American Independent: Teachers union supports strike over Trump’s ‘chaotic and catastrophic’ reopening plan. “The American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.7 million school employees, issued a resolution on Tuesday saying it will support any local chapter that decides to strike over reopening plans. The group says school buildings should open only in areas where coronavirus infections are low enough and if schools enact certain safety measures.”
unions
United Farm Workers: After a death and quarter of work force infected by COVID-19, Primex letting go workers who complained & turned to UFW
United Farm Workers: After a death and quarter of work force infected by COVID-19, Primex letting go workers who complained & turned to UFW. “With one Primex Farms LLC worker dead from the novel coronavirus and a quarter of its workforce now infected, the large Wasco, Calif. pistachio and almond processing firm announced it is letting go many of the workers who complained about the failure to properly protect them and turned for help to the United Farm Workers, according to Primex employees who were informed on Thursday. The UFW is filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging illegal retaliation for union and concerted activities.”
The Verge: How Twitter is shifting the power balance from companies to their employees
The Verge: How Twitter is shifting the power balance from companies to their employees. “Last week, the worlds of technology and journalism were transfixed by a conflict that played out across across Instagram, Twitter, and the upstart audio-only social network Clubhouse. One reason it generated so much attention — you can read thorough accounts from varying perspectives at Vice, on Quora, or this venture capitalist’s Substack — is that you can approach the drama from so many angles. But despite the best efforts of everyone here, I still think the most clarifying way to understand the story of Steph Korey, Taylor Lorenz, Balaji Srinivasan, venture capital, and Clubhouse has mostly gone unspoken. And those who fail to see it, I think, could be in for a rude awakening of their own.”
LAist: LA Teachers’ Union Pushes Back On Trump Administration’s Push To Reopen Schools
LAist: LA Teachers’ Union Pushes Back On Trump Administration’s Push To Reopen Schools. “Amid pressure from the Trump Administration to fully reopen schools this fall, the union representing L.A. Unified School District teachers is calling for campuses to remain closed and for online learning to continue when classes start again in August.”
Penn State University: University Libraries’ labor unions digitized collections project completed
Penn State University: University Libraries’ labor unions digitized collections project completed. “Following three years of digitization and preparation, Penn State University Libraries has made available a vast collection of archival materials documenting the 20th-century American working-class experience, including the largest and most significant record series within the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) archives.”
CNET: Amazon to reopen French warehouses after union deal for COVID-19 safety
CNET: Amazon to reopen French warehouses after union deal for COVID-19 safety. “Amazon reportedly will reopen six warehouses in France on Tuesday after reaching an agreement with labor unions about how to operate safely in a time during the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the coronavirus.”
American Federation of Labor: History Now Digital (Library of Congress)
Library of Congress: American Federation of Labor: History Now Digital. “Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed the growth of two transformative but intertwined forces: massive waves of immigration from 1880 to 1920 and the roiling discontent of labor. Few organizations struggled to balance these developments more than the American Federation of Labor, one of the nation’s premier labor organizations.”
Reuters: Labour group accuses Google of illegally firing workers to stifle unionism
Reuters: Labour group accuses Google of illegally firing workers to stifle unionism. “The Communications Workers of America union filed a federal labour charge against Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google on Thursday, accusing the company of unlawfully firing four employees to deter workers from engaging in union activities.”
Wired: YouTubers Must Unionize, No Matter What Google Says
Wired: YouTubers Must Unionize, No Matter What Google Says. “Most YouTubers aren’t millionaires famous for living their lives. Most don’t have Nike brand deals and fleets of assistants to bring them green juice and walk their small dogs, or account managers who can call YouTube when something goes wrong. That stereotype applies to maybe a few dozen people on the platform, but those people are not the only ones who helped YouTube to grow from cat video emporium to the second most popular search engine on the web.”
Motherboard: Google Contractors Are Unionizing With a Steel Workers Union
Motherboard: Google Contractors Are Unionizing With a Steel Workers Union. “Contract workers at Google’s office in Philadelphia have just announced their intention to unionize. 66 percent of the eligible contractors at a company called HCL America Inc., signed cards seeking union representation, according to the United Steel Workers union.”
CNET: YouTubers Union has big demands. Google won’t negotiate
CNET: YouTubers Union has big demands. Google won’t negotiate. “After a year and a half of waiting, the YouTubers Union demanded YouTube respond to its complaints by Friday or one of the world’s biggest traditional labor unions would take the video site and parent company Google to court. Hours before the deadline, Google answered: The company will meet, but it won’t negotiate.”
Motherboard: The YouTubers Union Is Not Messing Around
Motherboard: The YouTubers Union Is Not Messing Around. “The YouTubers Union, a community-based movement fighting for the rights of content creators and users, has joined forces with IG Metall, Germany’s largest union and Europe’s largest trade union. Together, they have launched a joint venture called FairTube and sent a letter of demands to YouTube accompanied by a video explaining their concerns, demands, and plan of action.”
New Digital Collection: M. H. Ross Papers (Georgia State University)
Georgia State University: New Digital Collection: M. H. Ross Papers. “The M. H. Ross Papers digital collection is now publicly accessible online…. Ten boxes of documents and five audio recordings from the collection are currently available. Myron Howard ‘Mike’ Ross (1919-1987) was a union organizer, public health advocate, Progressive Party candidate, and researcher. Throughout his career, Ross worked with unions, including the United Mine Workers, the Mine, Mill, and Smelter workers, and the United Furniture Workers, as an organizer or arbitrator. He ran for public office twice: once in 1940 for a seat on city council on the People’s Platform in Charlotte, North Carolina, and again in 1948, for United States Congress on the Progressive Party ticket in North Carolina.
University of Arkansas: Commonwealth College Fortnightly Now Searchable Online
University of Arkansas: Commonwealth College Fortnightly Now Searchable Online. “Commonwealth College in Mena published hundreds of issues of its newspaper, the Fortnightly, from 1926 to 1938. This digital collection provides access to more than 200 issues, allowing researchers to utilize the most complete record of activity at Arkansas’s historic radical labor school. The original mission of Commonwealth College was to produce educated leaders for the rapidly growing labor movement. ”
New York Times: DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shut Down After Vote to Unionize
New York Times: DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shut Down After Vote to Unionize. “A week ago, reporters and editors in the combined newsroom of DNAinfo and Gothamist, two of New York City’s leading digital purveyors of local news, celebrated victory in their vote to join a union. On Thursday, they lost their jobs, as Joe Ricketts, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade who owned the sites, shut them down.” It appeared at first that the digital archives for these publications would be completely lost, but this looks to be no longer the case.
