Teamsters President Sean O'Brien speaks at Republican National Convention |

Additional coverage is here:

The Young Turks:

Coverage and commentary from Politico is here.

Commentary from Teamster Vice President John Palmer is here.

Coverage and commentary from People's World is here.

The Guardian's coverage is here.

Valley Labor Report ran this and this. Both are good for context.

Real News Network has posted this and this.

 

The Fast Pace Of Union Organizing At Amazon

Labor Notes is reporting that

Six hundred of our Amazon co-workers at five warehouses around New York signed a petition demanding starting wages of $25 an hour, time-and-a-half pay for Prime Day (July 16-17), seasonal workers converted to permanent status within 30 days of employment, and Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

The June 19 holiday celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. and became a federal holiday in 2021—the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was recognized in 1983.

We organized petitions across five warehouses: sort center LDJ5 on Staten Island, where packages are routed to local facilities; the massive fulfillment centers JFK8 on Staten Island and SWF1 in the Hudson Valley, where customer orders are packed; and delivery stations DBK4 and DNJ3 in Queens and the Bronx, where packages are put into delivery vehicles and dispatched to mailboxes or doorsteps.

At the smaller delivery stations with only a couple hundred employees, nearly half the workers signed. And at four of the five warehouses, groups of workers have delivered the petition to Amazon management. (See a video montage of the petition deliveries.)

Read the entire article here.

Photo from Labor Notes

Labor Notes is also reporting on the strike at the Amazon facility in Skokie, Illinois being led by members of Teamsters Local 705. The opening paragraphs of that report say:

Amazon drivers at the DIL7 delivery station in Skokie, Illinois, struck June 26 over the company’s violations of federal labor laws.

A hundred drivers have organized with Teamsters Local 705 and are demanding that Amazon recognize and bargain with their union, after presenting cards signed by a majority of the workforce.

They’re nominally employed by a contractor, Four Star Express Delivery. But “every Amazon driver knows who our true employer is,” said driver Luke Cianciotto in a union statement. “We wear their uniforms and drive their trucks.”

Four Star Express is one of 2,500 “delivery service partners” that carry out package deliveries while Amazon retains full control. Amazon terminated the DSP’s contract on June 25, after giving workers two weeks’ notice.

The Teamsters allege this termination was illegal retaliation against the workers, who had already reached a majority on union cards. The workers marched on management June 20 to demand recognition.

Last year Amazon terminated the contract of another DSP, Battle-Tested Strategies in Palmdale, California, after 84 drivers organized with the Teamsters. BTS voluntarily recognized the union and agreed to a contract that would hike wages to $30 an hour, compared to the $19.75 drivers were earning before.

Since then, Amazon Teamsters have extended picket lines to 30 Amazon warehouses around the country and filed multiple unfair labor practice charges, which are still pending.

“Amazon wants to have it both ways: total operational control but no employment responsibility,” employment scholar David Weil told Labor Notes last year. “Can they benefit from a contractor that operates as an extension of Amazon but not be held responsible?”

Read the article here.

Photo from Teamsters Local 705

A report on the strike from Local 705 carries the following quotes from striking workers:

“Every Amazon driver knows who our true employer is,” said Luke Cianciotto, one of the striking Amazon drivers. “We wear their uniforms and drive their trucks. They decide whether we can be hired or fired. We make them their profits and we organized a union with the Teamsters for our fair share.”

and

“I work for one of the richest men in the world and I’ve had to skip meals to make sure my child eats and my bills are paid,” said Ebony Echevarria, a striking Amazon driver. “That’s just not right. My co-workers and I are fighting for respect, decent pay, and safe working conditions for us and for all Amazon workers.”

Photo from Labor Notes

Labor Notes also covered the recent merger between the Amazon Labor Union and the Teamsters. That article said:

Amazon Labor Union members voted June 17 to affiliate with the Teamsters.

Workers cast 878 ballots at JFK8 Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island, N.Y. The tally broke down to 829 votes in favor of the affiliation and 14 against it; 10 ballots were spoiled.

Total turnout was 11 percent out of 8,000 workers. However, workers estimate the workforce has dipped to between 5,000 and 6,000 workers during the off-peak season.

A Teamsters statement said the union will now “represent the roughly 5,500 Amazon warehouse workers.” Turnout works out to 16 percent based on that number.

“On behalf of the Amazon Labor Union, I’m proud of our members choosing a path to victory. We're now stronger than ever before," said ALU President Chris Smalls in a statement.

"Having the support of 1.3 million Teamsters to take on Amazon gives us tremendous worker power and the opportunities to demand better conditions for our members and, most importantly, to secure a contract at JFK8.”

The affiliation agreement charters a new local known as Amazon Labor Union No. 1, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (ALU-IBT Local 1), for the five boroughs of New York City. That may signal that Amazon workers will not be integrated into existing locals with other Teamster crafts.

“Together, with hard work, courage, and conviction, the Teamsters and ALU will fight fearlessly to ensure Amazon workers secure the good jobs and safe working conditions they deserve in a union contract,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement.

The ALU is the fledgling independent union that sent shock waves through the labor movement two years ago when it won a landmark election to organize 8,000 workers at Amazon fulfillment center JFK8 on Staten Island.

The entire article may be read here.

The Valley Labor Report ran a critical segment on the ALU-Teamster merger four weeks ago. 

The Hill carried this report:

 

Labor then and now: 90 years after the Minneapolis Teamsters' strikes

It's a great time to look back at 1934, to learn how a wide range of workers changed the course of history and to consider how today's workers might change this course themselves. 

By Peter Rachleff

Star Tribune: Minneapolis truckers' strike, 1934. Police and strikers battle in

 the Minneapolis Farmers Market district.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters' strikes. These strikes changed the course of history and the lives of tens of thousands of working people. They transformed Minneapolis from one of the country's most notorious anti-union citadels into a "union town" and inspired labor organization from Fargo to Omaha and Duluth to St. Louis. The story of this transformation still resonates with the challenges faced by working women and men in 2024.

In the late 19th century a vibrant and diverse labor movement surged across the state of Minnesota. Its ranks included native-born and immigrant workers employed as flour millers and barrelmakers, railroad engineers, firemen, brakemen and track workers, garment workers and laundresses, horse and wagon drivers, building trades craftsmen, longshoremen and stevedores, skilled machinists and shop workers. They were affiliated with the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor, the railroad brotherhoods, the Teamsters and the American Railway Union, and they created cooperatives, mutual benefit societies and a broad-based movement for the eight-hour day. These workers participated in the Great Northern Railroad and Pullman strikes of 1894 and built political alliances with farmers. In the early 20th century, many of them took part in the creation of the Industrial Workers of the World and the Socialist Party, and they challenged some of the biggest businessmen in the U.S., including James J. Hill, Andrew Carnegie and Charles Pillsbury.

But bankers, businessmen and their political representatives launched a powerful counteroffensive to regain control of their workplaces and secure their domination of the city and the state. The core of their strategy was to eliminate unions through a double-blacklist (a refusal to hire union members and a refusal to extend loans to employers who bargained with unions). They created a new organization with a slippery rhetorical name — the "Citizens' Alliance" — not only to implement their strategy but also to spin it as a defense of individual independence. Their effectiveness won them the accolades of the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Civic Federation, Chambers of Commerce and employers' organizations across the country. Minneapolis became an icon of non-unionism.

The Citizens' Alliance's success was devastating not just for unions but also for working men and women. Over the course of the 1910s and 1920s, workers were disciplined, fired and blacklisted at the whim of employers. Although productivity rose with the introduction of new modes of work organization and new technologies, wages lagged. Workers struggled to support their families and find economic security. And when workers organized to challenge the Citizens' Alliance, such as the St. Paul streetcar workers' strike of 1917 or the election of Socialist trade unionist Thomas Van Lear to the mayoralty of Minneapolis in that same year, businessmen trumpeted the ideology of wartime "loyalty" and leveraged state government to provide resources, such as the Public Safety Commission, to limit workers' gains. The reign of the Citizens' Alliance seemed untouchable, despite the establishment of the Farmer Labor Party in 1924, the crash of the national economy in 1929, the election of Floyd B. Olson as governor in 1930 and the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the presidency in 1932.

Then in the winter of 1934, a small group of experienced, dedicated labor activists began to change the course of history. Several of them had been working in the city's coal yards, earning miserable wages for handling and delivering the coal that Minneapolitans used to heat their homes, apartments and businesses. Members of the 75-member Teamsters Local 574, they initiated a strike on Feb. 7 that spread within three hours to 65 of the city's 67 coal yards. They organized "inside" (warehouse and coal yards) and "outside" (drivers and helpers) workers together in an industrial strategy, and they ignored both the New Deal's weak labor board system and the cautious advice of the Teamsters' national leadership. They relied on cruising pickets that shut the entire industry in the midst of a cold snap. Two days later, the coal employers offered the union a settlement, and the strike ended. An estimated 3,000 trucking and warehouse workers signed up to join Local 574. The inspiration was spreading.

In May, Local 574 called a larger strike, all across the city's market district. Again, they linked inside and outside workers, ignored the weak mechanisms of the government labor board, and relied on cruising pickets. Activists built an impressive infrastructure — a rented garage as a strike headquarters from which mobile pickets could be dispatched; a soup kitchen and an infirmary, fully staffed by volunteers, many from the newly organized women's auxiliary; a "committee of 100," mostly stewards from individual shops and warehouses, to make key decisions for the union; a committee of the unemployed, not only to prevent strike-breaking but also to advocate for those without jobs; a network of farmers to bring food for strikers and their families. They also secured the support of other unions and the Central Labor Council. The strike, which lasted 10 days, revolved around control of the streets. Despite police violence, the roving pickets were effective, and on May 25, employers offered an agreement, which the union accepted.

The ink had hardly dried on the agreement, however, when employers began to violate its terms. More than 700 complaints of discrimination were logged in June and early July. On July 17, Local 574 renewed its strike. This time, there were more than 10,000 participants, while 35,000 other workers engaged in a sympathy strike. The union mobilized its resources, adding a new weapon, a daily strike bulletin (the first ever in the U.S.) which they called "The Organizer." Once again, control over the streets was central to the effectiveness of the strike and, this time, there was more violence, even deaths on both sides. One hundred thousand union members and sympathizers took part in a funeral procession for striker Henry Ness. The dispatch of the National Guard and the arrests and imprisonment of many union leaders could not bring the strike to an end. With pressure exerted by Roosevelt through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Citizens' Alliance finally yielded on Aug. 21, and employers were ordered to hold union elections, almost all of which ended in victories for Local 574 and the negotiation of collective bargaining contracts. This broke the more than two decades' reign of the Citizens' Alliance.

Here begins the story of Minneapolis' transformation into a "union town." Some 10,000 truck drivers, helpers, warehouse workers, coal heavers and other unskilled workers not only won substantial raises, but also got seniority provisions and a grievance procedure, both of which held a promise of justice in the workplace itself. Their defeat of the Citizens' Alliance and their success inspired other workers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, across Minnesota and the Midwest, that they, too, could organize and improve their work lives. Rank-and-file teamsters' participation in the strikes and their continuing participation in the life of the union gave them a new awareness of their class position, in contrast with employers and in solidarity with other workers. Their experiences also fueled their sense of their own capacity and power. They shared their new consciousness with their family members, their neighbors and other workers. They also embodied it in expressions of solidarity, from support for the women workers in the Strutwear Knitting strike a year later to the building of an interstate network of trucking workers, and the unionization of packinghouse workers, timber workers, iron miners and steelworkers from Lake Superior to the Iowa border and more. Minneapolis had become a "union town" and workers' activism there was becoming a rising tide to lift all boats.

This situation persisted for half a century, for two generations. It became normal for workers throughout the Midwestern economy to earn a living wage, to enjoy health care benefits, vacations and pensions, to gain access to easier assignments as their seniority grew, and to expect a safe workplace and to be treated respectfully on the job. This was especially true in unionized workplaces, but non-union employers felt pressure to provide similar conditions, as did all levels of government. It was not a labor paradise; workers still worked hard and often felt they deserved a larger share of the wealth they created. But many were able to buy cars and homes, send their children to college and expect to enjoy their retirement years.

This changed abruptly in the 1980s and 1990s. Employers closed plants and exported manufacturing jobs abroad. They reorganized work through outsourcing and subcontracting. They chipped away at benefits, then wages, then unionization itself. While legislatures and judges weakened workers' rights to picket, employers threatened those who still dared to strike with permanent replacement. The unionized cohort of the working class no longer enjoyed economic security, their ability to improve their own conditions was greatly diminished and, increasingly, their role as trendsetters for all workers faded. By the turn of the 21st century, Minneapolis could no longer be called a "union town." For that matter, neither could St. Paul or anywhere else in Minnesota and the Midwest.

But workers' situations have not simply deteriorated; they have changed. Immigrants play an increased role in the economy and are more vocal, visible and significant in the labor movement. Public employees, white-collar workers, retail, service and fast-food workers have come to the fore. Teachers and educational assistants, and health care workers, from doctors and nurses to personal care assistants, see that unionization enables them to provide the care that brought them into their occupations in the first place. Members of Generation Z, struggling for economic security since the recession of 2008-10, are bringing new energy into the labor movement. We are living in exciting times.

This year is a great time to look back at 1934, to learn how a wide range of workers changed the course of history, and to consider how today's workers might change this course themselves. A diverse group of activists, some of them descendants of the 1934 strikers, are organizing a series of events — an art exhibit, a picnic, film screenings and panel discussions — to curate a series of conversations between the past and the present. Join us! Please see rem34.ampmpls.com for details of activities.

Peter Rachleff is an emeritus professor of history at Macalester College and co-founder of the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul.

Labor Unity Brings Home A Win!

From the Communications Workers of America:

Fifty union members from CWA, Teamsters, and SEIU filled the Denver City Council chambers last week to support an initiative to place collective bargaining rights for city workers on the ballot this fall. CWA Local 7777 Secretary-Treasurer Sandra Parker Murray testified to the council, saying, "I was shocked when I learned that Denver municipal employees didn’t already have collective bargaining. Thank you for your support now in bringing forward this important workers’ rights initiative and standing up for the working people who make our city run."

According to a letter the coalition sent to the Denver Mayor and City Council, “Fire, police, and sheriff deputies in Denver already have collective bargaining. In fact, more than three-quarters of private sector workers and more than two-thirds of public sector workers have bargaining rights across the country, yet workers in the City and County of Denver do not.”

The coalition now has 90 days to collect 63,491 signatures to ensure the question goes before the public for a vote. They have launched an aggressive campaign to secure the necessary signatures. The coalition is also pursuing an alternate path to victory—an amendment to the city charter through the City Council.

A coalition of labor activists from CWA, the Teamsters, and SEIU are pursuing

public bargaining rights for Denver public sector workers. Photo from CWA.

Funeral home chain could go union

This post is taken from the Northwest Labor Press. The article was written by Mallory Gruben.

Teamsters Local 305 has launched an organizing campaign for undertakers in Oregon and Washington.

On April 14, Local 305 asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a union election for 120 funeral directors, embalmers, grounds crew workers, crematory operators, family services counselors, removal techs, and office staff at multiple funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries owned by Service Corporation International. Service Corporation International is the largest provider of funeral and cemetery services in North America. It operates more than 1,900 locations across the United States and Canada, including Dignity Memorial-branded funeral homes like Bateman Carroll Funeral Home, Ross Hollywood Chapel, and Skyline Memorial Gardens in Oregon.

Local 305 President David Schmidt said workers contacted the union after organizing internally for nearly a year. The proposed unit would cover 21 facilities across nine cities and two states; a supermajority of the workers signed union authorization cards before Local 305 asked for an election.

“We are going after the whole ball of wax … but from what I’ve gathered over many discussions with them, the group seems very confident in sticking together as a whole,” Schmidt said.

Local 305 represents a similar though smaller group of workers at Riverview Abbey Funeral Home in Portland. Workers at Neptune Cremation in Happy Valley, one of Service Corporation International’s “Neptune Society” brand locations, organized with IBEW Local 89 last year.

On April 19, Service Corporation International asked the NLRB for more time to respond to Local 305’s election request because of the “extraordinary circumstances” of reviewing such a widespread group of worksites and workers.

The Teamsters Local 305 website is here.

Boycott Coors & Miller

The Coors family, executives, and stockholders are living the high life while refusing to negotiate a fair contract with workers who make the beer. Teamsters Local 997 in Fort Worth, the workers behind the Molson-Coors brand beverages and record profits, were forced onto the picket line Feb. 17 after the company refused to offer more than 99 cents an hour in new wages.

Support the Teamsters who are holding the line for a strong contract. Boycott Molson Coors until workers get the job protections and wage increases they deserve! Take part in a bit of history, renewed by Texas Teamsters, and join us in supporting the long-running Boycott!

Support the Boycott and circulate the flier, here!

Solidarity with Auto Workers and striking Teamsters and a great conference in Portland!

Since 2018, Daimler Truck has seen a 90% increase in profits while its workers have fallen further and further behind. Work by UAW members at Daimler factories, including Freightliner, Western Star Brand, and Thomas Built Bus is driving record company profits, but working at Daimler isn't what it used to be.

UAW members across the country are ready to stand up for a record contract at Daimler!

Join the Global Day of Solidarity to stand with UAW members doing what it takes to win Tuesday, April 23rd TBD! uaw.org/Daimler

The Coors family, executives, and stockholders are living the high life while refusing to negotiate a fair contract with workers who make the beer. Teamsters Local 997 in Fort Worth, the workers behind the Molson-Coors brand beverages and record profits, were forced onto the picket line Feb. 17 after the company refused to offer more than 99 cents an hour in new wages.

Support the Teamsters who are holding the line for a strong contract. Boycott Molson Coors until workers get the job protections and wage increases they deserve! Take part in a bit of history, renewed by Texas Teamsters, and join us in supporting the long-running Boycott!

Teamsters Local 223 members in Eugene kicked off a Day of Action by flyering customers and supermarkets about the Boycott. Here in Portland, members circulated flyers and promoted the Boycott at recent actions! Support the Boycott and circulate the flier, here!

Registration for the Labor Research Action Network Conference is now open!

The conference will run from Thursday June 20th 8am to Friday June 21st 5pm PDT.

The 2024 LRAN conference is co-hosted by the University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) and will be held at Portland State University. The theme of this year’s conference is “How labor can confront a rapidly changing landscape," and plenary sessions will focus on exciting efforts at strengthening and co-enforcing worker protection laws in Oregon and the rise of independent union organizing. Workshops and trainings will be held on a range of issues, including AI, climate jobs, and worker co-ops. The agenda will be available in April.

The early bird rate for admission is $130. The rate will go up to $150 on May 1st. Register here.

If you need a hotel room, there is a room block at the University Place Hotel & Conference Center Portland (union hotel). The rate is $114/night and includes breakfast. To book a room, call the hotel directly at 503-221-0140 and mention the LRAN conference.

The information above was taken from Portland Jobs with Justice. Please support them.

Some Leading Labor Movement News And Events: organizing, a boycott, attacks on civil rights, requests for solidarity, and union victories!

From Portland Jobs with Justice:

The monthly Early Ed social is happening this Friday, April 12th, on the heated back patio at Bye and Bye, 6:30 - 9pm. Get support and strategies from fellow early educators, about anything from working conditions to education!

Under 21 welcome until 8pm. Tell a friend.
Preschool teachers, nannies, sitters, any childcare workers - please stop by if you can! Solidarity means a lot to people working in a tough field.

Friday, April 12th from 6:30 - 9pm!
Bye and Bye (1011 NE Alberta St)
Contact: pdxccla@gmail.com / IG @pdxchildcarelaboralliance

Please join Postdocs at OHSU for a picket on April 16, gathering at Elizabeth Caruthers Park outside of OHSU CHH2 building. This marks the only day of mediation that OHSU is willing to schedule, despite that they have made no indication they are willing to invest in their postdoc researchers. Join us to call for justice for Postdocs!

Tuesday, April 16 from 12 - 2pm
Elizabeth Caruthers Park (outside of the OHSU Center for Health & Healing)

Radio Jornalera - Day Laborers & Oregon Migrant Community Launch Community Radio Station - Get involved!

On Friday, March 29, Viva Inclusive Migrant Network and NDLON (National Day Laborers Organizing Network) launched Oregon’s “Radio Jornalera” at Augustana Lutheran Church! The radio station in Portland will aim to promote migrant rights, workers rights, music, art, and culture through programs hosted by Day laborers, other members of the migrant community, and other social justice movements.

How you can help:

* Volunteer to support the radio show and expand the programming by adding your own show, too! Every Wednesday there will be a training on the boards.
* Are you skilled in content creation (banners, flyers) or setting up websites? Help the radio station with theirs.
* Do you have experience with setting up 501c3s, websites, and/or writing grants? Viva Inclusive Migrant Network is looking for help with setting up its nonprofit.
* Connect with Viva's community defense project, Defensa del barrio, to be ready to respond when there is wage theft or when there is a raid.
* Please tune in to the programming on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, which is currently Monday and Friday, 6pm.

Please email, call, text Francisco Aguirre at VIVA Inclusive Migrant Network at  francisco@oregonviva.org, 503-752-4882) about any of these opportunities.

Boycott Coors!

The Coors family, executives, and stockholders are living the high life while refusing to negotiate a fair contract with workers who make the beer. The workers behind the Molson-Coors brand beverages and record profits were forced onto the picket line Feb. 17 after the company refused to offer more than 99 cents an hour in new wages. Teamsters have renewed their long-running national boycott of the brand for it's anti-worker positions.

Until Molson Coors serves up a fair deal for hardworking Texas Teamsters in Fort Worth, join us in putting them on ice. Take part in a bit of history, renewed by Texas Teamsters, and join us in supporting the Boycott!

Teamsters Local 223 members in Eugene kicked off a Day of Action by flyering customers and supermarkets about the Boycott. Here in Portland, members circulated flyers and promoted the Boycott at recent actions! Support the Boycott and circulate the flier, here!

From Red Hot Worker Hits:

From Portside:

FEDERAL COURT STRIKES MAJOR BLOW TO BLACK VOTING RIGHTS

A federal district court’s order on Thursday allowing South Carolina to use a racially discriminatory congressional map for the 2024 election cycle is a gut punch to Black voters.

“For over a century, the NAACP has worked fervently to protect Black Americans’ access to the ballot box. Make no mistake — these discriminatory maps are a direct attempt to suppress Black voices ahead of a consequential election,” Brenda Murphy, the president of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement.

Without a fair map, it would be enormously difficult for Black voters to elect a representative who has their interests at heart and who would fight for them on issues ranging from education to criminal justice to health care. READ MORE HERE.

From Jacobin:

Ron Carey’s Lessons in Labor Movement Reform by STEVE EARLY RAND WILSON

Books about union presidents are usually penned by professional writers — either academic historians, labor journalists, or paid flacks. Past accounts of the life and work of labor organization chiefs like John L. Lewis, Walter Reuther, Jimmy Hoffa, or Cesar Chavez have run the gamut from hagiographic to constructively critical. Few have had a biographer whose view of their leadership role is rooted in firsthand experience as a blue-collar worker in the same industry and union.

Ken Reiman’s personal connection to the subject matter of Ron Carey and the Teamsters resulted from his long career as a UPS driver and activist in the local union that Carey led before becoming president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) in the 1990s. Reiman’s insights into the workplace culture and organizational politics of IBT Local 804 in Queens, New York, before, during, and after Carey’s presidency provide a rank-and-file perspective on the challenges of institutional change in organized labor over the past fifty years.

Carey’s story, as told by Reiman, contains many important lessons for younger union activists, whether they are Teamsters or involved in other unions. Organized labor today is in a state of very positive ferment. A reform movement in the United Auto Workers (UAW), modeled after Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), has had similar success winning direct election of top officers and using that system to oust old-guard officials. READ MORE HERE.

From IATSE:

Following three days of in-person negotiations, IATSE Local 871 reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on their craft-specific issues on Wednesday. Now seven of the 13 West Coast Studio Locals (80, 600, 695, 706, 729, 800 and 871) have reached tentative agreements with the AMPTP.

More information regarding these Local agreements will be provided to members by their Local Unions once Memorandums of Agreement have been formally drafted by the lawyers of both parties and submitted to the corresponding Local for approval. It’s important to note the process is not complete until the conclusion of Basic Agreement General Negotiations, which cover issues like wage increases, pension and health contributions, artificial intelligence (AI), job security and residuals. In other words, members should expect the Local agreements to be only part of the overall package to come in the General negotiations, which are expected to restart on April 29 and run through May 16. READ MORE HERE.

Dodger Stadium Tour Guides Vote to Unionize Join Local B-192

During a National Labor Relations Board election on Tuesday afternoon, a group of nearly 40 tour guides, tour leads and one plant data collector (a.k.a. the guide of the stadium’s “garden tour”) voted to join IATSE B-192, a growing Local that represents fellow tour guides at Universal Studios Hollywood and ushers at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. Workers are responsible for leading the wide array of tours that the stadium now offers — from basic stadium tours to pregame tours to Jackie Robinson and “Fernandomania” (devoted to Fernando Valenzuela) tours, with offerings in English, Spanish and Japanese — the tour guides work year-round.

Some Union Struggles & Union Wins In The Headlines This Week

 

Fairfax Connector bus service workers, members of ATU Local 689, 

are on the  12th day of their strike. Photo from

the Metro Washington Labor Council. 

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) reached a new 

milestone of 300,055 members in February!

AFGE voices support for a new piece of legislation that would prevent states

 witha history of voter discrimination from enacting new laws that would suppress

 the vote. This is the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Named in honor of the late Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon and member of

 Congress,the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act was introduced in the Senate

 by Sens. Dick Durbin and Raphael Warnock. The bill is needed because there have been 

efforts to erodevoting rights since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark

 law that removed race-based restrictions on voting such as literacy tests and poll taxes.

Text and graphic and photo from AFGE.

During a Thursday Austin (Texas) City Council meeting, a group of local Google

 workers who are members of Alphabet Workers Union-Communications Workers of 

America (AWU-CWA) Local 9009 learned they’d lost their jobs while commenting on

 a proposed city resolution intended to support their cause. Photo and text

from the AFL-CIO.

Go here for more information.

It looks like a Teamster win at Anheuser-Busch!

Solidarity needed now, a few learning opportunities, and some quick labor news

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. delivered the keynote address

at the University of Michigan’s Black Men in Unions Conference.

Read about it here.

Teamsters Local 223 & Eugene/Springfield Solidarity Network

stands in solidarity with Oregon Nurses Association! Photo from Tizoc

Arenas.

From a press release signed by Johnny Earl, SEIU 503 Higher Ed Bargaining Team Chair and
Custodial Coordinator, University of Oregon:

Here are some more ways you can help:

1. Send an email to the University Presidents asking them to settle a fair contract with classified workers and to tell management’s bargaining team to stop their hardball tactics at the negotiating table. (Click here for a list of the president’s email addresses.) If you have questions, please ask Len Norwitz at norwitzL@seiu503.org.

2. Attend one of the action the list below next week. If you can attend any of these, we would love to have your support. Please wear purple if you can, but if you can’t we’d still love to see you there. To RSVP or to get more information, email Len Norwitz at norwitzl@seiu503.org.

Come to Western Oregon University (Monmouth) on Thursday, February 22nd, from 11 am to 1 pm to help distribute flyers and have conversations with the campus community and students. And participate as we deliver our support petitions. Get oriented/meet at the Werner University Center on North Monmouth Ave.

Come to Portland State University (Portland) Smith Memorial Student Union on Wednesday, February 21st, from 9:30 to 11:30 am for an open campus strategic planning session hosted by President Ann Cudd.

Come to Oregon State University (Corvallis) McNary Dining Center on Friday, February 23rd, from 11 to 11:30 am and be a part of our delegation – “OSU cannot ignore us!” - to the Annual UHDS Soup-Challenge event that is open to the community.

Come to the University of Oregon (Eugene) EU Ampitheatre on Monday, February 26th, from noon to 1 pm and be a part of the gathering and delegation to the President’s office - “We will not be ignored”.

Southern Oregon University (Ashland) - 2/26 – Event info TBD

Oregon Institute of Technology (Klamath Falls) - 2/26 – Event info TBD

Eastern Oregon University (La Grande) - 2/26 – Event info TBD

We appreciate your continued support for our Higher Ed members and thank you in advance for seeing this through to a fair contract.

From Portland Jobs with Justice:

On Monday, the editorial staff of the Portland Mercury, The Stranger, EverOut Portland, Bold Type Tickets and across Index Media have announced they have joined together to form the Index Media Union, as members of the Pacific NW Newspaper Guild! JWJ was thrilled to hear about this new union at our most recent Steering Committee meeting, as all workers deserve a union! We strongly urge management at Index Media to voluntarily recognize the union in order to proceed swiftly to negotiating a fair first contract! You can find JWJ's letter of support, here!

Share their announcements over Instagram and Twitter, and give them a follow, too!

Please join the Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, JWJ's Portland Rising, and the SEIU-AFRAM Caucus for a special Black History Month Movie night! It will feature two short films and a special presentation moderated by Vinnie Blanco Jr.:

Travis Nelson, Representative, House District 44 will talk on health care inequities and efforts to create a new health care system, and

Sarina Roher, Secretary-Treasurer, Oregon AFL-CIO will talk on bargaining challenges for health care unions and the challenges of being a health care worker.

Thursday, February 29 from 7 - 9pm
SEIU Local 503 (525 NE Oregon St Portland OR 97232)
Masks encouraged!Join Coalition of Black Trade Unionists for great Black History Month programming all month, including the 2/15 Health Forum (on Zoom.) Find more at this link!

 

Get the truth and gain an understanding on AP African American studies here.

All of the members of the Georgia State Senate Democratic Caucus wore red bandanas last week in solidarity with CWA members who are leading the fight against an anti-union bill. The bill would make companies that respect their workers’ right to form unions through voluntary recognition ineligible for state economic incentives. (Photo and text from CWA)

My heart was troubled to learn this morning that Remington Arms is moving from New York to Georgia and that our United Mine Workers of America will be losing about 300 members as this move takes place. Perhaps Remington workers will go union in Georgia. 

Graphics from SEIU's Red Hot Worker help make our points

This is why we unionize. Be sure to follow us here at 

@unionproudwarrior to support all things pro worker and pro union.

 

CFA members will be on a system-wide strike in coalition with our 

Teamsters Local 2010 @ibtlocal2010 members January 22–26!

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees members "aren't going to just settle."

Matthew Loeb, President of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) told a labor gathering in Las Vegas the other day that IATSE is ready to strike should negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) not go well this Spring. The AMPTP describes itself as "the entertainment industry's official collective bargaining representative" and "negotiates 58 industry-wide collective bargaining agreements on behalf of hundreds of motion picture and television producers."

Brother Loeb said, "Nothing’s off the table, and we’re not going to give up our strength and our ability because they sapped us...Everybody’s bank account got sapped because they were unreasonable for months and months. My folks aren’t going to just settle.”

The entertainment industry may have been counting on IATSE members being "strike weary" after protracted entertainment industry strikes last year went on longer than expected despite drawing strong support from the labor movement and the public. In fact, IATSE had a pretty good 2023 and union and public solidarity helped make that so. Loeb and his advisors within the union have their fingers on the nation's pulse. “Folks are fed up. And I don’t know what to call it, if it’s a post-Covid wake of dissatisfaction, but people are ready to fight and the studios would be ill advised to think that they’ve weakened us to the point that we can’t,” Loeb has been quoted as saying.

These remarks came during a panel on AI that was part of the AFL-CIO's Labor Innovation & Technology Summit at the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas this week (see this also). There is much to say about AI from a union perspective, or perspectives. Loeb was clear in saying that “(T)he studios are on notice that this is a crucial issue for us and we’re going to fight very hard…We’re going to look closely at the deals that were already made and if we can draw from that....We have a pretty uphill climb in terms of making sure (our) people are safe and that they’re secure and protected." Loeb is framing part of the national debates on AI about jobs.

The Teamsters and the Writers Guild of America-West (WGA), unions with good relations with IATSE, seems to be taking a go-slow approach where AI is concerned. The President of  Teamsters Local 399 and the President of WGA-West understand that the employers that the three unions deal with together are concerned about negotiating union contracts that may negatively impact their ability to use AI in the future. On the one hand, then, the unions have the challenge of making the industry employers negotiate over something that most employers refuse to negotiate over---the use of technology---and, on the other hand, they're approaching contract bargaining with a high level of coordination, recent strike experience, and a willingness by IATSE to strike. It's reasonable to expect that the employer's concerns about the future of AI, competition, and the entertainment industry's economics will stiffen employer resistance to union demands. Meanwhile, there is significant public debate and concerns about AI that go beyond looking at AI solely through a union lens and some strong labor allies are staking out advanced positions on AI as well. Local 399 is using political action in California to take on the state's governor and the tech companies, and the local is using this as wedge to warn California Governor Newsom to not run again. Intended or not, this fight will impact union negotiations with AMPTP and will help affect public perceptions of AI.

Photo from Wikipedia

Disney seems to be playing defense as the unions are setting the ground for contentious negotiations. Paramount is in such a deep financial mess that it may merge with some greedy entertainment companies that seem more interested in acquisitions than entertainment. Overall employment in the entertainment industry seems to be down. Still, IATSE is willing to talk about striking and is taking an aggressive legal stand with a recalcitrant employer that probably sends a strong union message to industry employers. The union is not letting up on organizing in areas where how technology is used is contentious, pushing the point that unions can organize, go into major negotiations prepared to strike, and go into court to protect their members' interests in the same period.  

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of any of the organizations or individuals mentioned in the post or those of the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter..