Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
A federal telework success story faces uncertain future (Opinion)
The Hill
By Gleb Tsipursky
Dec. 31, 2024
In the wake of shifting workplace dynamics during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, federal employees find themselves at the center of a debate about telework. The U.S. Department of Labor is among the agencies navigating this terrain, with policies that increasingly pull workers back to the office. Aliyah Levin, president of AFGE Local 2391, which represents over 1,000 Department of Labor field bargaining unit employees in the western United States, provided a frontline perspective on this critical issue in her interview with me. For many federal employees, telework emerged as a lifeline during the pandemic. Beyond safeguarding public health, it revealed unexpected benefits: increased productivity, reduced costs and greater work-life balance/employee satisfaction. The union embraced these advantages, negotiating a two-day-a-pay-period in-office memorandum of understanding that aligned employees’ preferences with demonstrated operational effectiveness.
ORGANIZING
Temple administration should acknowledge RA Union
The Temple News
By McCaillaigh Rouse
Dec. 31, 2024
On Nov. 20, the Temple Union of Resident Assistants sent a letter to newly-instated university President John Fry requesting union recognition. In the letter, TURA asked Temple administration to meet, communicate and collaborate with them as a union to work toward a bargaining process. The union originally sent a letter to former President Richard Englert and the Board of Trustees on Sept. 30 demanding recognition. In November, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board announced it would not direct a hearing in TURA’s filing because TURA’s collective does not meet PLRB’s standards for a union election.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Providence, Oregon Nurses Association speak out after union issues 10-day strike notice
Ashland News
By James Sloan
Dec. 31, 2024
The Oregon Nurses Association issued a 10-day strike notice Monday morning, setting the stage for what would be the largest healthcare worker and physicians strike in Oregon history. The notice followed a five-day cooling off period and additional mediated discussions that included nurses at Providence Medford Medical Center, as well as physicians, nurses, physician associates, nurse midwives and nurse practitioners, among others, at Providence hospitals and clinics across the state. The strike is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Jan. 10. ONA said it remains “100% committed” to continuing bargaining during the 10-day notice period and during the strike. Nurses in Medford have been without a new contract since March, have negotiated since January and have participated in nearly two dozen bargaining sessions.
Fontainebleau Las Vegas workers vote to ratify new Culinary Union contract
8 News Now
By Linsey Lewis
Dec. 30, 2024
Hundreds of Fontainebleau workers voted to ratify their new union contract, the Culinary Union announced Monday night. The contract was ratified by a 99.6% vote in favor of the contract. The resort had a neutrality agreement with the union before it opened in December 2023 which gave workers the right to decide whether to join the union. The union said it was the best contract ever that meets Las Vegas Strip standards.
Hospitality workers ratify union contract at Fontainebleau Las Vegas
News 3 LV
By Matthew Seeman
Dec. 31, 2024
Hospitality workers voted overwhelmingly to ratify the first union contract for Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The Culinary Union announced Monday that members voted 99.6% in favor of the tentative contract reached with Fontainebleau earlier this month.
‘We hope fairness will prevail’: Kauai nurses holding strike authorization vote
KHON
By Cameron Macedonio
Dec. 31, 2024
Wilcox Medical Center, the largest medical center on Kauai, nurses are voting to authorize a strike to protest unfair labor practices. Hawaiʻi Nurses Association has been in negotiations with Wilcox Medical Center since May and their contracts expired in August. “We believe Hawaiʻi Pacific Health should bargain in good faith over whether to extend the same support to its Wilcox Medical Center nurses to ensure Kauai residents have access to quality care,” said Quyen Rockwell, a Wilcox nurse of 16 years.
Tensions mount as ski patrol strike negotiations continue
Townlift
By Marina Knight
Dec. 31, 2024
The ongoing ski patrol strike at Park City Mountain has left skiers, residents, and former industry insiders questioning the safety and reliability of the resort during its busiest season. Reports of long lift lines and limited terrain have also frustrated locals and visitors alike. A potential light on the horizon emerged Monday morning as Park City Mountain’s COO, Dierdra Walsh issued a statement saying the Park City Ski Patrol Union and resort executives will enter into another round of mediation Monday afternoon and Tuesday, December 31.
Hoodline
By Amanda Williams
Dec. 30, 2024
The ongoing labor dispute between the Culinary Union and Virgin Hotels Las Vegas has led the hotel to request arbitration, which the union has firmly rejected. As reported by News3LV, the union's Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge described the hotel's request as a "meaningless publicity stunt," expressing distrust in the proposal to resolve matters through a third-party arbiter.
Ski patrol strike for higher wages snarls the country’s largest ski resort
Fast Company
By Reuters
Jan. 1, 2025
Holiday skiers at Utah’s Park City, the biggest U.S. ski resort, reported on social media that they were encountering long lift lines and some closed trails on Tuesday as a strike by ski patrol workers entered its fifth day. Nearly 200 ski patrol and safety workers are on strike over demands for higher pay at Park City Mountain Resort, which is owned by Vail Resorts Inc, demanding an entry-level base wage of $23 an hour, up from the current $21, according to an emailed statement from the ski patrol union.
90% Queen’s Medical Center nurses vote in favor of strike
KHON
By Emily Cervantes
Dec. 31, 2024
More than 1,900 nurses at The Queen’s Medical Center have voted in favor of a strike over unfair labor practices. Officials said the voting comes after “nearly a year of enduring bad-faith negotiations and being subjected to other instances of unfair labor practices.”
SPORTS UNIONIZATION
Dartmouth basketball union bid withdrawn ahead of Trump's second term
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner
Dec. 31, 2024
A union on Tuesday moved to withdraw its novel bid to represent the Dartmouth College men's basketball team, a move likely calculated to avoid unfavorable rulings by President-elect Donald Trump's appointees to the National Labor Relations Board. Members of the Ivy League school's basketball team had voted in March to join a Service Employees International Union affiliate, making them the first college athletes to unionize. But litigation over whether the players are Dartmouth's employees and have the right to join a union has followed and is in early stages.
IN THE STATES
CA requires public school unionization lessons, bans mandatory anti-union work meetings
The Center Square
By Kenneth Schrupp
Dec. 31, 2024
Two new major unionization laws are taking effect in California, reflecting unions’ relatively high strength, approval rating, and membership in the Golden State. According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data, California workers are 54% more likely to be members of unions, with 15.4% of California workers belonging to unions, compared to 10% of American workers overall. Two new laws — AB 800, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2023, and now SB 399, signed into law by Newsom this year, are set to help maintain or even increase union membership in the state.
New laws include minimum wage increase, rules around absentee ballots
NBC Connecticut
By Mike Savino
Dec. 31, 2024
“Increasing the minimum wage helps people that are otherwise forgotten,” Connecticut AFL-CIO President Ed Hawthorne said. The minimum wage has increased each year since 2019 with the start of a five-year phase-in to bring the rate to $15 per hour. Last New Year’s Day marked the first of the annual increases for inflation.
New and retiring WV AFT leaders come together to talk growing education concerns
WCHS Network
By Staff
Dec. 31, 2024
As one educational leader retires, a new president has stepped into the role with the same mission of serving the next generation of teachers and students. The West Virginia Chapter of The American Federation of Teachers recently welcomed 30-year veteran of teaching Kristie Skidmore to the position as AFT President for the state, while also saying goodbye to longtime AFT President Fred Albert who retired earlier this month. Both Skidmore and Albert joined Dave Allen on 580 Live Tuesday morning. Before discussing her plans for the teachers union, Skidmore reflected back on how Albert helped shape the AFT in West Virginia, but said his retirement is well-deserved.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
GNS
By Colum Motherway
Dec. 31, 2024
The coalition behind the bill, which includes ALIGN, Teamsters, National Employment Law Project (NELP), and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), recently released new data showing a 30% increase in injuries in a single year, making warehouse work among the most dangerous jobs in New York.