Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
What’s at risk if Congress doesn’t fund the government by Friday night
CNN
By Tami Luhby and Katie Lobosco
Dec. 19, 2024
“A government shutdown would deliver a devastating blow to hardworking federal employees and the millions of citizens who rely on essential government services,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 civilian federal employees. “These patriotic civil servants are the backbone of our nation — they inspect our food, protect our borders, ensure safe travel during the holidays, and provide relief to disaster victims,” Kelley continued. “Over 642,000 of them are veterans of our armed services. Allowing them to go without a paycheck over the holidays is unacceptable.”
Here’s What Could Happen in a Government Shutdown
The New York Times
By Noah Weiland
Dec. 19, 2024
There have been more than 20 gaps in federal government funding since 1976, with varying levels of shutdowns that have affected agencies — and the public — in different ways. During Donald J. Trump’s first term as president, roughly 800,000 of the federal government’s more than two million employees were sidelined for over a month starting in December 2018. The economy took a major hit.
Bipartisan SHIPS for America Act introduced
WorkBoat
By WorkBoat Staff
Dec. 19, 2024
Today, Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), Representative John Garamendi (D-Calif.), and Representative Trent Kelly (R-Miss.) have introduced the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act. The legislation aims to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding and commercial maritime industries, which legislators say have been weakened by decades of neglect. The bipartisan proposal seeks to address challenges in the maritime sector, including reduced shipbuilding capacity, a shrinking commercial shipping fleet, and diminished support capabilities for the U.S. military during wartime. The SHIPS for America Act outlines measures to restore American maritime leadership through national oversight, consistent funding, workforce development, and incentives for domestic shipbuilding.
ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Biden just set a new climate goal. Trump and other obstacles await.
The Washington Post
By Maxine Joselow
Dec. 19, 2024
President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the United States would aim to cut its greenhouse gas emissions at least 61 percent below 2005 levels by 2035, even as the nation remains far offtrack from meeting his previous climate goal — and as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to dismantle dozens of climate policies.
ORGANIZING
Street Roots staff are unionizing
Northwest Labor Press
By Don McIntosh
Dec. 19, 2024
Staff at the nonprofit group Street Roots announced Dec. 2 they plan to unionize and asked the group’s board of directors to voluntarily recognize Communications Workers of America Local 7901 as their representative — within two days. “We believe a union will strengthen Street Roots by democratizing processes directly impacting our workplace and community,” said a collective statement by the union. The union will promote pay equity, adequate staffing, and safety measures. The announcement had the support of all 15 staff.
Ushers join growing Shakespeare Festival union
Northwest Labor Press
By Anna Del Savio
Dec. 19, 2024
Another group of Oregon Shakespeare Festival workers has joined International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 154. Roughly 45 ushers, concessions staff, and other audience experience workers joined Local 154 in November in a 28-2 vote, uniting with around 150 other festival workers who unionized over the past decade. New managers at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival have made changes that benefit the workers, said Ford Murawski-Brown, an usher who has worked in various departments for more than a decade, aside from a break during the pandemic. But in the past, new managers have sometimes made changes for the worse, Murawski-Brown said.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Culinary Union reaches contract agreement with Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Las Vegas Sun
By Kyle Chouinard
Dec. 19, 2024
The Culinary Union announced today it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Fontainebleau Las Vegas. While the union did not share many details, it said on X that the deal covers 3,000 workers and “meets (the) LVStrip standard.” “At 3:30 in the morning on the 19th, we can say right now: Thank you very much,” Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge told union members in a video posted on X.
Newark Public Library Employees Frustrated by Lack of Contract
TAPinto Newark
By Davaughnia Wilson
Dec. 19, 2024
The president of the union representing about 70 Newark Public Library employees who have been working without a contract since December 2023 expressed exasperation this week at the slowness and infrequency of negotiations. Beth Zak-Cohen, president of AFSCME Local 2298, said there have been only three meetings with NPL management and that none took place before the contract expired. “There was no meeting until spring of 2024,” Zak-Cohen said. “Then we went from Oct. 3 to Dec. 13 without any meetings, despite following up multiple times. Meetings were consistently delayed.”
Culinary workers, Strip casino-hotel reach tentative agreement
Las Vegas Review-Journal
By McKenna Ross
Dec. 19, 2024
Hospitality workers at the newest Strip resort-casino reached a tentative contract agreement with its management, union leaders said early Thursday. About 3,300 non-gaming employees at Fontainebleau will soon vote to ratify the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, Culinary Local 226 said. If approved, it will be the first contract at the resort, which opened one year ago. Management at the property agreed to card-check neutrality in September 2023, clearing the way for the state’s largest union to organize.
Electrical workers ratify new contract with BNSF Railway
Trains.com
By Trains Staff
Dec. 19, 2024
The members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have voted to ratify a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with BNSF Railway. “This achievement, following on ratified agreements with many of our other union partners, underscores our commitment to ensure continued exceptional service for our customers,” BNSF CEO Katie Farmer said in a prepared statement yesterday. “Our success as a railroad is built upon the collaboration and mutual respect of our hard-working railroaders, and we look forward to taking this next step forward together.”
MBTA commuter rail workers ratify new contract agreements
Trains.com
By Trains Staff
Dec. 19, 2024
Keolis Commuter Services, the operator of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail trains, has reached amended labor agreements with an additional nine of the company’s 14 unions. The agreements, which still need to be ratified by members of each union, will be retroactive to July 1, 2023, when the contracts became amendable, Keolis announced yesterday.
Striking Marriott hotel workers in San Francisco vote on tentative contract agreement
CBS News
By Dave Pehling
Dec. 19, 2024
Marriott hotel workers have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract and will vote on Thursday whether to ratify the deal. Approximately 1,500 members of the workers' union employed by Marriot were set to vote on the new agreement between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday. Officials with the UNITE HERE Local 2 union said the deal was reached Wednesday evening. They noted the proposed four-year contract preserves the workers' health insurance plan, includes wage increases, and adds protections against understaffing and workload increases.
Albany Medical Center urged to resolve contract negotiations with nurses union
CBS 6 Albany
By Felix Day
Dec. 19, 2024
As the New Year approaches, Albany Medical Center is being urged to resolve ongoing contract negotiations with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). In a letter addressed to Dr. McKenna and NYSNA, officials expressed concern over the stalled discussions and called for a swift resolution.
PBS writers ratify new WGA contract
Kidscreen
By Ryan Tuchow
Dec. 19, 2024
Writers Guild of America East members at PBS have ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with PBS stations WGBH (Boston), Thirteen (New York) and PBS SoCal. Under this new contract, PBS animation writers now have WGA coverage for the first time as long as they work on animated programs that are more than five minutes long and are made for TV and new media. Animation writers will also receive residuals for AVOD/SVOD reuse—now that the contract has been ratified. Content that’s reused on AVODs pays 2% of the gross receipts of the licensing deal to credited writers (up from 1.2%), while SVOD reuse pays 1.2%.
Unions Reach 11th-Hour Settlement With Save Mart
Progressive Grocer
By Bridget Goldschmidt
Dec. 19, 2024
A strike that would have involved 10,000-plus grocery workers at The Save Mart Companies' Save Mart, Lucky and FoodMaxx supermarkets in Northern and Central California was avoided when union and management negotiators came to a tentative contract agreement this morning at 1:30 a.m. PST. The deal was reached after days of intensive round-the-clock negotiations in the presence of federal mediator Isael Hermosillo, according to UFCW 8-Golden State and UFCW Locals 5, 648 and 770.
JOINING TOGETHER
Pittsburgh Union Progress
By Andrew Goldstein
Dec. 19, 2024
The next morning, Vicki Crosson, a senior software engineer for The New York Times and unit secretary for the Times’ Tech Guild, appeared on the Pittsburgh guild’s Zoom session to announce that her union – fresh off a successful unfair labor practice strike of its own in November – would donate the remainder of the money raised during its work stoppage to the Pittsburgh strikers, a total of about $114,000. “When we heard how many [in Pittsburgh] are still on strike, still holding the line, we were really just stunned by the solidarity,” Crosson said in a phone interview a few days later. “We really strongly wanted to give it all to the Pittsburgh strike fund. It’s really impressive; we were really blown away.”
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
BLS: On-the-job deaths fall nearly 4% in 2023
Safety + Health Magazine
By Staff
Dec. 19, 2024
A total of 5,283 workers died from on-the-job injuries in 2023 – a 3.7% decrease from 2022, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data released Dec. 19 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. The overall rate of fatal workplace injuries also fell slightly, to 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers from 3.7 the previous year. Transportation incidents remained the leading cause of fatal work-related injuries, contributing to 1,942 fatalities and accounting for 36.8% of the deaths. Slip, trip and fall events resulted in 885 deaths, and exposure to harmful substances and environments led to 820.
IN THE STATES
Oregon Attorney General-elect Rayfield establishes federal oversight cabinet
Oregon Capital Chronicle
By Ben Botkin
Dec. 19, 2024
Oregon Attorney General-elect Dan Rayfield tapped a dozen prominent Oregonians who work in areas like health care, law and labor to advise his office as it tries to defend against potential threats to Oregon policies from the incoming Trump administration. Members of the cabinet are: Joe Baessler, executive director of Oregon AFSCME; Sandy Chung, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon; Greg Dotson, a professor at the University of Oregon School of Law; Julie Hanna, associate vice president of government affairs at Oregon Health & Science University; Dr. Sara Kennedy, CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette; Kyndall Mason, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon; Isa Peña, director of strategy at the Innovation Law Lab; Jeremiah Rigsby, chief of staff at CareOregon, a Medicaid insurer; Lindsey Scholten, executive director of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters; Graham Trainor, president of Oregon AFL-CIO; Melissa Unger, executive director ofSEIU 503; and Norman Williams, a professor at Willamette University College of Law.
APPRENTICESHIPS & TRAINING
Building the trades: Randall Friesen
Northwest Labor Press
By Don McIntosh
Dec. 19, 2024
United Association of Plumbers and Fitters was in his blood, or maybe his genes, as Randall Friesen tells it. Friesen, 43, is a fourth generation union member, following the same trade as his great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and uncle. In October, Friesen was given a big responsiblity: building power and opportunities for more than 20,000 Portland area building trades union members. Friesen was elected executive secretary-treasurer of the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, which represents the interests of 22 affiliated unions. He’s been preparing for that for some time. Friesen grew up in Klamath Falls, and after school he hung out in the commercial plumbing shop with his dad and uncle as early as third grade. He began his five-year union apprenticeship in 2001 and completed it in 2006, traveling all over Oregon and even into Nevada for work.
OTHER UNION NEWS
Amazon workers strike at multiple facilities as Teamsters seek labor contract
AP
By Haleluya Hadero
Dec. 19, 2024
Workers at seven Amazon facilities went on strike Thursday, an effort by the Teamsters union to pressure the e-commerce company for a labor agreement during a key shopping period. The Teamsters said the workers, who voted to authorize strikes in recent days, joined picket lines after Amazon ignored a Sunday deadline the union set for contract negotiations. The union called it the largest strike against the company in U.S. history, although Amazon said it did not expect the labor action to impact its operations.
Starbucks Workers Say They Will Begin a Strike in 3 Cities on Friday
The New York Times
By Noam Scheiber
Dec. 19, 2024
A union representing Starbucks workers said Thursday that baristas in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle would walk off the job Friday morning and that the strikes would spread to hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve unless the company improved its wage offer in contract negotiations. The union, which represents baristas at more than 500 company-owned stores in the United States — about 5 percent of the U.S. total — said it called the strike after a bargaining session with the company this week failed to produce better wage gains.
Starbucks baristas to strike during holiday rush
The Washington Post
By Lauren Kaori Gurley
Dec. 19, 2024
Starbucks baristas will launch five days of strikes Friday, after accusing the coffee giant of stalling union contract negotiations. Starbucks Workers United said late Thursday that its members will walk out of union stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, three major markets, beginning Friday morning. The strikes, over pay and other benefits, are expected to expand each subsequent day through Christmas Eve, reaching hundreds of locations from coast to coast.
Amazon strike hits Southern California warehouses during holiday rush
Los Angeles Times
By Suhauna Hussain
Dec. 19, 2024
Workers at several Amazon warehouses across the country went on strike early Thursday morning, part of an effort by the Teamsters union to pressure the e-commerce giant to recognize burgeoning unions at its facilities. The work stoppage comes in the final stretch of the holiday shopping crush when customers are banking on Amazon to deliver last-minute gifts. The company released a statement claiming the strike would not affect its ability to deliver packages on time.