Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
MUST LISTEN
The Workers’ Mic (8/25/24) – The Workers’ Mic reflect on the DNC (AFL-CIO President Shuler interview at 27:33 mark)
WNG Radio
By Ashley Bihun
Aug. 25, 2024
Listen in while Phil shares his interviews with AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter, Interim President and CEO of Choose Chicago Richard Gamble and many others.
MUST WATCH
Interview with AFL-CIO President Shuler
X
By Sari Beth Rosenberg
Aug. 25, 2024
My exclusive interview with Liz Shuler President of the AFL-CIO.
MUST READ
Harris isn’t backing away from Biden’s democracy focus. But she’s putting her own spin on it
AP
By Ali Swenson, Farnoush Amiri and Gary Fields
Aug. 24, 2024
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO and a delegate at the Democratic convention, said Harris has been successful at outlining the stakes for voters in November while also maintaining that sense of hope and optimism. “This isn’t some esoteric democracy kind of thing,” Shuler said. “It’s bringing it down to the ground, showing people how it relates to them and them seeing themselves in it.”
POLITICS
Harris speech targets Trump, shows progressives must stay mobilized post-election
People’s World
C.J. Atkins and Mark Gruenberg
Aug. 23, 2024
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler was the first union leader to immediately comment on Harris’s speech. She said “Working people face a choice between a candidate who walked picket lines shoulder-to-shoulder with striking workers and a candidate who crossed them,” a choice between a “pro-union administration” and “a shameless union-buster.”
Harris and Walz to head to Georgia as campaign seeks to build on convention momentum
NBC News
By Nnamdi Egwuonwu
Aug. 24, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will launch a bus tour of southern Georgia next week, the duo’s first time campaigning in the state together and, as of now, their first public event after the Democratic convention in Chicago. “Campaigning in this part of the Peach State is critical as it represents a diverse coalition of voters, including rural, suburban, and urban Georgians — with a large population of Black voters and working class families,” the Harris-Walz campaign noted in a release announcing the bus tour.
Care Policies Take Center Stage in Harris’s Economic Message
The New York Times
By Madeleine Ngo and Ben Casselman
Aug. 24, 2024
The “care economy” — a broad set of policies aimed at helping parents and other caregivers — was the great unfinished work of President Biden’s domestic agenda. Vice President Kamala Harris has made it a central aspect of her campaign to succeed him. Ms. Harris, the Democratic nominee, has spoken frequently on the campaign trail about making it more affordable to raise children. She chose a running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, whose signature policy accomplishments include the creation of a paid family leave program.
National Association of Letter Carriers to host rally in Rockford
WIFR
By Anthony Ferretti
Aug. 23, 2024
The Protect Letter Carriers Act was introduced in the U.S. House in March and the Senate in May. Rockford will host a rally urging lawmakers to turn this bill into a law. The rally comes more than five months after 49-year-old U.S. Mail Carrier Jay Larson was one of four people killed in a stabbing spree in Rockford. This bill would establish harsher sentencing against those who assault or rob postal employees and any assault or robbery of a postal worker will be treated the same as police officers.
MANUFACTURING
Sterling Heights UAW rally demands Stellantis stick to timetable for Belvidere plant
Detroit Free Press
By Liam Rappleye
Aug. 23, 2024
Outside of the Stellantis Sterling Heights Assembly Plant on Van Dyke Avenue, nearly 200 United Auto Workers members and leaders rallied Friday, accusing Stellantis of failing to live up to commitments made in last year's collective bargaining agreement. In the agreement, the UAW and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat brands, agreed to reopen an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, with a timeline of operations beginning in 2024. On Tuesday, Stellantis announced it was not going to meet the initial deadlines, extending the timeline.
SPORTS UNIONIZATION
CNBC
By Morgan Smith
Aug. 23, 2024
The National Women’s Soccer League and its players have signed a new collective bargaining agreement that raises players’ minimum salaries and eliminates the draft — making the NWSL the first professional sports league in the U.S. to grant unrestricted free agency to all players. Instead, newcomers to the league will get to choose from among their preferred teams and negotiate a deal. The new agreement, announced on Thursday, extends the current contract with the NWSL Players Association to 2030.
How the Women of the N.W.S.L. Got Freedom That Their Male Counterparts Don’t Have
The New Yorker
By Louisa Thomas
Aug. 25, 2024
“The history of power in professional sports can be summed up very quickly,” DeMaurice Smith, the former executive director of the N.F.L. Players Association, told me recently.“Every sport up until this point is predicated on management and the owners doing everything to retain their power and control.” Granted, Smith comes to this subject from a particular vantage—he led N.F.L. players through a lockout and two collective-bargaining negotiations. But the evidence can be summed up quickly, too.In the United States, athletes in the major professional sports leagues have never had much say in where they play. What rights of free agency they do have were gained through long and ugly court battles and labor fights, and that free agency is generally restricted, limited, or discouraged by the leagues’ rules. Players rarely get to decide if, when, and where they are traded.It happens all the time—a family’s life changes in a moment. The cornerstone of major American professional sports is the draft, in which teams take turns selecting the rights to sign new players who want to join their leagues. Generally, the teams that fared worst in the previous season get the first picks, and players have essentially no control over who chooses them. Once drafted, many players sign contracts that aren’t guaranteed, if they are lucky enough to sign contracts at all. When leagues expand, as they often do, new teams are stocked through an expansion draft, in which teams “protect” some of their players but leave others for the taking.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
Fred Meyer Workers Vote to Strike
Oregon Business
By Garrett Andrews
Aug. 23, 2024
Around 4,500 Portland-area Fred Meyer employees might be days away from walking off the job. Employees belonging to United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555 voted last week to authorize a strike for alleged unfair labor practices following several rounds of unsuccessful contract negotiations. Members went further and rescinded their endorsement of a planned merger involving the grocery chain’s parent company, Cincinnati-based Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain.
Faculty union negotiations at WMU head to mediation
WMUK
By Jessi Phillips
Aug. 23, 2024
Western Michigan University’s full-time faculty union is asking for what it calls a “meaningful and robust” salary increase. The university's offer is considerably lower than the WMU-AAUP's request. The union has been in talks with Western all summer. It’s currently proposing an 8.5 percent raise for members this year and an 8.75 percent raise for next year, as well as an increase in other benefits. It says that’s necessary to keep up with inflation and the increased cost of living in Kalamazoo.
Cornell employees and members of UAW continue to strike amid contract negotiations
WENY
By Alecia Solorzano
Aug. 25, 2024
The UAW held a pop-up action event Saturday afternoon to see if they could move things along. The UAW 2300 bargaining committee made efforts to come back to the table by setting up outside the Ciser building anticipating further talks. Representatives from the UAW say they are "deeply concerned that Cornell's bargaining committee failed to monitor their emails during a critical ongoing strike." They also say the UAW remains committed to resolving this strike and, as they have offered over the last few weeks, they are ready to negotiate with Cornell representatives at any time.
‘They Call Us Essential’: Cornell University Workers Strike Over Poverty Wages
The Progressive Magazine
By Michelle Chen
Aug. 23, 2024
Cornell University workers are approaching a week of being on strike. Members of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2300—the people who keep the dining halls, world-class research facilities, and idyllic campus running every day—decided on the night of August 18 that they had had enough. Months of heated bargaining sessions had come to an impasse, and members—who include about 1,300 dining staff, custodians, groundskeepers, and other frontline workers—had voted overwhelmingly a few days earlier to authorize a strike. They had been working without a contract since July, and the university had rejected the union’s demands for livable wages.
NC Fast Facts: 17K-plus AT&T workers strike in 9 states, including NC
North State Journal
The Associated Press
Aug. 25, 2024
More than 17,000 AT&T workers in nine states across the Southeast — including North Carolina — are on strike after accusing the company of unfair labor practices during contract negotiations this summer. The Communications Workers of America — the union representing the striking employees — said workers walked off the job last Friday in response to AT&T’s failure to bargain in good faith. Workers have been attempting to reach a new contract since June. The labor organization said AT&T did not send representatives to the bargaining table who had the authority to make decisions and that the company has reneged on agreements made in bargaining.
Carbon, union agree on contract
Times News Online
By Amy Miller
Aug. 23, 2024
Carbon County has reached an agreement with another union. During the county commissioners’ meeting last week, the board of commissioners approved a collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME District Council 87, AFL-CIO, Local 2483 for a contract effective Jan. 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2026. The union represents court-related professionals. Under the terms of the agreement, the contract now incorporates a salary structure based on years of service with the county for assistant district attorneys and assistant public defenders.
Union chief: Worcester firefighters reach contract agreement with city
Telegram & Gazette
By Craig S. Semon
Aug. 24, 2024
The city and the union representing its firefighters have agreed to a three-year contract, according to District Fire Chief William Mosley, president of the Worcester Firefighters International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1009. “We ratified the contract with the membership and it will move on to the City Council for funding, hopefully sometime soon,” Mosley said.
Three union strikes in Louisville will continue into next week, workers say
WHAS11
By José Alonzo
Aug. 23, 2024
Another strike is taking place in south Louisville as the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 830 are picketing BAE Systems. Members are protesting a renewal contract a majority of the union voted against. They claim pay raises offered were not fit for this economy and want a fair system for paid time off and sick leave. A strike is also taking place in front of the AT&T corporate office near Bashford Manor. Members of Communications Workers-America Union Local 3310 said negotiations have been complicated. "The contract ended Sunday August 4," Union President Diogenes Miller said. "The reason why we are in the place where we are is the people who were in the negotiation were not able to bargain a contract. They basically had to leave the room and get permission. Under the NLRB if you're under a contract negotiation you're supposed to have someone in the room. So when they requested a mediator the last person who was there, they were sent away and a new person was sent in."
JOINING TOGETHER
Hollywood Unions Voice Support for Teamster Casting Ahead of AMPTP Negotiations
The Wrap through Yahoo
By Umberto Gonzalez
Aug. 23, 2024
Hollywood unions, including SAG-AFTRA, the DGA and the WGA West and East, issued a joint statement of solidarity with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as they head into negotiations next week with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on behalf of over 700 Los Angeles and New York casting directors, associate casting directors and casting assistants. “The Guilds and Unions of Hollywood stand united with Teamster Casting Directors, Associate Casting Directors and the newly organized Casting Assistants as they seek fair compensation and improved working conditions across all classifications,” the guilds said in a statement.
IN THE STATES
Inflation Reduction Act creates thousands of union jobs in Minnesota — and other labor news
Minnesota Reformer
By Max Nesterak
Aug. 23, 2024
The two-year-old Inflation Reduction Act is fulfilling its promise of accelerating the country’s transition to renewable energy while creating good-paying, union jobs along the way. The Climate Jobs National Research Center, a labor-led organization focused on clean energy jobs, tallied 6,285 utility-scale clean energy projects in development across the country that could be eligible for IRA tax credits tied to labor standards. That includes 105 clean energy projects in Minnesota — solar, wind, hydro and battery storage — that are estimated to create 10,382 jobs. “Solar is exploding,” said Jason George, business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, which represents workers across Minnesota and the Dakotas. “It’s really spurred development of much needed energy projects and infrastructure projects.”
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Buffalo VA nurses join VA nurses across country to picket against 'hiring freeze'
WBEN
By Max Faery
Aug. 23, 2024
Nurses and medical staff of the Buffalo VA Medical Center, also a part of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United union, picketed outside the hospital Friday to call on the government for adequate staffing and better pay.