Posts tagged Liz Shuler
Louisville’s Year of the Union?
January 2, 2023 // Three Starbucks stores, including one across the Ohio River in Clarksville, Ind. A union drive is underway at another Louisville store. (Starbucks Workers United) All 17 Heine Brothers coffee stores (National Conference of Firemen and Oilers 32BJ/Service Employees International Union of Kentucky) Half-Price Books (United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227) Public defenders (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 369) Courier-Journal (Courier Journal Guild-The News Guild-Communications Workers of America Local 34070) Sysco Louisville drivers (Teamsters Local 89)
Biden mends bridges with unions after rail dispute
December 12, 2022 // President Joe Biden has returned to the good graces of labor unions by announcing a $36 billion pension fund bailout that will prevent more than 350,000 truck drivers, warehouse workers, construction staff, and retirees from forfeiting their benefits. But Biden's intervention comes after he rankled the key Democratic constituency by urging Congress to enforce a tentative union dispute agreement between railroad companies and their employees in order to avoid a strike that would have crippled the economy before the holidays.
Major rally planned in Courthouse to support of unionized Starbucks employees
December 8, 2022 // A major rally is being planned for later this week in front of the county government headquarters, in a show of solidarity with recently-unionized Starbucks employees. The president of the AFL-CIO and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) are both expected to attend, among others. The rally is one of ten across the county, organized as part of a National Day of Action by Starbucks Workers United. It’s set for this Friday, Dec. 9, at 5 p.m. outside of the Bozman Government Center at 2100 Clarendon Blvd.
Unions bash senators for rejecting paid sick leave for rail workers
December 2, 2022 // Labor leaders lashed out Thursday at senators who voted against a proposal to provide rail workers with seven days of paid sick leave. While the Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure to force through a railroad contract that gives workers a 24 percent raise over five years, a proposal to add paid sick days to the deal failed to reach 60 votes. All but six Republicans voted against the measure.
Amidst organizing surge, Wisconsin unions still face an uphill climb
November 7, 2022 //
Biden Loves Labor Unions But Blue-Collar Workers Don’t Love Him Back
September 8, 2022 // Macomb County, Michigan, is home to an old guard of auto manufacturing tradesmen and a new generation of young organizers in the service and cannabis industries. The jolt of organizing energy that Biden has failed to harness has come from baristas, warehouse workers and others in the service sector, whose low-wage jobs are replacing reliable, higher-paid ones on assembly lines in Macomb and elsewhere. Alyssa Coakley, Celine McNicholas,
AFL-CIO leader braces for GOP takeover of Congress
September 2, 2022 // The AFL-CIO has its sights set on gaining one million new members over the next decade, or 100,000 per year. It currently boasts a membership of more than 12.5 million workers, down from its all-time high of nearly 20 million in 1979. Overall, far fewer workers are a member of a labor union. The membership rate declined in 2021 to 10.3%, offsetting the previous year’s gains, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
AFL-CIO unveils plan to grow but some union leaders underwhelmed
June 17, 2022 // Shuler announced the creation of the Center for Transformational Organizing, a group of strategists, organizers and researcher who will focus on how to unionize new-economy companies. “We have a visionary way forward,” Shuler said. D Taylor, Mark Dimondstein,
AFL-CIO Blocks Debate on Union Democracy Reforms – Amazon Labor Union & Starbucks Workers Excluded from Convention – Shuler Criticizes AFL-CIO Organizing Approach
June 16, 2022 // Debate on Democratizing the AFL-CIO is Blocked Prior to the convention, the Vermont AFL-CIO submitted a motion that would allow for every member of the labor movement to vote on electing the leadership of the national AFL-CIO. Many unions, such as the Teamsters, the UAW, the Steelworkers, and NewsGuild allow their rank-and-file members to vote on leadership. In contrast, the leadership of the AFL-CIO is selected by a body of 500 delegates. David Van Dussen,
Unions lobby Biden for bolder approach to student debt relief
June 8, 2022 // Labor organizations have already had some success in pushing Biden on student debt relief over the past year. Unions representing teachers, fire fighters, health care workers and government employees were a driving force behind the Education Department’s decision last year to use emergency powers to expand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.