Bargaining between teachers and Peoria Public Schools broke down last month, as the Peoria Federation of Teachers ended negotiations with District 150 by requesting federal mediation.
“The PFT is pushing proposals that will better the school district and better the city,” commented union local President Jeff Adkins-Dutro. “We are asking for a substantial raise for our members, but it is clear the district did not budget accordingly. Further, we have been told that all the district’s $108 million in COVID relief funds have been allocated. Our professional employees were not a priority.”
Also, the PFT says the district started implementing proposals that weren’t bargained to agreement, prompting the union to file Unfair Labor Practice charges.

Rivian Corporation is laying off dozens of workers at its Normal plant — contradicting comments made by CEO R.J. Scaringe in July, when he said the electric truck and van factory wouldn’t be affected by downsizing. Later, however, Rivian spokeswoman Amy Mast said a company “reorganization” would result in more than 50 layoffs. The corporation has almost 200,000 orders in hand, according to the Chicago Tribune, but has built just 8,000 vehicles.

Negotiations between U.S. rail carriers and coalitions of rail workers at press time are tense.
“We’re just looking for a fair contract for ourselves and our families, looking for the pay raises that we haven’t received since our contract ended in 2020,” said Teamsters’ Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division Galesburg officer Nick Allen, a BNSF safety supervisor.
In the last six years, major railroads including BNSF, Union Pacific, CSX and Norfolk Southern together have cut their labor force by 29% (some 45,000 workers), leaving the industry understaffed and burdening workers already dealing with long and unpredictable hours.
Meanwhile, President Biden convened a board to negotiate a settlement between the employers and the unions, but what happens if the settlement doesn’t happen is unknown.
Transport Workers Union President John Samuelson exposed the “Worker Choice and Flexibility Act” (H.R. 8442), introduced by a Donald Trump-cozy Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, and a top Trump Republican, Elise Stefanik of New York. Samuelson called their bill “a boldfaced lie.”
“This dangerous piece of legislation seeks to deny rights to working Americans and forbid states and cities from taking any action to hold criminal corporations accountable,” he added. “Workers deserve real fair wages, access to affordable health care, and a dignified retirement — all of which this bill would make more difficult.”
Under the guise of more “worker flexibility,” the Cuellar-Stefanik bill gives workers the “choice” to accept or reject individual assignments — gig work, in other words.
“Under a ‘worker flexibility agreement,’ the worker would not be treated as an employee for federal tax purposes or under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” the measure’s fact sheet states.
That means no minimum wage, no overtime pay, and requiring workers to pay both their share and the companies’ share of Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which in August passed the House 220-207 and the Senate 51-50 (with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote) would provide seven key benefits, according to the AFL-CIO.
If it’s OK’d by the House and signed by the President, it would let Medicare and Medicaid negotiate lower drug prices for seniors; cap future drug price increases; prevent a premium spike for Affordable Care Act enrollees, invest in the climate and energy and manufacturing jobs, strengthen IRS enforcement on the wealthy, impose a 15% minimum tax on big corporations, and enact an excise tax on corporations’ stock buybacks.