Today's AFL-CIO press clips

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Forward Kentucky story about JCTA affiliating with the state AFL-CIO leads the IN THE STATES section of todays AFL-CIO press clips.
POLITICS
Trump Revokes Order That Banned Discrimination in Federal Hiring
The New York Times
By Erica L. Green
Jan. 22, 2025
President Trump on Wednesday revoked a 60-year-old executive order banning discrimination in hiring practices in the federal government, his latest action aimed at gutting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. His order, which the White House called “the most important federal civil rights measure in decades,” revokes Executive Order 11246 signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It prohibited discriminatory practices in hiring and employment in government contracting and asserted the government’s commitment to affirmative action.
Trump administration under fire for executive orders on federal workforce
WUSA 9
By Lionel Donovan
Jan. 22, 2025
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President Everett Kelley says these rollbacks will impact veteran federal workers who’ve already given so much to our country. “Of the federal workforce, which is about 2.2 million [people], 642,00 of them are veterans,” Kelley said. “When you start thinking of taking away the ability for them to be accommodated in the work force, that’s what DEI does. Those are the employees that work and makes sure we can provide the accommodations for those 642,000 veterans if they’re handicapped in some way, so when you start thinking in terms of taking that function away, it’s a direct attack against veterans.”
Trump escalates campaign against diversity, threatens private sector probes
Reuters
By Daniel Trotta and Bianca Flowers
Jan. 22, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his campaign against diversity programs on Tuesday by pressuring the private sector to join the initiative and telling government employees in offices administering such programs they would be placed on paid leave. On his first day in office Trump issued a series of executive orders to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which attempt to promote opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other traditionally underrepresented groups.
House passes Laken Riley Act as Trump begins immigration crackdown
The Washington Post
By Mariana Alfaro and Marianne LeVine
Jan. 22, 2025
A bill that would allow the detention of undocumented immigrants accused of theft-related crimes is heading to President Donald Trump’s desk after passing the House on Wednesday, the first part of the president’s plan to overhaul immigration policy.
Andrew Puzder Is Trump’s Choice for Ambassador to the European Union
The New York Times
By Chris Cameron
Jan. 22, 2025
Andrew F. Puzder, the former chief executive of the corporation that owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains, is President Trump’s pick to be the next U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Mr. Puzder, a frequent commentator on economic and business issues on networks like Fox Business, would not bring foreign policy experience to what is a prestigious and influential diplomatic position — representing the United States to a bloc of some of the wealthiest countries in Europe.
Signal Cleveland
By Olivera Perkins
Jan. 22, 2025
Brian Pearson, the new head of the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, wants the labor organization to play a greater role in local civic and political affairs, but he may be forced to first deal with issues from Washington. President Donald Trump has vowed to slash federal jobs. His first day in office, he signed an executive order instituting a hiring freeze and ending policies that allowed some employees to work remotely. In the private sector, employers sometimes have ordered workers back to the office as a way to reduce the workforce. Many employees view remote work as a perk and often look for other jobs when their companies end the policy.
ORGANIZING
Brightline workers vote to unionize despite company's federal lawsuit to stop them
The Palm Beach Post
By Chris Persaud
Jan. 22, 2025
Brightline train attendants have voted to unionize after months of delay caused by the private passenger train company filing federal challenges to the election. The Transport Workers Union will represent train employees who sell food and beverages and provide other services onboard to passengers. A majority of them voted to join, the union said. But only half of those who could vote did, Brightline noted. Brightline acts indifferent to workers traumatized by its regular train crashes, the union has said, and has enacted an overly strict attendance policy. "This is an enormous victory. Brightline workers — in the face of an aggressive anti-union campaign — voted roughly two-to-one to join the TWU," union president John Samuelsen said. "The Brightline president even went so far as to call workers at home in an apparent intimidation tactic. It obviously failed, epically."
Vox Media Union Demands Recognition for PS (Pop Sugar)
The Wrap
By JD Knapp
Jan. 22, 2025
Less than two months after a restructuring at PS (formerly Pop Sugar) was announced, the Vox Media Union is now entering negotiations on their third collective bargaining agreement. The 300 Writers Guild of America East members at the company demand that the 20-employee PS unit be recognized under the union. As of Wednesday, PS remains Vox Media’s only non-union website in its portfolio. The union is also seeking “fair increases in compensation that account for inflation and cost of living, expanded worker benefits, a commitment to diversity initiatives, protections around artificial intelligence and enhanced protections in the event of layoffs or termination,” TheWrap has learned.
UNION NEGOTIATIONS
Striking workers at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas ratify contract
Las Vegas Sun
By Kyle Chouinard
Jan. 22, 2025
The longest strike in decades by Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 is coming to an end after 69 days. A vote today among workers to ratify a five-year contract with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas was unanimous, according to a social media post from the Culinary Union. The post did not provide details about the new contract.
Two Portland public labor unions inch closer to a strike
OPB
By Alex Zielinski
Jan. 22, 2025
Two Portland unions representing city employees are getting closer to walking off the job over a breakdown in contract negotiations. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 189, is the city’s largest union, representing more than 1,000 workers across nearly every city department. The District Council of Trade Unions, represents around 200 engineers, painters, plumbers, electricians, and other trade workers across city bureaus. Both unions, who have been negotiating new contacts with the city since April, have reached an impasse with city management over wages.
State Theatre techs and stagehands looking to start contract negotiations after voting to unionize
Spectrum News
By Matthew Jaroncyk
Jan. 22, 2025
Stagehands and technicians at the State Theatre and Thompson’s Point in Portland have voted to unionize. Stagehands and technicians are responsible for setting up and breaking down shows at the venue and include positions such as audio and lighting technicians. Stagehands and technicians at the theater have been looking to organize for more than a year, according to State Theatre stagehand Jay Law. They will be unionizing with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 114. The vote, which took place Jan. 14, was 11-7. According to IATSE Local 114 Agent Devon Medeiros, 19 of the 35 workers were eligible to vote. IATSE Local 114 represents stage workers at venues like the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland and the Augusta Civic Center.
Stellantis Will Restart Illinois Factory That U.A.W. Pushed to Revive
The New York Times
By Neal E. Boudette
Jan. 22, 2025
Stellantis said on Wednesday that it planned to make a medium-size pickup truck in Belvidere, and that it would rehire some 1,500 union workers. The company also said it would move forward with plans to produce a new Dodge Durango sport-utility vehicle at a plant in Detroit. The U.A.W. had feared Stellantis was preparing to move production of the vehicle to Mexico, and the union had filed grievances on that issue as well. “This victory is a testament to the power of workers standing together and holding a billion-dollar corporation accountable,” the U.A.W. president, Shawn Fain, said in a statement on Wednesday. “We’ve shown that we will do what it takes to protect the good union jobs that are the lifeblood of places like Belvidere, Detroit, Kokomo and beyond.”
69 days later, Culinary Union ends strike after reaching deal with Virgin Hotels
KTNV
By Christian Hudspeth
Jan. 22, 2025
After nearly three months of striking, the Culinary Union and Bartenders Union have reached an agreement with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. In a joint statement on Wednesday, the unions said preparations are being made to settle their new five-year contract with Virgin, one of the last holdout properties without a unionized workforce near the Strip.
UAW forces Stellantis to keep promises, wins back thousands of jobs
People’s World
By Cameron Harrison
Jan. 22, 2025
After months of campaigns, rallies, grievances filed, and strike votes taken, the United Auto Workers have just won back thousands of jobs in a new agreement with Stellantis. The union’s “Keep The Promise” campaign kicked off after the company reneged on a number of key issues that the workers and their union won in their historic 2023 Stand Up Strike. “This victory is a testament to the power of workers standing together and holding a billion-dollar corporation accountable,” Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, and Kevin Gotkinsky, UAW Stellantis Department Director, said in a statement released Wednesday morning.
Workers at Genesis HealthCare Ratify First Contract With UFCW Local 152
Business Wire
By Staff
Jan. 22, 2025
Workers at the Genesis HealthCare assisted living facility in Millville voted to ratify their first union contract on Jan. 9, giving them a voice on the job and secured wages and benefits. The workers, members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 152, voted unanimously to accept their three-year agreement.
Deer River Strike Reaches 45 days, two sides go back to the bargaining table
WDIO
By Kenny Johnson
Jan. 22, 2025
In a press release from SEIU Healthcare MN & IA, they state, “Last week hundreds of union members held an informational picket in Duluth in support of the workers, who voted down the employer’s current offer once again, this time with 90% supporting the rejection of the subpar offer.”
City of Beaumont, firefighters union agree to extend contract negotiations for 15 more days
12 News Now
By Gabby Gaspard
Jan. 22, 2025
The City of Beaumont and the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 399, have agreed to continue new contract negotiations for an additional 15 days. They were originally scheduled to meet Thursday, January 23, 2025, but because of the winter storm, they decided to execute the document virtually.
Culinary Union, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas agree to new contract ending strike
News3LV
By Matthew Seeman
Jan. 22, 2025
Culinary Union members have voted to approve a new contract with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, ending the longest strike at a resort in the city in more than two decades. Union members cast their ballots on Wednesday in favor of the new five-year contract covering about 700 hospitality and food and beverage employees. "Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and the Culinary and Bartenders Unions are pleased to be moving past their contract negotiations as each looks forward to fostering a positive and collaborative working relationship for the benefit of all team members at the property," the two sides said in a joint statement.
PYOK
By Mateusz Maszczynski
Jan. 22, 2025
More than five months after flight attendants at Alaska Airlines rejected a proposed new pay deal, the union that represents crew members at the Seattle-based carrier is finally set to present a new tentative agreement to its members. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) has now been trying to secure an updated contract for crew members at Alaska Airlines for over two years, but by the end of this week, we will learn whether the union’s master executive council will approve the latest offer and put it forward to members to vote on.
Las Vegas hotel workers union reaches tentative deal with casino to end longest strike in decades
News-Press Now
By Associated Press
Jan. 22, 2025
The longest strike in decades by Las Vegas hotel workers ended Wednesday with a tentative contract between the union and a casino where hundreds of employees had walked off the job in November. The Culinary Workers Union announced on the social media platform X that it secured a pending five-year deal for about 700 employees at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas near the Strip. In a joint statement, the union and casino said they were committed “to fostering a positive and collaborative working relationship for the benefit of all team members at the property" after the 69-day strike.
Control over work life is focus of strike hearing that is anything but ‘lickety-split’
Pittsburgh Union Progress
By Steve Mellon
Jan. 22, 2025
Strikers who wonder why a resolution has taken so long needed only to sit through Tuesday’s session at the Joseph F. Weis Jr. U.S. Courthouse, Downtown. U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon heard testimony concerning an injunction that would get employees from three of the four striking unions back to work under the terms that prevailed prior to the strike. It would also order the PG to bargain a new agreement in good faith. Those unions cover the PG’s mailers, press operators and advertising employees. Newsroom employees on strike won their case before the National Labor Relations Board in September 2024 and would not be covered by this injunction.
Off-Strip casino-hotel reaches deal with union ending strike
Las Vegas Review-Journal
By David Danzis
Jan. 22, 2025
After nearly 10 weeks on strike, workers at the off-Strip Virgin casino-hotel have a new contract. Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 have agreed to terms with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, the two sides announced Wednesday. A five-year contract was ratified “by a vote of 100 (percent),” according to a Culinary 226 social media post. “Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and the Culinary and Bartenders Unions are pleased to be moving past their contract negotiations as each looks forward to fostering a positive and collaborative working relationship for the benefit of all team members at the property,” the parties said in a press release.
UFCW Local 7 to hold strike vote after contract with King Soopers expired
KRDO
By Tyler Dumas
Jan. 22, 2025
The current contract between King Soopers and the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 7 (UFCW) expired at midnight on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. With the expiration of the contract, the 'no strike clause' no longer applies. The UFCW has announced that they will now hold strike vote meetings on Jan. 29th, 30th, 31st, and Feb. 1st. The organization said the dissolution of the contract and the decision to hold a strike vote is due to "ongoing unfair labor practices" by Kroger-owned King Soopers.
New Haven public school cafeteria workers protest for a fair contract
NBC Connecticut
By Jennifer Cuevas
Jan. 22, 2025
New Haven public school cafeteria workers represented by the union, Unite Here Local 217, held a protest outside of the Board of Education building on Wednesday. The protest began around 2:30 p.m. and members were heard chanting, “If we don’t get it, shut it down,” and “What do we want? Contracts. When do we want them? Now.” At least 30 cafeteria workers, along with supporters, were on site to demand an increase in salary amid delayed contract negotiations. Unite Here Local 217 has been discussing the contract since April of 2024 and negotiations began in June after the previous contract ended, according to Josh Stanley, the main negotiator on the matter.
STATE LEGISLATION
Union organizing bill passes first committee at the statehouse
CPR News
By Bente Birkeland
Jan. 21, 2025
“This is not just outdated, it's fundamentally unfair,” Fred Redmond, the Secretary-Treasurer of the national AFL-CIO, told the panel. He said the second vote adds an unnecessary barrier that often prevents workplaces from truly organizing. The law, he said, makes this state actively hostile to workers’ right to choose a union. Redmond wasn’t the only national labor figure who made the trip to Colorado to testify for the bill.
Colorado bill that would ease union formation passes first Senate committee
Colorado Newsline
By Sara Wilson
Jan. 22, 2025
“Only anti-union states have laws like Colorado’s. The laws of the state are actively hostile to Coloradans’ rights to choose a union and freely negotiate for better pay and workplace safety,” Fred Redmond, the Secretary-Treasurer of the national AFL-CIO, told lawmakers.
Salt Lake Tribune
By Carmen Nesbitt
Jan. 22, 2025
Jeff Worthington, president of the Utah AFL-CIO, shared Pinkney’s concerns, and predicted HB267 would produce a negative “trickle-down” effect were it to pass. “Wages will become stagnated or even decrease,” Worthington said. “Benefits could be taken away from employees. Retirement benefits could be stripped away.” Without union representation, public employees are “at the mercy of the state,” Worthington added. “They just become at-will employees,” he said. “That’s no better than working at 7-Eleven.”
Senate panel kills bid to cement “right-to-work” laws in state constitution
Virginia Mercury
By Markus Schmidt
Jan. 22, 2025
“Yesterday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I would like to remind the body of his full quote in 1961,” Carroll Foy said, citing the Civil Rights leader. “‘Right to work’ is a false slogan because ‘right-to-work’ laws provide neither rights nor work, and are in fact designed to rob us of our civil rights and job rights and to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone.’”
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Union investigates claims that Boeing is sending work to non-union locations
Reuters
By Reuters
Jan. 22, 2025
Boeing's engineering union is formally investigating claims from its members that the company is moving work to non-union locations in the United States and overseas. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) formally began investigating the allegations in December, when it requested relevant information from Boeing, the union's Director of Strategic Development Rich Plunkett said Wednesday.
IN THE STATES
JCTA affiliates with the KY AFL-CIO
Forward Kentucky
By Berry Craig
Jan. 25, 2025
The 5,600 members of the Jefferson County Teachers Association have officially affiliated with the Kentucky State AFL-CIO, its longtime ally. “The AFL-CIO and JCTA have a lot in common,” said Maddie Shepard, JCTA president. “As educators, we care about public education and our ability to put the best public educators in front of Kentucky's kids.
CIVIL, HUMAN, & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Labor, civil rights, and a new Reconstruction: Thoughts from the MLK conference
People’s World
By Bradley Crowder
Jan. 22, 2025
Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy took the stage on the first day of the conference, where he spoke on the importance of defending our history in the face of ever-sharpening rightwing attacks. One line in particular resonates. “If we don’t know where we come from, who we are connected with—today and throughout history—if we don’t know whose shoulders we stand on, they think we will fall.”