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.
Film Forum Union Ratifies First Contract: “Unionized workers at the renowned New York cinema Film Forum have ratified their first contract, about a year after the group voted to unionize. An ‘overwhelming majority’ of the 45-member bargaining unit, including both full- and part-time staffers, voted to ratify the five-year agreement, the union said, declining to give exact numbers. The deal will go into effect on July 1, 2023, and will run through June 30, 2028. The union is allied with UAW Local 2110, which represents workers at museums, universities, publishers and other cultural institutions. In the film space, the union also represents workers at Anthology Film Archives.”
‘It’s About Respect’: Union Members at Encore Boston Harbor Vote to Authorize Strike: “Union workers at Encore Boston Harbor in Everett voted Wednesday to authorize a labor strike in a continued push to secure a new contract. More than 98% of Encore workers who are members of UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 voted in favor of a labor strike that will begin at midnight on June 30, according to a UNITE HERE spokesperson. The strike will impact an array of workers at the resort casino, including room attendants, cocktail servers, bar porters, cooks, dishwashers, public area cleaners, and drivers, the spokesperson said.”
Apple Engaged in 'Coercive' Interviews and Other Anti-Union Tactics at New York Store, Judge Rules: “Apple illegally subjected employees to ‘coercive’ interviews and interfered with the distribution of union leaflets at a New York City Apple Store, a U.S. labor board judge ruled Tuesday. The finding represents the first time that an administrative law judge at the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency, has ruled against Apple. But it is not the last word on the subject; Apple is free to appeal the ruling to the agency's full board or to federal appeals court.”
Nurse Staffing Bill Would Help Maine Patients: “That is why we are fighting for passage of LD 1639, sponsored by Sen. Stacy Brenner, a registered nurse, which would limit the number of patients nurses can be assigned during their shifts and provide protection to nurses who report unsafe care conditions. This legislation will protect patients and nurses. We know that safe staffing improves patient outcomes. A 2021 study reported that each additional patient per nurse increased the odds of hospital patient mortality by 12% in patients with sepsis. The Maine Quality Care Act would keep nurses at the bedside. When nurses know they will get an appropriate patient assignment that affords them the time to deliver the care that patients need, they will stay. Unsafe staffing drives nurses away.”
WGA Strike at Day 50: Major Hollywood Unions to Join Big L.A. March Tomorrow as Economic Impact Mounts: “The 50-day-old Writers Guild strike has now reached the halfway point of the guild’s 100-day strike of 2007-08, and tomorrow it will be one-third as long as the 153-day strike of 1988—the longest in the guild’s history. On Wednesday, the guild will suspend picketing for the day in Los Angeles to stage a ‘March and Rally for a Fair Contract,’ which kicks off at 10 a.m. at Pan Pacific Park and ends at the La Brea Tar Pits, where representatives from the WGA, SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild, IATSE, the Teamsters and the American Federation of Musicians will speak to striking writers and their supporters.”
AFL-CIO Backs Biden in Early 2024 Endorsement: “The nation’s top union organization, the AFL-CIO, endorsed President Biden’s reelection campaign on Friday, a major win for the president as he works to shore up support from big labor for his 2024 White House bid. The endorsement comes ahead of Biden rallying with union members on Saturday in Philadelphia. It is the earliest the AFL-CIO’s general board has ever voted to endorse in a presidential election, according to the union. ‘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.’”
AFT Backs Biden for Re-Election in Latest Union Endorsement: “The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second-largest teacher’s union in the country, endorsed President Biden and Vice President Harris for reelection Friday in another show of organized labor strength for the president. The AFT offered its endorsement of Biden on the same day the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest federation of unions in the country, did the same, reflecting a broader strategy to show support for Biden among organized labor.”
Actors’ Equity Joins Unions Endorsing Biden-Harris Second Presidential Term: “Actors’ Equity Association has joined with other unions of the AFL-CIO in endorsing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential campaign. ‘President Biden and Vice President Harris listened to Equity when our industry was in crisis, on issues like Covid relief and federal arts funding,’ said Kate Shindle, president of Actors’ Equity Association, said in announcing the union’s support for a second Biden-Harris term. ‘But four years of a pro-worker administration is simply not enough to put labor laws back on the side of workers, safeguard our democracy and our climate, address systemic racism, protect gender identity and bodily autonomy and so much more.’”
Spirit AeroSystems and Machinists Union Reach a Tentative 4-Year Contract: “Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. on Thursday presented a 4-year contract for approval by company workers in Wichita who are represented by Local Lodge 839 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM). Leaders of the IAM informed Spirit that they're recommending approval of the contract to its members. The tentative deal includes a 34% pay increase over four years, voluntary overtime on Sundays, job benefit increases, and a $7,500 ratification bonus. IAM said in a statement that they believe the contract is the result of negotiations ‘built on respect for employees and their families, their IAM representatives and Spirit's business.’”
Barnes & Noble Manhattan Flagship Store Workers Unionize with RWDSU: “With an overwhelming vote, workers at Barnes & Noble’s flagship Manhattan store, a multi-story emporium crammed to each ceiling with books, unionized with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. When certified as their rep, the union will represent 185 workers, and it said 97% of those casting ballots supported going union. It’s the third B&N store to go union this year, and there soon may be a fourth. On June 5, the National Labor Relations Board certified United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 had won the election at the B&N store in Hadley, Mass., 11-0. And the board’s regional office just set a June 29 election date, for RWDSU versus no union, among the 32 workers at B&N’s store on Seventh Ave. in Brooklyn. The other unionized store, and third with RWDSU, is the Barnes & Noble College Bookstore at Rutgers University in New Jersey. The college bookstore division is separate from the B&N chain.”
Museum of Science and Industry Workers Vote to Unionize: “Workers at the Museum of Science and Industry have voted to unionize. Museum of Science & Industry Workers United posted on Twitter calling it an incredible achievement for cultural workers and said they are calling on museum management to collaborate. In a statement, museum officials said: ‘We respect an employee's right to choose or decline union representation.’”
Mike Williams, a Transformative Labor Leader in Florida, Dies: “Mike Williams, the longtime president of the Florida AFL-CIO and a giant in the labor movement, died Saturday, June 17. AFL-CIO official Rich Templin said in a statement that Williams died from a water accident at his home in St. Marks, Florida. ‘Mike served as the federation’s President since 2009. He has been one of the most transformative labor leaders in Florida history and worked tirelessly to improve the lives of working families across the state, union and non-union alike,’ Templin said. Dan Reynolds, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Florida AFL-CIO said, ‘Mike Williams dedicated his life to the fight for justice and dignity for Florida’s workers. He was our leader and our friend, and his passing is a massive loss for our movement. We will dedicate ourselves to continue the fight for workers just as he would expect and will do everything we can to honor his incredible legacy of courage, dedication and service.’”