The Weekly Download

"The head of the United Auto Workers, which represents 150,000 U.S. hourly workers at General Motors (GM.N), Ford Motor (F.N) and Chrysler-parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI), said the union is not afraid to strike any of the automakers without a fair contract. ‘The Big Three is our strike target. And whether or not there's a strike, it's up to Ford, General Motors and Stellantis,’ UAW President Shawn Fain said Tuesday in online remarks…Talks with Detroit's Big Three automakers start on Thursday, ahead of the mid-September expiration of the current four-year labor deal. Up first is Stellantis, followed by Ford on Friday and GM on July 18."

"Hollywood actors are officially headed to the picket line. Unable to reach a deal with producers, members of The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will join up with more than 11,000 already striking film and television writers starting at midnight. The failed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers means film and television productions featuring actors will immediately halt, essentially shutting down Hollywood. It’ll be the first tandem strike in Hollywood since 1960."

"With the scribes’ strike now finishing its 71st day and the actors’ union just 30 hours from a possible labor action of its own, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are planning to dig in hard this fall before even entertaining the idea of more talks with the WGA, I’ve learned. ‘Not Halloween precisely, but late October, for sure, is the intention,’ says a top-tier producer close to the Carol Lombardini-run AMPTP."

"'Outside it smelled like burnt plastic, almost like trash,' said UAW member Cody Zaremba, who works at a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan. He and his co-workers were experiencing coughing, runny noses, watery eyes, and trouble breathing. But GM didn’t even acknowledge the smoke, Zaremba said, much less offer any protection."

"The clock is ticking on a contract between UPS and the union that represents roughly 340,000 of its employees, who have already voted to go on strike if they don’t have a new collective bargaining agreement in place by August 1."

"Through wet weather in Wichita, Kansas, and scorching heat in Austin, Texas, hundreds of nurses walked picket lines June 27 in a one-day strike for safe staffing and patient safety. Nearly 2,000 nurses represented by National Nurses United (NNU) walked out. They’re trying to get the company to bargain in good faith after winning union elections in the last year at the three struck locations: Ascension’s two campuses in Wichita and Austin’s huge Ascension Seton Medical Center, where 900 nurses work."

“A majority of workers at The Trevor Project, a widely-praised nonprofit dedicated to preventing suicide among LGBTQ youth, decided to come together this spring and unionize as Friends of Trevor United. About a month later, they celebrated when management at the nonprofit agreed to voluntarily recognize their union.”

“Workers at Sega of America, the North American branch of the Japanese company behind Sonic the Hedgehog, voted on Monday to form the first multi-departmental video game union in the U.S…The workers are based out of the company’s California offices in Irvine and Burbank, and their unit includes members of numerous departments, including Brand Marketing, Product Development, Sales, and Quality Assurance. Those offices are responsible for game development, marketing, and media streaming opportunities in the U.S. Workers have unionized as the ​​Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA (AEGIS-CWA), with the Communications Workers of America.”

"Nearly 80 percent of the St. Louis Public Radio Guild members voted in favor of union representation under the umbrella of Communication Workers of America. The vote took place months after management staff and the University of Missouri-St. Louis declined to recognize the union, with 75 percent signing its statement of interest, forcing them into the longer legal process."

“A host of alleged labor law violations at Starbucks cafes across the country is threatening to stymie a growing movement to oust the union some two years after an organizing wave hit the coffee giant. Workers so far have filed 10 petitions to decertify Starbucks Workers United at stores in six states where the union has been certified for more than a year—a requirement for seeking decertification where a contract hasn’t yet been reached. But labor lawyers say widespread accusations of union busting, combined with current National Labor Relations Board doctrine, will make it difficult for anyone to bring the matter to a vote. NLRB Regional Director Linda Leslie already has tossed two decertification petitions filed at stores in New York, one in Buffalo and Rochester, saying that allegations of illegal threats, reprisals, and discharge of union organizers ‘irrevocably taint the petition and any related election.’”

“Prosecutors at the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Trader Joe’s on Friday, accusing the grocer of retaliating against pro-union workers and making illegal threats. In the filing, a regional director for the federal labor board said that managers at a Massachusetts store punished workers who tried to wear union pins by ending their shifts, and told them they would lose out on raises and see their working conditions worsen if they unionized.”

“Today, the UAW releases ‘High Risk & Low Pay: A Case Study of Ultium Cells Lordstown,’ a white paper that highlights the dangerous working conditions at General Motors’ joint-venture battery cell plant in Lordstown, Ohio. It includes worker testimonials and health & safety research that show the urgent need to raise wages and safety standards in the EV battery industry. In December 2022, the workers who build electric vehicle batteries for Ultium Cells in Lordstown, Ohio, voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW.”

"Since ratifying a contract, academic workers at University of California, San Diego have faced what they say is an escalating retaliation campaign."

“Watch Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation with Alicia Modestino, Associate Professor at Northeastern University, and Elise Gould, Senior Economist at the Economic Policy Institute, as they discuss the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs, wages, and unemployment report for June 2023. This conversation was aired live on the homepage of the blog at 8:45 AM ET on Friday, July 7—just 15 minutes after the release of the report.”

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris spoke with Josh Eidelson and Dave Jamieson -- two of the biggest hitters in the world of labor reporting. The conversation covered the UPS-Teamsters negotiations, the role of the Supreme Court in advancing corporate attacks on worker power, and several other stories impacting labor and worker power today.”

“In our latest Workers by the Numbers blogcast with Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute and Alicia Modestino of Northeastern University and the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, the panel was unanimous that the Bureau of Labor Statistics' June jobs, unemployment, and wages report was 'good for workers.' Today, workers received more good news about their families' economic situations: their inflation-adjusted wages are continuing to rise.”

“Child care labor is physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing work. In light of these demographics, the early educator workforce needs jobs that provide them with the option to retire when they reach the appropriate age so they may live out their later years with dignity. At the same time, the sector needs career pathways to motivate entry into and retention of a younger generation of early childhood educators. Retirement benefits could help support those goals, as well.”

“The United States is undergoing a rapid shift away from fossil fuels as new battery factories, wind and solar projects, and other clean energy investments crop up across the country. An expansive climate law that Democrats passed last year could be even more effective than Biden administration officials had estimated at reducing fossil fuel emissions. While the transition is projected to create hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs, it could be devastating for many workers and counties that have relied on coal, oil and gas for their economic stability.”

"The Professional Fire Fighters Union of Indiana (PFFUI) has worked tirelessly to enact a new law in Indiana to monitor and help protect fire fighters from exposure to PFAS. 'Knowing what level of PFAS we have absorbed into our bodies is just the first step, but it is an important one. We hope this will lead to earlier and more frequent cancer screenings. If we can catch cancer early, we can save lives,' said PFFUI President Tony Murray. 'We especially want to thank Rep. Maureen Bauer for her dedication and hard work on this.'”

“Concessions that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters won from United Parcel Service Inc. promise to reshape the trucking business, even with the broader labor situation unsolved, and give organized labor a surer foothold at Amazon.com Inc. and other delivery firms that rely on contractors. Before negotiations collapsed on July 5, UPS agreed to end a two-tier wage system that the union says short changes part-time drivers who also do warehouse work, as well as outfit its delivery trucks with air conditioning for the first time. Because of the way collective bargaining works, it’s unlikely that those agreements would be revisited, strike or no strike.”

“AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement after Child Care Providers United (CCPU) reached a tentative contract agreement with the State of California: ‘This historic agreement will dramatically improve the lives of thousands of child care workers who do some of our most essential jobs. After months of standing together, CCPU members have won continued health care funding, historic pay increases and the first ever retirement fund for child care providers in this country. Not only does this agreement deliver long-overdue relief for the everyday heroes who teach and nurture California’s children, it also gives them the security and peace of mind to plan for their own futures. CCPU members have shown that real change is possible when workers speak with one voice in a strong union. All child care providers deserve the same seat at the table.’”

“Union Pacific railroad has reached a tentative deal with a major union regarding paid sick leave. The railroad and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers said that the deal reached over the weekend provides up to eight paid sick leave days to around 5,900 railroad employees. While all Union Pacific employees receive some form of paid leave, the proposed agreement will provide the union members an additional five paid sick days annually, prorated for 2023. Starting next year, they also will have the ability to convert up to three paid leave days for use as paid sick time.”

“A dissident group within the Amazon Labor Union filed a complaint in federal court Monday seeking to force the union to hold a leadership election. In its complaint, the reform caucus argues that the union and its president, Christian Smalls, illegally 'refuse to hold officer elections which should have been scheduled no later than March 2023.'"

“The recently announced agreement on a new contract for hotel workers at the downtown Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles was only one deal, but it mattered. It has raised hopes among union members for favorable outcomes with the nearly 60 other area hotels where they work — and where they have authorized summer strikes, including the new wave of walkouts that began in the early hours of July 10…But there is a larger reality at play in both Los Angeles and Orange County. The truth is that the cost of housing in the area has soared so far beyond the reach of most lower wage workers that only aggressive, sustained increases will enable them to live anywhere near where they work. And that sets the union on a crash course with hotel ownership groups for repeated, grinding negotiations. According to UNITE HERE, most of its hotel workers earn $20 to $25 per hour. The union is seeking an immediate $5 per hour raise, plus increases of $3 per hour each year over the next three years — a $14 per hour increase over four years. A coalition negotiating for 44 of the hotels says it has offered a $2.50 per hour immediate raise, and a $6.25 per hour increase over four years.”

“Construction workers have nearly twice the rate of substance abuse as the national average, and the rate of suicide for men and women working in construction is about four times higher than that of the general population. 'It’s about meeting people where they’re at,' (Aaron) Walsh said. 'Breaking down that stigma and the shame and the guilt of being an addict or having mental health issues is what we’re about – just supporting people where they are.'"

“Early in Barack Obama’s recent Netflix documentary series about American jobs, viewers meet a housekeeper at the Pierre Hotel in New York named Elba…I will admit that I was surprised: Elba earns about $4,000 a month, or roughly $50,000 a year. While modest, that income still allows for something approaching a middle-class lifestyle, especially when combined with the income her husband, Francisco, makes at his job in the Pierre Hotel’s cafeteria…Many other service workers earn far less. Full-time Starbucks baristas in New York City often earn less than $35,000 a year, while many Walmart employees make even less. Across New York City, the median household income is about $75,000 — which is less than Elba and Francisco make. How is it that they earn a living wage while so many other Americans do not? The biggest part of the answer is that Elba belongs to a labor union.”