BlueCollarWriter Labor News Update
Labor News Update - 08/4/2023
#HotLaborSummer Strike Coverage
Striking writers and studios will meet this week to discuss restarting negotiations https://bit.ly/3rOylbS
Hollywood Studios Signal New Strategy by Talking With Writers https://nyti.ms/3YmHYut
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Fires Up New York Picket Lines: ‘There Is No Turning Back!’ https://yhoo.it/3KmKOtF
Fran Drescher leads rally ahead of NYC Council vote supporting SAG strike https://bit.ly/3YjnnHI
The Writers Guild Knows Exactly What It Wants – Will Studios Rise to Meet Them? https://bit.ly/3OGuw1l
SAG-AFTRA to Hold First Official Picket Line at Universal After Sidewalk Restoration https://yhoo.it/3OFmE0g
Strike Summer! UAW Members at Thombert in Iowa Walk Off Job to Demand Fair Contract https://bit.ly/47fz71U
GM criticizes autoworkers union's contract demands https://reut.rs/3DIEklu
A Third Wave of Strikes Crests at Los Angeles Hotels https://bit.ly/45dcutf
What To Know About The L.A. Hotel Strike—As Politicians Urge Taylor Swift To Postpone Tour In Solidarity https://bit.ly/3YmnKBh
Workers from Dotson Iron Castings: Strike continue https://bit.ly/3KqOhrq
Wabtec, union reach court-approved deal over conduct of striking workers at Erie plant https://bit.ly/3Qq1uEx
Inside pending strike: What nurses union is doing to prepare its members for walkout — With no future negotiations scheduled, strike at RWJ University Hospital starting Friday morning appears all but certain https://bit.ly/3Qksoha
Powell’s Books responds to union employees voting to authorize strike https://bit.ly/3OEOg5w
Nurses strike at Rochester General Hospital in a two-day walkout https://bit.ly/47lcTvE
Labor News
Labor Board judge blasts Warrior Met in long-running dispute with Mine Workers https://bit.ly/47l3nZa
Auto suppliers brace for a strike that could turn supply chain on its head
Wage Gains at UPS Have Amazon Workers Demanding More https://bit.ly/43TWX0c
85,000 union workers, members of the Kaiser Coalition of Workers, begin informational picketing as strike deadline looms September 14 https://bit.ly/3YmC64p
Stanford Health Care residents demanding better wages https://cbsn.ws/3DDTAjs
San Jose fast food workers rally against low wages, poor working conditions https://cbsn.ws/47fRJ1L
The Dark Reality For Workers Building Our All-Electric Future https://bit.ly/47k1Q5O
UMaine System ready to recognize union for graduate student workers https://bit.ly/3KsGcm5
Local UMWA Chapter Steps Up with Support for United Way of Eastern Utah https://bit.ly/3KqAu4b
Louisville Teamsters chapter recommending 'Yes' vote to ratify new UPS contract https://bit.ly/43TrJ9A
Louisville UPS Teamsters encouraged to vote 'yes' on contract despite D.C. voting mix up https://bit.ly/442HdIA
Google Illegally Cut Contract Staffers Who Worked on AI, Union Alleges https://yhoo.it/3rYnxYZ
Because of our Union: ‘We Can Fight for What’s Best for Our Kids’ https://bit.ly/3rYnIDD
Trinity Health Michigan lab workers join union following termination of 11 employees https://bit.ly/3rOyTOY
$764 million pension payout protects pension benefits for unionized workers at Tops, other employers https://bit.ly/3OJPFrL
Kowalski's Markets union workers at six stores ratify new contract, averting strike https://bit.ly/3QpKJcM
US healthcare workers focus on pay and understaffing in fight for new contracts
— Over 85,000 workers hold pickets at 50 facilities across US as union contracts set to expire on 30 September https://bit.ly/3YmC64p
New 4-year deal struck between DeKalb teachers’ union, School District 428 https://bit.ly/3YrHXpq
NLRB News, Updates & Summaries
Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of July 17 - 21, 2023 https://bit.ly/44SFcQb
Board Adopts New Standard for Assessing Lawfulness of Work Rules https://bit.ly/43TFgOc
National Labor Relations Board orders Colchester software company to reinstate 4 employees — The employees were wrongly fired for sharing information about salaries, an administrative law judge found. https://bit.ly/3KpmmrS
Politics, Legislation & Government
US labor board says work rules cannot hamper unionizing https://reut.rs/43SP62Y
The NLRB's New Employee Handbook Ruling Throws The Gauntlet At The Supreme Court https://bit.ly/3KrsMqn
Workplace Safety & Health
Big Business Is Fighting Efforts to Protect Workers From Heat https://bit.ly/3KrW7kp
BlueCollarWriter Labor Media Updates
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Labor History in 2:00: This Day in Labor History
August 4 - The Night the Lights Went Out on Broadway
That was the day Michael Siegel, Business Agent for New York City’s Local 3, IBEW announced the lights would be going out on Broadway for an half an hour.
Electricians had been on strike for nearly a week to protest Consolidated Edison’s refusal to employ union electricians for work on its new Waterside plant.
The company claimed it could only use members of the Brotherhood of Edison Employees, an ‘independent union.’
The walkout also affected electricians at area construction sites and at 25 defense contractors across the city.
The union had just agreed to exempt electricians at the Brooklyn Navy Yards, where the strike held up work on four battleships.
And the IBEW allowed electricians at Ford Instrument to return to work, given they had orders for $100,000,000 in defense instruments.
Siegel announced that at 9 p.m. the following evening, maintenance men not on strike, would pull the switches on all signs in Times Square in sympathy, to bring attention to their plight.
After the half-hour blackout, the IBEW continued to fight injunctions brought by the New York Electrical Contractors Association.
Harry Van Arsdale Jr., business manager for Local 3, declared the blackout had been more successful than they had hoped.
He characterized the switch-off as a “blackout for enlightenment.”
Naval officials complained however that the strike held up vital defense projects.
Newspapers noted that Broadwayites suddenly noticed the moon when an estimated 10 million watts of super-lighting was turned off.
A Times Square veteran noted it was darkest since 1918, when a Zeppelin raid alarm caused a blackout.
The strike was called off a week later when ConEd acknowledged its previous agreement with IBEW.