Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Unions to Democrats: Don’t blame us for Tuesday’s losses
Politico
By Nick Niedzwiadek
Nov. 6, 2024
Despite persistent fears that labor might break for former President Donald Trump, exit polling showed Vice President Kamala Harris winning voters in union households 55 to 43 percent, roughly on par with President Joe Biden’s performance in 2020. (A separate survey from NBC News had Harris up 10 points among union voters.) “There were much bigger issues afoot for Democrats in this election, but if you’re looking for bright spots, labor was one of them,” said Steve Smith, the AFL-CIO’s deputy director for public affairs. The federation is an umbrella organization for dozens of unions representing millions of union members and invested heavily in outreach to workers in the lead-up to the election. “That’s not where the union vote started. That’s where it ended after intensive fieldwork,” Smith said.
‘We are not defeated’: US labor unions react to Harris election loss
The Guardian
By Michael Sainato
Nov. 6, 2024
A majority of union members voted for Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s election, outpacing 2020 numbers. It didn’t stop Donald Trump from securing the presidency. “Harris is outperforming 2020 numbers with union members, according to AP Votecast exit data. She’s up 57-39, which tracks with our internal data. Union voters turned out for Harris, that much is crystal clear,” posted Steve Smith, deputy director of public affairs at the largest federation of unions in the US, AFL-CIO, on X. The AFL-CIO reported that unions spoke to 3 million voters in the lead-up to the election, the most in the federation’s history. Several US labor unions launched door-knocking operations on behalf of the Harris campaign in swing states.
Unions, progressive groups react with dismay, defiance to Trump win
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg and Cameron Harrison
Nov. 6, 2024
Unions and progressive groups that went all-out for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris reacted with dismay but also defiance and determination to continue their struggles after her loss to convicted felon and ex-president, Republican Donald Trump.
Republicans Celebrate by Admitting They Can’t Wait for Project 2025
Rolling Stone
By Nikki McCann Ramirez
Nov. 6, 2024
Donald Trumps has won the election, and Republicans are now comfortable openly admitting that Project 2025 was the plan all along. The draconian policy package prepared by The Heritage Foundation in preparation for a second Trump administration was so extremist that in the final months of the campaign the former president took great pains to publicly distance himself from the project. Its contents, which include a broad expansion of executive powers; a de facto national abortion ban, increased restrictions on contraception; brutal policies against undocumented migrants; and the elimination of several federal agencies (including the Department of Education), didn’t sit well with prospective voters.
Steve Bannon’s Project 2025 Joke Says What We Knew All Along
The New Republic
By Paige Oamek
Nov. 6, 2024
Project 2025 has begun. And Donald Trump’s allies are now openly celebrating it. “Now that the election is over I think we can finally say that yeah actually Project 2025 is the agenda,” wrote conservative commentator Matt Walsh on Wednesday morning, adding “Lol” for good measure.
After Win, Trump Fans Admit “Project 2025 Is the Agenda”
Mother Jones
By Julianne McShane
Nov. 6, 2024
On Wednesday morning, some of Trump’s favorite fans finally felt comfortable joking about what the next president has long denied: Project 2025 has always been the plan for a second Trump term. “Now that the election is over I think we can finally say that yeah actually Project 2025 is the agenda. Lol,” right-wing podcast host Matt Walsh wrote in a post on X of the 900-plus-page extremist guidebook. Walsh’s message soon got picked up and promoted by Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist who was recently released from prison, where he landed after ignoring a subpoena from the House January 6 Committee. “Fabulous,” Bannon said, chuckling, after reading Walsh’s post out loud on his War Room podcast today. “We might have to put that everywhere.”
ORGANIZING
Staff at Alaska’s largest newspaper approve new union, election results show
Alaska Beacon
By James Brooks
Nov. 6, 2024
Newsroom staff at the Anchorage Daily News, the state’s largest newspaper, have voted to unionize, according to election results published Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board. The vote was 13-4 in favor of unionization, with two eligible voters not participating. The Anchorage News Guild, which will represent newsroom staff, had requested that management voluntarily recognize the union, but the newspaper’s ownership declined and requested the federally managed election.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Striking NY Times Tech Workers Ask People to Stop Playing Wordle & Connections
80LV
By Emma Collins
Nov. 6, 2024
The employees accuse The New York Times of unfair labor practice. The New York Times' tech workers who are currently on strike ask people to support them by stopping playing Wordle and Connections, games powered by The New York Times, and not using the NYT Cooking app. On the day before Elections Day in the US, NY Times employees behind the technology powering the newspaper's website and games went on strike. The work stopped at 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday despite multiple rounds of negotiations and a practice picket.
NLRB
Amazon must face third union election at Alabama warehouse, NLRB judge rules
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
Nov. 6, 2024
A National Labor Relations Board administrative judge has ordered a third union election at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama after a union lost the first two, ruling that the company engaged in a series of illegal practices to thwart unionizing. Administrative Law Judge Michael Silverstein said on Tuesday, that ahead of a 2022 election at the Bessemer, Alabama warehouse, Amazon had removed union literature from breakrooms and bathrooms, falsely accused pro-union employees of harassing coworkers, and illegally threatened to shut down the facility if workers voted to unionize. More than 6,000 workers at the warehouse known as BHM1 voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union by a more than 2-to-1 margin. The election was held after an NLRB official threw out similar results from a vote held in 2021, finding that Amazon violated federal labor law by encouraging workers to deposit ballots in a mailbox it had installed at the warehouse and surrounded with anti-union slogans.
Amazon ordered to let workers vote on unionizing — for the 3rd time
NPR
By Alina Selyukh
Nov. 6, 2024
Amazon workers at a warehouse in Alabama should get a third opportunity to vote on unionizing, a federal labor judge has ruled. The vote is not expected any time soon, however, as the legal process drags on. The warehouse in Bessemer made history as the site of the very first union election by Amazon workers, in 2021. But the outcome was not historic: workers voted against unionizing.
IN THE STATES
Ride-Hailing Drivers in Massachusetts Win Right to Unionize
The New York Times
By Eli Tan
Nov. 6, 2024
Ride-hailing drivers in Massachusetts won the right to unionize on Wednesday through a statewide ballot initiative, a first-of-its-kind victory that could set a precedent for gig worker legislation across the country. The initiative passed 54 percent to 46 percent, and will give drivers for apps like Uber and Lyft the ability to form unions that have collective bargaining power — while still being classified as independent contractors.
Mass. voters give Uber, Lyft drivers the right to unionize, AP projects
The Boston Globe
By Diti Kohli
Nov. 6, 2024
Voters on Tuesday narrowly passed a ballot measure to grant drivers for Uber and Lyft in Massachusetts the right to form labor unions, with around 54 percent voting yes with most votes counted. In the state’s closest referendum this election, residents ultimately decided to OK a first-of-its-kind effort to allow ride-hail drivers to organize, a milestone in the years-long battle to increase protections for a growing class of gig workers in Massachusetts and beyond.
Three incumbents, one newcomer win Orange County Board of County Commissioners seats
The Daily Tar Heel
By Audrey Kashatus
Nov. 5, 2024
Orange County voters reelected three incumbent Orange County Commissioners and welcomed one new commissioner, according to Orange County voting results. Phyllis Portie-Ascott was elected to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners District 2 seat. Jean Hamilton and Marilyn Carter were elected to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners District 1 seats. Amy Fowler was elected as the Orange County Board of County Commissioners At-Large member.
Oregon Measure 119 appears to pass. It will give cannabis workers an easier route to unionize
OPB
By Alejandro Figueroa
Nov. 6, 2024
Ballot Measure 119, the United for Cannabis Workers Act, appears to have passed, based on vote tallies as of Wednesday morning. The measure will require employers at cannabis retail and processing businesses to sign a “labor peace agreement” with a labor union to receive a license from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission.
Missourians vote for $15 minimum wage, paid sick leave
Missouri Business Alert
By Kelly Dereuck
Nov. 5, 2024
Workers earning minimum wage in Missouri will see a boost in their paychecks after voters approved a measure increasing the wage floor to $15 an hour by 2026. Nearly 59% of voters approved of Proposition A, according to unofficial results from the Missouri Secretary of State as of 11:50 p.m. Tuesday, with more than 92% of precincts reporting. In 2018, voters approved a measure to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2023. It went up another 30 cents this year due to inflation. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour.