Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST WATCH
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler speaks at Wisconsin convention
Winona Daily News
By Staff
Sept. 17, 2024
Liz Shuler speaks at the Wisconsin’s 33rd biennial AFL-CIO convention at the La Crosse Center on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024.
MUST READ
UAW President Fain announces strike vote plans at Stellantis
CNN
By Chris Isidore and Vanessa Yurkevich
Sept. 18, 2024
United Auto Workers union President Shawn Fain said Tuesday the group plans to hold strike authorization votes against Stellantis because the automaker was failing to live up to guarantees it made during a labor deal struck last year. In a speech to members Tuesday night, Fain said the UAW is prepared to hold strike authorization votes at one or more locals that represent Stellantis workers and to have those workers go on strike if the company does not meet union demands.
POLITICS
Julie Su speaks at Wisconsin AFL-CIO biennial convention at the La Crosse Center
News 8 Now
By Noah Hodges
Sept. 16, 2024
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su gave keynote remarks at the Wisconsin AFL-CIO 33rd biennial convention at the La Crosse Center Monday. The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO represents union members in the state. Their mission is to improve the lives of working families by bringing economic and social justice to the workplace. Su believes the growth of unions will help reach these goals. "We don't just care about the number of jobs we care about the quality of those jobs. When you have a union workers have a voice, and wages are higher and there are benefits and security retirement. Things we want for every worker," said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su.
Teachers union to launch ads in battleground states calling out Trump, Vance
The Hill
By Lexi Lonas Cochran
Sept. 17, 2024
One of the nation’s largest teachers unions is launching ads in battleground states to go after former President Trump and his GOP running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has prepared three ads, with spending in the mid-six figures, in Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina. Two ads will run in Pennsylvania, one titled “Team Kid” where AFT President Randi Weingarten narrates the group’s goal of student success and past comments the Republican nominees have made about public education.
Kamala Harris Reveals New Child Care Plan
Newsweek
By Monica Sager
Sept. 17, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new child care plan Tuesday that proposes that working families would not pay more than 7% of their income for child care. "It is sadly the state of affairs in our country that working people often have to decide to either be able to work or to be able to have child care," Harris said during an event with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Philadelphia. "It doesn't actually level out in terms of the expense versus the income." The rising cost of child care is a core issue for some American families already grappling with inflation and the cost of living.
Biden administration formally extends review of U.S. Steel deal, pushing decision past election
The Washington Post
By Jeff Stein and David J. Lynch
Sept. 17, 2024
The Biden administration on Tuesday extended its review of Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, effectively pushing a final presidential decision on the matter past Election Day. U.S. officials have decided to permit Nippon Steel to resubmit its application for a national security review of its plan to buy U.S. Steel, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a matter not yet made public.
Harris Condemns Trump’s ‘Hateful’ Claims About Springfield, Ohio
The New York Times
By Erica L. Green and Nicholas Nehamas
Sept. 17, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday that former President Donald J. Trump’s unfounded claims about Black migrants in an Ohio city were “hateful rhetoric” and “tropes” that had been “designed to divide us as a country.” “This is exhausting, and it’s harmful,” she said during an interview with Black journalists in Philadelphia. “And it’s hateful, and grounded in some age-old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for.” She added, “It’s got to stop.”
Trump Makes Big Promises, With Little Detail, for Michigan’s Auto Industry
The New York Times
By Michael Gold
Sept. 17, 2024
Two days after an apparent assassination attempt against him, former President Donald J. Trump showed few signs on Tuesday that he would shake up his approach to campaigning. At a town hall in Flint, Mich., for his first campaign event since the Sunday incident, he made grand promises to restore auto-making jobs to the state, the heart of the American auto industry, as he gave long-winded, often meandering responses to only a few questions.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
UAW president announces strike vote against Stellantis
The Washington Post
By Lauren Kaori Gurley
Sept. 17, 2024
The United Auto Workers union plans to hold a strike authorization vote against Stellantis for abandoning contract commitments made after its historic 2023 work stoppage and threatening auto jobs, UAW President Shawn Fain announced Tuesday.
Temple faculty, administration reach tentative agreement on five-year contract
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Susan Snyder
Sept. 17, 2024
Temple University’s faculty union and administration have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract that includes a $10,000 across-the-board raise for full-time union employees, a move meant to better help lower earners. That amounts to a 10% raise for at least half the members in the Temple Association of University Professionals bargaining unit, said TAUP president Jeffrey Doshna.
Generations of workers coveted Boeing jobs. Strike reveals how much has changed.
The Washington Post
By Ian Duncan, Rachel Lerman and Lori Aratani
Sept. 17, 2024
Ariel McKenzie recalls that it was a big deal when her father landed a job at Boeing 20 years ago. So when he suggested she also join the company, it seemed like a smart move: Working at the company had given her dad and the other Boeing long-timers a good life, paying for roomy houses, nice trucks, motorbikes and vacations. But after a decade making aircraft parts at a factory in Auburn, Wash., McKenzie, 35, said the job hasn’t given her the same financial boost. “It’s a very comfortable upper-middle-class family that these Boeing jobs used to create. … It’s just not the case anymore,” McKenzie said. Only working a second job or logging massive overtime hours could match it, she said. “It feels demoralizing.”
Boeing Restarts Labor Negotiations as It Seeks End to Strike
The New York Times
By Niraj Chokshi
Sept. 17, 2024
Boeing and its largest union restarted contract negotiations on Tuesday with the help of federal mediators, days after thousands of workers rejected a previous offer and went on strike. Most of the workers covered by the talks are represented by District 751 of the machinists’ union in Seattle. A small number work at a parts plant in Portland, Ore., and are represented by District W24 of the union.
Animation Workers Sound Alarm On AI & Shrinking Staff Positions As Guild Resumes Talks With AMPTP
Deadline
By Katie Campione
Sept. 17, 2024
The Animation Guild is back at the table with the studios this week, hoping to seal the deal on a new contract by Friday. Last month, the union said it was still “far apart” from the studios on several key issues, prompting a second scheduled week of negotiations to hammer out the details. The negotiating committee voted to extend the contract until September 20 and, as the clock ticks, some in the animation community have taken matters into their own hands to raise awareness on the key issues plaguing these creatives.
Arlington transit workers threaten strike, potentially disrupting ART bus service
ARL Now
By James Jarvis
Sept. 17, 2024
Arlington Transit (ART) workers are threatening to strike over a dispute about pay and work conditions. About 80 ART workers staged a “practice picket” before dawn yesterday (Monday) in a show of solidarity and a signal that they are prepared to escalate the conflict with their county-contracted employer, France-based transportation company Transdev.
UAW launches strike at Jackson, Michigan aerospace company
People’s World
By Cameron Harrison
Sept. 17, 2024
Months of negotiating between the United Auto Workers and corporate officials at Eaton Aerospace in Jackson, Mich., have come to a standstill, forcing over 500 workers to walk off the job on September 16. The workers produce hydraulics equipment for civil, commercial, and military aircraft. The strike came after the workers’ extended contract expired on September 5.
SF Symphony Chorus Authorizes Strike, Jeopardizing Opening Concert
KQED
By Nastia Voynovskaya
Sept. 17, 2024
The San Francisco Symphony Chorus has voted to authorize a strike amid contentious negotiations with San Francisco Symphony management, according to the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), the union representing the choristers. The announcement comes just days ahead of the 2024–25 season opener on Sept. 19, when outgoing Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen is set to conduct the orchestra in a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, which prominently features the chorus.
Deadline
By Katie Campione
Sept. 17, 2024
The Animation Guild now officially, successfully represents animation workers in a right-to-work state. IATSE Local 839 announced Tuesday that 129 artists and production workers at Powerhouse Animation Studios in Austin, Texas — the studio behind Netflix’s Castlevania — had ratified their first contract via a 96% supermajority vote.
McLaren nurses and union walk in solidarity as contract deadline nears
ABC 12
By Tiffany Maddox
Sept. 16, 2024
McLaren Flint Registered Nurses wanting change. "We want to see a fair contract, we want what we think we deserve, "said McLaren Flint RN Caron Bryant. It's a walk of solidarity that had these nurses and AFSCME Local 875 sending a message to the administration at McLaren.
UAW President Fain announces strike vote plans at Stellantis
WRAL News
By Chris Isidore
Sept. 17, 2024
United Auto Workers union President Shawn Fain said Tuesday the union plans to hold strike authorization votes against Stellantis because the automaker is failing to live up to guarantees it made in the 2023 labor deal it reached with the union at the conclusion of a six-week strike.
ORGANIZING
Workers at 2 Maryland Cannabis Dispensaries Vote to Unionize With UFCW Local 400
Cannabis Business Times
By Tony Lange
Sept. 17, 2024
Workers at The Apothecarium cannabis dispensary in Burtonsville, Md., and Sweetspot cannabis dispensary in Olney, Md., announced Sept. 16 they have voted to unionize with United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union. Workers at The Apothecarium voted, 7–0, in favor of unionizing on Sept. 11, and workers at Sweetspot voted, 9–1, to unionize on Sept. 13.
Health care workers are unionizing across Vermont. They say better work conditions mean better care
Vermont Public
By Elodie Reed and Mitch Wertlieb
Sept. 17, 2024
The union representing health care and higher education employees, AFT Vermont, says it’s doubled the number of workers in its ranks over the last six years. In the past three years, especially — since the COVID-19 pandemic — nurses, techs and support staff have organized at hospitals and clinics across Vermont. Central Vermont Medical Center support staff are the latest to unionize after winning their election at the Berlin hospital earlier this month.
JOINING TOGETHER
Spectrum
By Susan Cover
Sept. 17, 2024
Graduate student workers at the University of Maine are set to rally Wednesday on the Orono campus to draw attention to their efforts to negotiate a union contract with administration officials. The teaching assistants voted to unionize nearly a year ago, joining forces with the United Auto Workers. They are concerned about “low and inconsistent pay, substandard health benefits, protections for international student workers and the need for a voice at work,” according to a press release from the group. The workers say they don’t think the university is negotiating in good faith.
Disabled Union Members Are Strengthening the Labor Movement
The Nation
By S.E. Smith
Sept. 17, 2024
When San Francisco State University attempted to lay off 131 staffers in 2020, union members fought the attempt to dismiss 8 percent of their colleagues with a classic labor tactic: an informational picket to increase visibility and educate the public. Katie Murphy, an administrative analyst at San Francisco State University who leads the California State University Employee Union Disability Constituency Group, said the idea to livestream the picket emerged from disabled union members who wanted to advocate with their colleagues. “We had it so that people could participate in them on YouTube. People who were not able to actually come to the pickets because of their health concerns, because they don’t have a car, they were able to participate and comment and keep momentum going online,” Murphy said.
NLRB
Members accuse Shedd Aquarium of restricting speech about new union
CBS News
By Adam Harrington and Chrissy Amaya
Sept. 17, 2024
Union members on Tuesday accused the Shedd Aquarium of quashing union-related speech. Shedd Workers United—a subunit of AFSCME Council 31—filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday. The union said Shedd employees announced its formation in April. Since then, the charge claims, Shedd management "has discriminatorily enforced its no-solicitation policy to restrict union-related speech and solicitation while allowing other non-work-related speech and solicitation." "We have a right to speak freely about our union. Management interference is illegal," the Shedd Workers United/AFSCME organizing committee said in a news release.
STATE LEGISLATION
Michigan unions say lawmakers shouldn't interfere with minimum wage hikes
The Detroit News
By Craig Mauger
Sept. 17, 2024
Some of Michigan's largest labor unions are calling on the Democratic-controlled Legislature to let stand a court ruling that will eventually increase the minimum wage for all workers, including those who receive tips, to about $15 an hour. The organized labor groups, including the Michigan AFL-CIO, the Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers Michigan, penned a letter to House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids this week.
Gov. Newsom signs bills offering AI protections for actors
Los Angeles Times
By Wendy Lee
Sept. 17, 2024
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed into law two bills that will give actors more protections over their digital likenesses, addressing concerns brought up during last year’s Hollywood strike led by performers guild SAG-AFTRA. One of the bills, AB1836, prohibits and penalizes the making and distribution of a deceased person’s digital replica without permission from their estate. The other legislation, AB2602, makes a contract entered after Jan. 1, 2025, unenforceable if a digital replica of an actor was used when the individual could have performed the work in person, if the contract did not include a reasonably specific description of how the digital replica would be used and if the actor was not represented by their lawyer or labor union when the deal was signed.
IN THE STATES
The Labor Commissioner’s Daunting Task
The Assembly
By Jim Morrill
Sept. 16, 2024
The sun was falling at the end of a long, hot day in June as a handful of farm workers gathered around Letitia Zavala’s truck near Zebulon in eastern Wake County. Zavala, an organizer for a migrant advocacy group, warned them about the dangers of working in the heat. She showed them a picture of Jose Arturo Gonzalez Mendoza, a Mexican migrant who died in a Nash County sweet potato field last fall. The temperature that day reached 97 degrees.