Promoting Apprenticeships: The Working People Weekly List

Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.

Nurses at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin Vote by Landslide to Unionize: “Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin has become the largest private-sector hospital in Texas to unionize. Nurses at ASMCA voted by a landslide this week, with 72% in favor, to join the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), the largest nurses’ union in the United States. They formed a union to win improved patient care standards and strong contracts given the proven track record they’ve seen by NNOC/NNU in Texas and throughout the country.”

AFL-CIO Panel: Blame Corporate Greed, Not Workers, for Inflation: “‘There are some bad ideas floating around out there’ to bring down inflation, ‘like the idea that working people, who have kept the country running’ during the coronavirus pandemic, ‘are to blame for inflation,’ currently running at an 8% annual rate, Shuler said. ‘Nothing could be further from the truth.’”

How AFL-CIO Wants to Get More Black Men and Other Workers into Apprenticeships: “The AFL-CIO is teaming up with the Chris Gardner Foundation to launch a new program in Detroit this week aimed at getting more high school students from underserved communities—Black men, among others—into apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs in the building trades or automotive industries. The recently enacted infrastructure bill ‘has resources in there for apprenticeship programs,’ and it’s ‘tied into affirmative action,’ AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond told Weekly Shift. But ‘it’s labor’s responsibility to go into those communities and help them recruit.’”

Griffith Observatory’s Planetarium Storytellers Petition to Unionize with Actors’ Equity: “The astronomical tour guides whose job it is to point out the Big Dipper and explain the big bang to visitors of Griffith Observatory have petitioned to join a union better known for representing stars of the theatrical variety. The dozen observatory lecturers at the Los Angeles institution have unanimously signed union authorization cards with the Actors’ Equity Association. A petition was presented to the city’s Employee Relations Board during a meeting Monday morning, kicking off a formal feedback period before the board makes a decision in a few months.”

Philadelphia Museum of Art Workers Hold 1-Day Strike for Better Wages, Benefits: “Unionized workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art began a one-day ‘unfair practices’ strike Friday morning amid ongoing negotiations with museum leadership on their first collective bargaining agreement. The decision comes less than three weeks after AFSCME Local 397 members voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike and filed eight unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that museum management engaged in union-busting practices during contract negotiations.”

Major League Baseball Players Joining AFL-CIO; Minor Leaguers Seeking to Organize: “Baseball fans were delighted with dual news last week affecting America’s favorite pastime: A unionization drive among Minor League baseball players was launched by the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) in an effort to bring equity to young players. Affiliation with the AFL-CIO by the MLB Players Association itself was announced Sept. 7. The MLPBA is formally affiliating with the AFL-CIO and will join the AFL-CIO’s newly formed Sports Council whose membership includes NFL Players Association, the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association, the United Soccer League Players Association-CWA, the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association and the newly organized United Football Players Association-USW. ‘The MLBPA and every single one of its 1,200 players have a home in our movement because this union understands and lives the meaning of the word solidarity by leveraging the power of sports and helping others,’ said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. ‘Together, with our 12.5 million members, we will bring our strength to their fights, including working to organize 5,400 minor league players.’”