Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
Democrats “Lose When They Fail to Prioritize a Strong, Working-Class Message”
The Nation
By John Nichols
Nov. 8, 2024
Endorsed by the AFL-CIO, the United Auto Workers, the United Steelworkers; the International Association of Machinists; the Service Employees International Union; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the American Federation of Teachers; the National Education Association; and dozens of other national and international labor organizations, Harris benefited from internal education campaigns that contrasted her pro-union agenda with that of the historically anti-union Donald Trump. When the International Brotherhood of Teamsters failed to make an endorsement, regional councils and unions locals across the country filled the void, with robust endorsements for the Democratic nominee and active organizing on her behalf among Teamsters nationwide. Unfortunately, while the union vote held for Harris, her campaign lost ground among working-class voters who aren’t in unions.
Unions Bet Big on Harris. Now They’re Bracing for Consequences.
The New York Times
By Jonathan Weisman and Benjamin Oreskes
Nov. 10, 2024
Besides the Harris campaign and its affiliated political action committees, few economic or political sectors placed larger bets than organized labor on Vice President Kamala Harris’s winning the presidency. And few might reap more consequences from the incoming Trump administration. For public-sector unions that represent government workers, the threat is institutional and existential: Top advisers to President-elect Donald J. Trump want to eliminate them outright. “We do understand we have issues that are confronting us, major issues,” said Lee Saunders, chairman of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s political committee and president of the 1.6-million-strong American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “This is going to impact the entire labor movement.”
Women’s March in D.C. targets not Trump but Project 2025 authors
The Washington Post
By Joe Heim
Nov. 9, 2024
It was the first organized protest in the District since Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential contest. But the hundreds of people who gathered at Union Station on Saturday morning were not there to question the legitimacy of the election; there were few, if any, anti-Trump signs in the crowd. Instead, they marched down Massachusetts Avenue NE to the Heritage Foundation, they said, to signal opposition to the conservative group’s proposals in Project 2025 to curtail women’s reproductive rights.
The White House Will Be Shedding Its Union Label
The New York Times
By Noam Scheiber
Nov. 10, 2024
Joseph R. Biden Jr. promised to be the most pro-labor president in history. He embraced unions more overtly than his predecessors in either party, and filled his administration with union supporters. Labor seemed to respond accordingly. Filings for unionization elections spiked to their highest level in a decade, as did union victories. There were breakthroughs at companies like Starbucks and Amazon, and unions prevailed in organizing a major foreign auto plant in the South. A United Automobile Workers walkout yielded substantial contract gains — and images of Mr. Biden joining a picket line. As Donald J. Trump prepares to retake the White House, labor experts expect the legal landscape for labor to turn sharply in another direction.
Labor leaders, Illinois officials fear workers’ rights at risk under Trump, but vow to keep fighting
Chigaco Tribune
By Talia Soglin
Nov. 10, 2024
Tim Drea, the president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, said the organization would “double down” to protect workers’ rights in the state. “All options are on the table,” he said.
‘Feeling of dread’ spreads across federal workforce as second Trump term looms
CNN
By Ella Nilsen, Rene Marsh, Gabe Cohen and Tami Luhby
Nov. 10, 2024
Federal workers “should be able to do their jobs without political interference, without violating their Constitutional oath, and without breaking the law,” said American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley – whose union represents more than 800,000 federal employees.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
New York Times tech workers end strike without contract deal
The Washington Post
By Laura Wagner
Nov. 11, 2024
The New York Times Tech Guild ended its unfair labor practice strike Monday, one week after a majority of the 600-person unit walked off the job just before Election Day. The Tech Guild called the strike — timed to be maximally disruptive to the newspaper’s ability to serve readers during the high-traffic election period — after increasingly tense negotiations with Times management failed to yield a contract deal. The guild and the company still have not reached a contract; the union said in a statement Monday afternoon that the strike was a “warning” to the Times.
New York Times Tech Guild to return to work, negotiations will go on
Reuters
By Reuters
Nov. 11, 2024
The New York Times (NYT.N) Tech Guild is ending a week-long strike that started one day before the U.S. presidential election and will return to work on Tuesday, it said in a post on X on Monday. More than 600 tech workers of NYT, including software engineers, designers and product managers, had gone on a strike amid stalled contract negotiations over pay and job security, planning daily protests during the crucial election day period.
Culinary Union announces Virgin Hotels strike ahead of Las Vegas Grand Prix
Fox 5 Las Vegas
By Rachel Zalucki
Nov. 8, 2024
The Culinary Union has announced plans for a strike at Virgin Hotels starting next Friday, a week before the Las Vegas Grand Prix begins. In a press release Friday, union leaders stated that the strike will begin on Friday, Nov. 15 at 5 a.m. and include 700 hospitality workers. The strike is the latest union effort to push for a new 5-year union contract. This will be the union’s first strike in 22 years.
San Diego CVS pharmacy workers ratify new union contract
The San Diego Union-Tribune
By Phillip Molnar
Nov. 9, 2024
San Diego CVS pharmacy workers approved a new contract Friday night that included raises and other benefits. There are roughly 900 CVS workers in San Diego County across 56 stores that will be affected by the new contract. They are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the new three-year contract covers all 7,000 workers across Southern California. Pharmacy workers will get raises for each year of the contract, retroactive to early July, as well as bigger raises for workers who have been there 10 years or more and increased health care bonuses.
UPTE-CWA 9119 announces plans for 2-day strike at UCSF
Daily Bruin
By Alexandra Crosnoe
Nov. 8, 2024
The University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America 9119 will strike at UC San Francisco on Nov. 20 and 21. The move comes after the union, which represents research and technical workers, voted to authorize a strike over alleged unfair labor practices committed by the UC. Voters approved the strike by 98%, according to the UPTE-CWA 9119 website.
Culinary Union threatens strike at Virgin Las Vegas over contract negotiations
KLAS
By Stephanie Overton
Nov. 8, 2024
The Culinary Union is threatening to strike at Virgin Las Vegas unless an agreement can be made for a new contract, the union announced in a release Friday. According to the release, 700 hospitality workers at the hotel have pushed for a new 5-year contract. The previous contract expired on June 1, 2023, according to Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “In negotiations, the company has proposed $0 in wage increases for the first three years of a 5-year contract, which is unacceptable,” Pappageorge said in the release. “Workers at Virgin Las Vegas deserve fair wage increases and they are organized and ready to strike for it.”
Unions on Strike and a Newspaper on Pause
The New York Times
By David W. Dunlap
Nov. 10, 2024
The strike against The New York Times by the Times Tech Guild, which began Nov. 4, is the latest in a century’s worth of sporadic labor troubles between the newspaper and the unions representing its workers. Issues in the strike include job security, pay raises and return-to-office mandates. Software developers and data analysts are among nearly 700 employees in the Times Tech Guild, a unit of the NewsGuild of New York.
Unionized Workers at Nonfiction Production Company McGee Media Ratify First Contract
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Nov. 11, 2024
Unionized workers at the nonfiction production company behind PBS’ Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. have greenlit a first union contract with their employer. Producers, researchers and archivists at McGee Media who are unionized with the Writers Guild of America East have ratified a recent tentative agreement reached by negotiators, the union announced on Monday. Members of the bargaining unit unanimously voted to ratify the contract on Thursday.
SeaTac’s Doubletree and Hilton workers ratify landmark union contract
SeaTac Blog
By Staff
Nov. 10, 2024
Hotel workers at two of SeaTac’s largest hotels – the Doubletree Seattle Airport and the Seattle Airport Hilton & Conference Center – have ratified new contracts that include significant wage increases and workload protections. The agreements, reached after two strikes—one over Labor Day weekend and a weeklong strike in October—are a notable victory for the largely immigrant workforce as the hospitality sector stabilizes following the COVID-19 pandemic. The contracts affect 400 workers and include housekeepers, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, and drivers. Workers, represented by the union UNITE HERE Local 8, secured raises over the life of the contract and gained workload protections for housekeepers.
Strike avoided as union workers, Michigan Medicine work to reach tentative agreement
Click on Detroit
By Sara Powers
Nov. 11, 2024
Members of the United Michigan Allied Professionals/AFT 6739 (UMMAP) and Michigan Medicine have reached an memorandum of understanding to avoid a strike that had been planned to begin Tuesday. This memorandum cancels the planned strike and creates “a framework for the two negotiating teams to achieve a tentative agreement over the next two weeks.”
Striking IAM Local Lodge 660 members at Eaton Manufacturing rally for a fair contract
Labor Tribune
By Sheri Gassaway
Nov. 11, 2024
Striking International Association of Machinists (IAM) Lodge 660 members, their allies and representatives from the International Union rallied outside Eaton Manufacturing here Nov. 1 in support of a fair contract. More than 100 people attended the rally, which featured IAM President Brian Bryant, IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Sam Cicinelli and IAM District 9 Directing Business Representative Jason Tetidrick. Another rally was held the same day at the company’s Highland, Ill. location.
Westside Current
By Staff
Nov. 11, 2024
The union representing CVS pharmacy clerks and technicians has ratified an contract with the pharmacy chain securing higher wages, more secure staffing and affordable health care plans for members. The two sides announced the agreement Oct. 24 that ended a three-day unfair labor practices strike. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 5, 135, 324, 648, 770, 1167, 1428 and 1442 voted to ratify the new three-year contract with CVS Pharmacy, the locals announced Friday.
UMaine Graduate Workers Union push for contract a year into negotiations
News Center Maine
By Katie Delaney
Nov. 11, 2024
The University of Maine System (UMS) and UMaine Graduate Workers Union are still negotiating a contract a year after bargaining began. Graduate student workers at the University of Maine unionized in September 2023, aiming to secure improved working conditions, pay, and protections. The union and UMS have reached several tentative agreements on topics like workload, training, and discipline policies. But the union’s bargaining committee members said progress has been slow.
SPORTS UNIONIZATION
USL Super League players join USLPA, seek to ratify CBA
ESPN
By Jeff Carlisle
Nov. 8, 2024
Players in the USL Super League, a women's league which has Division I status from the U.S. Soccer Federation, have voted to unionize and will be part of the USL Players Association going forward. The USLPA is now the exclusive bargaining representative of the USL Super League players. Earlier this week, the players engaged in what is called an "authorization card check" in which a majority of players voted that they wanted union representation, and that they wanted the USLPA to bargain on their behalf.
APPRENTICESHIPS & TRAINING
City of Scranton supports apprenticeship programs
The Times-Tribune
By Robert Tomkavage
Nov. 11, 2024
A pair of apprenticeship grants through the city of Scranton will help local unions train future carpenters and electrical workers. The Carpenters’ Apprentice Ready Program (CARP), operated by the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters (EAS Carpenters Union), 314 Pear St., Scranton, and the Scranton Electricians Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) program from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 81, 431 Wyoming Ave., Scranton, each received $25,000 in grant funding, city officials announced in a news release.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
New pier at Bayou Sauvage built by volunteers to make fishing easier
Nola.com
By Barry Lemoine
Nov. 11, 2024
“This fishing pier at Bayou Sauvage Refuge is a story of a community coming together to create opportunities to experience an incredible wildlife refuge,” Martinez said. “Local refuge firefighters prepped the site. Then union volunteers donated their time to install this dock that will be used for fishing, but also for youth education programs, birdwatchers, a canoe/kayak program." The tradeswomen enjoyed a couple of hours wetting their lines, with fishing poles and bait provided by the USA. For many, it was their first time casting a line.
UNION BUSTING
Orlando Weekly
By McKenna Schueler
Nov. 11, 2024
A labor union that represents thousands of hotel and food service workers at Disney World in Orlando has filed an official complaint against a Disney Springs contractor, alleging the Patina Restaurant Group illegally fired a young cashier. The complaint, formally known as an unfair labor practice charge, was filed against, with the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 6. It comes less than two weeks after the union, Unite Here Local 737, held a press conference, announcing that cashier and server Julie Ruiz, an employee of the Patina-owned Pizza Ponte eatery at Disney Springs, had been abruptly fired.