Rutgers workers struck and saw movement, Medieval Times Workers assaulted on the picket line, and other headlines from last week, 4/9-4/15/23
Here are a few headlines from US Labor that you may have missed--April 9 - April 15, 2023.
Thanks for the folks who have subscribed to this newsletter in the last week. I hope that these digests can help you stay abreast of the labor news happening around the country. Now, a bit of a disclaimer - if you’re coming here from Jonah Furman’s valuable newsletter (now on hiatus), you may notice that these early digests follow somewhat of a similar format, but it’s not a 1:1 reproduction of it. Jonah’s newsletters are tremendous pieces of work, and I am doing my best to fill in some of the gap left by his hiatus.
For now, they may not be as detailed, but there’s good info here regardless. I hope you can still get something valuable from these. At any rate, thanks for looking—
Alright, let’s crack into it.
Here are some of the headlines you may have missed last week.
Four more REI stores have unionized in the US since March 31.
In the last few weeks, four more REI stores — Chicago, Ill., Eugene, Ore., Boston Mass. and Durham, N.C. — have filed petitions to form unions. They join two more stores in Berkeley, CA and NYC’s SoHo neighborhood, who filed last year.
”REI Boston is coming together to have a say in the decisions that impact us daily,” said a statement from REI Boston via Twitter. “We are organizing our union to fight for consistency in hours, sustainable wages, and improved store safety. We seek greater transparency and accountability from the co-op we run and love.”
If you’d like to read more reporting, you can do so here.
The Trevor Project voluntarily recognizes their newly formed union.
Workers with The Trevor Project filed a petition for recognition in early March, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The nonprofit has voluntarily recognized the union, releasing a statement last week.
“The Trevor Project’s staff are the heartbeat of this organization, and without their contributions we could not continue to operate our life-saving programs and services for LGBTQ young people,” said Peggy Rajski (she/her), Founder and Interim CEO of The Trevor Project. “We are proud to voluntarily recognize the union, and look forward to working together to support our diverse staff while continuing to strengthen the foundation of our organization. With a staff as passionate and dedicated to The Trevor Project’s mission as ours, working together on a contract will help ensure that our organization can continue to support LGBTQ young people for generations to come.”
WGA workers take on strike authorization, voting closes on Monday
Workers represented by the Writers Guild of America can expect the results of a strike authorization vote to be announced early this next week. Negotiations for the nearly 12,000 writers have been ongoing since the end of March.
According to Reuters, the strike authorization comes as negotiators “push media companies to raise their pay or face a strike that would disrupt an industry recovering from the pandemic and under pressure to make streaming more profitable.”
For more details on the negotiation, check out this reporting from friend and colleague Michael Sainato at The Guardian.
Negotiations for 22k Longshoremen drag on, Port managers claim “disruptions”
Employers at the West Coast ports are accusing unionized dockworkers of “slowing cargo handling at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. They accuse the workers of not staggering their lunch breaks at the ports, forcing the ports to close down for an hour twice a day.
Willie Adams, the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union representing dockworkers, said his members are allowed “to take a lunch break just like everyone else.”
Negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association and the ILWU have been ongoing since May 2022—the multiyear contract currently being negotiated would cover more than 22,000 dockworkers at 29 ports up the west coast. Workers have been working without a contract since their last contract expired in July 2022.
Spirit Airlines flight attendants ratify new contract
6,000 Spirit Airlines flight attendants represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA ratified a new contract on April 13th, with 75% voting for the new agreement. The new contract includes 10-27% immediate increase to base wages, with an increase of up to 40% in the next 2 years.
“This contract will make an immediate difference in Spirit Flight Attendants’ lives,” said Jason Kachenmeister, AFA Spirit President, a press release.
Medieval Times Workers are met with violence at the picket line in Buena Park, CA
Medieval Times actors were assaulted by disgruntled guests over the weekend. The terrifying incident took place at their Buena Park, CA picket line and was captured on video by multiple workers and posted to social media. Workers have been on strike for nearly two months, and have asked that guests respect their picket line and not come to their show until they can come to a fair contract with their employer.
To stay updated on their picket schedule and get any additional updates as they continue bargaining, follow their account on Twitter. Here’s an upcoming action taking place April 23:
Representatives from Medieval Times United have also joined The Real News Network Editor-In-Chief Max Alvarez for multiple solidarity livestreams on the TRNN Youtube page. You can watch recordings of those vital conversations here and here.
Rutgers workers suspend strike after a “framework” for a deal reached
Full-time faculty, part-time adjunct lecturers and grad workers, and workers from the health and sciences departments at Rutgers University suspended their strike at the end of the week after reaching what representatives called a promising framework for a deal with the university administration. Included in the framework are significant increases in salaries and more security for precarious adjunct faculty at the university.
According to reporting by NPR,
The labor organizations — referring to the strike's status as not a cancelation but a "suspension" — said that while they secured "profound victories for our unions," some issues remain unresolved, and leave open the option of returning to the picket line if they aren't able reach a resolution during bargaining.
Last Week in Union Elections
55 petitions for union representation have been filed with the NLRB in the last week. Here are a few notable ones:
2 more Starbucks stores have filed - San Jose, CA and Encinitas, CA.
160 food service workers at Wesleyan University filed for representation with UNITE HERE Local 217.
16 workers at the ACLU of DC have filed for representation with my own union, Washington Baltimore News Guild, News Guild-CWA Local 32035.
45 full-time faculty working at the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University have filed for representation from SIEU Local 509.
125 Merchandise and Team Store employees at the Baseball Club of Seattle have filed for representation with UFCW Local 3000.
That’s it for me this week, folks.
As I get into the swing of things, expect these digests to find their own flair (and probably get longer). If you’ve got a tip that you’d like me to include about something labor-related that’s happening in your neck of the woods, shoot me a message. Best way to reach me is via my work email, mel@therealnews.com, or on my Twitter account.
If you’ve got suggestions on how to improve this newsletter, want to tell me how I’m doing, or want to see a specific section added to the weekly digest, leave a comment below. I love hearing from you!
Have a good week, folks. I’ll see you next Sunday.
Much love and solidarity,
Mel