This week’s ENews – 1/26/18

WPRI 12: Scituate residents vote to fund construction of new police station

Scituate residents voted to approve funding for the construction of a new police station.

The station was shut down in Sept. 2017 due to structural concerns after testing revealed high levels of lead, asbestos, mold and radon in the building. The Scituate Town Council then voted unanimously to vacate the building and temporarily relocate personnel to trailers. READ MORE

Providence Journal: After four decades, Providence Newspaper Guild Follies will end

After more than 40 years of roasting all-things-Rhode Island — most especially its political culture — at the annual Providence Newspaper Guild Follies, the union announced Saturday that this year’s February 23 stage show will be the last.

Guild President John Hill said the choice was a difficult one for the local, but that economics, ticket sales and a dwindling union membership had forced the issue. -READ MORE

AFL-CIO: Tips are More Important Than You Think

The Donald Trump Labor Department is proposing a rule change that would mean that restaurant servers and bartenders could lose a large portion of their earnings. The rule would overturn one put in place by the Barack Obama administration initiated, which prevents workers in tipped industries from having their tips taken by their employers.

Under the new rule, business owners could pay their wait staff and bartenders as little as $7.25 per hour and keep all tips above that amount without having to tell customers what happened. -READ MORE

AFL-CIO: BLS Union Data Shows Working People on the Rise

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual report on union membership, which found that the number of union members rose by 260,000 in 2017. This reflects critical organizing victories across a range of industries, which have reaped higher wages, better benefits, and a more secure future for working people around the country.

“In the face of a challenging year, the power of working people is on the rise,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Together, we organized historic new unions, stood up to powerful corporations, and won higher wages. But today’s data is more than numbers on a page, it’s a growing movement of working people that can’t be measured as easily.
-READ MORE

National Nurses United: RN Response Network Deploys Second Team of Volunteer Nurses to Puerto Rico

Nurse volunteers from the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN)—a disaster relief project of National Nurses United (NNU)—are back on the ground this week in Puerto Rico, working in partnership with International Medical Corps volunteers and local providers to help staff mobile primary care clinics and conduct home visits to hundreds of patients, many of whom still lack access to regular primary care support for chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

This week’s team of RNRN volunteers is returning to the island after a previous deployment in October, 2017, in conjunction with the AFL-CIO. -READ MORE

Int’l Association of Firefighters FaceBook: The IAFF Foundation is committed to helping our members – here’s a quick look at how we made a meaningful difference in the lives of our members and their families in 2017. WATCH VIDEO

KITCHEN TABLE ECONOMICS

3 out of 4: That’s how many of the workers who joined unions last year are under the age of 34.

ANNUAL INCOME TAX RETURNS:

If you have members making less than $55,000/yr, have them contact Anne Quinterno or Zoya Tseytlin at the United Way RI or at 2-1-1 so they can have their taxes done for FREE.


UPCOMING EVENTS:

I AM 2018 Moment of Silence

50th Anniversary of the tragic events that touched off the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike

When: Thursday, February 1
Details: As part of AFSCME’s I AM 2018 initiative honoring the legacy of those brave strikers and Dr. King, ask all of your affiliates to organize a moment of silence in memory of Brothers Echol Cole and Robert Walker on February 1, 2018 who were killed in Memphis.
Link: Here is a link to the Moment of Silence social medial toolkit. MORE INFORMATION

THIS WEEK IN LABOR HISTORY

1734 – New York City maids organize to improve working conditions.

1850 – Samuel Gompers, first AFL president, born in London, England. He emigrated to the U.S. as a youth.

1932 – First U.S. unemployment compensation law enacted, in Wisconsin.

-LEARN MORE

THIS WEEK ON LABOR VISION:

In the first half of the program, Linda McDonald and Lynn Blais of UNAP describe to Jim Riley the downright horrible treatment that workers and retirees at Fatima Hospital have endured since learning their pensions have been reduced by 40 percent; and the fact the hospital, and the Diocese of Providence is concealing information, forcing those who care to take direct action. Also, Linda updates the situation at Memorial Hospital and the status of the Patient Safety Act.
And in the second half of the show, RI AFL-CIO President, George Nee again sits down with Jim Riley to re-cap 2017 and gives a preview of what lies ahead for 2018.