ALF Weekly Report — September 30th
The Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation Weekly Report comes out (nearly) every Thursday with news and updates relevant to the Gulf Coast labor movement. To subscribe, click here.
HFT Leads Successful Re-Enrollment Drive in HISD
In collaboration with Houston ISD, the Houston Federation of Teachers has led the effort to get students displaced by COVID back into the classroom, making over 20,000 calls to families in HISD since August.
“We know that the best learning for students occurs in the classroom,” Anderson said. “There is no doubt about that.”
AFGE District 10’s Cheryl Eliano Receives Historic Appointment
AFGE National Vice President Cheryl Eliano was appointed last week to the federal Defence Business Board, a first for a union leader.
“I am proud to be the first and only union representative ever asked to serve on the Defense Business Board,” Eliano said. “The Defense Business Board is a strategic partner in helping the Department of Defense improve its business practices, and ensuring that the voice of rank-and-file workers is included in those discussions will be an asset. I look forward to working with the other board members to develop proposals that further the interests of DoD’s mission, its employees, and the public.”
CWA Denounces Treatment of Haitian Immigrants at Border
Claude Cummings, Jr., Vice President of Communications Workers of America District 6 and Co-Chair of the CWA Executive Board’s Human Rights Committee, spoke out this week about the mistreatment of Haitian immigrants on the Texas border.
“Federal agents and those who supervise and direct them are supposed to bring humanity to border security, but the treatment of Haitian immigrants on our southern border is the essence of inhumanity.”
TWU Local 260 Leads on METRO Mask Mandate
One place where there has been little debate over COVID safety precautions has been on Metro buses and trains, thanks in large part to the work of Transport Workers Union Local 260.
On Houston’s buses and rail, the mask requirement has been “going pretty smoothly,” said Fidel Minor, vice president of the Transit Workers Union Local 260, which represents Metro workers. The policy is part of a range of protective measures Metro implemented quickly after the pandemic started, Minor said.
AFM Musicians in San Antonio Strike for Fair Contract
The members of American Federation of Musicians Local 23 announcing on Monday that they would strike in protest of the Symphony Society’s betrayal of the good faith the musicians have exercised during the pandemic, in protest of the Symphony board’s willful refusal to construct a mass appeal to the public and the business community for adequate funding for this season, and in protest of the Symphony’s bad faith bargaining in demanding these radical changes with no intention to bargain in good faith over the musicians’ reasonable proposals for solutions.
AFL-CIO Welcomes NWSLPA as 57th Union Affiliate
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Players Association became the 57th AFL-CIO union affiliate this week. The NWSLPA includes the players of the Houston Dash.
Bank Workers Win Historic First Contract with CWA
Workers at Beneficial State Bank in California, Oregon & Washington become 1st bank workers in U.S. to ratify union contract in 40 years. The 96 workers in the bargaining unit are represented by the Communications Workers of America and include bankers, consumer loan servicing representatives, loan processors, underwriters, file clerks and custodial staff.
Our USW brothers and sisters at local 13–243 in Beaumont have been locked out for almost 6 months now. They’re coming together to support each other, but they still need our help.
