AFL-CIO Daily Briefs: Shuler; NABTU; Sweeney; AFSCME; IAM; Equity and IBEW

Message from President Liz Shuler

• America needs not only sustainable energy, but a sustainable future with good union jobs at the center. And when labor and management join forces from the start, we can ensure that everyone has a say in defining the industries of the future.
• I was honored to welcome leaders from North America's Building Trades Unions and renewable energy company Ørsted to the House of Labor today where they signed a groundbreaking project labor agreement that will put thousands of skilled union members to work building America's offshore wind projects.
• This agreement is the culmination of a game-changing partnership between labor and a leading clean energy company that sets a high-road standard for the offshore wind industry. Together, America's workers are building a brighter future for all.

NABTU Secures Landmark Offshore Wind Project Labor Agreement

Earlier today, there was a major victory for America's pro-union clean energy future. During a press conference at the AFL-CIO headquarters, North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and Ørsted signed a project labor agreement (PLA) to construct the company's U.S. offshore wind farms with America's union workforce. Members of the Biden-Harris administration, including Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, took part in the celebration.

The first of its kind in the United States, the National Offshore Wind Agreement (NOWA) sets the bar for working conditions and equity, injects hundreds of millions of dollars in middle-class wages into the American economy, creates apprenticeship and career opportunities for communities most impacted by environmental injustice, and ensures projects will be built with the safest and best-trained workers in the country. Authorized by 15 international union presidents and their local affiliates, the NOWA covers all of Ørsted's contractors and subcontractors that will perform offshore wind farm construction from Maine down to Florida.

This PLA is a significant milestone because it creates an example for offshore wind and other clean energy firms to follow: one where labor standards, environmental protection and good business practices can and should go hand in hand. As AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler remarked, "This is what it looks like to put the words 'high-road labor standards' into action." This high-caliber agreement for working people and the planet reminds us that clean energy jobs can and will be good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs.

Labor Movement Comes Together to Celebrate the Life and Legacy of John Sweeney (1934-2021)

AFL-CIO President Emeritus John Sweeney, who led an era of transformative change in America's labor movement, passed away last year at the age of 86. Sweeney's life was defined by his devotion to family and his unrelenting commitment to the cause of workers. Earlier today, members of the labor movement gathered with Sweeney's family at Georgetown University to honor his enduring legacy to our movement. An assembly of distinguished leaders, including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (LIUNA) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, shared their reflections on Sweeney's life-a life dedicated to the struggle for working people in America and around the world.

In the words of Brother Sweeney: "Without the church, there would be no redemption. Without family, there would have been no love. Without the union, there would have been no food on the table." The labor movement thanks our brother for his lifetime of inspiring leadership and compassionate action. May he rest in power.

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Labor Heritage Foundation Brings Labor Leaders Together to Honor AFSCME President Lee Saunders

Union leaders gathered on Wednesday evening at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., to honor one of America's fiercest champions for working people: AFSCME President Lee Saunders (pictured above, second from left). The Labor Heritage Foundation honored Saunders at its Solidarity Forever Reception and Awards Ceremony in recognition of his vigorous leadership within the labor movement.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer/Executive Vice President Fred Redmond (pictured above, second from right) spoke at the ceremony to recognize President Saunders' contributions to the movement.

3,000 IAM Members at Pratt & Whitney Ratify Contract with Job Security, Strong Benefits

Some 3,000 members of Machinists (IAM) District 26, Local 700 in Middletown and Local 1746 in East Hartford, Connecticut, voted to ratify a new contract with aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. The three-year agreement, which took effect on Monday, contained significant gains: improved job security, a minimum average of $2,400 in health care savings, strong wage increases and more paid time off.

"During the pandemic, our members, deemed essential, took their roles to maintain production, and helped the company remain profitable, seriously," said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. (not pictured). "The IAM continually proves why we are the premier aerospace and defense labor union globally. Our members stood alongside their negotiating committees to demand a contract representing their commitment to the company."

Equity Files Double-Breasting Grievance Against 'Waitress' Producers

This season, Broadway show "Waitress" sent out two tours-one with a contract negotiated by the Actors' Equity Association (Equity), and the other without union actors or stage managers. Equity opened a grievance today charging the show's producers for double-breasting, or profiting from both union members and nonunion workers at the same time. It's an underhanded practice that other Broadway producers engage in, and Equity is aiming to put a stop to it. In the process of pursuing an election for the nonunion 'Waitress' actors and stage managers, Equity said it uncovered evidence that the show's licensers have a financial interest in the nonunion production.

"The members of this company have been vocal that they want union representation," said Stefanie Frey, Equity's director of organizing and mobilization. "And this new pathway will make things right for them-and for hundreds of other stage managers and actors being denied the wages and workplace protections a union guarantees."

All in a Day's Work

Editor's note: This story was originally published by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.

Last week, union members in Memphis stood before the Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 474 union hall in honor of Workers Memorial Day and shared the findings of an AFL-CIO report on worker safety.

The national study found that in 2020, more than 4,700 workers lost their lives from job-related injuries. It found that Latino and Black workers face the greatest risk of dying on the job compared to workers as a whole. The Latino rate was 4.5 per 100,000 workers, a 15% increase over the past 10 years. The Black worker rate was 3.5 per 100,000 workers. Older workers are at high risk, too, the study said, with more than one-third of workplace fatalities occurring among workers 55 and older.

In 2020, more than 5,000 Black workers died from traumatic injuries, a number that excludes COVID-19 or chronic illnesses. Click here to read more.

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