Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Kamala Harris and labor unions need each other (Opinion)
Portland Press Herald
By Patricia Lopez
Sept. 5, 2024
Union members should not allow themselves to be deceived by Trump again. But their leaders acknowledge that even with his track record, Trump’s allure for some is strong. “He’s been very effective at messaging working-class people,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told Politico recently, particularly on unfair trade policies and offshored jobs.
Harris launches new ad tying Trump to Project 2025, targeting Black voters on NFL Sunday
NBC News
By Marquise Francis
Sept. 5, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign launched a new ad focused on “Project 2025” Thursday, taking direct aim at former President Donald Trump and “his MAGA loyalists’ dangerous plan” that, it claims, will control Americans’ lives. Developed by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation and at least two dozen allies of Trump, Project 2025 is an outline of far-right policy proposals created as a blueprint for the next Republican president. The group has wound down its policy work amid criticism but Democrats have continued to make it a key campaign issue. The Harris campaign’s new 30-second spot, which was shared first with NBC News, is aimed at Black Americans in key battleground states in hopes of making inroads with a demo Democrats need to win over to be successful in November. “Trump’s Project 2025 agenda will give him unchecked political power with no guardrails,” a narrator says at the start of the ad, adding that, if implemented, the plan would take Black America “backwards” by stripping voting rights protections, eliminating the Department of Education and monitoring women’s pregnancies, among other issues. Displaying various images of Trump, followed by raised Black fists and other stock images, the ad shifts to how Harris offers an alternative.
Trump and Harris’s first presidential debate is Tuesday. Here’s what to know.
The Washington Post
By Mariana Alfaro
Sept. 5, 2024
As noted in Vice President Kamala Harris’s CNN interview last week, she and former president Donald Trump have never met face-to-face. That will change on Sept. 10, when the two will share a stage in their only scheduled presidential debate, which will be held in Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center. The setting is notable. Philadelphia is a heavily Democratic city in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, which Biden flipped in 2020 by a narrow margin. The state is expected to be among a handful that could decide the upcoming election. The vice president has spent a big portion of her time as the new Democratic presidential nominee in Pennsylvania, traveling around the state with her running mate.
NBC News
By Yamiche Alcindor
Sept. 5, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is planning to launch a weekend of action focused on what it calls the dangers of a potential second Trump presidency and Project 2025, a conservative governing agenda that Harris has repeatedly criticized on the campaign trail and plans to bring up during the presidential debate on Tuesday, according to campaign officials who shared the plans first with NBC News.
Vice President Kamala Harris to spend days ahead of Philly debate in Pittsburgh
WTAE
By Raquel Ciampi
Sept. 5, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to spend multiple days in the Pittsburgh area prepping for next week's debate. Harris is expected to stay in the area until her first debate with former president Donald Trump on Tuesday when she will head to Philadelphia. Though no known stops have been announced, she will likely be in the community between prepping for the debate.
How Tim Walz Showed He Has Workers’ Backs (Opinion)
Fair Observer
By David McCall
Sept. 5, 2024
Many of Cliff Tobey’s friends and neighbors struggled over the years to get their children to doctor’s appointments or pick them up when schools closed early during Minnesota’s brutal winters. Lacking paid sick and family time, the United Steelworkers (USW) activist recalled, they used vacation days to cover family emergencies even if that meant working themselves to the bone the rest of the year without a real break. That all changed in 2024 because of Governor Tim Walz. He signed a paid family leave act and other legislation that’s not only making Minnesota the “best state for workers” — as his administration declares — but showing working people across the country the kind of ally he’d be if elected vice president in November.
Project 2025 threatens thousands of Virginia workers
VA Dogwood
By Michael O'Connor
Sept. 4, 2024
Many of Virginia’s federal workers are bracing themselves for another Trump presidency, which they know from experience will make their lives harder. Project 2025, the unpopular conservative playbook for a Republican presidency, calls for the elimination of large parts of the government, threatening tens of thousands of Virginia-based federal workers. Trump and his campaign are trying to distance themselves from Project 2025, despite reports showing how Trump and his running mate JD Vance have ties to the document’s authors.
LABOR AND TECHNOLOGY
Lightspeed L.A. reaches agreement with SAG-AFTRA on AI Protections
Venture Beat
By Imran Khan
Sept. 4, 2024
Lightspeed L.A., a game development studio under Tencent’s Lightspeed studio group, has inked an agreement with the Screen Actors Guild, known as SAG-AFTRA, on implementing AI protections for their upcoming games. The agreement, reached today after negotiations between Lightspeed L.A. and SAG-AFTRA representatives, lets Lightspeed utilize and hire union actors for performances within Lightspeed’s in-development and future games. This permits Lightspeed L.A. to continue using union workers even if SAG-AFTRA itself is on strike, which the guild voted to do just over a month ago.
ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Federal funding to create jobs, improve public health secured by Shapiro Administration
Central Penn Business Journal
By Ed Gruver
Sept. 5, 2024
Over 27,000 orphaned and abandoned wells have been identified by the DEP, which is prioritizing those posing the highest risks. To maximize efficiency and preempt environmental threats, new plugging contracts will focus on high-priority wells. A new apprenticeship program to train workers to plug wells and restore well sites was announced in August by the United Mine Workers of America.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure Law creates union jobs (Opinion)
The Cap Times
By Dean Miller
Sept. 5, 2024
As a union member for 37 years, I know the difference a good-paying, pro-worker job can make. I am proud to be a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and, for the last 12 years, business manager of Local Union 388 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. This year has been extraordinary for our union. We are just over halfway through the year and we have seen a great number of union job commitments across the state. Gov. Tony Evers coined this year “the year of the worker.” I would add it is also the year of the union worker.
ORGANIZING
Workers at Salisbury’s Apothecarium marijuana dispensary petition to join union
WMDT
By Hannah Cechini
Sept. 5, 2024
Workers at the Apothecarium marijuana dispensary in Salisbury are moving towards unionizing. Last week, the group filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an election on joining United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 27.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
17,000 AT&T workers have been on strike for three weeks. Here's why.
NPR
By Marlon Hyde
Sept. 5, 2024
About 17,000 AT&T workers in the southeast are still on strike after the Communications Workers of America union withdrew from negotiations over a new contract. Internet service technicians, customer service representatives, and thousands of other workers in nine states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee—walked off the job after contract talks stalled last month. The CWA, which represents the striking AT&T workers, says its members are looking for a contract that delivers increased wages and benefits, including more for healthcare, and claims the company violated the National Labor Relations Act by not bargaining in good faith to come up with a contract that addresses these demands.
AT&T makes final offer to striking CWA union
Reuters
By Reuters
Sept. 5, 2024
Telecom operator AT&T (T.N), opens new tab has presented the Communications Workers of America's bargaining committee with its final offer, the union said on Thursday, adding that the proposal did not meet its expectations. The CWA union said the proposal was made on Wednesday and it made a counteroffer later in the day. "What the company is not telling our members and the public is that their healthcare proposal raises the upfront cost for our members, especially those with family coverage. We have made it clear to the company from the start that raising our members' cost share percentage is unacceptable," the union said.
Bus strike averted in Hampden County as union, management sign three-year contract
New England Public Media
By Nancy Eve Cohen
Sept. 5, 2024
A bus drivers strike was averted this week in western Massachusetts after the transit union and bus company reached an agreement. It looked like Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus service in Hampden County would be halted starting Sept. 1 at midnight, as members of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 448, voted to strike. But according to management, DGR Management — which is a PVTA contractor — reached a tentative agreement with the union late Saturday. On Tuesday, union members voted to ratify a three-year contract. Local 448 has 225 members, including bus drivers, mechanics, office workers and supervisors.
United Flight Attendants Authorize a Strike
The Austin Chronicle
By Lina Fisher
Sept. 5, 2024
United Airlines flight attendants have been fighting for a new contract for three years – the longest negotiation the airline has ever seen. Last week, 99.99% of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) members who voted chose to authorize a strike, should management fail to agree to their demands. “In my 28-year career I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Elizabeth Hibbard, president of AFA’s Local 42 in Houston, which represents flight attendants flying out of Houston and Austin. United flight attendants last authorized a strike in 2005, but it was related to the company’s bankruptcy at the time – the last time there was a strike vote related to contract negotiations was the Eighties. “We hope this demonstrates to the company how unified we are, that we will take any action that would need to,” says Hibbard. As it stands, flight attendants aren’t paid for time worked on the ground, and changing that is one of the union’s top demands. They also want wage increases and improvements to vacation, job security, and especially flexibility, “which is a major part of why flight attendants do what we do.”
The Rapid, union workers agree on three-year contract
Wood TV
By Katie Rosendale
Sept. 5, 2024
The Rapid and union workers have agreed on a three-year contract, the metro Grand Rapids bus service announced Thursday. The previous contract expired June 9, and ever since, the bus service and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 836 have been negotiating new terms under an extension, according to a release from The Rapid. Union workers in July overwhelmingly rejected one contract proposal from The Rapid, saying it offered “inadequate wages, restrictions on using paid time off, limited access to the public agency’s property for union members, and many other damning proposals.”
JTRAN buses parked as drivers continue strike
WAPT
By Brooklyn Joyner
Sept. 5, 2024
The Jackson city buses sat parked Tuesday as JTRAN employees refused to work under current policies. “We have operators out here. We have dispatchers, we have maintenance, we have utilities workers — so, we are all out here fighting for the same cause,” said bus driver Leslie Johnson. They’re striking to get the attention of MV Transportation, which is the company that partnered with the city of Jackson in January to manage JTRAN. Charles Tornes Jr., local president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said the drivers don’t want to be stressed out and overworked.
SAG-AFTRA union announces deal for AI protections on 80 video games
Venture Beat
By Dean Takahashi
Sept. 5, 2024
Eighty games have signed SAG-AFTRA’s tiered-budget or interim agreements, a sign that the entertainment union said proves that its provisions — which include common sense AI protections — are fair and achievable. The union has been on strike against the major game developers since July, and these interim and tiered agreements provide employment opportunities to members during the work stoppage. This deal will allow members to work, but it does not mean the strike is completely over. The actual AI protections were also not described in any detail yet.
Following Labor Day Strikes, UNITE HERE Launches “Resort Fee Ripoff” Website
Business Wire
By Staff
Sept. 5, 2024
Following widespread Labor Day strikes that saw over 10,000 UNITE HERE members walk off their jobs, the hotel workers union has launched a new website highlighting concerns over the high cost of resort fees. While workers took to the picket lines across nine cities calling for higher wages, fair staffing, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts, the union also distributed leaflets to guests about the “Resort Fee Ripoff” at their hotel. Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, and Omni face customer complaints, press scrutiny, and legal actions as a result of their resort fee policies. And UNITE HERE knows customers are sick of paying a fee for basic hotel services or for amenities they didn’t want in the first place. "While hotel workers are struggling for higher wages and fair workloads, rising fees and hotel service cuts are hurting guests too," said Gwen Mills, President of UNITE HERE. “The future direction of the American hotel industry, and the standards that guests have come to expect, are on the line.”
AT&T workers on strike over alleged unfair labor practices
Alabama Political Reporter
By Jacob Holmes
Sept. 5, 2024
Montgomery resident Corey McKenzie is one of about 17,000 AT&T workers that have been out of work for the past 19 days as they call on the company to come to the negotiating table. McKenzie is the Communication Workers of America Vice President for the Local 3908 chapter that includes Montgomery and Prattville. The 17,000 striking workers are spread over nine states in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. While strikes are often associated with unfair wages or labor practices, McKenzie said this strike is different.
Marion County Public Defenders want pay bump in first contract after unionizing
Axios
By Arika Herron
Sept. 5, 2024
Marion County Public Defenders are negotiating their first contract with the City of Indianapolis. Why it matters: The office is understaffed, and low pay is one reason why. Employees say the shortage has led to unmanageable caseloads for public defenders and delays in the justice system for the individuals they're representing. The big picture: The public defenders voted to unionize last year, adding the office's approximately 230 non-management employees to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 481.
Norfolk Southern Reaches Deal with Largest Labor Union
MarketWatch
By Dean Seal
Sept. 4, 2024
Norfolk Southern has reached a tentative agreement with its largest labor union, meaning the railroad has now nailed down early agreements covering nearly 65% of its total union workforce. The railroad operator said Wednesday that it has reached a deal with the final general committee of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers' transportation division, better known as SMART-TD. The union represents train conductors across all 22 states in Norfolk Southern's network. The agreement, which still needs to be ratified by members, comes four months before the next collective bargaining round was set to open and provides a 3.5% average wage increase each year for five years.
JOINING TOGETHER
Boycott of Beverly Hills hotels gets boost from Hollywood writers
Los Angeles Times
By Suhauna Hussain
Sept. 5, 2024
Hollywood writers, editors and producers have pledged to join a union-led boycott of two Los Angeles-area hotels mired in a labor dispute. The boycott, which was launched last month by hospitality union Unite Here Local 11, targets Cameo Beverly Hills, which is a Hilton hotel, and the Beverly Hills Marriott. The union has been in negotiations with the company that operates the hotels, Remington Hospitality, to reach an agreement for workers at the Cameo, whose contract expired at the end of June. The union is also pushing Remington to not interfere in a drive to unionize workers at the Beverly Hills Marriott and to voluntarily recognize the union if a majority of workers opt for it, said union spokesperson Maria Hernandez.
NLRB
Edward Waters University faces November NLRB trial over faculty union shutdown
The Tributary
By Nandhini Srinivasan
Sept. 5, 2024
The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Edward Waters University last Thursday for shutting down its faculty union, setting the stage for a November trial that could have far-reaching implications for labor rights at religious institutions. An NLRB judge will hold the trial on Nov. 5, the same day as a presidential election that could shift or solidify the agency’s approach to labor rights and cases like this. In May 2022, the historically Black university in Jacksonville scrapped its nearly 21-year-old contract with the faculty union, citing its “core values and Christian tenets,” as The Tributary previously reported. The Edward Waters College Chapter of the American Association of University Professors went on to file a charge with the NLRB, alleging the university’s failure to recognize and bargain with the union violated federal labor law.
IN THE STATES
In Michigan, an ‘Unhinged Werewolf’ Will Make It Clear Who Voted
The New York Times
By Callie Holtermann
Sept. 5, 2024
“If there is ever a year to have an unhinged werewolf ripping its shirt off as the “I Voted” sticker … it’s 2024,” Derek Dobies, the chief of staff of the Michigan A.F.L.-C.I.O., wrote on X.
Union leaders demand overhaul of Illinois job posting system amid vacancies
KHQA
By Hayden Donaldson
Sept. 4, 2024
Representatives from the local AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) took to the streets of Quincy on Wednesday, September 4th, to let their voices be heard about the frustrations with the Illinois Central Management Services (CMS). This informational picket took place in front of the Illinois Vets Home in Quincy. The Illinois CMS posts job openings for state workers but has seen some issues in the recent months.
Oakland sues Southwest Airlines for allegedly denying workers their paid sick leave
The Oakland Side
By Eli Wolfe
Sept. 5, 2024
Oakland is suing Southwest Airlines for allegedly depriving its workers paid sick leave, and for breaching a 2020 settlement over the same issue. On Wednesday, City Attorney Barbara Parker filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court that accuses the airline of violating Oakland and California sick leave laws. According to the complaint, Southwest has been denying some of its workers in Oakland the right to use earned paid sick leave. The city claims that Southwest has also retaliated against workers who tried to use their leave and discouraged them from filing complaints with the city.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Local NALC branch rallies for federal law to be passed to protect mail carriers
WMDT
By Leila Weah
Sept. 5, 2024
Since 2020, there have been more than 2,000 crimes committed against United States letter carriers. It’s a staggering statistic that’s pushed the National Association for Letter Carriers representatives, Shawn Colleran and Norberto Aviles, to rally for justice. “This is happening in small towns, this is happening in Dover, this is happening in Rehoboth, Seaford, and most recently, in Georgetown,” Colleran said. The pair are advocating for the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act to be passed at the federal level. The law would provide harsher sentencing for robbery and assault of a letter carrier, increase prosecution rates and secure and devalue postal infrastructure, all initiatives that Aviles said would give increased security to mail carriers on the job.
NY enacts panic button law despite retailer pushback
Democrat & Chronicle
By Emily Barnes
Sept. 5, 2024
A bill intended to increase retail worker safety and prevent workplace violence, which was heartily opposed by a major retailer earlier this year, was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul Wednesday. The Retail Worker Safety Act would require the adoption of a violence prevention plan, workers to be trained in de-escalation and the installation of panic buttons throughout corporate retail stores. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), who spearheaded the act, touted its passage Wednesday. "From West Hempstead to Buffalo, union workers have suffered grave losses to senseless store shootings," RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum said in a written statement. "Retail workers should not go to work every day in fear, this law goes a long way toward ending that."
EDUCATION
WOWKTV
By Kelli McAlhany
Sept. 4, 2024
Parents, students and staff asked plenty of questions Wednesday after Tuesday’s proposal to close six Kanawha County Schools. Part of that proposal would combine two St. Albans middle schools into one building. It’s still early to tell exactly how the increased number of students will look in practice but the possibility of increased class sizes is becoming a concern for educators and families. Hayes Middle School has over 400 students enrolled and McKinley, which would feed into Hayes if the consolidation goes through, has about 300 students enrolled. While the details of specific grades and subjects are not available, some worry that almost doubling the size of the student body could potentially throw off the ratio of students and teachers.
LABOR LEADERSHIP
Fallon Ager-Norman to chair NYC Labor Day parade
New York Amsterdam News
By Karen Juanita Carrillo
Sept. 5, 2024
As New York City’s annual show of union strength marches up Fifth Avenue from 44th to 64th Streetthis Saturday, Sept. 7, look out for Fallon Ager-Norman, the international vice president and region 1 director of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) to be out front of this year’s Labor Day Parade. Ager-Norman is set to chair this year’s spectacle. The young union advocate says that she was shocked and elated when the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the organizers of the parade, asked her to join the march.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Union support high among younger workers
WSHU
By Desiree D'Iorio
Sept. 4, 2024
Labor unions have seen a surge of support according to a recent Gallup poll, with Gen Z and millennial workers showing the highest levels. About 70% of Americans are in favor of union protections for workers overall. That number rises to 71% for those aged 30 to 49 and to 80% for those aged 18 to 29. The high numbers come after a series of national labor disputes including the Hollywood writers and actors who went on strike for months last year, and union-busting accusations against the e-commerce giant, Amazon.