| | | | |  | | By Nick Niedzwiadek | Presented by SourceAmerica | | | | SHULER ELECTED TO LEAD AFL-CIO: Liz Shuler on Sunday was formally elected to a full, four-year term as AFL-CIO president during its convention in Philadelphia. Shuler has helmed the organization for close to a year following the unexpected death last August of Richard Trumka, who had held the post for more than a decade prior to his passing. (Trumka's specter has hovered over the conference, which was postponed from October 2021 due largely to ongoing safety concerns related to the pandemic and at times has doubled as a belated mourning and admiration event for the luminary figure.) Barring major scandal, leaders are typically most vulnerable early in their tenure before they have had time to cement themselves or implement their vision. But Shuler, the secretary-treasurer under Trumka, managed to avoid any real threat to her path to a full term — making her the first woman and first IBEW member ever elected to the top spot at the AFL-CIO. During her remarks Shuler touted the people who helped her rise up through union officialdom and noted her stylistic and personal differences from the past. "I traveled a different path to reach this point, as many women in this movement do," she said. She vowed to add at least a million union members over the next 10 years by seizing on the renewed energy and interest in organized labor, and promoted the creation of a "Center for Transformational Organizing" that she likened to the formation of the CIO half of the AFL back in the '30s. "This is the vehicle that will accelerate and convert the energy of this moment to take our movement into the next century," she said. Today, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh will be in Philly to headline the conference with a speech in the morning, with President Joe Biden to follow on Tuesday. Nick will be there Monday and feel free to drop a line at (518) 852-6250. GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, June 13. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on employment and immigration news, and where the words "Google doc" do not strike terror in our hearts. Send feedback, tips and exclusives to emueller@politico.com and nniedzwiadek@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @eleanor_mueller and @nickniedz.
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| | | SENS PRESS AMAZON TO NEGOTIATE WITH UNION: Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Amazon Friday urging the company to come to the table and bargain with workers at the JFK8 facility on Staten Island. "While Amazon likes to boast about its competitive starting pay, its generous benefits, and its support for select progressive policy items, this 'pro-worker' sentiment fades away the moment its own workers state they want to exercise their legal right to collectively bargain," the pair wrote. They asked Amazon to drop its challenges related to the JFK8 vote that concluded this spring ahead of Monday's National Labor Relations Board hearing on those objections that's set to begin Monday in Phoenix. The letter follows a similar one Sanders sent to Starbucks back in March related to the burgeoning unionization effort that has led to well over 100 stores voting to organize. LATER THIS WEEK: The House Education & Labor Committee is holding a hearing "Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Labor" on Tuesday at 10:15 a.m., and a Senate Appropriations subcommittee will hold a hearing on DOL's fiscal 2023 budget request Wednesday morning.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | $18M FOR STATE UI REVAMPS: The Labor Department on Friday announced $18 million in grants to seven states in an effort to address inequities in the unemployment system, your Shift host reports. The money "will allow community partners in each state to conduct outreach and provide resources and training to marginalized communities," DOJ said, including racial and ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities and LGBTQI individuals, among others. Why it matters: The Government Accountability Office last week released a report that found that during the pandemic Black applicants for unemployment benefits were half as likely to succeed as comparable ones who are white in some states, among other glaring issues. TRUMP FILES: Then-Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia was among the high-level Trump officials who pondered how to proceed following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the New York Times reports. Scalia reportedly expressed concerns to an aide to former Vice President Mike Pence about then-President Donald Trump's volatility at that time, and even floated the idea with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of someone telling the now-former president to resign. "Mr. Pompeo replied sarcastically by asking how Mr. Scalia imagined that conversation with Mr. Trump would go," the Times reports.
| | | | A message from SourceAmerica:   | | | | | | HOME DEPOT WINS BLM CHALLENGE: An administrative law judge rejected a case brought by the NLRB against Home Depot for allegedly infringing on employees' rights to protest racial injustice. The NLRB general counsel argued that Home Depot broke federal labor law by barring employees from wearing pins or other signs on their aprons in support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement, among other intimidating behavior. However, Judge Paul Bogas rejected those arguments and essentially ruled that the speech at issue lacked a "sufficiently direct relationship to terms and conditions of employment," and thus was not protected under labor law. What's next: A similar proceeding against Whole Foods is ongoing. LABORING ON THE BACK NINE: The starchy world of professional golf has surged to the forefront of the nexus of labor, sports and geopolitics in recent months as an upstart, Saudi-backed competitor to the PGA Tour has lured away several top athletes with promises of eye-watering riches and poses a significant threat to the status quo. In recent days the PGA Tour said it would suspend any current or future athletes who participate in a LIV Golf event. This, unsurprisingly, was not received well by the 17 golfers affected by the ban for playing in the inaugural event in London over the weekend. Several of them have raised the prospect of legal action — which could open up new fronts in ongoing legal battles over independent contractors and antitrust issues, according to a legal analyst at Sportico. More sports news: "Bernie Sanders Can't Fix Baseball," from POLITICO Magazine.
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | ACTIVISION TO NEGOTIATE WITH QA UNION: Video Game giant Activision Blizzard said it would enter bargaining with the Communications Workers of America after a group of quality assurance workers in Wisconsin voted to organize. "While first labor contracts can take some time to complete, we will meet CWA leaders at the bargaining table and work toward an agreement," CEO Bobby Kotick said in a message sent to all U.S. employees and later released publicly. The move is a sizable shift for the company, given that it strongly opposed the organizing effort by Raven Software playtesters — which voted 19 to 3 to unionize in May. Why the shift: In between the vote and Kotick's message, Microsoft — which is in the process of acquiring the company for some $75 billion — signaled a more conciliatory tone toward unions. Kotick's message made no mention of Microsoft, but drawing out the battle with a small band of QA workers could have complicated the deal's closing or presented a headache for Microsoft upon completion. More union news: " Chris Smalls' Amazon uprising and the fight for a second warehouse," from the Washington Post.
| | | MIGRATION PACT HATCHED AT AMERICAS SUMMIT: The Biden administration and other Western Hemisphere countries on Friday announced a blueprint on handling migrants and refugees they're calling the "Los Angeles Declaration," the Associated Press reports. "A set of principles announced on the summit's final day includes legal pathways to enter countries, aid to communities most affected by migration, humane border management and coordinated emergency responses." More immigration news: "Biden administration launches 'unprecedented' operation to disrupt human smuggling as caravan moves north," from CNN.
| | | | A message from SourceAmerica: During our annual Grassroots Advocacy Conference this week, attendees will hear from policy experts, and each other, about the landscape on Capitol Hill that affects employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Nonprofit leaders and self-advocates will then attend congressional meetings to help shape those employment policies. Discover how inclusion drives the innovations that transform the workplace and the economy. Learn more. | | | | | | — "Why We Still Haven't Solved the Unpaid Internship Problem," from The New York Times. — "Some Flight Attendants Can Bring Their Full Selves to Work—Tattoos, Sneakers, Nose Studs and All," from The Wall Street Journal. — "Smithfield to close Vernon plant due to rising California costs," from Reuters. — "Google to pay $118 million to settle gender discrimination lawsuit," from the Verge. — " Federal Prosecutors Open Criminal Inquiry of Wells Fargo's Hiring Practices," from The New York Times. THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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