Today's AFL-CIO press clips
MUST READ
Why Gender May Be the Defining Issue of the Election
The New York Times
By Lisa Lerer and Katie Glueck
Oct. 23, 2024
“We’re all protecting our hearts right now, having been through this before,” said Liz Shuler, the first woman elected to lead the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the largest federation of unions in the country. “We’ve come further, even since 2020, with women leading in ways we’ve never seen before. To not be able to cross that ultimate threshold of the highest position of power in the world would be a sucker punch.” Her union federation, one of the Democrats’ most powerful backers, is tracking a 32-point difference in support for Ms. Harris over Mr. Trump among its female members in internal surveys.
POLITICS
Modern-day Rosie the Riveters are backing Kamala Harris
The 19th
By Jessica Kutz
Oct. 23, 2024
As Liz Shuler, the first woman president of the AFL-CIO, told The 19th, the strides women and people of color are making in the trades are at risk. “We’ve seen the patterns of the Trump administration,” she said. “Even just the rhetoric of DEI hires being negative, when in fact, we’re making progress, and we’re starting to elevate the awareness and the commitment of these companies to hire more women.” A lot of initiatives aimed at making the workplace more inclusive and welcoming to women are voluntary, and not mandated. “We don’t want to actually give [these companies] ammunition to start getting rid of these programs,” she said.
Trump is anti-worker. Here are 10 of his most shocking anti-worker statements (Opinion)
The Guardian
By Steven Greenhouse
Oct. 23, 2024
Many people failed to realize that Donald Trump has a long, ugly history of making anti-worker and anti-union statements. He has at times insulted workers, saying their wages are too high, saying their work is so easy that a child can do it. The former US president has also sought to sabotage labor by saying union members shouldn’t pay their dues and successful union leaders should be fired. Trump has also sought to trick workers by making wonderful-sounding promises that he couldn’t possibly make good on.vBelow are Trump’s 10 most shocking anti-worker and anti-union statements.
CNBC
By Kamaron McNair
Oct. 23, 2024
President Joe Biden and his administration hit a major milestone this October. The administration has now forgiven student debt balances for over 1 million borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the Department of Education announced on Oct. 17. Though PSLF has been around since 2007, only 7,000 borrowers in total had qualified and received debt forgiveness through the program prior to Biden taking office. The basic guidelines for PSLF require borrowers to be working in public service and making qualifying payments on their loans for 10 years before they can see any of their balances discharged.
Capital & Main
By Kalena Thomhave
Oct. 23, 2024
Thomas is a member of Local 3033 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents operators, mechanics and inspectors of the department in Harrisburg’s Dauphin County. He is particularly concerned about how a Donald Trump presidency may threaten his safety at work. Trump allies, he told Capital & Main, “want to dismantle union protections.” (Disclosure: AFSCME is a financial supporter of Capital & Main.) Thomas pointed to Project 2025, the lengthy playbook for a second Trump term (“900 pages of pure terror,” Thomas said), published by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Trump has distanced himself from the plan written by those close to him in light of widespread public opposition; still, the proposals are similar to many of Trump’s own. And both Trump and Project 2025 have explicitly challenged public sector unions.
23 Nobel Prize-winning economists call Harris’ economic plan ‘vastly superior’ to Trump’s
CNN
By Phil Mattingly
Oct. 23, 2024
More than half of the living US recipients of the Nobel Prize for economics signed a letter that called Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic agenda “vastly superior” to the plans laid out by former President Donald Trump. Twenty-three Nobel Prize-winning economists signed onto the letter, including two of the three most recent recipients. “While each of us has different views on the particulars of various economic policies, we believe that, overall, Harris’ economic agenda will improve our nation’s health, investment, sustainability, resilience, employment opportunities, and fairness and be vastly superior to the counterproductive economic agenda of Donald Trump,” the economists write in the letter obtained by CNN.
UAW members support Harris over Trump by 22 points in swing states – poll
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
Oct. 23, 2024
United Auto Workers (UAW) members in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada support the presidential candidate Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by 22 points, according to a poll conducted by the union. UAW members in Michigan – the center of the US auto industry – support Harris over Trump by 20 percentage points, with 54% supporting Harris over 34% supporting Trump, the poll found. The union claimed in 2020 that UAW members accounted for 84% of Joe Biden’s margin of victory in Michigan.
ORGANIZING
Workers Launch Union Drive at ‘Summer of Soul’ Producer RadicalMedia
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Oct. 23, 2024
Workers at the nonfiction entertainment arm of RadicalMedia are organizing in an attempt to unionize with the Writers Guild of America East. The labor group announced on Wednesday the drive to unionize 65 staffers in the company’s entertainment group, which has produced documentary titles like Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, What Happened, Miss Simone? and Hollywood Black. Organizers are targeting roles in production and postproduction with the effort and requested voluntary recognition from the company on Wednesday morning. The union claims that an “overwhelming majority” of the group has signed union cards supporting the drive.
Motion Capture Workers at ‘NBA 2K’ Studio File for a Union Election
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Oct. 23, 2024
Workers at the 2K’s motion capture studio have filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to join IATSE, which is positioning this drive as a “historic first.” The Hollywood crew union is attempting to represent twenty-one full-time workers at the Petaluma, California-based studio, which works on prominent games for both 2K and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, including NBA 2K, WWE 2K, TopSpin 2K, Bioshock and Mafia. According to the union, organizers requested voluntary recognition but management “declined to respond,” prompting the filing for a petition with the NLRB.
Hartford clerical workers seek vote to unionize
Valley News
By Christina Dolan
Oct. 22, 2024
More than a dozen of the town’s clerical workers are seeking a vote on whether to join a union. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 93 has submitted a petition to the state Labor Relations Board to represent the employees, who include administrative assistants, finance specialists and other office workers, Town Manager John Haverstock announced at the Oct. 15 Selectboard meeting.
NEGOTIATIONS & STRIKES
Boeing Workers Resoundingly Reject New Contract and Extend Strike
The New York Times
By Niraj Chokshi
Oct. 23, 2024
Boeing’s largest union rejected a tentative labor contract on Wednesday by a wide margin, extending a damaging strike and adding to the mounting financial problems facing the company, which hours earlier had reported a $6.1 billion loss. The contract, the second that workers have voted down, was opposed by 64 percent of those voting, according to the union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The union represents about 33,000 workers, but it did not disclose how many voted on Wednesday.
Boeing machinists reject new labor contract, extending more than 5-week strike
CNBC
By Leslie Josephs
Oct. 23, 2024
Boeing
machinists voted against a new labor deal that included 35% wage increases over four years, their union said Wednesday, extending a more than five-week strike that has halted most of the company’s aircraft production, which is centered in the Seattle area.
Striking Boeing workers vote to reject deal as company’s losses grow
The Washington Post
By Lori Aratani, Ian Duncan and Rachel Lerman
Oct. 23, 2024
Machinists on Wednesday rejected Boeing’s latest contract proposal, dashing hopes for an end to the nearly six-week walkout and further complicating the aerospace giant’s path to a more stable future. The vote by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers districts 751 and W24 came on the same day the company reported a loss of more than $6 billion for the quarter that ended in September.
SAG-AFTRA Resumes Talks to Protect Voice Actors in Games
Vice
By Dwayne Jenkins
Oct. 23, 2024
In “You love to see it” news, SAG-AFTRA continues its work to provide voice actors in the games industry with necessary protections. The actors union has resumed negotiations with big AAA game developers and publishers. In July of 2024, actors represented by SAG-AFTRA went on strike against the rising threat of AI. The negotiations are meant to protect anyone providing voice work, motion capture performances, and any on-screen depictions in video games.
Nurses picket Aroostook hospital over contract bargaining
Bangor Daily News
By Christopher Bouchard
Oct. 23, 2024
Unionized nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center announced on Wednesday that they will file a federal unfair labor practice charge against their employer, alleging that management has not been bargaining in good faith. The announcement was made during an informational picket outside the hospital, where nurses said they would be filing the charge with the National Labor Relations Board the following morning, Oct. 24. About 20 people participated in the picketing. Sixty-two percent of roughly 90 nurses first voted to unionize in January and join the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United.
Nurses secure AI protections from HCA
Becker’s Health It
By Giles Bruce
Oct. 22, 2024
Nurses at 17 hospitals with Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare have ratified new contracts containing protections against artificial intelligence. "New contract language will ensure nurses have a say in the implementation of new technology like artificial intelligence to ensure it enhances, not diminishes, patient care," National Nurses United said in an Oct. 22 statement. Nurses have recently protested the growth of what they call "untested technology" such as healthcare AI that they say harms patient safety and takes clinicians out of the decision-making process. The three-year contracts in six states with HCA Healthcare mark a big step in gaining AI-related safeguards for nurses, as the health system is one of the country's largest nursing employers.
JOINING TOGETHER
Commuter rail workers air labor woes outside South Station
WBUR
By Alison Kuznitz
Oct. 23, 2024
Commuter rail workers demanding higher wages and more affordable health insurance from their employer, Keolis Commuter Services, rallied outside South Station during the Wednesday morning commute, aiming to alert riders about their ongoing labor fight. U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Seth Moulton and Stephen Lynch, as well as state Sen. Brendan Crighton, joined the roughly 100 commuter rail workers and trade union members as they sought to apply pressure on Keolis, which operates 14 rail lines in Greater Boston and Rhode Island. Workers do not intend to go on strike and cause service disruptions, said Jonathan Clark, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 318. Clark said worker contracts expired two years ago. Clark described the gathering as an "informational rally," featuring a coalition of unions representing other Keolis commuter rail workers with expired contracts.
UAW, allies rally in Trenton, get congressional support in fight against Stellantis
Detroit Free Press
By Eric D. Lawrence
Oct. 23, 2024
Last September, UAW members rallied at Local 372 to send a message to Stellantis, that Trenton Engine needs and deserves product. On Wednesday afternoon, more than a year after workers at the union hall that serves the engine plant's UAW members made their appeal, members were back again. This time, they rallied ahead of a strike authorization vote on Nov. 13, as the union and its supporters call on the owner of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge to honor commitments made in the contract negotiated last year. In addition to concerns about company commitments elsewhere, Trenton Engine workers worry about a lack of product commitment in the years to come at their plant.
SAG-AFTRA says "more than 120 games from 49 companies" have signed agreements
Game Industry.com
By Vikki Blake
Oct. 23, 2024
The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has confirmed that as it prepares to resume negotiations with video game developers, "more than 120 games from 49 companies" have signed the union's tiered-budget or interim agreements. SAG-AFTRA says the central issue of contention has been "the union’s demand for proper consent, compensation and transparency around the use of AI, for all members who work the contract."
SPORTS UNIONIZATION
WNBA players union demands new collective bargaining agreement, opting out of current deal
CNN
By Ben Church
Oct. 23, 2024
The WNBA players union, known as the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), has opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement early with the league, demanding a new deal which better reflects the growth of the game. The WNBPA announced the decision on Monday, saying it was looking for “a business model that reflects their true value, encompassing higher salaries, enhanced professional working conditions, expanded health benefits, and crucial investments needed for long-term growth.” The current deal with the WNBA was due to expire in 2027, but there was an option to end it early. The existing agreement will stay in place for next season, meaning both sides have a year to negotiate a new deal and avoid a potential future work stoppage.
IN THE STATES
Hudson electeds & CarePoint workers say hospitals must stay open, some want probe
Hudson County View
By John Heinis
Oct. 22, 2024
Hudson County elected officials joined CarePoint Health workers and union leaders in a rally asking for their three hospitals to stay open at all costs, with some speakers calling for an investigation into their finances. “You’ve heard the issue here: CarePoint has received a lot of money from the State of New Jersey and now they’re in trouble again. We’ve heard this story, we’ve seen this movie before. I really think it’s time for some state intervention to come in here and do a forensic audit of where all this money has gone,” began New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech.