Boeing Teamsters in Washington Ratify Historic Contract
(SEATTLE) – Drivers at The Boeing Company, represented by Teamsters Local 174, have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a contract that materially surpasses all previous contracts for the group. The new agreement makes major language improvements and guarantees economic victories that raise the bar for the rest of the industry. “When these negotiations began, we were […]
Read More....
Teamsters on Strike at Caesars Southern Indiana
(ELIZABETH, Ind.) – More than 140 union workers at Caesar’s Southern Indiana Hotel & Casino, led by Teamsters Local 89, are on strike after the company failed to offer a fair contract that matches the property’s record-breaking profits. “We’re going to hold management accountable for their greed and blatant disrespect,” said Avral Thompson, President of […]
Read More....
April 29: IAM Union, NFFE-IAM, Labor Allies to Celebrate Federal Workers Outside Union Station
MEDIA ADVISORY WASHINGTON, April 23, 2025—The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers), along with the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), will host a federal worker thank you event on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. This gathering of hundreds of union
The post April 29: IAM Union, NFFE-IAM, Labor Allies to Celebrate Federal Workers Outside Union Station appeared first on IAMAW.
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW Members at National Grid Approve Contract with 4% Annual Wage Increase
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: IBEW Members at National Grid Approve Contract with 4% Annual Wage Increase
Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Some 1,200 National Grid employees, members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1049, who work in Long Island’s natural gas and power plants, voted 590–90 to approve a new contract.The successful vote ends a monthslong contract negotiation period during which workers were on the verge of a strike multiple times.The new four-year contract includes a 4% yearly wage increase across the length of the contract, a reduction in out-of-pocket health care costs, and improvements in 401(k) and life insurance policies.“This is an agreement that I have been able to endorse. The negotiating committee as a whole has endorsed this new agreement,” said Pat Guidice, the union’s business manager. “It’s a good agreement.”“From the moment negotiations started, our membership’s well-being was our foremost priority,” Guidice said. “We’re pleased to see that our membership voted in favor of the new deal.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Wed, 04/23/2025 – 08:59
AB 33 Clears Assembly Transportation Committee with Teamsters Support
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – California Teamsters are celebrating the passage of Assembly Bill 33 (AB 33) out of the Committee on Transportation and calling on all state lawmakers to support the legislation. AB 33 would require a trained human operator in any autonomous vehicle (AV) used to deliver commercial goods directly to residences or businesses. “It’s […]
Read More....Let’s Get to The Truth: Myths and Facts about Postal Privatization
April 22, 2025Let’s Get to The Truth: Myths and Facts about Postal Privatization
US Mail Not for Sale
No matter how you voted in last year’s election, no one voted to destroy the Postal Service. But the new administration plans to break up the Postal Service and sell it off to private corporations. Here’s what you need to know and what you can do to help save the Postal Service.
MYTH: The USPS loses billions of dollars each year in taxpayers’ money.
FACT: The Postal Service is self-funded and relies on revenue generated from the sale of stamps, products, and services to pay for its operations.
MYTH: The USPS is obsolete because letter mail volumes have steadily declined in the digital age.
FACT: The Postal Service is 250 years old and has always adapted to new technology and mail-mix. While letter mail is down, package volumes are up. Additionally, the Postal Reform Act of 2022 allows the Postal Service to offer new services to local government. These and other expanded services like postal banking, could underpin USPS finances for generations to come.
MYTH: The USPS isn’t profitable, so it should be run like a business.
FACT: The Postal Service is not a business; it is enshrined in the constitution and has a congressionally-mandated obligation to serve the people by delivering to all 169 million addresses, urban or rural, six days a week.
MYTH: If the mail was run by private companies, the universal service obligation would still exist and the Postal Service would deliver to every address.
FACT: Delivery would be driven by profit margins, and private companies will only go to where they can make a profit. Sections of our population could lose mail service entirely. Prices would rise according to whatever the company demands for their own profit.
MYTH: Moving the USPS under the Commerce Department would mean it is still a public agency, and not subject to privatization.
FACT: Moving the USPS under the Commerce Department would be a step backwards, giving power back to the Executive Branch and removing the independent governance that allows us to serve America free from political interference. It could also affect labor union contracts, vote-by-mail initiatives, and much more. Trump-appointed Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick would be in charge. He has already expressed interest in privatizing the Postal Service. This administration intends to break up and sell off the profitable portions of the Postal Service to billionaires and USPS competitors.
Understanding The Facts: Our public Postal Service
Support and protect your public Postal Service. Sign our petition at usmailnotforsale.org/petition.
FACT: The Post Office is enshrined in the US Constitution and created by an act of co Congress. The public Postal Service is part of the fundamental infrastructure of our great nation binding us together.
FACT: By law, the USPS is self funded. It operates through the sale of postage and and postal services alone, without tax dollars.
FACT: The Post Office will celebrate its 250th anniversary in July. Let’s work together to to bring another 250 years of strong, public postal services for every American!
FACT: The USPS delivers to every address in the country—169 million addresses and and 318 million pieces of mail each day—no matter who we are or where we live. In contrast, private delivery companies will only go where they can make a profit.
FACT: If the Administration’s plans to sell the USPS to corporations for private a goes through, it will result in higher costs, reduced delivery days, and the end of universal delivery to every address in the country.
FACT: The USPS is the low-cost anchor of the giant mail and package industry. bla The industry employs more than seven million people and generates more than $1.2 trillion in economic activity. At a time of booming e-commerce, the public Postal Service is as necessary as ever.
FACT: The United States Postal Service is consistently ranked among the most favorable favorable and most trusted federal agencies.
FACT: Postal privatization wouldn’t just be the end of reliable mail delivery, it woould would destroy over 600,000 good union jobs. The USPS is also the country’s largest civilian employer of veterans. Good jobs build good communities.
Download a Copy of this Fact Sheet
2025 Hands Off Our Postal Service Leaflet for Actions [ENGLISH]
Let’s Get to The Truth: Myths and Facts about Postal Privatization0
Read More....
Remember the Past, Fight for the Future this Workers’ Memorial Day
April 28, 2025Each year, April 28 is a significant day for workers and unions worldwide. Known as Workers’ Memorial Day, it is the day to honor workers who die or are injured on the job each year. It is a day of action, reflection, and mourning for workers and unions. We encourage members to recognize the day by reporting hazards in the workplace using a PS Form 1767.
Speak Up for Safe Jobs
In 1989, the AFL-CIO declared that April 28 would be celebrated each year as “Workers’ Memorial Day” to remember workers who were injured or died on the job and renew the fight for safety and protections at work. The date is intentional – April 28 is the day that the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was signed into law. This act, which unions led the fight for, created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the body that establishes and enforces standards for safe and healthy working conditions. Tony Mazzocchi, a labor leader in the oil Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW), led this fight by aligning the environmental and labor movements to pass this crucial piece of legislation.
Until OSHA was created, workers didn’t enjoy any formal, enforceable standards for safety and health in the workplace. OSHA set a standard for all employers – public and private – to protect workers on the job. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics proves that OSHA works. Since OSHA’s implementation, injuries in the workplace have fallen from 10.9 cases per 100 workers in 1972, to 2.8 cases per 100 in 2018.
OSHA protects workers against bosses who want to put profit over safety. Time and again, corporations have tried to get OSHA repealed, and this year is proving no different. On Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, U.S. House Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) introduced a bill that would abolish OSHA . Bigg’s bill, which he named the Nullify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (NOSHA) Act, demands that “The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is repealed. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is abolished.”
Removing OSHA is dangerous for many reasons. Among other things, OSHA protects whistleblowers; provides support training, outreach, education, and assistance to those who need it; and works collaboratively with state OSHA programs to ensure they are effective at furthering worker safety and health protections. OSHA is the avenue workers have to win safety at work – it can enforce federal labor standards at almost every worksite. If a worksite does not meet these standards, OSHA can even fine employers. In 2024, OSHA investigated employee complaints about a Boston waterproofing contractor and fined the company $451,694 for exposing workers to life-threatening excavation hazards that led to injured and buried workers.
OSHA, paired with the protections from our union contract helps keep us safe on the job. Workers’ Memorial Day reminds us of the grim consequence that workers face when there are no safety regulations or means to enforce them.
George Edwards Appointed Eastern Territory Coordinator
IAM International President Brian Bryant has appointed George Edwards to serve as Eastern Territory Coordinator, effective April 1, 2025. Edwards, who had served as an International Representative, was appointed to the Eastern Territory as a Special Representative in August 2021. Prior to that, Edwards had served as District 4’s Directing Business Representative and Assistant
The post George Edwards Appointed Eastern Territory Coordinator appeared first on IAMAW.
Strength and Solidarity on Display at IAM’s Tennessee/Kentucky State Council
The IAM Union is proving that workers in the South are building a resurgence of working people power. The IAM’s Tennessee/Kentucky State Council recently brought member-activists across the two states to Gatlinburg, Tenn., for the council’s annual meeting. The councils, led in Tennessee by District 1888 Directing Business Representative Bill Benson and in Kentucky by
The post Strength and Solidarity on Display at IAM’s Tennessee/Kentucky State Council appeared first on IAMAW.
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers in Georgia and North Carolina Speak Out at DPWL Public Hearings
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers in Georgia and North Carolina Speak Out at DPWL Public Hearings
Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
As part of a nationwide series of Department of People Who Work for a Living (DPWL) events taking place this month, the Georgia State AFL-CIO and North Carolina State AFL-CIO held public hearings last week to discuss how cuts to federal funding and jobs have impacted local residents.Workers in Warner Robins, Georgia, and Asheville, North Carolina, bravely spoke out about how attacks on federal agencies by Elon Musk’s DOGE are threatening their local economy, jeopardizing critical funding for important social services we all rely on, and putting the most vulnerable in danger. Local lawmakers and union leaders attended the events to hear this powerful testimony and speak about what we can do to fight back. Rep. Austin Scott (Ga.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) were both invited to listen to the concerns of constituents from their respective states, but both failed to make an appearance.“Those patients that I get up and take care of every day, that’s what’s important to me,” said Lori Hedrick, a nurse at Mission Hospital in Asheville. “These Medicaid cuts that are being proposed [are] going to be devastating to so many of them. We’re just going to experience an overload, a much worse staffing crisis. Emergency room wait times, that’s going to become even worse.”“It’s not a political job that I do,” said Abby Tighe, a former probationary worker at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who spoke at the Warner Robins hearing. “It’s not a political job that anyone at the CDC does. We are here to serve the American people, and we should be supported by the executive branch and by the legislative branch to do that work.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 04/22/2025 – 09:59
