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.
More Than 250 Business Leaders Back Julie Su for Labor Secretary as Nomination Hangs in the Balance: “More than 250 business leaders are urging the Senate to confirm acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to helm the department, according to a letter obtained by CNBC. If confirmed, Su would be the first Asian American and Pacific Islander Cabinet secretary in the Biden administration. She would join Cabinet-level AAPI officials Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and Arati Prabhakar, Office of Science and Technology policy director. Su also has the backing of labor unions including the United Mine Workers, NABTU, LiUNA, the IBEW and AFL-CIO, as well as the Small Business Majority to the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.”
Striking Writers Are on the Front Line of a Battle Between AI and Workers: “‘We basically came to the table and said ‘scripts are written by writers and writers are people’ and they came back with the dystopian proposal of ‘well, what if they weren’t,’ Josh Gondelman, a TV comedy writer and a member of WGA East Council, told Motherboard at Wednesday's protest (VICE union workers are WGAE members). Rather than opening up a discussion about how AI can be integrated into the industry and what protections for writers need to be in place once that happens, Gondelman said the AMPTP’s reaction was, ‘Just, once a year we’ll update you with how many of you we’ve replaced with machines.’ Many writers at the strike emphasized that their stance isn’t anti-AI as a whole, but pro-regulation in order to support working people. ‘Technology is changing very fast, the writers are aware of that, we know that AI is a thing and will probably be a tool that’s used in the future and all we want to do is make sure that’s fairly regulated,’ Sasha Stewart, a TV writer, comedian, and WGA East Council member told Motherboard. ‘We want to make sure that at the end of the day, a script is written by a human being, and that human being is a writer’s guild member.’”
Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Musicians Reach Agreement After Years of Negotiations: “After three years of waging a heated and public debate, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and its 64 union musicians jointly announced a collective bargaining agreement on Thursday. A significant sticking point had been the number of concerts performed, per season. The musicians wanted 10, the symphony said five. They agreed to eight. Violinist and local American Federation of Musicians President Beth Welty said both sides had to compromise. The standoff had been going on too long. ‘I think had we kept being at loggerheads—if it's gonna kill the orchestra what's the point?’ she said. ‘Better to sacrifice a couple of concerts now in the hopes we're gonna rebuild to [be] even better later.’”
Rhode Island House Passes Domestic Worker Minimum Wage: “The Rhode Island House of Representatives today passed a bill by Rep. Leonela Felix to ensure domestic workers are paid at least the state’s minimum wage. For most workers, Rhode Island’s minimum wage is currently $13 per hour and on track to reach $15 by 2025. But for domestic workers, most of whom are women and people of color, the minimum wage is less than half that, at just $7.25. ‘Since this nation’s founding, workers have been coming together to organize and advocate for better conditions,’ said Patrick Crowley, secretary treasurer for the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. ‘We have won many important victories improving working conditions, but too often jobs primarily done by women, immigrants and people of color have been excluded from these gains. This bill is an important step in rectifying past wrongs that will benefit the almost 1,500 Rhode Islanders working in domestic service.’”
‘Unconscionable’: Uncle Sam Spends Just $3.99 on Job Safety as Black and Latino Worker Deaths Soar: “‘The true impact of COVID-19 infections due to workplace exposures is unknown,’ the AFL-CIO asserted. ‘Limited data show that more than 1.5 million nursing home workers have been infected.’ ‘Every American should be alarmed and outraged by the tragic data unearthed in this report,’ said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. ‘It is unconscionable that in the wealthiest nation in the world, Black and Latino workers are facing the highest on-the-job fatality rates in nearly two decades. This report is more than a wake-up call, it is a call to action. No one should have to risk their lives for their livelihoods. There is no corporate cost-benefit analysis that should put human life and worker safety on the wrong side of the ledger.’”
Every Pennsylvania Worker Deserves Strong Workplace Safety Protections: “The National AFL-CIO’s 2019 Death on the Job Report shows that state and local public-sector employees are 64% more likely to be injured on the job than private-sector workers. Public sector workers face higher rates of workplace violence in comparison to workers in the private sector, with an incidence rate 745% higher for state employees and 535% higher for local government workers.”
Writers Strike: Other Guilds Pledge Support for WGA on Day 1: “Here’s what the AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, who leads the country’s largest federation of unions, said Tuesday: The 12.5 million members of the AFL-CIO stand in strong solidarity with members of the WGAE and the WGAW who went on strike this morning to fight for a fair contract that recognizes the tremendous value these writers bring to the entertainment industry. Writers are the lifeblood of film, television and other entertainment, and they deserve a fair contract that ensures these vital jobs pay family-supporting wages and include decent benefits like health care and retirement. Producers make billions in profits off the words that bring the magic of film and television to life for audiences in the United States and around the world. It’s deeply disappointing that Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) isn’t bargaining in good faith to deliver a fair contract. We call on the producers to immediately reach an agreement with the WGAE and the WGAW that respects the vital work the writers do to entertain millions of people every single day.”
Why Julie Su’s Nomination as Secretary of Labor Matters to Asian Pacific Americans and Beyond: “As an Asian-Pacific American, I’m filled with pride to support Julie Su as Secretary of Labor. Julie Su is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Her mother came to the United States on a cargo ship because she couldn’t afford a passenger ticket, her parents later built a small laundromat business and raised a daughter who became a worker’s advocate and civil rights leader. Su’s unwavering dedication to confronting corporate greed and championing workers’ rights is genuinely inspiring.”
Nearly a Third of Nurses Nationwide Say They Are Likely to Leave the Profession: “Unions representing nurses have long warned about the problem facing the profession, said National Nurses United President Deborah Burger and President of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW Jane Hopkins. Both women are also RNs. National Nurses United has issued a number of its own reports and surveys about the current state of the profession, which have come to similar conclusions to the AMN survey. The union has lobbied Congress hard to pass legislation that address staffing ratios and improve workplace safety provisions.”
The Fight for Justice Is a Global One: “That tradition of solidarity lives on, and today, more than 100 countries celebrate the first day of May as International Workers’ Day. Working people and their unions around the world take action to show that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. It is an opportunity for workers in the United States to recommit ourselves to solidarity among all working people. And a reminder that we can only vanquish oppression in all its forms when we stand together and speak out and march forward for the economic rights and dignities that all working people deserve.”
Hollywood Hit with Writers Strike After Talks with AMPTP Fail; Guild Slams Studios for ‘Gig Economy’ Mentality: “The Writers Guild of America is on strike. News of the strike, which takes effect in a few hours, came late Monday after the guild’s negotiations with the AMPTP failed to reach an agreement on a new film and scripted TV contract. It’s the WGA’s first strike since the 100-day walkout of 2007-08. Less than an hour after talks with the studios ended and over three hours before their current contract officially expires, the guild made the labor action announcement public: Following the unanimous recommendation of the WGA Negotiating Committee, the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Council of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), acting upon the authority granted to them by their memberships, have voted unanimously to call a strike, effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.”
AFL-CIO’s Liz Shuler Calls GOP Demands an ‘Affront to Working People’: “AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler is describing the GOP demands to undo the progress made by the Biden administration in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling as an ‘affront to working people’ and she has branded those demands as a complete cave-in by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to the radical right in his party. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler was blunt about the bill’s impact, criticizing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who pushed the legislation through at the behest of his radical right Freedom Caucus, the 40-lawmaker tail that wags the Republican House dog. ‘House @SpeakerMcCarthy’s default debt ceiling plan is an affront to working people,’ Shuler tweeted at 3:16 pm, just before the vote. ‘The AFL-CIO is strongly urging Congress to reject this plan to careen our nation into default, which would tank the economy and put millions of workers at risk. The Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 poses an imminent threat to the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of Americans, life-supporting benefits, and programs for veterans, seniors, children, and low-income.’”
Shuler on Deaths on the Job: ‘This Report Should Not Have to Exist’: “Flourishing a copy of this year’s AFL-CIO Deaths On The Job report, a very moved federation President Liz Shuler had a blunt message for the nation’s errant employers: ‘This report should not have to exist…These pages should be blank.’ She had good reason to say so. Shuler joined a large crowd in the U.S. Labor Department’s main auditorium to honor the 5,190 workers killed on the job in calendar 2021, the latest federal data available, and the data the AFL-CIO uses for its annual report.”