MUST READ
Poor People’s Campaign Emphasizes Moral Resurrection of Economic Rights
The Washington Informer
By Ashleigh Fields
April 29, 2024
“There is no greater form of oppression than when a country that has immense resources and wealth allows its people to suffer and die from a lack of resources,” said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of AFL-CIO. “Poverty is a failure of the system, it exists because we allow it to exist.”
POLITICS
Pro-worker rules to help millions; Republicans blast them
People’s World
By Mark Gruenberg
April 29, 2024
Union leaders cheered—and corporate-backed congressional Republicans slammed—three new Biden administration decisions to help workers and consumers. With deadlines for announcing new federal rules looming, the Labor Department issued two. One orders investment managers for pension plans to put recipients, not themselves, as the top priority. The other raises to $58,656 annually on January 1 the amount of money a worker can earn before becoming ineligible for overtime pay. “Expansion of the federal overtime rule will help millions more workers earn the pay they deserve,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “Some public service workers–including those in child welfare, mental health and substance abuse counseling–have been ineligible for overtime pay despite modest wages and the long hours they put in at essential jobs,” he explained.
Biden praises UAW-Daimler Truck agreement as a ‘testament to the power of collective bargaining’
WHDH
By CNN
April 29, 2024
President Joe Biden praised the United Auto Workers and Daimler Truck for reaching a tentative in the eleventh hour Friday night, preventing a potential strike affecting 7,300 workers. “This agreement is a testament to the power of collective bargaining and shows that we can build a clean energy economy with strong, middle-class union jobs,” Biden said in a statement Sunday.
The “record contract” includes raises of more than 25% over the next four years, inflation protections like cost-of-living considerations, and the first profit-sharing deal in Daimler history, UAW President Shawn Fain said Friday night on Facebook Live. Daimler is a major manufacturer of trucks and buses, responsible for producing Thomas Built buses, one of the most popular brands of school buses in the United States.
LABOR AND ECONOMY
Auditors Balk at Regulator’s Push to Expand Their Role
The Wall Street Journal
By Mark Maurer
April 29, 2024
Additional disclosure, for instance, would provide more data for shareholders to evaluate audit quality, which could result in increased votes against companies’ auditors in their annual nonbinding votes on key company matters, said Brandon Rees, deputy director of corporations and capital markets at the labor federation AFL-CIO. Investors often oppose companies’ choice of auditors when they consider the amount of fees charged for nonaudit services excessive.
ORGANIZING
Disney Springs Patina Restaurant Group workers seek to unionize, ask employer for fair process
Orlando Weekly
By McKenna Schueler
April 29, 2024
Workers at five nonunion restaurants at Disney Springs in Orlando announced plans to unionize Monday, and are calling on their employer to allow for a fair process, free from unlawful intimidation. Unlike the tens of thousands of Disney World employees who have been unionized for decades, the roughly 300 workers at Enzo’s Hideaway, Pizza Ponte, Morimoto Asia, Maria and Enzo’s, and The Edison — all subcontracted restaurants on Disney property — are technically employed by the Patina Restaurant Group, owned by Delaware North.
These five restaurants, scattered throughout the parks’ dining and shopping district, are currently nonunion, even though two others that are owned by Delaware North at Epcot’s Italy Pavilion — Tutto Italia and Via Napoli — are already unionized. Employees of the restaurants at Disney Springs say they feel like “second-class citizens” compared to unionized Disney workers, and say they are denied access to full-time job benefits like paid time off and sick leave despite being expected to have full-time availability. Wages for workers at these restaurants are also comparatively lower than those negotiated by unions at other restaurants owned and operated by the Walt Disney Co.
Analysis-UAW deal with Daimler Truck boosts energy ahead of Mercedes vote in Alabama
WTVB
By Nora Eckert
April 29, 2024
The United Auto Workers’ new labor contract with truck and bus maker Daimler Truck is likely to energize workers ahead of the union’s next target in the U.S. South – organizing a Mercedes-Benz auto assembly plant in Alabama. The tentative Daimler Truck contract, agreed to late on Friday, includes a 25% general wage increase over four years and, for the first time, profit-sharing and cost-of-living adjustments for workers at the maker of Freightliner and Western Star trucks and Thomas Built buses. UAW President Shawn Fain said at a rally in North Carolina on Saturday that the Daimler Truck deal included no concessions and paved the way for other hourly workers.
JOINING TOGETHER
Hollywood’s crew union negotiations have gone well so far. Now the hard part begins
Los Angeles Times
By Christi Carras
April 29, 2024
In a departure from the labor rebellions that roiled Hollywood last year, the latest set of contract negotiations between a major entertainment union and the top studios has unfolded about as smoothly as could be expected. So far. The various West Coast studio locals that make up the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which advocates for film and TV crew members, have engaged over the past month in separate bargaining sessions with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros and other entertainment companies.
Lakeville teachers vote to authorize strike
Star Tribune
By Eder Campuzano
April 29, 2024
Lakeville educators voted to authorize a strike over the weekend, allowing union negotiators to call for a work stoppage as they continue bargaining with district administrators. The vote came a day after education support professionals in the Minneapolis district also authorized a strike. Lakeville union officials said 99% of educators who participated in the poll, taken Thursday and Friday, voted to authorize the strike. They did not say how many teachers voted.
Thousands of hotel workers to rally in 18 cities ahead of contract negotiations
Reuters
By Doyinsola Oladipo
April 29, 2024
Unionized hotel workers demanding significant pay raises will rally on May Day in 18 U.S. and Canadian cities, as talks are beginning with operators Marriott International (MAR.O), opens new tab, Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT.N), opens new tab and Hyatt Hotels Corp (H.N), opens new tab. Talks will cover about 40,000 workers who look to secure new contracts for the first time since the pandemic. Workers want to reverse pandemic-era staffing and service cuts, as well as duplicate the big pay hikes that organized workers across the nation have been winning in the recent years.
Nation’s first mental health responders sign union contract
New Mexico Daily Lobo
By Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard
April 29, 2024
The Albuquerque Community Safety department secured their first collective bargaining agreement with their union in March. The department cited lack of support for employee well-being, stability and mental health, according to ACS Agency Vice President and bargaining committee member Crystal Little. The Union represents the first government agency in the nation that sends first responders with backgrounds in mental health to non-violent calls, according to Sherii Miera, an ACS behavioral health responder and bargaining committee member. Responders are dispatched through 911 calls, Miera said. “One of our main goals throughout has been to focus on the safety and well-being of the responders and ensuring that our voices are heard,” Little said.
A Great Week for American Workers
The American Prospect
By Harold Meyerson
April 29, 2024
Two of those victories were the direct result of worker mobilizations. On Friday, the UAW won a recognition election at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga factory by a 73 to 27 percent margin, in an election where fully 84 percent of the eligible workers voted. Workers evidently viewed the UAW’s landmark victory in its strike several months earlier against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis as proof positive that the union could raise their wages and benefits. They ignored the pleas of six Southern governors that the union would subvert “Southern values,” which most workers apparently understood to mean “low-wage work sustained by a lack of worker power.”
IATSE Lays Out Top Bargaining Priorities as General West Coast Negotiations Resume
The Hollywood Reporter
By Katie Kilkenny
April 29, 2024
On Monday, Hollywood’s top crew union re-enters what may prove to be the most onerous stage of its 2024 contract negotiations with studios and streamers. Thirteen of IATSE‘s West Coast Locals, representing an array of crafts workers from costumer designers to prop masters to editors, are resuming their general negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (which bargains on behalf of major Hollywood companies). And as this tricky period of talks begins, touching on hot-button topics like compensation and AI, the West Coast Locals on Monday released their major proposals for management to members.
99% of UW Academic Student Employees OK strike
The Stand
By UAW Local 4121
April 29, 2024
With 3,040 total UW Academic Student Employee members voting, 3,013 (99.11%) voted a resounding “yes” to authorize their bargaining team to call for a strike if circumstances justify. ASEs at the University of Washington are members of UAW Local 4121, and they have been frustrated by UW Administration’s bargaining delays and lack of meaningful proposals ahead of their contract expiring on April 30. Votes were tallied last night. Academic Student Employees will meet to strategize in light of the strike vote and discuss next steps. Additional bargaining sessions are scheduled before the contract expires and ASEs remain committed to negotiating in order to reach a deal by the expiration of their contract. ASEs are fighting for a fair contract, one which includes fair pay that keeps up with rising costs and peer institutions, adequate and affordable healthcare, and protections for non-citizen ASEs. Read more in this piece.
First Collective Bargaining Agreement In Loudoun County Ratified, Up For Board Approval
Patch
By Emily Leayman
April 29, 2024
Loudoun County's first collective bargaining agreement in history was approved by a union representing fire and rescue employees and public safety communicators. IAFF Local 3756, a union representing about 650 firefighters, fire marshals, medics and public safety communicators, voted to ratify the collective bargaining agreement with the county. In three days of voting, 86 percent of union members voted to support the contract.
AFSCME praises expansion of collective bargaining for supervisors in MD
WMDT
By Rob Flaks
April 29, 2024
Workers Union AFSCME Council 3 praising HB 260/SB 192 (State Personnel – Collective Bargaining – Supervisory Employees) being signed into law in a bill by Governor Wes Moore. This legislation allows over 5,000 supervisors employed by the State of Maryland to now collectively bargain. “Our administration has always been proud to lift up, and support, the work that our dedicated state employees do. This bill underscores that. By working in partnership with AFSCME, state supervisors can choose their exclusive representative, and we can continue our efforts to reduce vacant state government positions. We are ensuring that more of the people who make Maryland happen every day have a voice in our shared future,” said Gov. Moore.
One Week Ahead of The Met Gala, Condé Nast Employees Threaten to Strike
Fashionista
By Brooke Frischer
April 29, 2024
Just days after handing out flyers that read "Anna wears Prada/Workers get nada" during a demonstration in Anna Wintour's New York City neighborhood, unionized Condé Nast employees have declared they are "ready to walk off the job." Condé Union and NewsGuild of New York delivered a video announcement to management members Monday threatening to strike if the publisher doesn't move forward with negotiating a fair contract. The Guild describes the move as "a kick off to what promises to be a week of union actions," per a press release.
IN THE STATES
As federal funds flow, Michigan aims to train 5,000 infrastructure workers
Bridge Michigan
By Jordyn Hermani
April 29, 2024
Michigan’s labor agency must develop plans to train 5,000 new infrastructure workers by 2030 under an executive directive Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Monday. The directive, Whitmer’s first of 2024 and effective immediately, also requires the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) to establish a statewide strategy aimed at meeting infrastructure workforce development needs by May 1, 2025.
Corporate-backed, out-of-touch lawmakers are the real leeches (Opinion)
Alabama Political Reporter
By Bren Riley
April 29, 2024
Governor Kay Ivey and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter’s recent comments in the media attacking unions are nothing but outright lies from politicians who are afraid of workers having even a little power to better their lives. They both called the United Auto Workers (UAW) a “dangerous leech” this week, just days after Gov. Ivey released a statement—alongside a couple other bought-and-paid-for lawmakers who are in the pocket of big corporations—claiming unions are special interest groups here to “threaten our jobs and the values we live by.” I’m here to set the record straight as a proud union man born and raised here in Gadsden. My grandfather was a union member, my father was a union member and I was a member of the United Steelworkers for well over 30 years. So, as a third generation factory worker in Alabama who grew up walking picket lines with my dad and listening to my granddaddy’s stories about life before he had a union contract, I can tell you this: these out-of-touch lawmakers who collect taxpayer-funded salaries but don’t lift a finger to help their hardworking constituents are the real leeches.
LABOR AND COMMUNITY
Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive set for May 11
Labor Tribune
By Staff
April 29, 2024
The National Association of Letter Carriers’ (NALC) “Stamp Out Hunger” nationwide food drive is scheduled for May 11 this year, and letter carriers are asking for your help. Each year, letter carriers across the country head out on their routes on the second Saturday in May to collect donations of non-perishable food items to benefit local food pantries. The campaign, which began in 1993, has grown into the nation’s largest one-day food drive, helping to fill the shelves of food banks in cities and towns throughout the United States.
St. Louis BUD program graduates 32nd class of pre-apprentices
Labor Tribune
By Staff
April 29, 2024
Fifteen Pre-Apprentices recently graduated from the St. Louis Building Union Diversity (BUD) program, opening doors to good-paying union construction careers in the St. Louis area. The six-week program was created in 2014 by the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council as a recruitment tool to encourage more minorities and women to get into the union building trades. Today, the program is run by the Missouri AFL-CIO’s Missouri Works Initiative and boasts a 92 percent graduation rate. For more information, visit moworksinitiative.org.
Laborers Local 110 Volunteer Organizing Committee builds two playgrounds
Labor Tribune
By Staff
April 29, 2024
Members of the Laborers Local 110 Volunteer Organizing Committee and other volunteers spent two days building and installing two playground sets here for pre-school children in the Kingston K-14 School District.
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Labor, Political Leaders Pledge To Improve Workplace Safety On Workers Memorial Day
CT News Junkie
By Jamil Ragland
April 29, 2024
Labor leaders and elected officials gathered Sunday at the state capitol to remember workers who lost their lives on the job and to pledge to continue the fight to improve working conditions for laborers. Workers Memorial Day ceremony is held every April 28, said Shellye Davis, Secretary-Treasurer of the Connecticut AFL-CIO. “It’s a day when working families, union members, and elected officials come together to remember each worker killed, injured, and sickened from their jobs,” Davis said. “But it is also to organize for an end to the unnecessary deaths of our brothers and sisters.”
Union members, community leaders host memorial event for NC workers who died on the job
ABC11
By Staff
April 28, 2024
A Raleigh community is honoring North Carolina workers who lost their lives on the job. Local workers, union members, and community leaders hosted a memorial event on Sunday at Bicentennial Plaza commemorating workers sickened, hurt, or killed on the job, and calling for stronger safety protections. A bell was rung 217 times by organizers for each person who died while working in NC in 2022.
Jacksonville leaders pay tribute to workers who died on the job in 2023
News4Jax
By Marcela Camargo
April 26, 2024
The Northeast Florida Safety Council held a ceremony to pay tribute to nine workers who died while on the job in 2023. These workers were recognized with a reading of their names and an empty chair with a flower placed on the seat.
25th Workers' Memorial Day Ceremony
Messenger and Inquirer
By Alan Warren
April 27, 2024
Donna Haynes of the Owensboro Area Central Labor Council rings the bell at the Workers Memorial for the nearly 60 Kentucky workers killed on the job this past year during the 25th Workers Memorial Day ceremony Friday on the lawn at the Daviess County Courthouse.
City leaders, workers in Iowa City hold "Workers Memorial Day" on Monday
CBS 2 Iowa
By Barry Green
April 29, 2024
City leaders and workers in Iowa City are remembering those who lost their lives -- on the job -- over the past year. It happened at the Iowa City Public Library on Monday afternoon. Organizers gathered there in downtown to hold a Workers Memorial Day event. That memorial service was sponsored by the Iowa City Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, and University of Iowa Labor Center.
CIVIL, HUMAN, AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Poor People's Campaign Plans June 29 Mass Assembly, March in DC
Common Dreams
By Jessica Corbett
April 29, 2024
"Workers' rights, civil rights, and human rights are on the ballot this election. American voters will decide: Do we want to stay the course and keep on this path toward a more compassionate government or revert back to this morally bankrupt nation?" said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. "The American labor movement is committed to registering and mobilizing union members and union families around the mass mobilization on June 29. We're going to elect lawmakers who will advocate for workers and poor people to elect leaders who will put people over profits, protect our democracy, and advance worker and civil and human rights."