Today's AFL-CIO press clips
POLITICS
SEIU Rejoining AFL-CIO Gives Labor Boost Before Trump
Law 360
By Tim Ryan
Jan. 13, 2025
The Service Employees International Union's reunion with the AFL-CIO last week, experts said, will make it easier for the labor movement to coordinate as it enters what is expected to be a challenging time for unions and organizing. SEIU will join 60 other unions affiliated with the national labor federation. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said at a press conference Thursday that the partnership will help make the labor movement more forceful as it coordinates actions and advocates for policy changes. "It's a lot easier for a CEO to look out and say I'm only taking on my own workers on a picket line, instead of all workers," Shuler said. "It's a lot easier for politicians in D.C. to look at a single union pushing for a change and say, ignore them, it's not like it's the entirety of the labor movement, just one union."
The Labor Movement Won Big Victories in 2024. Now It Must Fend Off Trump.
Truthout
By Michael Arria
Jan. 14, 2025
Organized labor is currently preparing to fight back. Just a week into 2025 the SEIU announced that it was rejoining the AFL-CIO to help fight Trump’s anti-worker agenda. The two unions have been unaligned for almost 20 years. In remarks made at a roundtable discussion shortly after the decision, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler stressed the need for solidarity among workers. “We just finished an election cycle where one party spent the entire time telling working class people across this country, ‘Look how different you are from each other,’” said Shuler. “‘He’s an immigrant. She’s transgender or they worship differently than you do’ and it worked to some degree, right? We watched it. The scariest thing in the world to the CEOs, to the billionaires in this country and the folks like Donald Trump who do their bidding, is the idea that we might one day see through that. That there is a barista and an airport services worker and a fast food worker and a home care worker and a teacher and a warehouse worker and a cook and an electrical worker, all of them together saying, ‘Your fight is my fight.’ It terrifies them.”
LABOR AND TECHNOLOGY
Nurses across US to rally over AI safeguards
Becker’s Hospital Review
By Mariah Taylor
Jan. 14, 2025
On Jan. 16, thousands of registered nurses will hold marches, protests and rallies to demand the hospital industry ensure safe staffing levels and artificial intelligence safeguards, a Jan. 14 National Nurses United news release said. "Patient advocacy is at the core of what we do as nurses," Nancy Hagans, RN, president of NNU, said in the release. "That’s why we’re demanding safe staffing and protections against untested technologies such as AI. We see the harm that these cost-cutting schemes cause our patients on a daily basis."
ORGANIZING
Workers at Nonfiction Production Company Lucky 8 Launch Union Drive
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
Jan. 14, 2025
The Writers Guild of America East is backing another organizing drive targeting a nonfiction production company. The union has partnered with workers at the Stamford, Conn.-based Lucky 8 in an effort to unionize the company. Though the WGA East did not respond to questions about the number of workers and which roles it is targeting, the union claimed in an announcement on Tuesday that an “overwhelming majority” of this group has signed union cards, signaling their support for the effort. The WGA East has asked Lucky 8 management for voluntary recognition.
North Dakota nurses hope union vote paves way for stronger rural health care
Kiowa County Press
By Mike Moen
Jan. 14, 2025
Labor analysts say doctors have jumped to the front of the line of healthcare workers forming unions while others in the medical field continue to show interest, including nurses at a hospital in the North Dakota region. Nurses at the CHI St. Francis Health Breckenridge hospital along the border with Minnesota now have a collective bargaining unit. Connie Okeson, a registered nurse at the hospital, said she hopes voting to form a union allows her team to illustrate staffing issues. She emphasized they have to fight to make health facilities in smaller towns and cities desirable places to work.
Workers At ‘60 Days In’ Producer Lucky 8 Unionize With WGA East
Deadline
By Katie Campione
Jan. 14, 2025
Workers at Lucky 8, the nonfiction production company responsible for titles such as Unlocked: A Jail Experiment, 60 Days In and The Food That Built America, have unionized with WGA East for collective bargaining. An “overwhelming majority” of the bargaining unit has signed union cards, the guild announced Tuesday. They now are looking to management at Lucky 8 to voluntarily recognize the union.
Workers at Philadelphia Whole Foods rally for union protections and a raise: "Make Amazon pay"
CBS News
By Joe Brandt
Jan. 14, 2025
Workers at a bustling Philadelphia grocery store gathered to publicly demand a raise as they await a union election. Some employees of the Whole Foods Market at 22nd Streetand Pennsylvania Avenue picketed outside the store on Monday, along with members and officials from the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776. People in the crowd held signs that read "Make Amazon pay Whole Foods workers." Amazon has owned the Whole Foods brand since a merger in 2017.
Einstein physicians vote to unionize
Becker’s Hospital Review
By Kelly Gooch
Jan. 13, 2025
Resident physicians and fellows at Einstein Health Network, part of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health, voted 356-35 to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, the union said in a Jan. 8 Facebook post. In a statement shared with Becker's after the vote, Jefferson said it "respect[s] the decision of our residents and fellows to vote in favor of unionization. We remain committed to maintaining an environment of exceptional medical training, open communication, and collaboration to ensure the success and well-being of our residents as we deliver outstanding patient care."
Brightline train attendants reportedly vote to join Transport Workers Union, labor group says
Sun Sentinel
By David Lyons
Jan. 14, 2025
Onboard Brightline workers have voted 2-1 to join the Transport Workers Union, overcoming opposition from management that urged a contingent of more than 100 employees not to organize, the labor group announced Tuesday. The National Mediation Board in Washington, D.C., disclosed the election outcome Tuesday, after multiple weeks of mail balloting that started in November, the TWU said in a statement. The covered workers include an estimated 100 onboard and “lead” attendants who sell food and beverages on Brightline trains that travel between Miami and Orlando. The higher speed Miami-based railroad maintains a work force of about 600 employees.
Monterey Bay Aquarium Workers Launch Union Campaign at Iconic Marine Nonprofit
KQED
By Samantha Lim
Jan. 14, 2025
Workers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium are launching a campaign to unionize, they announced Tuesday. The union, Monterey Bay Aquarium Workers United (MBAWU), would cover more than 300 aquarium workers from all sectors, ranging from guest services to marketing and education. In a public letter, MBAWU leadership cited workers’ desire for fair pay, comprehensive benefits and career transparency. They noted that they continue to stand behind the nonprofit aquarium’s mission of ocean conservation and that they hope a union will allow them to foster a healthy environment for workers.
Arapahoe Basin ski patrollers vote to unionize
CPR News
By Andrew Villegas
Jan. 14, 2025
Ski patrollers at Arapahoe Basin ski area have voted to unionize. In a social media post, the workers say they are joining the Communication Workers of America union. “This pushed everyone mentally and physically but in the end, we have come together and decided to unionize,” the workers said in an Instagram post. Workers first filed to unionize in November. They will become a part of the CWA 7781 United Mountain Workers. Workers at several other ski areas also unionized in recent years, including at Eldora, Loveland, Breckenridge and Keystone. Many say the pay they get at the ski areas is not enough to live in the communities where they work.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Minnesota Healthcare Workers in Deer River Continue Historic Strike
Workday Magazine
By Amie Stager
Jan. 14, 2025
For more than a month, workers at Essentia Health’s hospital in Deer River, Minn., have been on what is considered to be the longest open-ended unfair labor practice strike in their union’s history in over 40 years. They have been showing up on picket lines in northern Minnesota’s wintry conditions, in snow and negative temperatures, and will continue with a rally in Duluth on January 15. “I have never been on strike before,” says Sarah Jo Roberts, who has worked as a surgical technologist for Essentia since 2004. “I have never experienced such disagreement between two parties. They definitely want to show their power in not giving in and letting the union win the strike and getting what we’re asking for.”
Long Beach Convention Center workers could go on strike 'at any moment'
Long Beach Watchdog
By Brandon Richardson
Jan. 13, 2025
Cooks, bartenders and servers at the Long Beach Convention Center could go on strike “at any moment” following an authorization vote Sunday, the union that represents them announced Monday. Of the 150 workers, 85% voted in favor of a strike as contract negotiations between union representatives and ASM Global, which operates the city-owned facility, have been dragging on since September, when the old contract expired, according to Unite Here Local 11.
NIH, Researchers’ Union Agree to Contract
Inside Higher Ed
By Ryan Quinn
Jan. 14, 2025
The National Institutes of Health and a union representing its postbaccalaureate, graduate student and postdoctoral researchers have agreed to a contract that the union says includes increased pay, benefits and protections. But congressional approval is still required for the financial gains to materialize. “All requirements under this agreement are subject to the availability of appropriations,” says the document posted online by the union, NIH Fellows United, a United Autoworkers affiliate.
SMART-MD Votes to Ratify National Agreement With NCCC
Railway Age
By Carolina Worrell
Jan. 14, 2025
The National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC) on Jan. 14 announced that members of the International Association of Sheet, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART-MD) have voted to ratify a national collective bargaining agreement. The ratified contract, which covers SMART-MD-represented freight rail employees through Dec. 31, 2029, is the fifth national agreement ratified after the National Conference of Fireman & Oilers (NCFO), Transportation Communications Union (TCU), Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) and American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA) members approved their contracts in recent weeks.
STATE LEGISLATION
AFL-CIO, Michigan lawmakers clash on bills to scale back new sick leave, tipped wage laws
The Detroit News
By Beth LeBlanc
Jan. 14, 2025
Union worker testimony during the hearing maintained the changes proposed by lawmakers would cut into wage and benefit increases that workers have waited for since 2018. "Phasing out the tipped wage does not end tipping; any claim that it does so is false," said Ryan Sebolt, government affairs director for the AFL-CIO. He added that exemptions for businesses with fewer than 50 employees would exempt about 90% of businesses from the paid sick leave law.
IN THE STATES
Kansas governor praises unions, touts economic development in labor rally speech
Kansas Reflector
By Sherman Smith
Jan. 14, 2025
Gov. Laura Kelly praised labor unions for contributing to unprecedented economic growth in Kansas and touted her administration’s economic development gains in a speech at an annual labor rally Tuesday at the Statehouse. The rally, billed as Solidarity Day, packed the first floor rotunda with representatives from a range of unions. Labor leaders encouraged workers to talk to lawmakers about policies that include prevailing wage requirements, private school vouchers and tax relief. The Democratic governor touted her administration’s ability to secure economic development projects with good-paying jobs, including Panasonic’s vehicle battery plant in De Soto. She said her administration developed a comprehensive economic development plan to prepare the state for long-term success with investments in workforce development and infrastructure.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Bill named for fallen probation agent would add protections for public employees
The Baltimore Banner
By Brenda Wintrode
Jan. 14, 2025
Dozens of state labor union employees gathered on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis Monday to honor the memory of their fallen brother, Davis Martinez, a parole and probation officer, who was slain during a home visit with a registered sex offender. The candlelight vigil served as a launchpad for a piece of legislation named after Martinez that would add safety standards and hold public employers accountable for violating protocols. Union leaders, lawmakers and Martinez’s partner spoke of the tragedy of losing Martinez and other public employees last year from what some have called preventable deaths.
Family, girlfriend of slain parole agent say state workers need stronger workplace protections
Maryland Matters
By Danielle J. Brown
Jan. 13, 2025
The family and loved ones of slain Parole Agent Davis Martinez called on Maryland lawmakers Monday to boost protections for state employees against violence on the job, saying Martinez should not have died in vain. “This is absolutely the most painful thing that I have ever had to experience — and as much as I wish that I was alone, I know that I’m not,” said Gypsy Barrientos, Martinez’s girlfriend, who spoke on behalf of his family at a vigil honoring him Monday evening. “Law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, teachers, state highway workers, social workers, parole agents and more. These are public service jobs that expose our loved ones to unknown threats every day,” she said. Her comments came at a memorial for Martinez that also served as a rally, with members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3 and other labor unions gathered on Lawyers Mall in front of the State House.
Drivers, union voice frustrations over safety concerns on King County Metro buses
The Center Square
By Spencer Pauley
Jan. 13, 2025
King County Metro workers are calling for an urgent response to safety concerns as county council members explore solutions. The King County Committee of the Whole held its first meeting of the year on Monday with transit safety as the topic of discussion. King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci started the committee meeting acknowledging the tragic death of Metro bus driver Shawn Yim, who was killed on the job last month. “One clear message that we heard is that as leaders of this county, this council has a key role and responsibility in making sure that safety is and will be the top priority of this county for our employees and for the public,” Balducci said.
EDUCATION
Three-quarters of teachers union survey respondents are burned out, Texas AFT said
Houston Chronicle
By Nusaiba Mizan
Jan. 13, 2025
A statewide teachers union says schools need more funding and support for student mental health, according to survey results released the day before the Legislature is set to begin. Three-quarters of the responses to a fall 2024 survey indicated K-12 educators were experiencing burnout, and 68% indicated they were considering leaving their jobs, the union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers said Monday. More than 3,000 respondents holding K-12 jobs responded.