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.
Women Need Julie Su as Our Next Labor Secretary. The Labor Movement Is Ready to Fight for Her: “We need leaders in Washington who understand that union difference—and who are committed to labor laws rooted in fairness, justice and equity. Julie Su is that kind of leader. She was confirmed by the Senate just two years ago for her role as deputy labor secretary and has done nothing but incredible work since as acting secretary of labor. Alongside Secretary Walsh, she has taken historic steps to support labor and workers: Driving through legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Protecting vulnerable workers. Strengthening support for those who are unemployed and freelance workers.”
Actors’ Equity and Broadway League Reach Tentative Agreement Over New Touring Contract: “Actors’ Equity has reached a tentative agreement with the Broadway League over a new touring contract. The deal comes after the union, which represents more than 51,000 stage managers and actors, had announced a strike threat against the Broadway League, which represents industry producers, presenters and general managers, on April 3, at which time a resolution seemed far off. The two parties had been negotiating since mid-January to create a new touring contract.”
How Philadelphia’s Local Unions Are Trying to Make Building Trades More Diverse: “Philadelphia’s building trades unions have tens of thousands of members, who have historically been overwhelmingly white and male. But labor leaders in the region are making efforts to increase the number of young women and people of color entering the trades, where they can pursue careers with ample opportunity and a tangible path toward middle-class income without a four-year degree and the debt that entails.”
Citing Violence, Bus Drivers Demand Better Security: “A union that represents transit workers said Thursday that two stabbings and a shooting have occurred on public buses in the past couple of weeks. In another recent case, a driver was verbally abused so badly that she had to go home. And instead of addressing the safety concerns, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada disciplined the driver for an attendance infraction, said Terry Richards, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1637. ‘We get spit at, we get stuff thrown at us, we get all kinds of things that happen to us,’ said Sandra Adams, the union’s vice president, who has been a bus driver for 12 years.”
Union Hotel Workers in New York Suburbs Score Biggest Pay Raise in 100 Year: “A New York hotel union has reached a deal with hotel owners and operators that will boost the wages of hospitality workers by $7.50 an hour, the largest increase in the union’s 100-year history. The agreement covers 7,000 members of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council who work at 87 suburban hotels spanning from Princeton, N.J., to New York’s Albany region and Long Island. The five-year pact has already been ratified by the employers and is expected to be ratified by workers this month, according to union President Rich Maroko.”
World Bank Cafeteria Workers Struggle to Afford Food or Rent, Union Says: “Many of the 140-plus workers preparing and serving meals for the World Bank, a D.C.-based international institution whose mission includes fighting poverty, struggle to afford rent or food, according to their union, UNITE HERE Local 23. The union contract for the World Bank cafeteria employees with the Compass Group expired at the end of January. Local 23 and the company are in the middle of contract negotiations, with the union hoping to secure a minimum wage of $20 per hour, says its president Marlene Patrick-Cooper. That would increase the pay floors for most job classifications, including food runners, baristas, and lower-level cooks, from what was in the previous contract. Local 23 did recently secure the $20 minimum wage in a new contract for Senate cafeteria workers—who are employed by a subsidiary of the Compass Group, Restaurant Associates.”
Thousands of Cub Foods Workers Ratify New 2-Year Contract: “Thousands of grocery store workers in Minnesota on Tuesday ratified a new two-year contract with Cub Foods' parent company, UNFI. Last Friday, a last-minute tentative agreement was made before about 3,000 union workers at 33 Cub Foods locations in the Twin Cities area were set to begin a strike. The workers had been working for a month without a contract. The union, UFCW Local 663, called the new contract a ‘historic win" for its members. ‘This is a union of people who sacrificed beyond imagination, to keep Minnesotans fed during the pandemic. It is no surprise, then, that these grocery workers were able to organize the most powerful contract campaign the Twin Cities grocery industry has seen in decades,’ UFCW Local 663 President Rena Wong said when the tentative agreement was made. ‘The bargaining committee believes that this tentative agreement respects, protects, and pays our members fairly. We look forward to sharing the agreement with the thousands of UFCW Local 663 members, and continuing to welcome new members who are working to organize their own workplaces.’”
UFCW Launches Picket as Contract Negotiations with Wilmington Nursing Home Stall: “The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 27 began picketing a Wilmington nursing home this week as contract negotiations drag on with new management. The three-year contract with workers at Kentmere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center expired in February, and negotiations for a new one are at an impasse. During the most recent bargaining session, management walked out on UFCW negotiators. The union's bargaining unit is currently working under an extension of the last contract. Spokespeople representing the roughly 60 UFCW members working at the facility claim new leadership—an administrator hired last year—hasn’t been prepared to answer questions during negotiations, and shop steward Luis Ortega says other sticking points remain, including fair wage concerns and a proposed contract clause the union argues would give management too much authority to set work rules without union input.”
Strike Authorization Vote Now Underway at Writers Guild, with Current Contract Due to Expire May 1: “The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) Board and Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) Council this week are conducting a strike authorization vote (SAV), which could authorize the organization to call a strike after the current Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) expires on May 1. Asking for a SAV is a step that unions take ‘to demonstrate resolve and support for the bargaining agenda, and to prepare for a possible strike, particularly in negotiations where critical issues are at stake,’ according to the guild’s website.”
What a Landmark Sweatshop Case Tells Us About Julie Su’s Approach to Labor: “In 1995, dozens of garment workers, most of them women, were freed from a California sweatshop. The lawyer who is now Biden’s nominee to head the Labor Department took their case. That lawyer, Julie Su, was nominated last month to head the U.S. Labor Department, tasked with enforcing laws involving workers, workplaces and labor unions. Jaknang, 64, described Su as a ‘kind and hard-working woman’ who empowered her to fight for justice at a vulnerable time. This early episode in Su’s career, supporters say, illustrates something important about Su: that the daughter of Chinese immigrants has cultivated a passion for advocating for the nation’s most vulnerable workers, including those who are low-wage, who are immigrants and whose English is limited.”
Rutgers University Faculty Members Are Striking Over a Contract Dispute: “Three faculty unions representing around 9,000 workers at Rutgers University, the state university of New Jersey, went on strike Monday morning. The three labor organizations—the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, which represents part-time lecturers; the AAUP-AFT, which represents full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and counselors; and the AAUP-BHSNJ, which represents faculty in the health and sciences departments—announced the strike on Sunday. It is the first time Rutgers University faculty has ever gone on strike throughout the institution's 250-year history, according to WHYY. The unions said they had been trying to renegotiate a contract for at least a year but that the university was blocking their attempts.”
Workers Behind the Scenes of Iowa’s Biggest Productions Seek ‘Voice, Power and Protection’ Through Unions: “Following a unanimous vote of 13 in favor, and with support from management, the Englert Theatre’s stagehands are in the process of joining IATSE. ‘We started making a concerted effort a year ago; we signed authorization cards in the summer and the union approached the theater at the end of August to let them know that we were seeking representation,’ said Justin Comer, a production technician at the Englert who also delivers copies of Little Village.”
AFSCME Highlights Voices from 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike, Says Issues Persist Today: “A new podcast from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees tells the story of the strike. The 'I AM Story' recognizes the legacy of strikers from AFSCME Local 1733, who marked their protest with signs reading ‘I AM A MAN.’ The podcast also honors the role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a key supporter of the movement, who was assassinated while in Memphis to help the striking workers. AFSCME, a union that represents 1.4 million public service workers, still includes sanitation workers today. The five-episode series, which features interviews with workers who led the strike, is meant to connect the civil rights struggles of the era with today’s labor and racial justice movement. AFSCME President Lee Saunders talked with Waste Dive about the legacy of the 1968 strike and how the waste industry can apply its lessons to today’s operations. The industry has made major health and safety gains in the 55 years since the strike, he said, but racial inequities—as well as pay and safety issues—are still concerns for workers in unions across the country.”
Black Unemployment Rate Hits Record Low 5 Percent: “‘This is a victory,’ said William Spriggs, chief economist for the AFL-CIO and a professor at Howard University. ‘It’s not only that Black unemployment is low. It’s also that, for the first time, a higher share of Black people are working than White people.’”