Today's AFL-CIO's press clips
POLITICS
Progressives Urge Biden Administration To Crack Down On ‘Union-Busting’ Industry
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
May 29, 2024
Every year, U.S. employers spend millions of dollars on outside consultants who specialize in breaking up union campaigns. Because much of that work is cloaked in secrecy, progressive groups are urging the Biden administration to crack down and make it more transparent. A paper released Wednesday recommends that the Labor Department force employers and their consultants to make greater financial disclosures related to anti-union spending so workers can better understand who’s being paid to lobby them. The authors write that the firms are “deploying increasingly aggressive tactics to dissuade employees from unionizing.”
ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Preparing For A Trump Return, EPA Workers Secure 'Scientific Integrity' Protections
HuffPost
By Dave Jamieson
May 29, 2024
Donald Trump’s presidential administration was infamous for meddling in scientific research to achieve its preferred policy outcomes. But now employees at a crucial federal agency are trying to guard themselves from political intrusion in the event that Trump returns to the White House. The union representing 8,000 workers at the Environmental Protection Agency just bargained a contract that includes what it calls “groundbreaking” protections for “scientific integrity.” The agreement assures that workers can report any abuses without fear of “retribution, reprisal, or retaliation,” and sends related disputes to an independent arbitrator rather than a political appointee.
ORGANIZING
House Democratic Caucus staff say ‘Union YES!’
The Stand
By Washington Public Employees Association (WPEA)/UFCW Local 365
May 29, 2024
Earlier this month the Washington Public Employees Association/UFCW Local 365 filed for representation on behalf of the Washington State Legislature’s House Democratic Caucus staff. Legislative staff were prohibited from forming or joining a union until a 2022 law that went into effect on May 1 of this year. WPEA has actively supported legislative staff’s right to collectively bargain, an effort that goes back to a 2011 bill proposed by former staff-turned-member Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-West Seattle).
Disneyland performers' vote to unionize is certified by federal labor officials
ABC News
By The Associated Press
May 29, 2024
Character and parade performers at Disneyland in California are officially unionized. Federal labor officials said Wednesday that they’ve certified the results of a three-day election that took place earlier this month in Anaheim. Actors' Equity Association will represent roughly 1,700 performers and assistants who help bring Disney's popular characters to life at its Southern California theme parks. The union already represents theatrical performers at Disney's Florida parks.
JOINING TOGETHER
Boeing, firefighters union reach tentative contract deal
WKZO
By Thomson Reuters
May 29, 2024
At a May 14 rally outside Boeing headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, IAFF President Edward Kelly, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Representative Val Hoyle urged Boeing to make a deal. Last week, House lawmakers from Washington State urged both sides “to negotiate in good faith toward an agreement.”
Has Organized Labor Finally Cracked the South?
The American Prospect
By Luke Goldstein
May 29, 2024
Around this time last year, United Steelworkers organizer Alex Perkins went on a livestream following a resounding election win at the electric bus maker Blue Bird’s plant in Fort Valley, Georgia, and delivered a message. “The South got something to say,” he exclaimed, referencing a famous speech by the Atlanta rapper André 3000 from Outkast after winning best new rap group at the 1995 Source Awards. That line rings even truer today as unions across the Bible Belt have stacked up a series of recent wins. Last month, the United Auto Workers pulled off a major election victory at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which has previously defeated organizing drives with aggressive tactics.
Tentative deal would hike Newark teachers’ pay by 22.5% over 5 years
NJ.com
By Steve Strunsky
May 29, 2024
The Newark Public Schools and its teachers union have reached a tentative 5-year agreement that would give educators raises of 22.5% over the life of the contract and more say in what and how they teach. Under the deal, officials said teachers will be allowed to select and design curriculum within their subject areas, a bottom-up approach applauded by Randi Weingarten, national president of the American Federation of Teachers, the NTU’s umbrella group. “What a difference local control makes, and a superintendent and union that want to make progress for students, as opposed to erecting obstacles or taking pot shots,” Weingarten stated, calling the tentative deal “a transformative document.”
IAFF I-66, Boeing reach tentative deal to end lockout
The Stand
By Staff
May 29, 2024
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local I-66 and The Boeing Co. announced late Tuesday that they have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract that would end the company’s lockout of its unionized fire fighters that began on May 4. The results of a contract ratification vote are expected on Thursday, with the union recommending approval. Since May 4, Boeing fire fighters, their IAFF siblings from other fire departments, and hundreds of their supporters from other unions have maintained picket lines outside Boeing facilities. On May 18, hundreds of delegates to the COPE Endorsement Convention of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO joined the IAFF picket line in a dramatic show of solidarity.
Flight attendants' union seeks federal mediation over Frontier's operations overhaul
Reuters
By David Shepardson
May 29, 2024
A union representing about 4,100 flight attendants at Frontier Airlines (ULCC.O), opens new tab filed for federal mediation on Wednesday over the carrier's operations overhaul. Frontier is reworking its network to allow almost all of its planes to return to their stations every night. The so-called out-and-back model inspired by European budget carriers is meant to minimize flight cancellations and delays. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) filed with the National Mediation Board seeking bargaining over the change that it says "is causing a dramatic reduction in compensation while sharply increasing time on the job or commuting to it."
UCLA nurses protest new changes that could force 200 to resign
CBS News
By Marissa Wenzke
May 29, 2024
Nurses picketed outside Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Wednesday, protesting new scheduling changes they say could force the resignation of 200 nurses across the university's public health system. Carrying signs with phrases such as "UC, Respect Your Nurses" and "We Are Not Disposable," dozens of nurses rallied outside the Westwood medical facility over a decision by UCLA management to change the schedules of so-called float pool nurses. For several years, these nurses have been able to schedule four shifts anytime during a given month, but starting May 25, the hospital is requiring them to work at least one shift per week, according to the union National Nurses United.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Thank you National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 2317 for helping "Stamp Out Hunger" (LTE)
Midland Daily News
By Terrah Johnson & Angela Buske
May 29, 2024
The Midland County Food Assistance Network (MCFAN) would like to thank our local National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), Branch 2317, for all their efforts in promoting the national "Stamp Out Hunger" campaign and collecting food for local pantries on May 11. In addition to delivering the mail, we appreciate all the extra time and effort made by our local postal workers to collect the food. It was an amazing site to see the post office dock full of food generously donated by our local community. This food helps stock the food pantries' shelves during the summer when demands increase because school children are home for lunches.