WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 17 Business Manager Bill Fekete (on the left) and James Smolinski, Jr. - who serves as Administrative Manager for Local 17’s Apprenticeship Training Fund, are extremely pleased - you might even say, “Beaming with pride,” over a more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Unionized Workers employed at two Western New York Nursing Homes in Amherst and Tonawanda have reached a one-year Tentative Agreement with their employer, cancelling their planned strikes that were set for this week. Downstate for-profit and out-of-town Nursing Home Owner, Solomon Abramczyk, initially failed to sign the more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - On July 2nd, Workers employed at two Western New York Nursing Homes reached a tentative one-year contract agreement with their employer, but less than one week later the for-profit, out-of-town Nursing Home failed to sign the deal that including increased wages to recruit experienced Caregivers. As a result, the Nursing Home Workers more»

Ariel Wittenberg at E&E News By Politico reports the e-mail went out shortly after a dangerous heat dome in July had smothered Upstate New York. A U.S. Postal Service Manager in Buffalo was angry Letter Carriers appeared to be lingering in air-conditioned Post Offices and told local supervisors to “get this time back.” “Turn A/C off more»

Aaron Fernando at Striking Distance reports United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9 Reps traveled from their Union Office in Buffalo to Ithaca to build community and political support for the Local Bargaining Unit that represents Workers at Cornell University. They also wanted to communicate to Cornell that this contact negotiation would be different from more»

(GETZVILLE, NEW YORK) – 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East-represented Nursing Home Workers, employed at one of the last non-profit facilities in Western New York who averted a two-day Strike earlier this week, have ratified an 18-month agreement with their employer. Caregivers at Weinberg Campus are employed as more»

(GETZVILLE, NEW YORK) – Unionized Nursing Home Workers at one of the last non-profit facilities in Western New York have averted a two-day Strike after reaching an 18-month agreement just hours before they were set to hit the picket line. 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU)-represented Caregivers at Weinberg Campus planned to protest a more»

(GETZVILLE, NEW YORK) – Unionized Nursing Home Workers at one of the last non-profit facilities in Western New York plan to hold a two-day Strike beginning Wednesday, July 31st to protest a poorly managed facility, unpaid benefits, low wages, and inadequate staffing levels. The Workers’ current contract covering more than 300 Caregivers - who more»

Jenny Brownen at LaborNotes reports on Project 2025: Presidential Transition Project - the 900-page Heritage Foundation wish list for a new Trump Presidency and a compliant Supreme Court. Trump’s victory last time was a surprise and many corporate types view his chaotic term as a missed opportunity. This time, Heritage - which is a mouthpiece for more»

(ALBANY, NEW YORK) - The 2.5 million-Member New York State AFL-CIO has endorsed passage of Proposal One, the New York State Equal Rights Amendment. New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said: “The Union Movement represents individuals from all backgrounds and identities, and we are committed to the fight for Social Justice. Discrimination more»

(ROCHESTER, NEW YORK) – Workers represented by Teamsters Local 118 and employed at Wegmans Food Markets have voted by a three-to-one margin to ratify their most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement with the major Grocery Store Chain. The seven-year contract covers nearly 900 Teamsters who work in the Warehouse, Transportation and Skilled Trades more»

1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has issued a response to the New York Appellate Court’s Decision On Nursing Home Spending Law: The New York Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department has rejected the Nursing Home Industry’s attempt to overturn the law requiring nursing homes to spend 70% of their total revenue on resident more»

(ACROSS NEW YORK STATE) - Home Care Providers represented by 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East, the largest Health Care Workers Union, who are employed at Community Care Home Health Services have overwhelmingly voted to ratify their very first Union contract - a three-year deal that runs until December 31st, 2026. more»

(ROCHESTER, NEW YORK) – More than 100 Health Care Workers from across Upstate joined a Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly in Rochester over the weekend, which was held to support a similar event that took place in Washington, D.C. on Saturday (June 29th). Saturday’s rain did not stop the message from getting out inside more»

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: For the 40th time, the Niagara-Orleans AFL-CIO Central Labor Council has awarded scholarships to three deserving students who are advancing their future careers through education and training. Pictured above, Members of the Niagara-Orleans Labor Council’s Executive Board pose with this year’s winners, from more»

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9434 Retirees are protesting a move by the Niagara Falls Water Board to transfer them from an existing Medicare Plan into a privatized Medicare Advantage Plan, which they say violates past contracts that had been agreed to by both sides. The Retirees are set to hold an informational more»

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, from left to right - Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) Local 46 Marketing Representative Jonathan Perna, Business Manager/Financial Secretary Troy Milne and Business Agent Anthony Valenti strike a pose in front of some of the Local’s history and memorabilia - including the Tin Man, more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Three hundred rural Nursing Home Workers – represented by 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East, at four Absolut Care Facilities in Allegany, East Aurora, Orchard Park and Westfield have reached a two-year tentative contract agreement, which prompted the cancellation of Unfair Labor more»

A new four-year contract has been ratified by Members of Teamsters Local 264, who went on Strike at the Tops Supermarkets’ Distribution Center in Suburban Lancaster on Friday (June 7th). The contract impacts about 590 Warehouse Workers, Drivers, Sanitation Workers and Maintenance Staff. WGRZ-TV in Buffalo reported the Union Workers, who voted down more»

(NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK) – More than 70 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Healthcare Workers East-represented Nursing Home Workers employed at the Schoellkopf Health Center in Niagara Falls have reached a new one-year, tentative contract agreement. The Schoellkopf Health Center is attached to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East-represented Caregivers who are employed at four rural nursing homes owned by the Living Legends Network have overwhelmingly voted to authorize an indefinite Strike. Workers rejected management's last best and final proposal as 95% voted in favor of more»

(DUNKIRK, NEW YORK) – Following a long, seven-year wait, Governor Kathy Hochul has announced New York State has released the necessary funds to build a new and modern Brooks Memorial Hospital to serve the residents of Northern Chautauqua County, news that 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the New York State Nurses Association more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – There were Union Leaders who spoke, along with those from Non-Profit Community Groups, Members of the local Business Community and a host of Elected Officials on Friday (May 31st) at United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9’s Suburban Buffalo Union Hall - an unlikely alliance brought together to support one issue: Establish a more»

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Paul Cole serves as the Executive Director of the American Labor Studies Center. He is Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus of the New York State AFL-CIO, a former Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and a former Member of the Board of Directors of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and more»

(ALFRED, NEW YORK) – Graduate Student Workers at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (NYSCC) are demanding their employer recognize their Union, represented by the Graduate Student Employees Union-Communications Workers of America (GSEU-CWA) Local 1104. The Student Workers have filed a petition with the National Labor more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1122 Members employed at the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) of Western New York have ratified a new, three-year contract that covers more than 600 Workers, including Nurses, Therapists, Social Workers, Pharmacists, Clerical Staff, Warehouse Techs and Delivery Drivers. The new deal more»

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: At least three speakers who addressed those in attendance over the weekend at the Niagara-Orleans AFL-CIO Central Labor Council’s 2024 Workers’ Memorial Event publicly lamented the fact that there were no media outlets there to cover the ceremony that honors those area Workers who went to work in the more»

(ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK) – A Logger, a Thruway Inspector, a Tire Manufacturing Worker, a Roofer, a Millwright and an 18-year-old Retail Worker - just some of the local Workers who lost their lives in 2023 who were remembered earlier this week at the Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) and Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor more»

(FREDONIA, NEW YORK) - United University Professions (UUP), America’s largest Higher Education Union, rallied with State University of New York (SUNY) Fredonia students, Faculty and Staff, and community leaders to loudly call for fair funding for the college and 18 other SUNY campuses with multi-million-dollar deficits. More than 200 people attended more»

(JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK) – While admittedly “reluctant” at first to take responsibility for guiding the Jamestown AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, President Ryan Sweeney is looking to “grow involvement” in the Southern Tier Labor Organization, as well as involve its affiliated Unions and their Members in the Chautauqua County more»

(FREDONIA, NEW YORK) – Many across the Western New York Labor Movement are remembering Doug Stock today as a “tough little guy” who headed the Dunkirk AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and “who knew what needed to be done.” Stock, 81, who was born and raised Staten Island, New York, passed away on Friday, April 19th at Buffalo more»

(ACROSS WESTERN NEW YORK) - More Than 300 Health Care Workers employed at three Nursing Home Facilities owned by Living Legends Network across Western New York are scheduled to hold informational pickets on Wednesday (April 10th) over wages, benefits and Union Rights as their current one-year contract is set to expire on April 30th. Negotiations are set to more»

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, John Batson is the new Western Regional Director for the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), succeeding Steve Bailey. Batson, a 21-year Member of NYSNA who has worked as a Registered Nurse for the same period of time at the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in Buffalo, tells WNYLaborToday.com more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced it will maintain business as usual at its William Street facility in Buffalo after a proposal that would have moved operations at the center to Rochester. The USPS said in a statement that after the finalization of a Mail Processing Facility Review, “There will be no changes more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) –Administrators representing Buffalo’s D’Youville University in contract negotiations with its Faculty Union - the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), have moved backward at the table, according to Leaders with the D’Youville Chapter AAUP. “We have made great progress in recent more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - Thousands of Unionized Health Care Workers rallied across New York State on Friday (March 22nd) - including Buffalo, to call on Governor Kathy Hochul to adequately fund Medicaid, the Public Health Insurance Program that more than seven million low-income New Yorkers rely on. Rallies and marches were held in major cities across the more»

(ROCHESTER, NEW YORK) - Workers at University of Rochester Medicine Home Care (URMHC) have followed a national and rising trend after voting in favor of Going Union. About 115 Professional Home Care Workers from the URMHC Unit voted to join 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Healthcare Workers East, the largest Health Care Workers more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Western New York’s Labor Unions raised $74,809 over the weekend to benefit the annual, and televised, 62nd Variety Club Telethon, which raised a grand total of $1.04 million that directly supports Buffalo’s Oishei Children's Hospital and a host of other children's charities. “It was ‘another more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 1 reports more than 2,500 complaints under several area hospitals’ clinical staffing plans have been filed with the New York State Department of Health (DOH) on behalf of Health Care Workers across the Catholic Health System in Buffalo. The new batch of staffing complaints comes more»

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1122 is currently in new contract negotiations with the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA), which serves home-bound patients across 10 area counties. WNYLaborToday.com is focusing a Labor Spotlight on this group of Health Caregivers, who don’t necessarily and more»

I was driving back to Buffalo from Alumni Weekend Festivities at my Alma Mater – St. Bonaventure University in Olean, on Sunday, February 18th when my mobile phone rang. It was William Mayer of Painters District 4, who had some very sad news. He told me that our mutual friend, Terri Legierski, the Political Director for Communications Workers of more»

Earlier this month, Investigative Post - a non-profit, non-partisan on-line news outlet based here in Buffalo, hosted an interesting panel discussion that featured United University Professions (UUP) Statewide President Fred Kowal (Pictured Above, On The Left/WNYLaborToday.com Photo) and Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation President (WNYALF) more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Representatives from the United Farm Workers (UFW) led a rally outside the U.S. Courthouse in Buffalo earlier this week in opposition to a grower lobby’s lawsuit intending to strip New York Farm Workers of their right to organize. Arguments in that lawsuit (New York State Vegetable Growers Association Inc. v. Hochul) were more»

(TOWN OF TONAWANDA, NEW YORK) – The Unionized Buffalo & Niagara County Building Construction and Trades Council held an informational rally outside a taxpayer-funded Town of Tonawanda Project on Wednesday (February 15th), which is receiving more than $17 million in taxpayer funds, but is only creating what is described as a “handful of more»

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: At 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East’s Buffalo Headquarters, a coalition of Labor Unions, Community Organizations, Hospital and Nursing Home Leaders and bi-partisan New York State Legislators came together late last week to kick off a major public awareness campaign to more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - Employees of the non-profit Pride Center, an affiliate of EvergreenHealth, have announced their unanimous decision to Unionize and ask management for voluntary recognition. Workers say their decision to join with Workers United is a natural extension of the important work they do within Buffalo’s LGBTQ+ Community, and they add more»

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) –National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge Robert Ringler issued an almost 60-page decision this week that found Starbucks in violation of Federal Labor Law in dozens of instances, including illegally terminating Employees Sam Amato, Tatiayna Gurskiy, Sariah Hakes, Cole Graziano, Victoria Conklin, Allegra more»

(MEDINA, NEW YORK) - More than 200 Hospital and Clinic Workers represented by 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East - who are employed at three Orleans Community Health sites in Medina, Albion and Batavia, have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new three-year contract, the Union announced. The contract - which runs more»

(WESTERN NEW YORK) – 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East-represented Nursing Home Workers who are employed at Williamsville Suburban near Buffalo and Safire Rehabilitation of Northtowns in Tonawanda will hold informational pickets this week after alleging the owners of two Safire Care facilities acted more»

WIVB-TV reports Workers at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum on Elmwood Avenue have voted to Unionize by a vote of 36-to-28. The Bargaining Unit includes Workers employed in the visitor experience associate department, facilities and food and beverage. The Art Gallery said it “respects the outcome of the election” and is “committed to more»