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.
SAG-AFTRA Calls Strike Against Major Video Game Companies After Nearly 2 Years Of Contract Talks: “SAG-AFTRA is going on strike again. This time, the union is calling a work stoppage against the major video game companies after nearly two years of trying to renegotiate its Interactive Media Agreement. The decision to hit the picket lines comes 10 months after the union’s initial strike authorization vote. The strike goes into effect July 26 at 12:01 a.m. The 10 companies facing the strike are Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Epic Games, Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc.”
Cincinnati Metro, ATU Local 627 Agree to New Three-Year Labor Contract: “Cincinnati Metro and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 627 have successfully negotiated and approved a new three-year labor contract. The new agreement offers increased wages and benefits for Cincinnati Metro's dedicated fixed-route union staff, which includes bus operators, maintenance workers and associated support staff. ‘[Cincinnati] Metro’s operators and mechanics are the backbone of our system, which serves the community every day,’ said Darryl Haley, general manager and CEO of Cincinnati Metro. ‘This new contract recognizes the dedication and hard work of our team members and helps continued efforts to attract the very best as we build our talent in this fiercely competitive labor market.’”
Essential Clinic and Hospital Providers Vote to Unionize Across Northeast Minnesota: “More than 400 nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other clinicians in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin voted to unionize in an effort to gain leverage over how they practice medicine at their Essentia Health clinics and hospitals. The Minnesota Nurses Association announced Monday night that the group voted overwhelmingly to join its union. Essentia countered with plans to appeal a federal labor ruling and possibly undercut the entire organizing movement. ‘We will and often do have to sacrifice ourselves and our families to care for those that have placed their lives in our hands,’ said nurse practitioner Eric Griffith, who accused his health system of preying on providers' compassion by forcing them to care for more patients with less time and resources. ‘It is time to tell Essentia that enough is enough.’”
Disneyland, Employees Avert Strike with Tentative Contract Deal: “Disneyland and its employees said they had reached a tentative contract deal, averting what could have been the first major work stoppage at the Anaheim theme park in 40 years. Members of the Master Services Council—an alliance of unions representing custodians, ride operators, candy makers, merchandise clerks and other Disneyland employees—on Friday voted 99% in support of a walkout. On Wednesday, the unions’ bargaining committee said it had reached an agreement with Walt Disney Co.”
AFL-CIO Unanimously Endorses Kamala Harris for President: “Following a vote of its Executive Council, which represents 60 unions and 12.5 million workers, yesterday the AFL-CIO unanimously endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 election. ‘From day one, Vice President Kamala Harris has been a true partner in leading the most pro-labor administration in history,’ said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.”
For the First Time Since It Was Founded in 1870, The Salt Lake Tribune Has a Union: “With overwhelming support across the newsroom, leadership at The Salt Lake Tribune agreed to voluntarily accept the petition from the Salt Lake News Guild to form a union, marking the first time in the publication’s 154-year history that employees will be unionized. ‘This is a watershed moment for The Tribune and its employees,’ members of the guild organizing committee said. ‘As a nonprofit newsroom, our first commitment is to informing our community. The journalists and production team are the lifeblood of The Tribune and there is no question that readers will benefit when we are organized and our work is respected and valued.’”
Unions Applaud ‘Most Pro-Union President in History’ Following Biden’s Decision to End Campaign: “A bevy of federal labor leaders on Sunday expressed gratitude for President Biden’s career of public service in defense of the federal workforce in the hours following Biden’s announcement that he will bow out of the 2024 presidential campaign. Dogged by concerns about his continued fitness for office for another four years, fueled by a calamitous presidential debate performance last month, Biden said that he would continue to serve until his term ends next January. He quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him, and she appears to be the presumptive nominee, as the Democratic party quickly rallied around her Monday.”
New AFL-CIO Guide Shows How Trump Agenda Would Be 'Catastrophic' for Workers: “‘In his first term as president, Donald Trump was a disaster for workers and our unions, governing exclusively for the wealthy and well-connected,’ AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement Thursday. ‘The Trump Project 2025 Agenda lays out his plan to turbocharge his anti-worker policies, eliminate or control unions, and eviscerate labor laws and workers' contracts,’ she continued. ‘A second Trump term would put everything we've fought for—good jobs, fair wages, healthcare, retirement security, worker safety—on the chopping block. ‘This new online tool is an essential part of our massive voter education campaign to reach every union household with critical information about the stakes of this election,’ Shuler added. ‘Union voters could be the difference-makers in this election, and the AFL-CIO and affiliated unions have a plan to mobilize tens of thousands of grassroots activists across every community to get the message out and vote.’”
Top Labor Department Official Touts Blue Bird Buses, Union Pact: “The acting U.S. secretary of labor came to Blue Bird’s school bus factory in Fort Valley on Friday in a visit that melded support for organized labor with the high-stakes, high-dollar promotion of low-emission energy policy. Julie Su watched as company and union representatives signed the first contract negotiated by Blue Bird with the United Steelworkers Union, a pact that will provide hefty raises to many workers, as well as safety guarantees and expanded retirement benefits.”