AFL-CIO Blog

  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Bend the Arc Staff Form Union with NPEU
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: Bend the Arc Staff Form Union with NPEU Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. The staff of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice have joined together with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU)/IFPTE Local 70 to form the Bend the Arc Workers Union, the two organizations announced on Friday. The union has received voluntary recognition from management. The Bend the Arc Workers Union said it works to support the interests of its members, and promote solidarity and equity while advancing social, racial and economic justice in their members’ workplaces and communities. “Bend the Arc is organizing the Jewish community to fight for a country where all of us are safe, free and thriving—and we want the same for our workplace,” said the Bend the Arc Workers Union organizing committee. “We are excited to have another tool to support Bend the Arc’s mission internally and continue our goals for anti-racism within the organization. In forming a union, we draw from a long legacy of Jewish labor organizing in the United States and across the world, individually and collectively grounded in our ancestors’ fights for workers’ rights and collective power.” Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 10/26/2021 - 09:38 — Oct 26
  • Vote Union Yes: Worker Wins
    Vote Union Yes: Worker Wins Despite the challenges of organizing during a deadly pandemic, working people across the country (and beyond) continue organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life. This edition begins with: #Striketober Success: UFCW Workers at Heaven Hill Distillery Approve New Contract: After a strike that lasted 6 weeks, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) members at Heaven Hill Distillery in Kentucky reached an agreement on a new contract. The new contract preserves affordable health care, increases pay, maintains overtime provisions and strengthens retirement security, among other provisions. The strike came after six months of negotiations led to a proposal from the Distillery that was rejected by more than 96% of members in a vote.  First Game Workers in North America Win Collective Bargaining Rights: The workers who create the popular role-playing games Starfinder and Pathfinder announced on Thursday, Oct. 21, that they had won voluntary recognition from their employer, Paizo. United Paizo Workers is affiliated with the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees-CWA (CODE-CWA) and includes more than 39 members. These workers are the first game employees in North America to win collective bargaining rights. “Now the real work begins,” the union said. “One of our goals is to increase wages to better match the cost of living, and that is likely to be the first topic we tackle. Following [the Oct. 14] announcement of our unionization, even more Paizo employees joined us.” Code for America Staff Become Latest Tech Workers to Join OPEIU: Workers at Code for America (CfA) have voted to join Tech Workers Union Local 1010, an affiliate of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). Code for America, a nonprofit that focuses on closing the technology gap between public and private sectors, voluntarily recognized the union and contract negotiations are expected to start soon. “Nonprofit and tech workers alike are becoming increasingly aware of the power a union brings them at work,” said OPEIU Organizing Director Brandon Nessen. “Unionizing gives working people agency to advance not only their own interests, but the mutual interests shared by both staff and management.” “We are pleased Code for America management took the step to voluntarily recognize our union, CfA Workers United, today via a democratic card-check process,” said Aditi Joshi. “We look forward to working together with CfA management to continue building a culture at the organization that empowers all employees to show up to work as their full selves, each and every day." concluded. Bend the Arc Staff Form Union with NPEU: The Staff of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice have joined together with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU)/IFPTE Local 70 to form the Bend the Arc Workers Union, the two organizations announced on Friday. The union has received voluntary recognition from management. The Bend the Arc Workers Union said it works to support the interests of its members, and promote solidarity and equity while advancing social, racial and economic justice in their members’ workplaces and communities. “Bend the Arc is organizing the Jewish community to fight for a country where all of us are safe, free and thriving—and we want the same for our workplace,” said the Bend the Arc Workers Union organizing committee. “We are excited to have another tool to support Bend the Arc’s mission internally and continue our goals for anti-racism within the organization. In forming a union, we draw from a long legacy of Jewish labor organizing in the United States and across the world, individually and collectively grounded in our ancestors’ fights for workers’ rights and collective power.” Pitt Faculty Members Vote to Form Union in Organizing Victory for USW: The University of Pittsburgh’s 3,300 faculty members are looking forward to bargaining their first union contract with the school’s administration after the faculty’s successful vote to become members of the United Steelworkers (USW). The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board held a mail ballot election over the past several weeks for faculty members, following more than two years of delays as a result of legal challenges from the administration. Preliminary results on Tuesday showed more than 71% of the workers who voted cast votes to join the union. his result has been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait,” said Tyler Bickford, an associate professor in the university’s English department. “It’s a good feeling to know that we as faculty members have finally achieved what all workers deserve—a voice in the decision-making process that affects our lives on the job.” Ohio Workers at Worthington Libraries Vote Union Yes: Librarians and other workers at Worthington Libraries voted 80–10 (89%) to form their union with the Ohio Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The organizing campaign was driven by concerns that too many library policies, including health and safety concerns and paid leave policies, were being made without any input from library employees. Worthington Libraries are now the only second library system in central Ohio where workers have organized a union, and their organizing campaign has sparked interest from librarians and workers at other libraries. “We organized our union because equity and democracy are pillars of public libraries,” said Libby Vasey, a librarian at Worthington Park Library. “All workers at the library, especially those who work directly and daily with the people we serve, should have a voice at the table where workplace decisions are made.” #Striketober Victory in West Virginia as Machinists Approve New Contract: In yet another #Striketober win, a two-week strike is over after members of Machinists (IAM) Local 598 voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new three-year contract. The 50 workers went back to the job site at Sulzer Pumps in Barboursville, West Virginia, on Sunday. The new, improved agreement increases wages, secures seniority rights, stabilizes health care benefits and creates a new pension plan with matching employer payments. “I’m so proud of IAM Local 598 members for standing strong and winning the contract that themselves and their families deserve,” said IAM District 54 President T. Dean Wright Jr. “Thanks to their determination and the support of the community, we have protected some of the best careers in the area. Our members look forward to getting back to work building a great product right here in Barboursville.” AFT Settles Student Debt Lawsuit, Wins Big Gains for Borrowers: The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFT President Randi Weingarten and eight individual AFT member plaintiffs reached a landmark settlement last week with the U.S. Department of Education in the case Weingarten v. DeVos, and, as a result, tens of thousands of student loan borrowers can expect imminent relief from their student debt. Under the historic agreement, all Public Service Loan Forgiveness applicants who were denied relief will have an opportunity for their cases to be reviewed, setting public employees across the country, including teachers, nurses and firefighters, on a path to a life-changing reduction or elimination of their crushing student debt burden. “Congress pledged relief to those who dedicated their lives to serving the public, but 98% got a debt sentence instead,” Weingarten said. “Today is a day of vindication for the millions of borrowers who took the government at its word but were cruelly denied through no fault of their own.” IAM Local 701 Mechanics Return to Work After Eight-Week Strike: Members of Machinists (IAM) Local 701, working as auto and truck mechanics in the Chicago area, attained a new contract in September after an eight-week strike that left management again in disarray. The dealers association, known as the Chicago New Car Dealer Committee (NCDC), had been making drastic proposals at the bargaining table. But as the union’s contract campaign picked up steam, more than 20 dealerships broke away from NCDC and bargained their own interim agreements with Local 701. The NCDC eventually withdrew all of its initial proposals and settled for virtually the same terms as the interim agreements signed by over 100 other dealerships. “This strike was the result of yet another attempt by the few anti-union dealers who remain in the NCDC association from four years ago to break our union,” said Local 701 Directing Business Representative Sam Cicinelli. “I’m extremely proud of the resolve, tenacity and solidarity of the membership. Their unflinching determination led to yet another benchmark agreement across our industry.” The members’ new contract provides significant wage increases, no changes to health benefits and increased funding for Local 701’s training program. UFCW Local 2 Members Secure a Fair Contract with Significant Pay Increases: Over 1,800 members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 2 have reason to celebrate: They have won a new contract with Triumph Foods that includes the largest pay increase in the company’s history. The six-year contract includes a starting wage that is higher than the average wage of other regional meatpacking companies. All current production workers at the meatpacking plant in St. Joseph, Missouri, will also receive a minimum $2.75 per hour increase. “Our union is thrilled that Triumph Foods has agreed to implement this significant wage increase,” said UFCW Local 2 President Martin Rosas. “This rate is almost 15% higher than current starting wages, which is an incredible investment in Triumph team members who work so hard to supply pork for consumers.” Alaska Union Members Win Big in Local Elections: Union member candidates scored a series of victories in local elections held Oct. 5 in Alaska. Seven union-endorsed candidates won their elections, including Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Bryce Ward (IUOE) and three other current and former union members. The Alaska AFL-CIO led a strong ground game, knocking on nearly 800 doors and making thousands of phone calls to voters in Fairbanks. Elections were also held in Juneau and Kenai Peninsula. Political action is growing in Alaska, which is a battleground for passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act. “Building union power starts by getting our members elected at the local level and driving program from the ground up,” said Alaska AFL-CIO President Joelle Hall (UFCW). “We are thrilled to have elected a strong slate of pro-worker candidates to public office, especially in a town like Fairbanks with a long, storied history of worker power. We will continue to work hard to build a political movement in Alaska that’s rooted in the Workers First Agenda.” Michigan to Reinstate Prevailing Wage for State Construction Projects: In a big win for workers in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the state will now require contractors and subcontractors to pay prevailing wage on all state construction projects. The reinstatement of prevailing wage will ensure that qualified workers are utilized to construct and repair Michigan’s physical infrastructure while allowing contractors to compete for bids fairly. “Requiring a prevailing wage to be paid in state contracting means safe, quality construction projects completed by highly skilled workers. It means working women and men getting paid a decent wage that can support a family. It means no more race to the bottom to find the cheapest labor while companies pad their bottom line. It also means a fair competitive bidding process for contractors,” said Michigan State AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber (UAW). “All of this is especially important as we look to rebuild our economy after the devastation caused by the pandemic and look to improve and modernize our infrastructure. Michigan families will be better off because of Gov. Whitmer’s action today.” Maine Public Employees Ratify New Contract: The Bangor Federation of Public Employees (AFT Local 6071) have ratified a new contract for the mechanics who maintain the city's buses, police cars and fire trucks. “Overall, we feel that this was an improvement over the initial proposals made by the City,” said Serina DeWolfe, labor representative for AFT Local 6071. “Initially the City only wanted to give the members a 1% cost of living adjustment (COLA) raise for each year of the collective bargaining agreement. We ended up with a 2% COLA for each year PLUS a 2.5% wage step raise for each year of the contract. The members are happy with the increase in not only the wages but the safety eyewear increase and the increased accrued comp time. The negotiations went smoothly and we credit the City for working collaboratively with us to reach an agreement we can all live with.” The contract includes annual wage increases, increased allowances for safety equipment and other benefits. Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 10/25/2021 - 12:07 Tags: Organizing — Oct 25
  • Our Future Is Not for Sale: The Working People Weekly List
    Our Future Is Not for Sale: The Working People Weekly List Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List. ‘Our Future Is Not for Sale’: America Is Witnessing the Biggest Strike Wave in a Generation: “Something extraordinary is happening in factories, universities, hospitals, and movie studios across America. Workers are authorizing strikes and shutting down production in numbers that many young people have never seen before in their lifetimes.” Kaiser Healthcare Workers Vote in Favor of Strike After Failed Contract Negotiations: “Following stalled contract negotiations, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 5 voted in favor of striking. The union said 93% of healthcare workers, which included nearly 2,000 employees, voted to authorize a strike. Unite Here Local 5 said the decision comes as Kaiser has offered only a 1% pay raise and a two-tier wage system that would cut up to a third of wages for future hires.” A Hollywood Strike May Have Been Averted. But Radio Performers Are Still Waiting for Justice: “In particular, it’s time for radio broadcasters to face the music. For them, the question is whether the performers of the songs that get played on AM/FM radio should be paid when their work is sent out over the airwaves. While those who write the songs get paid each time the song is played, the artists who perform the songs—the lead singers, the backup vocalists, the bassists, guitarists, drummers, etc.—do not. For years, many major broadcasters have fought efforts to pay the artists, many of them in unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO, whose music makes their businesses possible.” U.S. Labor Unions Are Having a Moment: “‘Essential workers are tired of being thanked one day and then treated as expendable the next day,’ Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said in a speech Wednesday in Washington. ‘The headline isn’t that there’s a shortage of people willing to return to work. Instead, it’s a scarcity story. We have a shortage of safe, good-paying, sustainable jobs.’ That’s the feeling at Deere, where assembly employees were categorized as front-line workers to continue operations, creating a sense that the company owes them. Kellogg workers, too, feel like they put themselves at risk in order to keep America’s pantries full during lockdowns.” Tight U.S. Job Market Triggers Strikes for More Pay: “‘Workers are on strike for a better deal and a better life,’ Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the nation's biggest labor federation, said last week at a SABEW journalism conference. ‘The pandemic really did lay bare the inequities of our system and working people are refusing to return to crappy jobs that put their health at risk,’ she added, noting that the term #Striketober was trending on Twitter.” Black and Latino Families Are Bearing the Weight of the Pandemic's Economic Toll: “Thirty-eight percent of households across the country report facing serious financial problems over the last few months. That's according to a poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. But among Black and Latino households, more than 55% reported serious financial problems. That's compared with 29% of white households. William Spriggs is professor of economics at Howard University and chief economist to the AFL-CIO. The additional federal aid that expired last month gave people a sense of security, Spriggs says, so they could continue to consume. Spriggs:  ‘That's all gone away. And so that is, I think, the No. 1 reason you saw special stress in Latino and Black households because without the boost to the unemployment check, without the stimulus checks still being there, these households simply don't have the savings to endure and be resilient during downturns.’” Tennessee Republicans Push to Enshrine Right-to-Work Laws as Unions Gain Strength Amid Worker Shortage: “With more jobs than workers today, Tennessee labor unions say they are positioned to make needed gains for workers in wages, benefits and union representation. But the No. 2 labor leader in the country told AFL-CIO leaders in Nashville on Monday that Tennessee's right-to-work laws continue the South's history of trying to take advantage of workers and hurt their ability to make a fair wage. ‘Right to work is a direct descendant of Jim Crow and it should have no place in our society, much less in the state Constitution,’ AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said during the opening of the Tennessee AFL-CIO annual convention on Monday. ‘Workers are fed up and America is taking notice of our collective action. Working people are waking up and understanding the value of labor unions.’” AFL-CIO President Shuler on Good Morning America: Workers Exercising Collective Power: “AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler joined ‘Good Morning America’ to talk about how workers are standing up for a better deal and a better life through strikes across the country.” Strikes Are Sweeping the Labor Market as Workers Wield New Leverage: “‘The strikes are sending a signal, no doubt about it, that employers ignore workers at their peril,’ AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in an interview with The Washington Post. ‘I think this wave of strikes is actually going to inspire more workers to stand up and speak out and put that line in the sand and say, ‘We deserve better.’” Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 10/25/2021 - 09:38 — Oct 25
  • Service + Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW’s Tree Trimming Academy Brings Career Opportunities to Detroit Area
    Service + Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW’s Tree Trimming Academy Brings Career Opportunities to Detroit Area Mark Houston, DTE Energy Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. Detroit’s Tree Trimming Academy recently graduated its first class of tree trimmers, providing new talent in a high-demand field and a lucrative career opportunity for area residents. The academy is a collaboration among Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 17, utility company DTE Energy, the city of Detroit and Focus: HOPE, a local nonprofit organization that provides employment training and assistance. “We strive to build an empowered and diverse workforce and are excited to help develop more well-trained and well-paid workers who put safety first,” said Local 17 Business Manager James Shaw (not pictured). “Growing and developing local talent has to be a focus to best maintain safe, reliable energy.” Some 70% of power outages are caused by trees, and a lot of today’s trimmers are reaching retirement age, creating a need for a new generation to fill these much-needed jobs. The Tree Trimming Academy was created to establish a new pipeline of talent. While the program is open to anyone, there’s an emphasis on actively recruiting from Detroit and the surrounding area to make sure as many jobs as possible go to local residents. Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 10/25/2021 - 09:33 — Oct 25
  • Alaska Airlines Pilots to Airline CEO: Do the Right Thing and Value Your Pilots
    Alaska Airlines Pilots to Airline CEO: Do the Right Thing and Value Your Pilots Alaska Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), delivered a letter Monday to Ben Minicucci, the chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines, asking him to stop stalling contract negotiations and come to the table willing to bargain an industry-standard contract. After actively negotiating since spring 2019, no agreement has been reached on a new contract for the pilots. “Alaska pilots stepped up during the pandemic to do the right thing and help keep the airline operating,” said Capt. Will McQuillen, chairman of ALPA’s Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council. “Now we’re asking Alaska management to live the company’s core value and ‘do the right thing’ by valuing our contributions to the airline and making basic quality-of-life and job security improvements that our peers at major airlines have enjoyed for years.” McQuillen emphasized the work ALPA members have done to pass the federal payroll support program, which helped keep the company afloat during the pandemic. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 10/22/2021 - 13:20 — Oct 22