Kenneth Quinnell

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Pedro Olguin of OPEIU Local 11.

The NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003) calls on The New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien, its publisher A.G. Sulzberger and managers to stop union-busting through the farce of “subcontracting” to itself. These union-busting actions are clearly an attempt to undercut the hard-fought contract protections won this year by The New York Times Guild. Management claims that The Times will continue to write about sports, but the writers and editors who have been covering sports for The Times for decades are being scattered around the company with little to no guidance. We, the readers, deserve better.

Nearly 4,000 Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland health care workers overwhelmingly voted to approve an unfair labor practice strike at Kaiser Permanente. The workers, members of Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 2, say that Kaiser’s refusal to acknowledge understaffing is driving a growing crisis in patient care. They voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike by 98% if an agreement isn’t reached by Sept. 30. 

Approximately 150 workers at six locations of Seattle-based sandwich maker Homegrown went on strike Thursday over contract negotiations. The workers say the company offers unaffordable health insurance and provides no employment guarantee to workers in case the company is sold. The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 8.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of minor leaguers officially joining the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). The eventful year was highlighted by the minor league players’ achieving their first collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA significantly improved the daily lives of more than 5,000 ballplayers and their families, providing for them better salaries; health benefits; housing; transportation; workplace safety; free agency; name, image and likeness rights; and a prohibition on job cuts through contraction during the course of the CBA. Minor leaguers also have procedures in place to resolve issues that arise with their clubs, including due process in disciplinary matters.