Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
White House left with few good options as dockworkers walk out
CNN
By Kayla Tausche, Arlette Saenz, Chris Isidore and Vanessa Yurkevich
Oct. 1, 2024
Labor leaders have suggested that the mere suggestion of government intervention would benefit employers, not workers. “History tells us that when companies can count on an injunction against a strike, they do not negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler wrote in response to the House GOP letter.
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Responds to Trump Overtime Comment
Erie News Now
By Philip Ward
Sept. 30, 2024
Angela Ferritto, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, responds to former President Trump’s comment on overtime. “I am not surprised by his comments, this is a man who has really built his business on exploiting workers, he has been accused of stiffing contractors, running people through the court system to not have to pay his bills and when Donald Trump makes a comment like he does not like to pay workers so he gets other people and does not pay them, to me, it is just a blatant admission to who he really is at his core,” Ferritto said.
Harris launches multimillion-dollar TV ad blitz hitting Trump's 'concepts of a plan' for health care
NBC News
By Sahil Kapur
Oct. 1, 2024
Kamala Harris is launching a seven-figure ad blitz about health care targeting Donald Trump’s calls to replace the Affordable Care Act with a mystery plan he hasn’t yet released. The ad campaign, first reported by NBC News, is aimed at elevating the issue and capitalizing on what polling says is a weakness for Trump. The new 60-second spot features Trump saying during his face-to-face debate with Harris that he has “concepts of a plan” to remake the U.S. health care system. “You have no plan,” Harris tells Trump in the ad while touting her calls for protecting the ACA (or “Obamacare") and extending the Biden-Harris policies that expanded subsidies to buy coverage and capped the cost of insulin for seniors at $35 per month.
Harris courts Latinos with health care-focused ads slamming Trump
CBS News
By Nidia Cavazos
Oct. 1, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is ramping up its efforts to win over Latino voters across battleground states with a health care-focused ad blitz attacking former President Donald Trump, as recent polls show her advantage over him among these voters is significantly smaller than President Biden's was in 2020. Starting Tuesday, Harris will have ads up arguing Trump would "rip health care away" from millions of Latinos, and in the process take money out of their pockets. Trump has said little about health care during the 2024 presidential campaign, however, as opposed to his run in 2016, when he regularly vowed to repeal Obamacare, the nation's health care law. But numerous attempts by Congress to repeal it during his administration failed. In his debate with Harris, Trump suggested he might want to try again to push for a repeal but said if elected, he'd keep the program in place until something better emerged.
Wisconsin union president accuses Trump of 'shell game' on overtime
Harold Times Reporter
By Mary Spicuzza
Oct. 1, 2024
A Wisconsin union president is accusing Trump of playing a "shell game" when it comes to overtime pay and protections. "He is claiming that he will eliminate taxes on overtime pay but he fails to mention that he would do so by eliminating overtime pay altogether," Stephanie Bloomingdale, the Wisconsin AFL-CIO president, said Tuesday in a statement. She referred to Trump's recent comments at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, that he "hated" to give overtime and "wouldn't pay" it.
ORGANIZING
Wesleyan Graduate Students Win Vote to Unionize 86–7
Wesleyan Argus
By Miles Craven, Brendan Barry
Sept. 30, 2024
Graduate students and Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) voted on Thursday, Sept. 26 to become part of the Wesleyan Graduate Labor Union (WesGLU), which is represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). The election, hosted by the National Labor Relations Board, was held in Usdan room B25. Of the 117 eligible voters, 79% voted in the election, with 86 votes in favor of unionizing and 7 against.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
Washington Teachers’ Union reaches tentative contract agreement with DCPS
WUSA 9
By Samantha Gilstrap
Oct. 1, 2024
The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) and the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) have reached a tentative five-year contract agreement that aims to improve working conditions for educators while addressing long-standing issues related to recruitment and retention. This agreement comes after more than a year of negotiations and is set to be voted on by union members in the coming weeks. AFT President Randi Weingarten applauded the union's efforts, calling the tentative agreement a "real accomplishment" for educators who have been waiting for a fair contract.
Omni New Haven and union workers reach contract settlement after four-day strike
New Haven Register
By Mark Zaretsky
Oct. 1, 2024
A four-day strike is over at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale where 122 workers walked out seeking better pay and working conditions and fair treatment, their union said. The workers voted overwhelmingly Saturday to ratify a settlement the union reached with Omni over the contract after workers decided last week to return to work and resume negotiations. The settlement includes first-year wage increases of up to 14.5 percent and maintains current health care and pension benefits, officials of Local 217 - UNITE HERE said.
In Louisville, 5,200 GE Appliance Workers Gear Up for a Fight
Labor Notes
By Elaine Hui
Oct. 1, 2024
Hundreds of workers who make dishwashers, refrigerators, washers and dryers, and other home appliances at GE Appliances in Louisville, Kentucky, rallied September 14 ahead of contract negotiations. Their contract, covering 5,200 workers, expires at the end of the year. This plant complex, known as Appliance Park, is the only one unionized of nine GE Appliances manufacturing sites across the country and is its global headquarters. The union is part of the industrial division of the Communications Workers; bargaining starts October 14.Though Kentucky is a “right-to-work” state, union membership at the plant is over 90 percent. GE Appliances workers are asking for higher wages, a cost-of-living adjustment, more paid vacation, and lower health care costs and no deductibles. They also want to eliminate the five-tier wage system.
Fort Wayne UAW seeks OK to strike against GM over employees' hours
WFFT
By Andy Paras
Sept. 30, 2024
The local United Auto Workers shop chair says he has requested the authority to strike against General Motors in Fort Wayne. Rich LeTourneau with UAW Local 2209 says GM is violating their contract by forcing senior employees to work second and third shifts. In response, GM says it's operating within the provisions of the local UAW-GM agreement.
Hotel workers threaten ‘all-out strike' in Boston on Friday
NBC Boston
By Don Seiffert
Oct. 1, 2024
The union representing some 4,000 workers at nearly three dozen Boston-area hotels is threatening an “all-out strike” if the owners of those hotels don’t meet their demands by Friday. The local union, Unite Here Local 26, said Tuesday that ever since strikes at various hotels in the city began on Sept. 1, it has “given the hotels more than enough time to come to the bargaining table with a serious and meaningful economic package.”
PYOK
By Mateusz Maszczynski
Oct. 1, 2024
Pilots at ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines are to hold a strike authorization vote after the Association of Airline Pilots (ALPA), which represents flight crew at the Denver-based airline, said it had failed to offer wages that reflect the value of its pilots. The strike authorization vote opened on Monday and will close on Tuesday, October 15, in the latest dispute for the airline, after flight attendants voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike following a recent change in business strategy by CEO Barry Biffle.
Rite Aid employees schedule strike authorization vote amid contract dispute
Fox 5 San Diego
By Kasia Gregorczyk
Sept. 30, 2024
Rite Aid workers are inching toward a possible strike after their union announced another unsuccessful contract negotiation. If they move forward, they will join CVS where union employees have already voted to authorize a strike. These two contract disputes affect thousands of employees across California, including hundreds in San Diego.
JOINING TOGETHER
American Postal Workers Union hold informational picket for better staffing
WJAR
By NBC 10 News
Oct. 1, 2024
The American Postal Workers Union held an informational picket on Tuesday. According to officials, they are calling on the post offices to provide better staffing at all the facilities. “The message is that we want better staffing...we want better contract for postal employees and stop the delay in the mail,” American Postal Workers Union Providence area President Vinny Crespo said.
Postal workers, community members rally in Eagan for better service from USPS
CBS News
By Beret Leone
Oct. 1, 2024
Low staffing, long lines and delayed packages — those are some of the reasons why postal workers across the country Tuesday are demanding more from their employer. Rallies in protest are happening in dozens of cities, including here in Minnesota. In Eagan, postal workers and union and community members came out to demand better service from the United States Postal Service. Union members said USPS does an excellent job ensuring ballots and election-related mail arrive in a timely manner, but they want to see that same effort year-round.
Postal workers union holds Day of Action rally outside metro Atlanta mail facility
Atlanta News First
By Don Shipman
Oct. 1, 2024
About 200,000 U.S. Postal Service employees, some of them in metro Atlanta, are working without a contract after failing to reach a new 3-year deal by a September 20th deadline. Some of the sticking points include wage increases and more staffing at local post offices and processing facilities. Outside the Crown Road mail processing center, about a half dozen metro Atlanta postal workers, American Postal Workers Union members, and some everyday citizens held a Day of Action rally. It was one of more than 90 rallies nationwide. “You have two or three people trying to do the job of eight or ten people. There’s a toll on your body,” said Branda Story, a metro Atlanta postal clerk.
ABC 7 Denver
By Adria Iraheta
Oct. 1, 2024
Postal workers in 90 cities, including Denver, are holding Day of Action rallies on October 1 to demand better local postal service. The public has a right to prompt, reliable service, according to the American Postal Workers Union, but say they’re not getting that service apart from ballots and election mail.
US Postal Workers demand better staffing and service in Spokane facilities
Fox 28
By AZodrow
Oct. 1, 2024
US Postal Service (USPS) workers demonstrated in downtown Spokane Tuesday. They demanded better staffing, a seat at the table with management and with the Postal Board of Governors. Associated Postal Workers Union (APWU) strikes took place around the country after the USPS Board of Governors limited public comments at the group’s quarterly meetings to just once a year in 2023, “This isn’t acceptable. We’re demanding that the Board of Governors bring back the public comment period at every quarterly meeting, ensuring that postal workers and the public have a say in how the Postal Service is run,” a demands list published by the APWU said.
Niagara Falls postal workers to join nationwide push for improved USPS service
Spectrum News
By Spectrum News Staff
Oct. 1, 2024
Postal workers in Niagara Falls are joining a nationwide movement to demand first-class service year-round. A rally is scheduled to take place from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday at the Niagara Falls main post office. The American Postal Workers Union says issues from turnover to short staffing, and newly instated post office procedures, have slowed mail delivery for millions. They're pushing for more public input in decisions that will impact the rate of mail delivery. “Staffing is an issue that needs to be addressed. It’s not just new hires and retention. We need more staff. The public sees the long lines at postal counters, where we handle more packages today than ever before, but while the number of packages handled has dramatically increased, the number of clerks has declined over the past two decades by over 10,000,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the APWU.
Bakersfield union postal workers rally for better service & staffing
KBAK
By BakersfieldNow Staff
Oct. 1, 2024
Union Postal Workers in Bakersfield took part in a nationwide "Day of Action" October 1st. A rally was held in front of the Liberty Bell at the Kern County Superior Court.
Union fights for DC Circulator staff as system phase out begins Tuesday
WJLA
By John Gonzalez
Oct. 1, 2024
We’ve known that the DC Circulator buses in the District will be gone by the end of the year, but starting Tuesday, 90 bus employees will be laid off. This is part of the city’s phase-out process to a bus system that has been around for two decades. Since 2005, it has had an attractive, popular bus system. The DC Circulator bus system had 1.9 million riders last year and nearly 300 employees. About 78 Circulator employees have landed jobs with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), however, they will lose their seniority, and start at lower wages and different shifts.
Berkeley construction workers protest, alleging unfair wages and unsafe practices
The Daily Californian
By Lily Button
Oct. 1, 2024
Members of the Iron Workers Union started picketing last week outside an eight-story, 207-unit apartment complex under construction at 1598 University Ave. Union members claim the project’s general contractor, Synergy Modular, is permitting unsafe construction practices and underpaying its workers. In response, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, sent Synergy Modular a list of claims it has yet to resolve. “The goal here with the picket is to get workers what they deserve,” said James Ashcroft, a business agent for the Ironworkers Local 378 chapter.
IN THE STATES
Missourians to vote on proposition to raise minimum wage
KOAM
By Samantha Walker
Sept. 30, 2024
"This is not a Democrat issue. This is not a Republican issue. This is an American issue," says Laura Cox, President of Communications Workers of America Local 6313. "And workers deserve to have a fair wage no matter what they're doing, whatever job title they have, they deserve to be able to live comfortably and not have to worry about what are they going to do if they get sick."
LABOR AND ENTERTAINMENT
Gavin Newsom Signs Union-Supported Bill Safeguarding Entertainment Loan-Out Companies
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Sept. 30, 2024
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a union-supported bill that seeks to protect entertainment workers’ use of loan-out companies after an audit earlier this year provoked widespread concern about their future. The governor’s office announced that Newsom had officially greenlit state Sen. Anthony Portantino’s SB 422 on Monday. The bill, which received the backing of the Entertainment Union Coalition — consisting of the California IATSE Council, the Directors Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, the Teamsters Local 399 and LiUNA! Local 724 — codifies that a loan-out company is the employer of entertainment workers that set up these companies and work under their auspices and is responsible for paying employer taxes.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
International Firefighters Foundation hosts annual teen burn camp in DC (Video)
Fox 5
By Staff
Sept. 30, 2024
41 teen burn survivors from across the country had a special experience this week in D.C. attending the annual International Teen Burn Camp, hosted by the International Firefighters Foundation. FOX 5's Gwen Tolbart has the story.