmond said Illinois shows what’s possible when Democrats control the “trifecta” of the executive, legislative and judicial branches. “You know we need all of our elected leaders to really look at Illinois, where the Democrats have proven time and time again that this party is one and one party for working people,” Redmond, who is from Chicago, said.
Labor Leaders Slam Trump, Tout Democratic Priorities in 2024 Election: ‘It’s All on the Line’
WTTW
By Nick Blumberg
Aug. 21, 2024
Labor leaders tried to draw a sharp contrast Wednesday between Democrats and Republicans at the Illinois delegation’s breakfast on the third day of the Democratic National Convention — saying the GOP and Donald Trump aren’t on the side of working people. International Iron Workers General President Eric Dean, a Chicago native with plenty of Windy City attitude, laid out the stakes in November bluntly — saying Democrats have to keep “the f---ing s-----est president in my lifetime” from returning to the Oval Office. His comments were echoed by national AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond. “The American labor movement is going to move heaven and earth to elect every pro-worker Democrat up and down the ballot,” Redmond said. “During this election cycle, we will be putting out the largest ground game in the history of the American labor movement. It’s all on the line.” Redmond said while labor unions represent workers, they aren’t a special interest group. “Labor issues are normal issues — and more importantly, they are winning issues,” Redmond said.
One on One With Illinois Labor Leader Tim Drea (Watch)
PBS
Aug. 20, 2024
Amanda Vinicky is live in the United Center with Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea.
How Tim Walz Saved Workers’ Lives and Limbs
The American Prospect
By David Michaels and Jordan Barab
Aug. 21, 2024
In 2023, with a narrow Democratic majority and working closely with the Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state legislature passed several innovative laws that greatly strengthen the safety and health protections provided to Minnesota workers employed in high-hazard jobs. These include: Protecting Workers from Ergonomic Hazards: About 30 percent of all serious injuries reported by employers to the Bureau of Labor Statistics are musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). These are injuries to the back, wrist, neck, or arm caused by exposure to lifting, twisting, repetitive motions, and other ergonomic hazards.
Missouri DNC Delegate Says Project 2025 Will Attack Union Jobs
Missouri Net
By Anthony Morabith
Aug. 21, 2024
Six major labor union presidents have pledged support for Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Zack Dunn, a delegate and union worker from Columbia, is all in for Harris because he said that she is fighting for working families. “Through the Infrastructure and Chips Act,” he told Missourinet. “Through, you know, the Inflation Reduction Act. You know, there’s so many good pieces of legislation that they’ve done that has helped us bring jobs back to this country, bring jobs back to Missouri.” Dunn said that Project 2025 is how he will sell the Harris presidential ticket to his part of the state. Project 2025 is an effort to reshape the federal government and its power to reflect right-leaning policies. “They want to eliminate overtime by eliminating the 40-hour work week,” he said. “They want to attack; they want to pass right-to-work laws across the country. They want to attack prevailing wages. These are things that help create union jobs, good family paying jobs and so, you know, once we talk about this, they quickly realize how bad Trump is going to be for the working class.”
GOP called over for “pro-labor” rebrand: They “want working class people to sit down and shut up”
Salon
By Marin Scotten
Aug. 21, 2024
But despite the pro-labor image they’re pushing, Vance and Trump are anything but. “I think it’s dumb to hand over a lot of power to a union leadership that is aggressively anti-Republican,” Vance told Politico. Trump’s record too is staunchly anti-labor. Just last week, the UAW announced the union is filing federal charges against Trump for arguing that striking workers should be fired in a discussion with X CEO Elon Musk. “Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected,” Fain said in a statement. “Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns,” he added.
Union leaders at DNC push back against Trump overtures to organized labor
Wisconsin Public Radio
By Anya Van Wagtendonk
Aug. 21, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is highlighting its pro-union stance at the Democratic National Convention this week, pushing back against Republican Party overtures to organized labor at their own convention last month. It’s an attempt to refute former President Donald Trump’s claims that he will work with organized labor amid recent meetings with the president of the Teamsters union, and an effort by Harris to hitch onto President Joe Biden’s labor record, which includes being the first president to walk a picket line. Addressing the Wisconsin delegation to the DNC Wednesday morning, U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su argued Harris had fought wage theft as attorney general of California, and would enact worker-friendly policies as president.
Wisconsin's delegates highlight labor unions at the DNC
Northern News Now
By Vanessa Kjeldsen
Aug. 20, 2024
Unions are taking center stage at the Democratic National Convention, with more than half a dozen union leaders speaking on the stage Monday night. “She’s been there for unions from the start,” Garrik Harwick a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Rock County delegate said. Wisconsin’s delegation features numerous labor and union members, from carpenters to electricians to teachers.
Tim Walz and Bill Clinton headline the Democrats’ third day with a focus on ‘fight for freedoms’
AP News
By Steve Peoples, Jonathan J. Cooper and Zeke Miller
Aug. 21, 2024
Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and former President Bill Clinton are headlining the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, the third day of the party’s choreographed rollout of a new candidate, Kamala Harris, and her pitch to voters. Walz faces dual tasks in his speech in Chicago. The Minnesota governor, who has become known among supporters as a folksy, Midwestern teacher, coach and dad, will introduce himself to the rest of the country. He’ll also need to articulate the campaign’s central message, and theme for the evening: that a second Donald Trump term would imperil American liberties. The third night of the convention marks a transition from Tuesday’s exuberant party atmosphere to a theme that organizers have dubbed “a fight for our freedoms.” Harris is portraying former President Trump as a threat to democracy in general as well as to abortion rights and other personal choices in particular.
Union Leaders Applaud Harris for Historic Broadband Investment and Job Creation
Broadband Breakfast
By Jericho Casper
Aug. 21, 2024
Union leaders praised Vice President Kamala Harris Monday for her role in securing the largest investment in broadband infrastructure in U.S. history, a move they said simultaneously created countless “good union jobs,” Claude Cummings Jr., president of the Communications Workers of America, highlighted Harris’s involvement as vice president in advancing the $42.5 billion investment made possible through the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Cummings' speech also positioned Harris as a champion of the modern labor movement, noting her pro-union stance.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
New union contract limits hours Metro bus and rail operators can work
The Washington Post
By Rachel Weiner
Aug. 21, 2024
The deal was ratified by 90 percent of roughly 8,500 union members Tuesday and unanimously by Metro’s board of directors Wednesday. American Transit Union’s national president, John Costa, called it a “strong contract” that is “also a victory for the riders who depend on our experienced members to safely and reliably keep communities across the Washington, D.C., area moving.”
About 80 Chattanooga-area workers join 17,000 striking AT&T employees
Chattanooga Times Free Press
By David Floyd
Aug. 21, 2024
About 80 AT&T employees in the Chattanooga region have joined 17,000 communications workers across the Southeast in a multiday strike after negotiations with the company for a new contract ground to a halt. In a news release, the Communications Workers of America Union said it has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming AT&T has not been bargaining in good faith and did not send representatives to the table with the authority to make decisions. Thousands of AT&T workers in the Southeast participated in a similar strike in August 2019. "Our members want to be on the job, providing the quality service that our customers deserve," the union's District 3 vice president, Richard Honeycutt, said in the release. "It's time for AT&T to start negotiating in good faith so that we can move forward toward a fair contract."
Boeing At Odds With Machinist Union As Deadline For Contract Looms
Simple Flying
By Rytis Beresnevičius
Aug. 21, 2024
Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District Lodge 751 are still far off from an agreement, with the union, representing employees working at the manufacturer’s Seattle, Washington, United States, facilities being prepared to walk out and strike in September.
'We want a fair contract': Mission Hospital nurses' strike vote process set to begin
WLOS
By Neydja Petithomme
Aug. 21, 2024
Mission Hospital's nurses union with National Nurses United is now just days away to begin the strike vote process. The first day of the four-day process begins Aug. 25 and continues Aug. 26, Aug. 28 and Aug. 29. This decision to hold a vote to strike comes after there has been ongoing disputes about workplace conditions and staff retention.
Hilton workers’ union sits down with city leaders, no deal yet with hotel chain
WMAR
By Jack Watson
Aug. 21, 2024
Despite recent movement, Hilton and the union representing over 200 of its Inner Harbor hotel workers are not on the same page. WMAR-2 News sat in on a roundtable discussion with union and city leaders on Wednesday afternoon, where workers shared their concerns directly with incumbent and incoming members of the Baltimore City Council. The UNITE Here Local 7 union told WMAR it is trying to raise pay to $20 an hour, and reduce the disparity between Baltimore's workers and workers in neighboring major cities. "At this point, we had bargaining with both the Hilton and the Hyatt last week, and both hotels, what they’re proposing, does not close that gap - even with some significant movement on wages from the Hilton - does not close that gap, between Baltimore and these other cities," said Tracy Lingo, president of UNITE Here Local 7.
Public employees plan statewide walkout
The Stand
By Staff
Aug. 21, 2024
At 12:00 pm on September 10, unionized public employees at state agencies, community colleges and four-year universities will Walkout for Washington to demand livable wages, safe staffing levels, and respect for the Washingtonians that depend on their services. Negotiations have been underway since April between the 50,000 public workers represented by AFSCME Council 28 (the Washington Federation of State Employees) and the Office of Financial Management (OFM). At the conclusion of a 15-hour bargaining session on August 19th, the parties remained no closer to an agreement on critical matters like compensation.
SPORTS UNIONIZATION
Men’s basketball team union files unfair labor practice charge against College
The Dartmouth
By Arizbeth Rojas
Aug. 22, 2024
On Aug. 21, Service Employees International Union, Local 560 — the union representing the men’s basketball team — filed an unfair labor practice charge against the College for refusing to bargain in good faith with the men’s basketball team union, according to an SEIU, Local 560, press release. The men’s basketball team voted 13-2 to unionize on March 5, becoming the first successful unionization attempt by college athletes in the United States. The same month, the College declined the union’s request to bargain. In the August press release, Local 560 president Chris Peck wrote that the College’s refusal violates labor law and the Dartmouth Code of Ethics.
NLRB
Audubon breached labor law in contract talks, NLRB finds
The Chief
By Richard Khavkine
Aug. 21, 2024
Unionized workers at the National Audubon Society have announced that they will go on strike next month. The Bird Union, which represents about 260 workers at the New York City-based conservation organization, posted on X Wednesday that the strike would run Sept. 10-12. The announcement follows by a week a finding from the National Labor Relations Board that Audubon management has run afoul of federal labor laws by “failing and refusing to bargain” with the union representing members over a first contract.
IN THE STATES
Union workers back California ban on ‘captive audience’ meetings
Los Angeles Daily News
By Clara Harter
Aug. 21, 2024
Last week Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz proudly touted his state’s ban on “captive audience meetings” for union workers at a rally in Los Angeles. Now, California workers are urging state legislators to approve a similar ban before the Aug. 31 deadline to pass bills. Union members are backing state Senate Bill 399, which would make it illegal for employers to discipline workers who refuse to participate in political or religious meetings, such as mandatory meetings to pressure staff to abandon unionizing efforts. The bill is co-sponsored by the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO and California Teamsters Public Affairs Council and was authored by state Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Fremont, and state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Central Illinois pipefitter launches labor union chapter for women
WCIA
By Amanda Brennan
Aug. 21, 2024
In August, WCIA is featuring blue-collar workers in Central Illinois. It’s commonly known as a male-dominated industry, but now, a group of women is coming together to show girls can get the job done too. When Laura Abbott graduated from the U of I, she was excited to start her teaching career. She taught for five years in Urbana, then decided to make a career switch after volunteering at “Career Day.” “I looked at the chart I made and I realized I could be making a lot more money and be doing a lot better for myself doing something totally different,” she said. Back to school she went, in a different setting than she was used to. After tests and training, she was accepted into Local 149’s apprentice program in Savoy. While balancing that, she is also working on the pipes that come from the Abbott Power Plant and serve the U of I campus.