Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Frontier Communications Workers Vote to Grant Strike Authorization
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Workers at Frontier Communications in West Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia, members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), voted to grant strike authorization to union leaders on Friday. Negotiations for the 1,400 CWA members began last month. The current contract expired Aug. 5. The major bargaining issues include job security provisions that keep jobs local and limit the use of subcontractors in expanding broadband in West Virginia. “The public investment in broadband is an investment in opportunity for West Virginians, and we’re eager to help build it,” CWA Local 2007 President Rick McKinney said. “Public dollars should be used to build high-quality networks, and that means using an experienced union workforce, not temporary workers or subcontractors who often do not have adequate training and can put the public in harm’s way.”
Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 08/07/2023 - 09:49Economy Gains 187,000 Jobs in July; Unemployment Little Changed at 3.5%
The U.S. economy gained 187,000 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.5%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This strong jobs report shows the continued success of President Biden's policies.
July's biggest job gains were in health care (+63,000), social assistance (+24,000), other services (+20,000), financial activities (+19,000), construction (+19,000), wholesale trade (+18,000), leisure and hospitality (+17,000), and professional and business services (-8,000). Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; information; and government.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Asian Americans declined to 2.3% in July. The jobless rates for teenagers (11.3%), Black Americans (5.8%), Hispanics (4.4%), adult men (3.3%), adult women (3.1%) and White Americans (3.1%) showed little or no change over the month.
The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or longer) was little changed in July and accounted for 19.9% of the total people unemployed.
Jobs numbers are good and show unemployment is near record lows, but data also shows fewer women of childcaring age are working or looking for work - and it's clear universal childcare could be a force in getting women back in the workforce. #careeconomy https://t.co/5x0mzcq5bp
— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) August 4, 2023 Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 08/04/2023 - 13:21Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Michigan Registered Nurses Demand Safe Staffing Levels
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Registered nurses in Michigan, who are members of National Nurses United (NNU), are pushing for legislation known as the Safe Patient Care Act that would set safe limits on the number of patients nurses can be assigned, curb excessive mandatory nurse overtime, and require hospitals to disclose their RN staffing levels. The goal of the legislation is to keep patients safe in Michigan hospitals, and build and retain a strong nursing workforce across the state. “Health care is in crisis because of years of hospital understaffing. Every year, the situation gets worse. We have reached the point now where almost 40 percent of current nurses say that they are planning to leave within the next year,” said Jamie Brown, a critical care nurse and president of the Michigan Nurses Association. “Hospital executives have failed to fix the problem for over a decade. The only way to keep patients safe is through meaningful action that will hold corporate executives accountable.”
Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 08/04/2023 - 10:20
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Strike Summer! UAW Members at Thombert in Iowa Walk Off Job to Demand Fair Contract
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Workers at Thombert, members of International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) Local 997, in Newton, Iowa, went on strike Tuesday. The UAW said Thombert refuses to negotiate in good faith for a fair contract with higher wages. Thombert is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of polyurethane wheels and tires for narrow aisle lift trucks.
Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 08/03/2023 - 10:02Service & Solidarity Spotlight: TSA Workers Win Largest Pay Increase in Agency’s History
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers have long been among the lowest-paid members of the federal workforce. But relentless effort by TSA workers, members of AFGE, means those workers saw their paychecks increase 31% recently. This is the first major pay raise in the agency's 21-year history. “Today is a turning point for TSA, for the workers, for the administration, for America,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley. “Today’s paycheck is more than a monetary incentive. It’s a symbol of respect. It’s a symbol of dignity.”
Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 08/02/2023 - 09:35Service & Solidarity Spotlight: A Good Book Is Always Better With a Union!
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Workers at Washington, D.C., bookstore Solid State Books voted unanimously to ratify their first union contract. Solid State workers learned from their fellow United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 members at Washington, D.C., bookstore Politics and Prose, who recently won a union. Negotiations for Solid State workers were completed in only 17 days. “We got here quickly, and we owe that in large part to our union siblings at Politics and Prose,” said Kiara Martinez, a bookseller at Solid State Books who served on the committee that negotiated the contract. “While we are incredibly proud of the work we’ve done, our journey is only just beginning. It’s our hope that we inspire others to begin theirs.”
Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 08/01/2023 - 10:06Service & Solidarity Spotlight: IATSE Hosts Food Drive for Striking Performers and Writers
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) teamed up with the Los Angeles Food Bank and the L.A. County Federation of Labor on Friday to host a food drive in support of striking workers. The drive was open to affected union members and their families and was held at IATSE's West Coast office. The L.A. food drive is among other growing efforts to support industry workers affected by the work stoppage.
Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 07/31/2023 - 10:02Service & Solidarity Spotlight: International Documentary Association Workers Ratify Historic First Contract
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
More than a year after Documentary Workers United (DWU), affiliated with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9003, was voluntarily recognized by the International Documentary Association (IDA), workers have ratified their first contract. The two-year deal increases the employer's retirement fund contribution level, boosts work-from-home stipends, and institutes reproductive health, pandemic leave policies and gender-affirming language. “Our contract, our union, and our victorious ratification is a labor of love and care that would not have been possible without the continuous work of IDA workers, past and present,” said DWU in a statement. “We are workers who defied the odds and who, despite continued challenges, have stayed committed to our union’s mission of equity and justice.”
Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 07/28/2023 - 09:56Service & Solidarity Spotlight: AFL-CIO Sports Council Applauds Rugby Players’ Organizing Drive
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Professional rugby players are seeking to organize as the U.S. Rugby Players Association (USRPA), and the AFL-CIO Sports Council has pledged to support the effort. The union is seeking to bring in-game safety, job security and strength to professional rugby athletes. Major League Rugby has unilateral control over issues important to the players and having a voice in the workplace will not only help players individually, but will strengthen the league and the sport. The league has been around for five years and has faced bumps in the road, such as disbanding two teams, that have affected the lives of players and their families.
Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 07/27/2023 - 09:53Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Yellowstone Workers First to Organize a National Park
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Workers at Yellowstone National Park have elected the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), an affiliate of the Machinists (IAM), to represent America’s first established national park. The new unit includes interpretive park rangers, educators, researchers, fee collectors, first responders, firefighters and other staff working for the Department of Interior’s National Park Service. “Working to protect and preserve Yellowstone for ‘the enjoyment of the people’ is a much more difficult and precarious career than people realize,” said the Yellowstone organizing committee in a statement. “Due to low pay, unmanageable workloads, high rent, a stifling hierarchy, and many other issues, the workforce here is struggling. The resulting high turnover negatively affects the park and the public’s experience of it.”
Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 07/26/2023 - 10:04Service & Solidarity Spotlight: President Shuler Joins SAG-AFTRA and WGAE on Picket Line in New York
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, SAG-AFTRA New York Local Executive Director Rebecca Damon, and state and local labor leaders joined striking writers and performers on the picket line in front of Netflix’s New York office to demand a fair contract that delivers a fair share of the massive profits from streaming and other entertainment services to the writers and performers who are the lifeblood of the industry. The picket was organized by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), SAG-AFTRA and the New York City Central Labor Council (NYCCLC), led by President Vincent Alvarez (IBEW), and featured hundreds of performers, writers and other workers showing solidarity for the strike and joining in the demand for a fair contract.
Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 07/25/2023 - 10:03Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Workers at President Lincoln’s Cottage Join UAW
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Workers at President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, D.C., have voted to form a union with the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). They are the first D.C. museum staff to unionize with UAW. President Lincoln’s Cottage is a historic site and museum where Abraham Lincoln lived for more than a quarter of his presidency and developed the Emancipation Proclamation. “I’m thrilled about our unanimous election results because I think collective bargaining will help us live up to the principles we share with the public every day,” said organizing committee member Joan Cummins. “Our museum is a historical site of labor justice, and we’re ready to walk the walk!”
Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 07/24/2023 - 09:59Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants Demonstrate at SeaTac and Other Airports
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Alaska Airlines flight attendants, members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), are currently in contract negotiations with the airline. Negotiations have been ongoing since September and the flight attendants have started demonstrating at various airports. They are seeking pay increases and changes to work rules governing everything from rest periods to uniform stipends. “We are here to demand a fair contract,” said Paula Isla-McGill, president of the union’s Seattle local. “Flight attendants are front workers and instrumental in the success of Alaska Airlines. Our work rules and pay haven’t matched the success of the company.”
Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 07/21/2023 - 10:04Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Children’s Law Center Strikes for Improved Wages and Work Conditions
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Staff at the Children's Law Center in Brooklyn, New York, went on strike Monday, with more than 3,000 legal services workers demanding fair wages and improved working conditions. The staff, who are members of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (UAW Local 2325), work in representing children in custody, visitation and guardianship litigation. More than 800 days have passed since the workers offered management their initial contract proposal. The union says management has refused to negotiate in good faith, thus necessitating the strike.
Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 07/20/2023 - 09:39Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Actors and Writers Explain How Supporters and Fans Can Support Them
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Actors and writers are on strike, fighting for their future, and fans and supporters are wondering how they can help. Here are what members of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are asking supporters to do. First, people can share, like and comment on social media posts about the strike. Fans are encouraged to join picket lines in their local area or bring signs, water and snacks to picketers. Those who aren’t near a picket line can donate to SAG-AFTRA’s Entertainment Community Fund and nonaffiliated crowdsourced fundraisers like The Union Solidarity Coalition, Groceries for Writers and the Snacklist. Boycotting projects made by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is not currently requested.
Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 07/19/2023 - 10:01Service & Solidarity Spotlight: American University Dining Workers Secure New Contract
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Workers at American University Kitchen approved a new contract with their employer, food service provider Compass Group, according to UNITE HERE Local 23, the union representing the workers. The new contract is now in effect and guarantees all employees under Compass a $20 minimum wage, which are “bigger raises than they have received in the last 21 years combined.” Additionally, health care for individual workers will become free by 2026 and all workers will be eligible for four weeks of paid parental leave. Local 23 also won guaranteed rights at work for transgender and nonbinary workers, new work accommodations for workers who are pregnant or have recently given birth, and specific job protections for workers dealing with family or intimate partner violence.
Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 07/18/2023 - 10:02Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Vermont’s Unions Respond to Flooding
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Vermont residents are again facing the reality of destruction on a massive scale. Roads are gone, cities and towns are flooded, and many residents remain cut off from the outside world. There are still serious dangers regarding the integrity of dams, and soon residents will face the problem of dwindling basic supplies like food and fuel. Vermonters have prevailed over such challenges before and will do so again.
Brave and heroic union members on the Department of Public Works and Agency of Transportation crews, utility workers, power plant workers, first responders, and hospital staff are working around the clock to make sure basic life-sustaining services continue to function, lives are saved, the power is kept on and roads are rebuilt.
But it will not just be by the hands of public servants that make recovery come to fruition. It will also be through the willful and collective action of other union members, other Vermonters, who are not regularly tasked with road work or other essential services during a crisis.
You can help today by making credit card contributions to the Union Community Fund at
go.aflcio.org/relief or by mail:
Union Community Fund
Note in the memo line: "Vermont Relief Efforts"
815 Black Lives Matter Plaza NW, Washington, DC 20006.
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: AFSCME Initiative Aims to ‘Staff the Front Lines’
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Understaffing of state and local government jobs has hit crisis levels, and AFSCME is fighting back by launching Staff the Front Lines. This initiative will focus on the nationwide shortage of public-sector workers, as half a million public-sector jobs are vacant. This shortage means vital public services aren’t being delivered and public-sector workers are exhausted from shouldering impossible workloads. The plan will focus on retention, recruitment and outreach. “This is a real issue and a real problem, not just for our union and for those who provide public services,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “It’s a real problem for the citizens who rely upon public services every single day.”
Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 07/13/2023 - 10:08Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Sega of America Workers Join CWA
Working people across the United States have stepped 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.
Sega of America workers voted to form Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS), an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The unit covers more than 200 jobs at Sega’s Irvine, California, office. AEGIS-CWA is the first union in the video game industry that spans multiple departments at a major company. Covered departments include marketing, games as a service, localization, product development and quality assurance. “We are overjoyed to celebrate our union election win as members of AEGIS-CWA,” said translator Ángel Gómez. “From the start of this campaign, it has been clear that we all care deeply about our work at SEGA. Now, through our union, we’ll be able to protect the parts of our jobs we love, and strengthen the benefits, pay and job stability available to all workers. Together we can build an even better SEGA. We hope our victory today is an inspiration to other workers across the gaming industry. Together, we can raise standards for all workers across the industry.”
Kenneth Quinnell Wed, 07/12/2023 - 10:05Take Action: WE NEED YOU to Support Nursing Home Safe Staffing
Right now we have the power to transform the state of our nursing homes in the United States.
We know there is a direct connection between low nursing home staffing and higher rates of falls, rehospitalizations, missed care and mortality.
A federal standard for safe staffing could significantly improve the level of care for nursing home residents and families who rely on these services. It also would provide workers with much-needed and overdue protections and support.
Right now, corporations are doing everything they can to lobby the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) against releasing this critical rule.
That’s why we need your help. We’re asking for all hands on deck to share your stories and testimonials and let the HHS know why nursing home staff and working families need safe staffing—now.
Are you a nursing home worker? Have you lived in a nursing home, or do you have a loved one who has? Or do you just want to improve the state of care in our country?
Take a few minutes of your time today and share your story.
For more background about the rule and how this will affect working families and care workers, please click here.
Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 07/11/2023 - 15:47
