Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Spectrum News
By Maddie Gannon
Sept. 23, 2024
President Joe Biden on Monday celebrated Gotham FC’s 2023 championship season, marking the first time a title-winning team from the National Women’s Soccer League has been invited to the White House for such an occasion. “For the first time, for the first time in National Women’s Soccer League history, welcome to the White House to the 2023 champions, Gotham FC," Biden said, pumping his fist as he opened his remarks on Monday in the East Room.
State Sen. Mike McDonnell deflates GOP hopes for Nebraska winner-take-all in 2024
Nebraska Examiner
By Aaron Sanderford
Sept. 23, 2024
The Republican push to change how Nebraska awards its Electoral College votes and boost former President Donald Trump ran into political reality Monday as a key lawmaker, State Sen. Mike McDonnell, announced he won’t support the change. McDonnell, of Omaha, said he had heard from people passionate about the issue who live in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District. But he said he did not hear enough to move him off his original position against the switch.
ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Federal funds, clean energy projects boost Maine union workforce
Maine Beacon
By Kathryn Carley
Sept. 23, 2024
Union workers in Maine say federal funds are helping fuel the state’s clean energy transition and offering incentives for young people to stick around. Skilled trade workers are in high demand as the state aims to install 275,000 heating pumps by 2027 and construct numerous offshore wind projects. Kim Tobias, an electrician and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1253, said learning a trade nearly tripled her income and she is encouraging her own daughters to do the same. “With apprenticeships and with the union jobs that are going to be here, it’s a good way for people to be able to afford to stay here,” Tobias pointed out. Tobias noted young people are motivated to help fight climate change and the Inflation Reduction Act is helping create not just jobs, but well-paying careers. The state aims to double its clean energy workforce to 30,000 by 2030.
ORGANIZING
Writers Guild East Launches Organizing Drive at A+E Factual Studios
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Sept. 23, 2024
The Writers Guild of America East is continuing its efforts to organize workers in the largely non-union nonfiction realm. The union announced on Monday that it is attempting to unionize around 150 workers at A+E Factual Studios, the documentary and nonfiction TV producer behind Dance Moms: A New Era, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, History’s Greatest Mysteries and Cold Case Files. Bloomberg has reported that writers and producers at the shingle that A+E Networks describes as its “IP creation powerhouse” are included in the drive.
A+E Factual Studios staff is the latest to unionize
AV Club
By Emma Keates
Sept. 23, 2024
According to Bloomberg, the Writers Guild of America East is currently seeking to represent a group of about 150 writers and producers from A+E Factual Studios, the Walt Disney Co. and Hearst Communications owned studio behind shows like Dance Moms: A New Era, History’s Greatest Mysteries, and Cold Case Files. Today, the employees asked the company to voluntarily negotiate with their union. If the company refuses, the guild plans to petition the US National Labor Relations Board to hold a unionization election and recognize the motion.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
Boeing Says It Has Made Its ‘Best and Final’ Offer to Striking Workers
The New York Times
By Niraj Chokshi
Sept. 23, 2024
Boeing on Monday made what it described as its “best and final” contract offer to more than 33,000 striking union employees. Brian Bryant, the international president of the union, said in a statement on Monday that the organization was reviewing the offer. “Employees knew Boeing executives could do better, and this shows the workers were right all along,” he said. “The proposal will be analyzed to see if it’s up to the task of helping workers gain adequate ground on prior sacrifices.”
Aramark workers announce strike at 3 South Philadelphia stadiums
CBS News
By Laura Fay
Sept. 23, 2024
Workers who serve food and work in retail and warehouse spaces at South Philadelphia's three sports stadiums are going on strike starting Monday, their union announced. Unite Here Local 274, the union that represents cooks, servers, bartenders, dishwashers, concessions workers, cleaners, retail workers and warehouse employees at Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field and Wells Fargo Center, announced the strike Sunday night.
National Symphony Orchestra musicians unanimously authorize strike
The Washington Post
By Michael Andor Brodeur
Sept. 23, 2024
The union representing the musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra (the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710, American Federation of Musicians) announced on Monday the unanimous outcome of a Friday vote to authorize a strike against the Kennedy Center over a stalled collective bargaining agreement.
Boeing makes a ‘best and final offer’ to striking union workers
AP News
By David Koenig
Sept. 23, 2024
Boeing said Monday it made a “best and final offer” to striking union machinists that includes bigger raises and larger bonuses than a proposed contract that was overwhelmingly rejected. The company said the offer includes pay raises of 30% over four years, up from the rejected 25% raises.
Thousands of Bay Area hotel workers go on strike as contract talks stall
NBC Bay Area
By Thomas Hughes
Sept. 22, 2024
Thousands of unionized hospitality workers in the Bay Area, along with thousands nationwide, went on strike on Sunday. In San Francisco, about 1,500 members of Unite Here Local 2 were on strike, along with others in San Mateo County and San Jose. They include servers, bartenders, housekeepers, dishwashers, bellhops, cooks, and other positions, according to a press release from the union on Sunday.
Animation Guild Sees “Significant Gaps” With Studios As Talks Keep Up This Week on Deal Terms
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Sept. 23, 2024
With what Hollywood’s animation union calls “significant gaps” remaining between labor and management proposals, major studios are set to continue negotiations with guild leadership over a new three-year deal this week. The Animation Guild stated in a Friday update that while the two sides were making progress on reaching an agreement, the differences between the parties would require more days at the negotiating table. The union is currently preparing a response to the latest management proposal, a representative told The Hollywood Reporter. In the meantime, the union’s contract — which originally expired on July 31 — has been extended until Nov. 1 to give labor and management more time to come to a deal.
Guitar Center Workers in six locations, including Illinois, ratify new contract
Labor Tribune
By Staff
Sept. 23, 2024
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU-UFCW) members at six Guitar Center locations in Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada and New York have ratified a new three-year contract. The agreement includes multiple meaningful wins for staff, like an increased minimum wage rate for every position — which will continue to go up every year throughout the life of the contract — and an additional seniority wage adjustment for more tenured workers.
Over 1,500 San Francisco Hotel Workers Strike in 2nd Walkout This Month
KQED
By Elize Manoukian
Sept. 23, 2024
More than 1,500 hotel workers are on strike in San Francisco, marking the Bay Area’s second major hospitality walkout this month as labor organizers push for higher wages and protest understaffing. The strike, organized by the UNITE HERE Local 2 union representing bellhops, housekeepers, cooks and other hotel employees, started Sunday after months of challenging negotiations with Westin St. Francis, Hilton San Francisco Union Square and the Grand Hyatt San Francisco. The union’s previous contract with the hotels expired on Aug. 14.
San Antonio Philharmonic and Musicians Union Announce New Collective Bargaining Agreement
The Violin Channel
By The Violin Channel
Sep. 23, 2024
A new two-year collective bargaining agreement has been announced between the San Antonio Philharmonic and the American Federation of Musicians Local 23. The agreement ensures competitive wages, plus equitable auditioning and hiring practices. Many of the musicians that the agreement affects are former members of the San Antonio Symphony, which ended in 2022, and reborn as the San Antonio Philharmonic later that year.
Striking a chord: NSO musicians consider hitting pause on the Kennedy Center’s symphony
WUSA 9
By Samantha Gilstrap and Amber Anderson
Sept. 23, 2024
“As our national center for the performing arts, the Kennedy Center should be a leader among arts institutions in fairly compensating its artists,” said Ed Malaga, President of the DC Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710, American Federation of Musicians. “Instead, the Kennedy Center has made proposals that are far out of step with other orchestras throughout the country. It is disheartening to see that the Kennedy Center is unwilling to recognize the value of the world-class orchestra these musicians have built and to compensate them in the manner they deserve.”
Reno firefighters get contract extension, 9% salary increase
The is Reno
By Kelsey Penrose
Sept. 23, 2024
The Reno City Council on Wednesday approved a contract between the city and the Reno Firefighters Local 731, International Association of Firefighters (IAFF Local 731). Negotiations resulted in a one-year contract, which includes a 6% salary adjustment effective July 2024, with an additional 3% adjustment in January 2025.
Strike over! Law360 Union reaches transformative contract deal
Editor & Publisher
By The Newsguild-CWA
Sept. 23, 2024
Unionized editorial workers at LexisNexis-owned Law360 have reached a tentative five-year contract deal that, among many gains, lifts wages by an average of 12%, increases family leave to 14 weeks, includes an average bonus of $9,000 and ensures strong job protections on AI and more. Guild members will decide whether or not to ratify the deal in a vote scheduled for Sept. 23. The Law360 Union bargaining committee recommends that members ratify the deal.
JOINING TOGETHER
Expecting layoffs, transit workers protest outside DC council building
WUSA 9
By Jacqueline Quynh
Sept. 23, 2024
Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 gathered outside the John A. Wilson Building on Monday morning, urging Mayor Muriel Bowser and city leaders to assist them in securing new jobs within Metro. “We were told a plan was forthcoming within the week, but then the end of the week became the end of the following week,” a speaker from ATU Local 689 said to the crowd gathered outside the mayor’s office.
Three Western Michigan University Unions Vote No Confidence In President
Forbes
Michael T. Nietzel
Sept. 23, 2024
Add one more university to the rapidly lengthening list of institutions that have recently seen no-confidence votes taken against their presidents. Last week, three Western Michigan University labor unions voted no confidence in WMU President Edward Montgomery. The resolution came from the WMU-Professional Instructors Organization, the WMU-Teaching Assistants Union, and the WMU-American Association of University Professors.
Variety
By Jennifer Maas
Sept. 23, 2024
Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen laid out the East Coast faction of the WGA‘s current top priorities in a memo to members Monday, the one-year anniversary of the 148-day writers strike. Takeuchi Cullen says the three “immediate goals” for the WGAE, which just concluded a new election cycle, include: “pushing showrunners, production companies and studios for East-based writers’ rooms by letting them know that writing services are covered by the film/TV production tax credit in New York, New Jersey, Georgia and Illinois”; “fighting back against the scourge of unpaid development”; and “making sure lower-level and marginalized writers aren’t left behind.”
IN THE STATES
Michigan lands huge federal investment to create new clean energy jobs
The ‘Gander
By Kyle Kaminski
Sept. 23, 2024
“Because our elected leaders stand in strong partnership with organized labor, Michiganders have the guarantee that these investments will go towards creating good-paying jobs where every worker has the freedom to form and join a union without intimidation or retaliation,” Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber said in a statement last week. “We applaud the Biden-Harris and Whitmer administrations for continuing to put workers first by ensuring the cars, tech, and energy of the future are built right here in Michigan by union hands.”
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
12 News NBC
By Kyra O’Connor
Sept. 23, 2024
A Wells Fargo employee in Tempe was found dead at her desk four days after she clocked in. The Wells Fargo Workers United-CWA said her death is "the most tragic example" of their employer's lack of transparency. The union released a letter in response to the death of Denise Prudhomme, a Wells Fargo Business Execution Consultant based in Tempe, who died on Aug. 20. She had clocked into work four days earlier.