The Weekly Download

“Nearly six weeks into its historic strike against the Big Three U.S. car manufacturers, the United Auto Workers late Wednesday announced a tentative contract deal with Ford that includes significant wage increases and cost-of-living adjustments that were scrapped during the 2008 financial crisis. In a statement, the UAW's leadership said the gains achieved in the deal amount to four times what workers received in the 2019 contract that recently expired. Ford's original proposal for a new contract included wage increases of just 9% while the union demanded a 46% boost, pointing to the automakers' surging profits over the past decade.”

“SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are back at the table today for more talks to resolve the actors strike that has been going on for over 100 days…Crabtree-Ireland made a quick stop to Paramount where the union was hosting the Hip Hop Alliance and its co-founder Kurtis Blow before heading back over to the guild’s Wilshire Boulevard offices for talks with the likes of Carol Lombardini, Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCU’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav.”

“Thousands of hotel workers marched through downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 25, protesting “poverty wages” and the use of unhoused migrants to replace striking hospitality employees as the labor unrest nears its four-month mark. Unite Here Local 11, which represents the 15,000 employees involved in the walkout, said the most recent contract proposal from the hotels’ Coordinated Bargaining Group falls short.”

“Thousands of workers across industries are going on strike. From Dunkin’ workers to Hollywood actors and screenwriters, the American labor movement has reached a boiling point. Labor attorneys and workers’ rights advocates say the country’s growing inequities and rising cost of living are the driving forces behind the movement that continues to build momentum.”

“In a major escalation of its six-week strike at the three large U.S. automakers, the United Automobile Workers union on Monday told 6,800 workers at a large Ram pickup truck plant in Michigan to walk off the job. Union workers at the Sterling Heights plant, which is owned by Stellantis, the parent of Ram, Chrysler and Jeep, joined the strike on Monday morning. Shutting down production at the plant, the largest Stellantis factory in the United States, suggests there are still big gaps in contract negotiations between the automakers and the U.A.W., which is seeking raises of 40 percent over four years, better retirement benefits and other changes.”

“On Monday morning, over 1,300 unionized health care workers employed by PeaceHealth Southwest and PeaceHealth St. John in Washington State walked out of their workplace to commence a five-day unfair labor practice strike in protest of low wages, chronic understaffing and management’s canceling of bargaining sessions. They are represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) and consist of workers in the tech, service and maintenance, and lab professional units.”

“Climate change is fueling record high temperatures, and the number of workers who die from heat exposure has doubled since the early 1990s. More than 600 people died on the job from heat between 2005 and 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics…Federal regulators call these numbers “vast underestimates”, because the health effects of heat, the deadliest form of extreme weather, are infamously hard to track…Yet there are almost no regulations at the local, state or federal levels across the United States to protect workers.”

“Thousands of hotel workers fighting for new union contracts rallied on the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday evening, halting rush-hour traffic before dozens were arrested for sitting in the street. The stepped-up labor unrest aimed to draw attention to negotiations with three major casino companies…The Culinary Workers Union overwhelmingly voted last month to authorize a strike if they don’t soon reach agreements with MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts.”

“One of the largest non-nurse health care strikes in Pacific Northwest history began at 6:30 a.m. this morning, shedding light on skilled workers who often get overlooked. We’re demanding that PeaceHealth, a Jesuit-run health system, raise wages and fix critically short staffing—two issues that are closely related. The strikers are 1,300 workers at two hospitals in southwest Washington: PeaceHealth Southwest in Vancouver, and PeaceHealth St. John in nearby Longview.”

“When George Lucas first created Star Wars, he used non-union workers to make the visual effects-heavy film quickly. But decades later, visual effects (VFX) workers are still non-union, leading to rampant abuse and turnover across the industry. VFX workers are often some of the only workers on set without union protections. That’s finally about to change. VFX workers at Disney and Marvel just voted to unionize with the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE), becoming the first in the U.S. to do so in the industry’s history.”

“An overwhelming majority of non-managerial employees of Wisconsin Watch, an award-winning, nonprofit newsroom, announced Monday they had organized as the Wisconsin Watch Union.”

“Tens of thousands of people who work for Toyota in Kentucky, Mercedes-Benz in Alabama or Tesla in Texas are technically not involved in the high-stakes negotiations taking place between labor and management in and around Detroit. But they are very much a presence. Executives at Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler, invoke nonunion automakers, many of them in the South, as a competitive threat that makes it impossible for them to meet striking workers’ demands for big raises, more generous benefits and better working conditions.”

“About half of Americans define themselves as ‘middle class’ or ‘upper-middle class.’ But what does ‘middle class’ mean in America?  And equally important, what does the ‘middle class’ mean for America? For most, self-identification as ‘middle class’ is an assessment of family income. If you think your income is roughly in the middle of most Americans’ incomes, you likely would describe yourself as ‘middle class.’  Yet, middle-class status means something much more fundamental and only partly economic. At its core, to be ‘middle class’ in America means to have stability.”

“There are roughly 10,000 call center workers employed by Maximus and its subcontractors, spread out across 12 centers in eight states, who handle over 35 million calls from Americans insured by Medicare and Affordable Care Act (ACA) customers each year. Last fall, Maximus secured a nine-year, $6.6B contract to continue handling Medicare and ACA calls for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — work it has done since acquiring call center operations from General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) in 2018…It’s lucrative business for Maximus, a Fortune 1000 company that reported $1.19 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2023 alone…Meanwhile, workers say they have few protections from abusive callers, no breaks between calls, and bathroom breaks that are limited to six minutes daily.”

“The United Auto Workers strike against the Big 3 Automakers -- General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Stellantis -- has been underway for more than one month. We have analyzed the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike here on the Power at Work Blog several times, including two blogcasts with UAW front-line leaders, a discussion with labor experts, and clips of several television appearances by Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris. The start of the second month of this historic Stand Up Strike creates an opportunity for us to connect current issues in this bargaining relationship to previous negotiations.”

“When Shawn Fain sought the presidency of the United Automobile Workers union last year, he ran on a platform that promised: ‘No corruption. No concessions. No tiers’…The first fruits of that approach may have emerged Wednesday, when negotiators for the union and Ford agreed on terms for a new four-year contract, including a wage increase of roughly 25 percent over the four years, according to the union.”

“Southwest Airlines(LUV.N) said on Wednesday it has reached a tentative agreement with the Transport Workers Union Local 556, representing nearly 19,000 flight attendants, making it the first major U.S. airline to strike such a deal. The union would communicate details about the agreement and the voting timeline directly to its members, the company said. Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents Southwest's flight attendants, has said its members have not received a pay raise in the last four years.”

“Just before midnight on Sunday night, 1,100 UAW members who make tanks and armored vehicles for General Dynamics reached a tentative agreement with the company. The workers are members of five UAW Locals across three UAW Regions: Lima, OH (Region 2B, Locals 2075 & 2147); Sterling Heights, MI (Region 1, Locals 412 & 1248), and Scranton, PA (Region 9, Local 1193).”

“Unite Here Local 11, the union representing hotel workers in Southern California who have been striking on and off for nearly four months, said it has reached a tentative agreement with Loews Hollywood. The deal came as workers at five properties scattered across Pasadena, Long Beach, San Pedro and Dana Point walked off the job Monday, kicking off the latest burst of strikes. The work stoppage was planned after a bargaining session on Thursday went poorly, union spokesperson Maria Hernandez said.”

“One striking feature of the current labor resurgence is a trend for greater openness during national contract negotiations. This year the Auto Workers (UAW) at the Big 3 and Teamsters at UPS have provided members with detailed information about their bargaining proposals. But the Letter Carriers (NALC) has yet to embrace this modern approach. The union is still clinging to the outdated practice of closed-door negotiations.”

“CSX and another division of union members with the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen have ratified a sick leave agreement. This agreement covers approximately 200 employees working on CSX’s Louisville & Nashville (L&N) property.”

“In the early 1900s, Ford Motor Company commanded strong loyalty from Detroit’s black workers. But the United Auto Workers broke Ford’s stranglehold through patient organizing, cementing an alliance that would bear fruit for decades.”