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.
Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Vows to Continue Fight for Equitable Opportunity: “In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions today in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill striking down affirmative action programs in higher education, Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO (WSLC) President April Sims and Secretary Treasurer Cherika Carter released the following statement:
‘Once more, a radical right-wing majority seeks to undo decades of precedent in favor of conservative ideology. The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, has consistently supported affirmative action policies and considers them to be an important tool in our ongoing equity work. While the court’s decision is unfortunate, the WSLC will not stop working to ensure equitable opportunity for all. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler released the following statement:
“America’s unions are deeply disappointed by today’s decision from the Supreme Court to reverse the longstanding precedent of affirmative action in college admissions. With this decision, universities no longer may use race as one of the criteria in admissions decisions, despite the value diversity in the student body demonstrably adds to the educational experience of all students and our communities. Other race-neutral measures fall short of the goal of increasing student body diversity—and this court now strikes a substantial blow to the ongoing fight for racial equity and economic justice.”’”
‘Biden Is Making Good on His Promises’: “Hundreds of union delegates representing the unions that comprise the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council are gathering this week at the Seattle Convention Center for the organization’s 65th annual convention. The trade unions are celebrating the good construction jobs created in every corner of Washington state thanks to renewed federal infrastructure investments under the Biden administration.”
Unionized Hotel Workers Reach Deal With Biggest Employer on Eve of July 4 Weekend and Planned Strike: “As Los Angeles braces for the largest U.S. hotel worker strike in recent memory, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles announced that it had reached a tentative deal for higher pay and benefits Wednesday evening with the union representing its employees…. They are seeking higher pay, which might allow them to live in more expensive areas closer to their jobs, as well as improved benefits and working conditions. The Bonaventure deal is the first among many that will be needed to avert the planned strike. According to UNITE HERE Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen, workers are slated to ratify the deal in the coming days, and the agreement will set a standard for other hotels in the region.”
WGA Pickets Come to D.C.: Members and Supporters Demonstrate at Disney’s/Marvel’s ‘Captain America’ Shoot: “Writers Guild of America (WGA) members and supporters brought their pickets to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, this time to demonstrate at a location for the next Captain America movie. About two dozen started picketing in the late afternoon about a block away from the White House, near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th Street.”
More Violent Workplaces: California Calls for Stricter Protections: “S. 553 is modeled on rules instituted in California in 2017 for the health care industry, and the bill has the support of influential worker advocacy organizations such as AFSCME. Nationally, 11 states have enacted similar laws requiring health care businesses to establish a violence prevention plan or program. An analysis of federal data shows that the number of health care sector–related workplace violence citations in California has sharply dropped since reaching a high in 2019.”
Unions, Including Culinary, Reach Deal to Organize Venetian, Palazzo Workers: “A decades-long standoff between Las Vegas’ largest unions and the Venetian and Palazzo ended Tuesday with the announcement that operators of the Strip properties would stand aside and allow the labor groups to organize the properties’ nongaming workforce. The joint announcement from Culinary Workers Union (CWU) Local 226, Bartenders Union Local 165, Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 501 and Teamsters Local 986 comes some 16 months after the Las Vegas Corp. sold the two resorts and the Venetian Expo for $6.25 billion to private equity firm Apollo Global Management and real estate investment trust VICI Properties. Apollo manages the two resorts under an agreement with VICI, the properties’ landlord.”
Storm King Labor Union Receives Management Recognition: “Workers at Storm King Art Center have successfully organized after management at the outdoor sculpture park recognized the new union, bringing to an end a lengthy process that spanned seven months and included two elections for two separate bargaining units. The 68 employees of the Storm King labor union will now be part of the Civil Service Employees Association Local 1000, the largest affiliate union of AFSCME.”
Strike at Lunds & Byerlys Averted With Tentative Contract Agreement: “Union workers have hammered out a tentative contract agreement with Lunds & Byerlys, averting a three-day strike that could have significantly impacted the upscale grocery chain. Representatives for United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 663 said the two-year deal, reached late Monday night, provides significant raises for both full-time and part-time positions by the fall of 2024 and secures worker-driven health care, which was a major sticking point.”
Ascension Seton Nurses Plan Largest RN Strike in Texas History: “Ascension Seton nurses are currently preparing for a historic nurses’ strike. On Monday, dozens of nurses gathered to make posters and picket signs ahead of their walkout planned for Tuesday outside of Ascension Seton Medical Center.”
AFL-CIO Endorses President Joe Biden for Reelection: “The AFL-CIO has endorsed President Biden’s reelection campaign in a major win for the president as he works to shore up labor support for his 2024 White House bid. The general board of AFL-CIO voted June 16 to endorse Biden and Vice President Harris—the earliest the AFL-CIO has ever voted to endorse in a presidential election. Biden rallied with union members June 17 in Philadelphia. ‘There’s absolutely no question that Joe Biden is the most pro-union president in our lifetimes,’ AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. ‘From bringing manufacturing jobs home to America to protecting our pensions and making historic investments in infrastructure, clean energy and education, we’ve never seen a president work so tirelessly to rebuild our economy from the bottom up and middle out.’”
Senate Labor Panel Passes PRO Act on Party-Line Vote: “By an 11–10 party-line vote—Democrats and independent Bernie Sanders for, all Republicans against—the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The measure has long been organized labor’s number one priority and would help level the playing field between workers and bosses in union organizing and workers’ rights while imposing higher fines on corporate labor law breakers. In a congratulatory tweet, the AFL-CIO declared, ‘Today, three crucial pro-worker bills passed the Senate HELP Committee! The PRO Act, Healthy Families Act and Paycheck Fairness Act will establish a long-overdue standard of fairness in every workplace and deliver the dignity and respect that all workers deserve.’”
Local Union Rejects Contract Offer From Schnucks, Authorizes Strike ‘Should It Become Necessary’: “UFCW Local Union 88—which represents more than 1,000 Schnucks Markets Inc., workers across Missouri and Illinois—on Thursday said its members ‘overwhelmingly’ voted to reject a contract offer from the St. Louis–based grocer. The local union said it has authorized leadership to call for a strike should it become necessary.”
Workers at Wilmington Nursing Facility Reach New Contract After Months of Tense Negotiations: “UFCW Local 27 Representative Jeffrey Hedrick says the new contract conditions include protections for workers with seniority; a quarter of the staff have worked at the facility for more than 10 years. ‘We did get some agreement that meant workers who had been there for a period of time—with seniority—would not be making less money than the new workers,’ he said. After unanimously ratifying the new contract on June 16, UFCW Local 27’s membership also voted to add the facility’s licensed practical nurses to the union; whether those nurses will fall under the newly negotiated contract or a separate contract is still undetermined.