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Local and National News
Tribune sticking with Alden offer for now
 Apr. 14, 2021 | Update 4/19: After Wyss backs out, Alden Global regains upper hand in bid for Tribune but Bainum remains committed to purchasing the newspaper chain. The special committee of Tribune Publishing’s board of directors continues to recommend shareholders approve a buyout of the company by Alden Global Capital even as it considers a higher offer from Stewart Bainum Jr. and his business partner, Hansjörg Wyss. In an updated filing Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the newspaper group cited a number of factors in the reasoning to endorse Alden’s deal, valued at about $630 million, over a tentative $680 million offer by Bainum and Wyss… Baltimore Sun
Harris, Rosen applaud Teamsters’ role in vaccine rollout
Apr. 13, 2021 | The Teamsters understand what is at stake when it comes to combatting the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Teamsters have been working on the front lines during the pandemic, keeping our communities safe and our economy moving. The union is doing all it can to not only deliver the COVID-19 vaccine but to create opportunities for members to be vaccinated as well. And those efforts are not lost on elected officials, who are noticing and giving thanks to the union… Continue reading at Teamsters
Teamsters statement on Amazon election results in Alabama
Apr. 9, 2021 | “The Teamsters commend the efforts of Amazon workers in Bessemer who came together to fight for respect and to provide a better life for themselves and their families,” said Randy Korgan, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters National Director for Amazon. “Despite going up against one of the world’s richest men in a country with weak labor laws, the workers in Bessemer brought national attention to issues that many non-union workers face in this industry. This fight is not over, and the Teamsters will always support workers who want to build power by standing together and demanding dignity, a safe workplace, and a fair return on their work.”
Older articles
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Apr. 14, 2021 | WORKERS’ RIGHTS | […] While the outcome may not have resulted in a union, there is no doubt that the Bessemer union drive is just the beginning of a re-energized national labor movement — a movement driven by the systemic inequality that has allowed Jeff Bezos to become the richest man in the world while his employees are forced to forgo breaks and urinate in bottles in order to meet demands from management. Inspired by the fight in Bessemer, Amazon workers at other fulfillment centers in Baltimore, New Orleans, Portland, Denver, and southern California have all begun exploring ways to form unions at their own Amazon facilities. “The American public is now hyper-aware of what Amazon warehouse workers and drivers are forced to go through: Grueling hours with impossible demands…” Nation of Change
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Apr. 14, 2021 | OPINION | […] Organized labor used to provide a counterweight to corporate influence. Unions were never in a position to match corporate dollar power, but they could offer people power — the ability to mobilize their members and their members’ friends and neighbors in a way corporations couldn’t. And we need that kind of countervailing power more than ever. … New York Times
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 Apr. 13, 2021 | LABOR LAW | What has sharp teeth, bloodshot eyes, festering nails, looms twelve feet tall, but doesn’t look mean enough to be threatening? Though it might seem like an unlikely subject of cutting-edge labor and constitutional law, the union’s inflatable rat balloon called Scabby has been at the center of these disputes for over a decade. Scabby has survived lawsuits, injunctions, unfair labor practice accusations, and even friendly fire. But Scabby faced its biggest threat yet when President Trump’s General Counsel Peter Robb set his sights on the rat in 2017. Though Robb allegedly “wanted the rat dead,” Scabby managed to stay alive. How has Scabby survived the anti-union legal climate for so long? And who cares?… On Labor
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Apr. 12, 2021 | WORKERS’ RIGHTS | On April 9, the National Labor Relations Board announced the results of a mail ballot certification election that concluded on March 29 for workers at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama. With 3,215 votes cast, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) was defeated with at least 1,608 votes against the union, enough to crush the drive. The result was not shocking given the millions of dollars that Amazon spent and its power inside the facility to pressure workers to vote against forming a union… Despite the valiant efforts of the workers, Amazon — which has more resources than nearly any company in the world — was able to blunt their momentum through its anti-union campaign…. But this is hardly the last word on organizing Amazon. Going forward, we are likely to see more unions joining in the effort to organize Amazon. The Teamsters have already begun building rank and file awareness with its UPS membership about the threat that Amazon poses to its contract standards with the hope that members will assist a broad campaign. It’s already resulted in local unions hearing from Amazon workers interested in joining… In These Times
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• California port truck drivers strike
