Labor Unions

Employees represented by the Communications Workers of America and other staff are on strike following the expiration of their health insurance coverage on Oct. 1.

President Joe Biden spent part of Labor Day in Pittsburgh, where he spoke at the United Steelworkers union hall in West Mifflin. The visit to Pennsylvania was his third in the past week.

The progressive think tank Keystone Research Center finds that, between 2019 and 2021, pay rose between 5% and 9% for workers whose earnings fall in the bottom third of the state’s wage distribution. All other workers experienced no more than 4% wage growth during the same period.

The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against the regional newspaper last week. It accuses managers of refusing to bargain in good faith with unionized journalists and of unilaterally changing workplace policies.

On today’s episode of The Confluence: Staff at a Bloomfield Starbucks have voted to unionize, becoming the first store to do so in the commonwealth; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Kris Mamula explains how a study found the rate of deaths due to COVID-19 in 100 U.S. counties was most strongly correlated with lack of income; FBI Supervisory Special Agent Tim Wolford tells us how the agency is combatting "sextortion schemes," where an increasing number of teen boys are targeted; and officials worry about the cost of the upcoming election.

Daisy Pitkin discusses her book "On The Line."

Labor leaders are convening in downtown Pittsburgh this week for the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO’s biennial convention. Speaking at the event Tuesday, National AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler noted that public opinion of unions has risen at the same time that workers are quitting at record rates.

Nurses at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital strike for better working conditions.

Staff at The Coffee Tree Roasters have voted 17-to-3 to unionize, the local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers union announced Tuesday.

Federal data shows that layoffs of U.S. workers reached a record low in December, with Pennsylvania-based employees the least likely to lose their jobs. The trend reflects the difficulties businesses face with hiring and retaining workers amid an ongoing labor shortage.