Today's AFL-CIO Press Clips
JOINING TOGETHER
‘We’re Tired of Getting Treated Like Trash’: Nabisco Workers Are Striking for Normal Hours
Vice
By Lauren Kaori Gurley
August 17, 2021
A strike that began at a Nabisco factory in Portland, Oregon last week has now spread across the country to Nabisco facilities in Aurora, Colorado, and Richmond, Virginia, where Oreos, Ritz crackers, Chips Ahoy, and other popular cookies and crackers are baked and packaged. Hundreds of striking Nabisco bakery and distribution workers who are members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union have been forced to work 12 to 16-hour shifts during the pandemic, often six or seven days a week. Meanwhile, the snacks giant has proposed turning eight-hour shifts into 12-hour shifts without overtime, increasing mandatory work on weekends, and creating a two-tier healthcare plan that costs significantly more for new hires, workers say. "Basically the main thing we’re trying to get is a fair contract. During the pandemic, we came in seven days a week. Some people worked every day—16 hours a day—for three months," Nathan Williams, an oiler who has worked at the Nabisco plant in Richmond, Virginia for more than 30 years, told Motherboard.
Metro Transit workers approve new contract, avert strike
Star Tribune
By Janet Moore
August 17, 2021
Following a year of difficult negotiations, the union representing more than 2,300 bus drivers, light-rail operators and others approved a new contract this week, averting a strike. Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005 overwhelmingly ratified on Sunday and Monday the new three-year pact, with 71% voting in favor, and 29% opposing the deal. The contract covers 2,350 members, and also includes cleaners and clerks at the transit agency. The agreement calls for a 6.5% wage increase over the life of the contract, retroactive to July 25, 2020, a $1,000 one-time bonus and improved sick leave. ATU Local 1005 President Ryan Timlin said the goal of the contract was to recognize the contributions of transit workers as "front-line heroes" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SEPTA union asks for hazard pay and higher wages as contract negotiations begin
WHYY
By Alan Yu
August 17, 2021
SEPTA and the union that represents thousands of transit workers have begun negotiating a new contract. Transport Workers Union Local 234 wants the new contract to acknowledge its members as frontline workers who showed up despite risks to their personal safety. The union says SEPTA was late in getting them personal protective equipment, so they worried about their safety at work. More than 800 SEPTA employees have gotten COVID-19, and nine have died since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
IATSE & Producers Set To Resume Contract Talks Today
Deadline
By David Robb
August 17, 2021
The resumption of negotiations was delayed again until August 17 to allow time for the producers and Hollywood’s unions to work out an agreement on guidelines for mandatory Covid vaccinations. IATSE’s current contract, covering its 13 West Coast studio locals, had been set to expire on July 31, and any new deal would be retroactive to that date. During the recess, the union sent out messages to its members outlining it demands, which include an end to discounts that long have been afforded to so-called “New Media” productions, shorter workdays and workweeks, higher wages and sustainable pension and health benefits.
IN THE STATES
Facing a pandemic, more Michigan workers turned to unions
MLive
By Lindsay Moore and Emily Lawler
August 17, 2021
Ron Bieber, President of Michigan’s AFL-CIO which represents more than 1 million union workers, said this is par for the course during times of crisis. “Whenever there’s a downturn of any kind – doesn’t matter if it’s a recession, just a plant closing, COVID – that’s when our phone rings as union leaders,” he said.
Here’s your shot to get answers about vaccine
The Stand
August 17, 2021
The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO will hold a Vaccine Town Hall webinar Wednesday, Aug. 18 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the importance of COVID-19 vaccination for personal and public safety. Dr. Ben Danielson of the UW School of Medicine and Dr. Stephaun Wallace of Fred Hutch will answer questions about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.