During the 94th Academy Awards of March 2022, actor icon Will Smith unceremoniously slapped comedian Chris Rock, who was hosting the Academy’s that year. In a seemingly personal, if not private, situation, Will Smith’s reaction to a joke, albeit in slightly bad taste, very publicly instructed Chris Rock, “Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth!" And I may be paraphrasing a tad.
In a recent article featured in the Guest Commentaries section of the Capital Times by the President of the Arizona Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America Inc., it was titled, “We need to protect employers and workers."
I can appreciate that Mr. Martin does a fantastic job on behalf of the AZAGC, but in your role protecting the interests of general contractors in Arizona, please don’t pretend to care about WORKERS! Mr. Martin goes on to bash the unions that provide the most qualified workers in the construction industry. In his role of interacting with the state legislature as a lobbyist, arguing for or against legislation pertaining to general contracting, Mr. Martin portrays the contractors as victims of misinformation by unions organizing workers. That Project Labor Agreements violate ‘free speech’ by employers, and that essentially, fair wages, benefits, and treatment should be determined unilaterally by the employer and the employer alone.
History will tell us different; we know that left to their own devices, through years of holding the political power, corporations will continue to benefit from a rigged system of ‘low bid’ contracting, resulting in inferior work and low-paying jobs! This is at the core of the issue, especially when we are dealing with government or public projects. For far too long, electeds have, including the work that they’ve been able to privatize, rewarded jobs to the lowest bidders, disregarding quality and safety for not only the worker but for the general public as well.
Since President Obama signed Executive Order 13502 in February 2009, which encourages federal agencies to implement project labor agreements on federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total value on a case-by-case basis and permits states and localities to implement PLAs on federally assisted projects, 23 states have passed legislation or executive orders to ban PLAs in their states, including Arizona. And it’s no coincidence that the majority of these states also make the ‘dishonor roll’ for being in the bottom half of personal income per capita across the country!
Mr. Martin also questions the "motivation" of President Biden’s administration in regards to worker’s rights. I understand that in protecting the rights of corporations, in this case contractors, there is a desire to humanize unfettered profits and power, but if you really cared about workers, maybe you’d look for more ways to enter into ‘neutrality’ agreements that would benefit everyone!
To learn more about Project Labor Agreements click here.
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Fred Yamashita
Secretary-Treasurer
Executive Director Arizona AFL-CIO
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UPCOMING EVENTS & ACTIONS
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2023 MALF Cornhole Tournament Fundraiser - Save the Date
Every year, the Andy Ward Scholarship Fund offers financial assistance to individuals in the union or their dependents who are looking to further their studies. Come and contribute to this fundraiser! Sponsors have the opportunity to receive custom cornhole boards as a token of appreciation.
When: Saturday November 18, 2023
Where: NALC George T Russell, Branch 576 - 3720 W. Greenway Rd., Phoenix, AZ, 85053
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Tell the Department of Health and Human Services: We Need Safe Staffing Now
The Biden administration has proposed a historic new rule that would establish a minimum staffing standard in nursing homes for the first time. The nursing home industry is spending big to prevent this rule from being finalized.
Submit your comments supporting a strong rule by Nov. 6, 2023.
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We are one month away from yet another catastrophic government shutdown. And extreme Republicans in the House can’t even manage to elect a speaker. And we know that instead of proposing a budget that supports working people, creates good jobs and protects families, some extreme Republican politicians plan to push an extreme agenda that threatens the wages, health care, education and safety of workers and our families. These extremists are threatening to shut down the government—putting our economy in peril and hundreds of thousands out of work—if they don’t get extreme cuts that could heap even more hardship on our families, just to funnel our hard-earned dollars to the wealthy, big corporations and political donors.
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COSHCON23: the National Conference on Worker Safety and Health
COSHCON2023 is an action-packed program that captures the best of what works to fight for better safety and health conditions in all kinds of workplaces. Here’s just some of what you can learn during three days of interactive workshops, panels and presentations, with more than 300 health and safety activists.
HOW TO:
- Use worker legal rights strategically to win safer conditions and build the union
- Build effective health and safety committees to involve union reps and members;
- Access models and a process to win strong health and safety contract language;
- Share organizing strategies that build strong campaigns and develop leadership; and
- Learn effective training and education methods and help develop new trainers.
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Arizona Labor Book Club Meeting- October
Unfortunately, our September Labor Book Club meeting will be postponed this month
Join us in October via Zoom for a fun and engaging conversation regarding this month's book, The Great Stewardess Rebellion by Nell McShane Wulfhart, and also vote on November's book of the month!
NEXT MEETING: November th, 2023, from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM
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Union Events and Action
We want to uplift what you are doing for our members and our community!
Please fill out all the required information to have your Local's event uploaded to our Arizona AFL-CIO website or featured in our next Labor Dispatch. If you have any questions please reach out to Alina Cordoba, Communications & Operations Director at [email protected].
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Biden Truly Stands with Union Workers
"I returned to join striking autoworkers on the picket line in Detroit last week, alongside many unions showing the Labor Movement’s solidarity and support in their fight with the Big Three automakers. These striking workers, members of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), are demanding a share in the wealth they help create!"
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America Is On Strike. Here's the Progress Unions Have Made
"It’s not just wage and benefit improvements that unions are seeking. They also are demanding quality of life improvement, with better staffing, more time off, and protections against forced overtime."
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Acting Secretary Su Issues a Statement on Tentative Kaiser Agreement
"Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su released a statement after leaders for the coalition representing health care workers and Kaiser Permanente reached a tentative labor agreement. “When workers have a voice and a seat at the table, it can result in historic gains for workers, their employer and our country," Su said."
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Memorial Honors 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Deaths That Galvanized US Labor Movement
"If people really looked for history at the New York City building where the Triangle Shirtwaist factory once existed, they could find it. There are plaques pointing out that it was the site of a horrific fire in 1911 that became a catalyst in the American labor movement’s fight for workplace safety protections."
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UAW Members Aren't All Assembling Cars. More and More are Unionizing Grad Students
"These days, the "A" in UAW might as well include academia, as roughly 100,000 of the union's 383,000 members work in higher education. They include graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants, clerical and technical workers, adjunct professors and postdocs."
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Portland Teachers Union Votes to Authorize a Strike
"Teachers in Portland Public Schools voted by a wide margin this week to authorize a strike that would likely start in early November, given that contract negotiations between the union and district are still at an impasse. Roughly 93% of eligible teachers participated in the vote and nearly 99% of them voted to authorize the strike, the union said in a letter sent to educators on Thursday evening. The teachers union has given the district a 10-day notice of a work stoppage, union officials said. The strike would begin Nov. 1, barring an 11th-hour agreement between the union and Portland Public Schools."
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One Year After Walking Out, Workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Remain on Strike
"It’s important to note that tensions between the news guild and the Post-Gazette predate the ongoing strike. The paper’s unions have been without a contract since March 31, 2017, when the last bargaining agreement expired without a successor in place. An administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in January that the paper had violated federal labor law by failing to bargain a new one in good faith."
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Arizona Court Rules Cochise County May Not Hand Count Ballots in Future Elections
“On Wednesday, Oct. 18, an Arizona appellate court affirmed a lower court ruling that determined that Cochise County, Arizona could not conduct a hand count audit of all early ballots for the 2022 midterm elections. As Cochise County has indicated it would conduct future hand count audits, this ruling bars those as well. "
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Phoenix Laundry Company Fined Nearly $400K for Labor Violations
“A real estate company running a commercial laundry and linen service was ordered to pay over $281,000 for coercing out of employees kickbacks on wages initially recovered for the employees. On top of the order, Sparklean Laundry and Piper must also pay $100,000 in damages for blatantly retaliating against its employees exercising their labor rights, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on Tuesday."
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Say Goodbye to Tax-Filing Fees -- Free Filing Coming to Arizona in 2024
“The Internal Revenue Service announced Tuesday plans to roll out a program called Direct File, a free tax preparation program tailored to suit the needs of millions of American taxpayers. The software will roll out on a monthly basis in 13 states—including Arizona—and will be available in Spanish and English."
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Less money Flowing In: Arizona Forecast Shift From Tiny Surplus to Deficit
“Arizona's state budget is likely to end the year in the red, prompting early predictions of cuts to state programs and further fueling an already heated debate over the cost of the state's universal school voucher program."
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