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Captive Audience Meetings Are Illegal Nationwide: In the States Roundup

Captive Audience Meetings Are Illegal Nationwide: In the States Roundup It's time once again to take a look at the ways working people are making progress in the states. Click on any of the links to follow the state federations on X (formerly Twitter). Alabama AFL-CIO:pic.twitter.com/vDUOcS8XOe— Alabama AFL-CIO (@AlabamaAFLCIO) October 17, 2024Alaska AFL-CIO:📸 Photos from today's @unac4996AK Solidarity Spine Walk at UAA. #FairContractNow #UnionStrong #1u pic.twitter.com/6a8opwsaGY— Alaska AFL-CIO (@AKAFLCIO) November 20, 2024Colorado AFL-CIO:👀 "Colorado is among states that historically adopted policies intended to limit private sector workers’ freedoms to form unions. Today, this suppression of workers’ rights is weakening Colorado’s economy." @greenhousenyt @RBReich https://t.co/6keiskujQX— Colorado AFL-CIO (@AFLCIOCO) November 20, 2024Florida AFL-CIO:👏👏👏 https://t.co/bH0XwbJx3b— Florida AFL-CIO (@FLAFLCIO) November 14, 2024Illinois AFL-CIO:Thousands of students were in Springfield yesterday for the Central Illinois Building Trades Career Day. They met tradespeople from 14 trades, had hands on experiences and several decided they want to join a union when they graduate! pic.twitter.com/701fKfUizn— Illinois AFL-CIO (@ILAFLCIO) November 20, 2024Maine AFL-CIO:Rep-elect Kilton Webb (@IBEW 567) discusses how he developed a winning campaign with help from the Maine AFL-CIO Worker Candidate Training.https://t.co/r6osZ5K5Rj #mepolitics— Maine AFL-CIO (@MEAFLCIO) November 20, 2024Massachusetts AFL-CIO:PLAs PLAs PLAs@Mass_BTU #mapoli https://t.co/ymE15GBJ2L— Massachusetts AFL-CIO (@massaflcio) November 20, 2024Minnesota AFL-CIO:“I have been working downtown for several years, and for the first time I feel a new kind of hope for what is to come and the changes that we will win together,” said @CTUL_TC member Estella Tirado #BetterInAUnion (via @workdaymagazine) https://t.co/JWS0CXr1DJ— Minnesota AFL-CIO (@MNAFLCIO) November 19, 2024Missouri AFL-CIO:Happy #NationalMonopolyDay! 🎩💸 Did you know the monopoly board games is made by union workers? pic.twitter.com/Qb4twyut4H— Missouri AFL-CIO (@MOAFLCIO) November 19, 2024Montana State AFL-CIO:It's time for St. Peter's to support nurses in Helena and bargain in good faith. Keep nurses local! Protect high quality patient care! #mtpol #mtnews #mtlabor https://t.co/rjdhlHjcnN— Montana AFL-CIO (@MTaflcio) October 28, 2024Nevada State AFL-CIO:It’s National Apprenticeship Week! Earlier this year we had the pleasure of touring the Bricklayers Local 13 JACT with @ActSecJulieSu Find information on all apprenticeship programs and see what works best for you: https://t.co/U5HVtHfspX pic.twitter.com/hZQWihe5lI— Nevada State AFL-CIO // Pass the #PROAct (@NVAFLCIO) November 19, 2024North Carolina State AFL-CIO:H.R. 9495 includes a poison pill provision that is a serious threat to nonprofits, incl. unions. This bill would remove due process and hand over considerable power to the next Trump admin. Join us in urging Congress to vote NO on H.R. 9495.🔗https://t.co/kbmYTMI1Sn #1u pic.twitter.com/hRqQ7DrcaK— NC State AFL-CIO // #CountMeIn (@NCStateAFLCIO) November 20, 2024Ohio AFL-CIO:Congratulations ⁦@RepMarcyKaptur,⁩ a true champion of working people https://t.co/dH4BugYven— Ohio AFL-CIO (@ohioaflcio) November 20, 2024Oregon AFL-CIO:The longer the picket line, the shorter the strike. Head to https://t.co/bb7P96KEa4 and find a picket line near you to support today! With 5 unions on strike in 6 cities there are many ways to show solidarity and support striking workers. pic.twitter.com/Wvg2sUJalH— Oregon AFL-CIO (@OregonAFLCIO) November 20, 2024Rhode Island AFL-CIO:Answer: YES.Can unions save offshore wind from Trump? https://t.co/AR73U4sSX1 @climatejobs @climatejobsri— Rhode Island AFL-CIO (@riaflcio) November 20, 2024Texas AFL-CIO:GET IN LOSER WE'RE ORGANIZING THE SOUTH 😤 https://t.co/ARV6q2kpMg— Texas AFL-CIO (@TexasAFLCIO) November 20, 2024Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO:Shame on Anheuser-Busch for closing Elysian in Seattle rather than negotiating a contract with brewery workers! Despite being in active negotiations, the company never mentioned the possibility of closure, completely blindsiding our @teamsters117 siblings. https://t.co/VzBw8xa2sA— Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO (@WAAFLCIO) November 18, 2024Wisconsin State AFL-CIO:Labor unions are a growing trend in health care industry https://t.co/TapeiTkoWI— WI AFL-CIO (@wisaflcio) November 20, 2024 Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 11/20/2024 - 11:33Continue reading→

UFCW-Made Thanksgiving!

It’s time to celebrate the ultimate American holiday with food, side dishes, desserts and beverages produced by the hard-working members of our union family. Here’s a list of UFCW-made products to enjoy this holiday season: Turkey Boar’s Head Butterball 2 Foster Farms Thumann’s Hoffman’s Honest John Empire Kosher Rogers Poultry Palisades Ranch (meat & poultry […] The post UFCW-Made Thanksgiving! appeared first on The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union.Continue reading→

Supermajority of Workers at EV Battery Maker BlueOval SK in Kentucky Have Signed Union Cards, Launch Public Campaign to Join UAW

GLENDALE, Ky. – A supermajority of workers at BlueOval SK (BOSK) in Kentucky have signed union authorization cards and today launched their public campaign to join the UAW. The campaign launch at BOSK, a joint venture of Ford and SK On, is the latest breakthrough for electric vehicle (EV) battery workers organizing with the UAW. […] The post Supermajority of Workers at EV Battery Maker BlueOval SK in Kentucky Have Signed Union Cards, Launch Public Campaign to Join UAW appeared first on UAW | United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America.Continue reading→

National Native American Heritage Month Profiles

National Native American Heritage Month Profiles Throughout National Native American Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Native Americans have made to the labor movement and toward expanding the rights of working people.  Check out the members we've featured so far:Kassy McDowellKota Aranda Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 11/20/2024 - 10:54Continue reading→

National Native American Heritage Month Profiles: Kota Aranda

National Native American Heritage Month Profiles: Kota Aranda Throughout National Native American Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Native Americans have made to the labor movement and toward expanding the rights of working people. Today's profile features Kota Aranda of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Kota Aranda has worked as a camera and lens technician since joining IATSE Local 600 in 2020 and enjoys amplifying diverse voices through Local 600’s BIPOC group in Atlanta. “My proudest moment was seeing my name in the credits of my first full run,” Aranda said. “That was a really rewarding experience. It’s just a name with a long list of others but to me that name in the credits represents the early mornings, late nights, long days, hard work and perseverance that it took to get the job done.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 11/20/2024 - 10:45Continue reading→

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: St. Louis University Graduate Workers Vote to Join UAW

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: St. Louis University Graduate Workers Vote to Join UAW 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. Late last week, St. Louis University graduate students overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the United Autoworkers (UAW).The Graduate Workers of St. Louis University Union-UAW (GWSLUU-UAW) unit covers more than 500 people who work for the school as teaching and research assistants. This landslide victory came right before the National Labor Relations Board reported Monday that more than 50,000 students who work at U.S. universities have unionized during the past two years, proving that this win is part of a much larger national effort to organize increasingly precarious higher education institutions. Members cite the need for better working conditions and increased pay as core motivators, saying that before the organizing effort, graduate workers had not received a raise in more than a decade. Concerns around uncertainty in science funding and unstable regulation of visas were also issues that spurred the campaign.“This feels like the greatest achievement of our lives,” said Zach Davis, a doctoral candidate in American studies. “For the first time in this university’s history, grad workers will have a seat at the table in all decisions that affect them. There will no longer be any conversations about us in which we are not an active participant and so long as this union is around, that is not going to change.” Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 11/20/2024 - 10:39Continue reading→

2025 Human Relations Educational Assembly

Registration will open Friday, March 17, 2025. Early Bird registration (through May 16) is $125. Registration after May 16 is $150.  Additional details will be forthcoming, including registration & hotel information. June 12, 2025 - 8:00AM to June 16, 2025 - 5:15PMHouston, TX NationalNoNo2025-06-12 00:00:002025 Human Relations Educational AssemblyTheme: Strength in Diversity, Empowering Every Voice!   The APWU Human Relations Conference will focus on the Union’s role in advocating and advancing human rights and civil rights within the local and community. The conference will have morning general sessions, panel discussions and Q&As with breakout workshops in the afternoon. Topics to include: OWCP, Equal Employment Opportunities and discrimination in the workplace, Veterans Rights and Benefits, PERF and EAP. Registration will open Friday, March 17, 2025. Early Bird registration (through May 16) is $125. Registration after May 16 is $150. Additional details will be forthcoming, including registration & hotel information. 10Continue reading→

School Lunch Junk Fees Hit Working Families’ Wallets

November 19, 2024The American Postal Worker sheds a light on school lunch “junk fees” that are another way big banks exploit working people. magazinePostal Banking Our public schools, just like our public Postal Service, should operate as a public service, to educate and develop the country’s children, and not as another cash cow to enrich Wall Street investors. But, like so many other cherished public institutions, our schools and the families they serve are falling victim to predatory financial practices established to rob the working class of our hard-earned money. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released a report that showed alarmingly high fees associated with digital payments for school lunches across the country. As more of the country’s school systems have moved to cashless cafeterias, schools are relying on outside vendors to process payments for meals purchased at school. These outside vendors have charged families more than $100 million each year in fees associated with depositing money into student accounts to pay for meals. The CFPB found that on average the payment processors “charge transaction fees of $2.37 or 4.4 percent of the total transaction” when parents or guardians add money to a student account. The report estimated that a typical family receiving reduced-price lunch and making two deposits per month would pay more than $42.00 in fees during the school year. For every dollar spent on food, payment processors would receive $0.60, an outrageous waste of many working-class families’ modest resources. “These fees are widespread, regressive, and may be burdensome for families and districts, who have little control over fee rates and few opportunities to shop around,” the report noted. More than 30 million children receive low-cost or no-cost school lunches each day with federal assistance under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The CFPB report underscored that, while the law requires that districts participating in the NSLP provide fee-free options to pay for lunch, these options are often not easily accessible to many families, leading families to pay more than they should just to feed their children at school. Parents facing these outrageous fees are often powerless to do anything about them. The CFPB report notes that while there are 20 such payment-processing companies active in the country, there are three large companies that dominate the market. School districts have been largely unsuccessful in attempts to negotiate more modest fees, and have found that they save overall by going cashless in their food-service operations. The CFPB itself does not have the authority to crack down on such abusive fees that companies are imposing on working-class families but is using its investigatory abilities to shed light on this problem affecting millions. What the report underscores however, is that a large network of for-profit companies has increasingly inserted themselves into our public spaces. Junk fees, like the ones found in our country’s school cafeterias, are robbing hard working families of their hard-earned dollars, while enriching shareholders and executives at the large financial service companies that operate these payment processors. The Campaign for Postal Banking does not only support efforts to expand financial services available at the country’s 31,000 post offices, but also works together with our allies in a Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service to promote the common good. Winning postal banking and other important fidnancial reforms would be a counterweight to the greed of the Wall Street interests that extract their profit from the hard-earned livings of working-class people across the country. ■ School Lunch Junk Fees Hit Working Families’ Wallets0Continue reading→

IAM, Supporters, and Service Dog Advocates Gather for the 2024 GDA | TLC Charity Week

Guide Dogs of America | Tender Loving Canines (GDA | TLC) brought together IAM members, supporters, and service dog advocates for a week of celebration and fundraising, held this year from Nov. 14–16, 2024, in Las Vegas. This year’s theme, “Happy Tails, Happy Trails,” echoed throughout the week, which was highlighted by donors’ generosity and The post IAM, Supporters, and Service Dog Advocates Gather for the 2024 GDA | TLC Charity Week appeared first on IAMAW.Continue reading→

Postal Service Eliminates Deepest Presort Discounts for Package Consolidators

November 19, 2024The Postal Service eliminated the deepest presort discounts used by package consolidators, returning work to the USPS and increasing revenue. magazineA Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service Since the creation of a Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service, the Alliance and our allies have opposed postal privatization in all its forms. One form of privatization that had largely gone unnoticed by the public is the Postal Service’s long-standing reliance on the “presort discount system.” That system effectively allowed large sections of the Postal Service’s transportation and processing work to be performed by private-sector companies for private profit, with the Postal Service accepting mail and packages “downstream” for last-mile delivery. This system incentivized private sector consolidators to aggregate mail and packages from many shippers into larger drop-offs into the postal network. They would bypass all or most of the postal processing network and rely on the Postal Service for last-mile delivery. In September, the Postal Service announced it was eliminating the deepest presort discounts that many package consolidators used (or abused) before turning their packages over to the USPS. The USPS estimates that as many as two billion packages enter the mailstream each year after being processed and transported by consolidators, which is roughly 25 percent of the Postal Service’s total package volume. By ending the presort discount for package consolidators, it is likely that much of that package volume will be returned to the USPS for end-to-end acceptance, transportation, processing, and delivery, which would increase the Postal Service’s overall revenue for shipping products. For too long, mail and package consolidators have relied on low-wage workers, and the steep discounts offered by the USPS to turn a profit from work that postal workers can rightly perform. The end of the discount program is shaking up the postal industry, with FedEx poised to eliminate its FedEx SmartPost product. Pitney Bowes has fi led for bankruptcy for its ecommerce division, and other package consolidators are likely to feel the impact soon. Supporters of a Grand Alliance to Save our Public Postal Service should welcome the change as an opportunity for the public Postal Service to claw back more of the work that the Postal Service was created to do, serving 167 million addresses, six days a week, with a commitment to quality, public service to the entire country. Upcoming Fight to Preserve Service Standards As this edition of The American Postal Worker was going to press, the Postal Service had just submitted before the Postal Regulatory Commission its proposals to once again change service standards. As we did in the 2021 service standards case, A Grand Alliance (AGA) will once again organize community resistance to the Postal Service’s proposal to slow down the mail. While this year’s proposal appears to be more complicated than the 2021 case, postal workers and AGA allies should stay alert for opportunities to promote the quality mail service that we are promised under the law. The proposal from the USPS appears to lengthen the delivery time for First-Class mail based on how far the destination address is located from a sorting facility; this is likely to have an outsized impact on customers in rural America. Readers should stay tuned to the APWU website and AGA channels for more information. We will analyze the Postal Service’s proposal in the weeks ahead, plan our response, and engage with postal workers and our allies to promote our vision for robust, quality postal services. ■ Postal Service Eliminates Deepest Presort Discounts for Package Consolidator0Continue reading→

NLRB Ruling Making Captive Audience Meetings Illegal is a Win for Workers’ Rights

Brian Bryant, International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), issued a statement today on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision to make mandatory captive audience meetings illegal: “This is a major victory for workers across the United States. Companies use these meetings to pressure and mislead employees about The post NLRB Ruling Making Captive Audience Meetings Illegal is a Win for Workers’ Rights appeared first on IAMAW.Continue reading→

National Native American Heritage Month Profiles: Kassy McDowell

National Native American Heritage Month Profiles: Kassy McDowell Throughout National Native American Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Native Americans have made to the labor movement and toward expanding the rights of working people. Today's profile features Kassy McDowell of the Heat and Frost Insulators (HFIU). Kassy McDowell is a proud Indigenous woman who champions diversity and inclusion for all underrepresented groups in the trades. As a certified journeyperson, she passes on her skill and knowledge to help future generations on their path to a career in the insulation trade.  Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 11/19/2024 - 09:59Continue reading→

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Rite Aid Workers Secure Tentative Agreement

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Rite Aid Workers Secure Tentative Agreement 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. Rite Aid workers in Southern California, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), secured a tentative agreement (TA) on Friday after months of intense negotiations with the drugstore chain.The deal covers more than 3,500 UFCW members across locals 8GS, 135, 324, 770, 1167, 1428 and 1442. Workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike a month ago, building on months of strategic actions, rallies and community conversations. Their endurance has paid off—the Rite Aid TA includes improved wages, health care benefits protections and pension security.“This tentative agreement would not have been possible without the strength we showed during the bargaining process,” the UFCW Rite Aid Bargaining Committee said in a joint statement. “We stood up to the company’s unfair labor practices and showed them we were willing to fight for the contract we deserved. The power we showed at our stores translated to power at the bargaining table. Our solidarity and this victory will send a strong message to workers everywhere – when we fight, we win! Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 11/19/2024 - 09:19Continue reading→

IAM Rail Division, Union Coalition Unite to Save Illinois Public Transit

Public transportation agencies across the country are facing a financial crisis, and the Chicago region is no exception. The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), which oversees Metra, CTA, and Pace, faces a $1.03 billion budget shortfall. This shortfall could lead to significant service cuts, impacting commuters and workers across the region. Recognizing the urgency of the The post IAM Rail Division, Union Coalition Unite to Save Illinois Public Transit appeared first on IAMAW.Continue reading→