Cincinnati
AFL-CIO
Labor Council
Saturday, December 17, 2022
This Week With AFL-CIO President, Liz Shuler
Our mission is to bring more working people into the labor movement, no matter where they live or where they work. Our charge is to organize the unorganized because organizing is the lifeblood of our unions.

As we build a more inclusive, bold and dynamic labor movement, our task is to create a fair economy, where workers cannot be ignored or treated as expendable.

The AFL-CIO’s Center for Transformational Organizing (CTO) will be at the heart of these efforts, driving innovation and creativity across the board. It’s up to us to make the most of the opportunities we have because no one else will do it for us
For eight years, anti-union politicians in Congress have kept the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on a starvation diet, effectively decreasing its budget by 25%. The agency—which needs to function at full capacity to enforce labor laws—is even talking about having to furlough employees during the coming year.

We cannot let that happen on our watch, and this Congress needs to hear that message loud and clear. We owe it to the workers who are risking their jobs to organize a union and bargain for a better life.

Write a letter to your senators before it’s too late. Together, we can protect our freedom to organize.
Changes are Coming To This Weekly Update in 2023
Changes are Coming To This Weekly Update in 2023

It was March 15, 2020, when states across the nation began to implement shutdowns in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Public school systems and businesses, large and small, were going remote while restaurants and bars all across the nation began closing. Every minute of every day was another unprecedented event, and we were all struggling to find our way through.

Here at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, we began strategizing how we were going to do the work we needed to do, while keeping the Labor community as well as the broader community connected and informed during what were in fact, day by day and moment by moment, dangerous and unchartered waters. It was in that caldron, with all those unknowns and looming fears, that this weekly communication we now call “Working For A Living – The Weekly News Update of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council” was born.

Over these two-plus years since then, we’ve maintained our weekly status and brought news of the Labor Movement and our community to thousands of members as well as friends on everything from the pandemic’s terrible weekly toll to other news of the national, regional and local news important to working people and their families. We’ve now published well over 100 editions which can all be reviewed on the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council Website here.
It was never foreseen how this little weekly would become a staple of news, information, and updates for people over this nation, region, and state. Positive responses and accolades began coming in from people everywhere including the National AFL-CIO. We were apparently getting it more right than wrong and we’ve steadily brought the news to our rank and file every week since then. And we intend to keep it that way, but things will be taking a turn in 2023, and we believe for the better.

Starting next month, January of 2023, this news update will go from Weekly to the last Saturday of each month. By reducing the number of editions, we intend to focus more on news and information from right here in the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council back yard and the movers and shakers that are making it happen for working people.

We will continue to bring the main themes of the Labor movement across the country, but our focus will tighten to what we, in this part of the world, need to know. We will be curating more articles sourced from our affiliates and from our friends in the community. In each monthly, we will look back over what transpired since the prior month edition, and then what we should all be looking for over the next few weeks and month.

We hope, and intend, for this to serve you, our Sisters, Brothers and Friends in Labor, better and provide timelier, more in depth information that you can truly use. So, enjoy the rest of 2022 and let’s get ready for 2023. It’s coming fast. See you out there!
IT’S HIGH TIME YOU WERE HEARD! | Vox Operántium (VO) Studio
IT’S HIGH TIME YOU WERE HEARD!

Vox Operántium (VO) Studio -- The Voice of the Worker

In 2019, just prior to the onset of the great COVID Pandemic, we were able to utilize funding from the National AFL-CIO to pull together a full-blown Audio and Video Production Studio to help bring the power of digital media into our workingpersons’ toolkit, giving us an asymmetric way to literally amplify the message of working people and their families. Fast forward to today and through the generosity of IBEW Local 212, the VO studio is open for business at their local headquarters located at 212 Crowne Point Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45241.

About The VO Studio
The studio has everything required to record, edit and produce high quality video and audio content including audio podcasts, video podcasts, long form material and social media content as well as motion graphics (intros, outros and logo bugs, etc.). We can also stream live to Facebook, YouTube and virtually every/any other social media platforms.

Studio Equipment:
(2) Sony SRG-300H 1080p Desktop & Ceiling Mount Remote PTZ Cameras with 30x Optical Zoom
Key Features:
(2) KRK ROKIT 8 G4 8" 2-Way Active Studio Monitors
(6) RODE PodMic Dynamic Podcasting Microphones
(3) Viewsonic VS16403 Monitors
(1) Zoom Pod Trak P8 Portable Multitrack Podcast Recorder
(3) GVM 1300D RGB LED Video Lights
(1) Godox SL200W II LED Video Light
(1) Godox FLS8 Fresnel Lens
(1) Godox Grid for QR-P90, P90L, P90H Parabolic Softboxes
(1) Sennheiser Short Shotgun Condenser Mic
(1) Rode Wireless GO II Dual Channel Wireless Lavalier Microphone System
(1) Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio with Speed Editor
(1) Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro ISO HDMI Live Stream Switcher
(4) Shure SRH440A Closed-Back Over-Ear Studio Headphones
(1) Furman PL-8 C Power Conditioner
Meet George Farnell, Engineer/Producer/Director
Because the Vox Operántium Studio was brought about through a grant from the National AFL-CIO, use of the Studio is free to any of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council Affiliated Local Unions. However, having said that, producing quality content can a be a bit daunting. That is why we work very closely with George Farnell, a Freelance Audio/Video Artist and Technology Specialist. In fact, Farnell is the creative mind behind the VO Studio equipment, configuration decisions and build-out.

Farnell, a bit of a renaissance man, studied Vocal Performance at UC College Conservatory of Music with John Alexander (Tenor - Metropolitan Opera). Throughout his college days, Farnell performed and competed in voice and piano competitions to rave reviews and superior ratings. He performed with the Cincinnati Opera, and in the 1980’s was under contract with EMI Records and performed with Gregory Hines, Mercer Ellington, Sting, Elton John, Billy Joel, Pat Metheny & others at venues throughout the United States including Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall & Austin City Limits. In 2009, he recorded a Christma
s album with select musicians called "In a Holiday Mood" as The George Madison Group.

Turning his considerable talents and keen mind toward the world-wide web and associated emerging technology, in 1992-1993 he was instrumental to developing the MPEG standard during its BETA phase. While working with Paradigm Communication Group in the early nineties, he was among the very first anywhere to integrate digital audio and video production systems. Seeing his skills for this emerging technology, the owners of Paradigm Communication Group spun off a sister technology company in 1996 that was eventually sold to Fifth-Third Bank and is now a part of WorldPay.

Farnell changed direction once again in 2001/2002 to yet another emerging area of tech - media marketing. He received his MBA from Miami of Ohio - Marketing Concentration and became known for his expertise in Web and Social Media Services. Fortunately for us, he is a good friend to working people and is a consultant and friend to us here at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council.
As already mentioned, Farnell is the designer and engineer that pulled the VO Studio into existence. Over the past couple years, Farnell was a Producer/Editor on the 2021 COPE Celebration, and Producer/Editor for the 2021 Workers Memorial Presentation which were both entirely virtual due to the COVID pandemic. More recently, Farnell was Camera and Rough-Cut Editor for The Rick Smith Show when they came through Cincinnati just this past October.


So, while the use of the studio and all its considerable capabilities are FREE to any of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council Affiliated Local Unions, Farnell is a Freelance Artist/Engineer/Producer/Director and provides his services for us at what are well below regular market rates. To collaborate with Farnell on projects at the VO Studio, his fees are $55/hour with a two-hour minimum; $200/half-day (4 hours); and $350/day (8 hours). He also collaborates on a project bid basis for ventures that may require additional time and a bit more of his considerable knowledge, skills, and abilities.

So, It Is High Time You Were Heard!

Looping back to the beginning of this article, it is indeed high-time you are heard – in the community, across your national and wherever your story should be told. So, come visit with us and get acquainted with what the VO Studio can produce for you. Meet the folk that can help make that happen for you and your Local. Over the next few weeks and month, we’ll be setting up times for Local Leaders to come visit with us at the Studio, get the nickel tour, push a few buttons and just generally play while also producing something of use to you in the way of Audio/Video Content.

Yep, it’s just that easy. And what’s more important, it’s high time. This studio is the envy of labor councils and state federations across the country, and it’s all yours for the taking! Let us help you raise your voice – make some noise – start something – maybe even a little of that good trouble we’ve all heard about. We’ll be calling, so get ready to make some noise! See you out there and see you soon!
Register for AFL-CIO’s 2023 MLK Conference
The 2023 AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference will be held next month in Washington, D.C. As we’ve seen over the past few years, there is so much work left to be done to advance civil and human rights, both across the country and inside our own labor movement. We hope you will join us for this engaging, inspiring and educational experience.
 
Visit TheMLKConference.org for more information and to register.
We Are America's Unions | The AFL-CIO
Follow the AFL-CIO on All Our Social Media Platforms
A mass exodus at social media giant Twitter is underway after billionaire owner Elon Musk issued mass layoffs, asking remaining workers to agree to “hardcore” terms or leave. It’s been a critical reminder that all workers, including tech workers, need the power of a union.
 
Since its inception, Twitter has been a critical tool for union organizing. We’re going to be on the site until the very end, but in case you need to find us elsewhere:
Ohioans Freedom of Direct Democracy Limited by HJR 6
Ohioans of whatever political persuasion, color of skin, ethnic background, country of origin, or religious affiliation have since 1912 the freedom to amend the Ohio Constitution by majority vote (50%+1).

It was not enough for Frank LaRose to win reelection as Secretary of State (the chief elections officer) or to defy the will of the voters multiple times and continue to gerrymander Ohio General Assembly and Congressional districts and rig the outcome for his partisan and special interests, he now proposes in HJR 6 to limit the citizens’ of Ohio ability to amend our Constitution by requiring a 60% majority vote. This is the same Frank LaRose who as the chief elections officer casts doubt on our elections process and set up a separate integrity unit with no evidence of issues not already addressed by local Boards of Elections.

By the way this is the same Frank LaRose who as a legislator said publically the evening before a House vote on SB5 that he would vote no and side with workers and the next day voted yes to take away the workers’ rights at work and the ability to organize for better working conditions, wages and benefits in the public workforce. He is to put it bluntly two-faced.


It is no secret LaRose, among others, wants to run against Ohio’s US Senator Sherrod Brown in 2024.


You can write members of the Ohio General Assembly to stop this attack on our freedom using our
Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond Recognized for Contributions to Retirement Security
On Tuesday, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond gathered with key stakeholders from CORPaTH, an alliance of administrators, trustees, elected officials and others who oversee retirement funds and defined-benefit assets. He received the organization’s Pension Defender Award in recognition of his tireless work to protect the hard-earned pension benefits of working people.
 
“Our investments shouldn’t undermine or undercut our union values. We can’t have it any other way,” Redmond declared. “We can’t make investments at the expense of working people. And we don’t have to. We can use our collective voice so every worker can have a secure retirement, and our collective capital to invest in a more equitable future for all workers.”
NWLSPA Vows ‘The Work Will Never End’ Following Release of Detailed Report on Sexual Misconduct
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) released a joint investigative report that illustrates, in shocking detail, the systemic failures that allowed rampant sexual misconduct to take place within the league. The NWSLPA called the 14-month investigation the first of its kind in sports, where players had their own representatives in witness interviews, reviewed evidence, developed their own conclusions based on the evidence and formed recommendations.
 
“We sought the truth, and now, transparency and accountability are necessary for reform,” the union said. “The work will never end. But we hope that our collective healing can begin.”
 
The full report may be viewed here. Reader discretion is advised.
Legislation to Make Air Travel Safer for Passengers and Workers Gets TWU Backing
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) is throwing its weight behind the Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin (EVAC) Act, a bill to ensure the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) uses real-life scenarios while testing evacuation safety onboard airplanes. TWU International President John Samuelsen said the EVAC Act is necessary because “a lack of sufficient standards can add stress to an already intense situation.” Click here to read his statement in support of the bill.
VFX Artists Organizing with IATSE to Fight Back Against Grueling Working Conditions
Visual effects, or VFX, artists who specialize in high-skilled animation for film and television often deal with unreasonable working conditions and low wages as they pursue their careers. Now, they’re aiming to fix that by organizing with the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). VFX artists face chronic understaffing, low pay and arduous demands from producers like Marvel Studios.
 
To inform the workers’ organizing campaign, the IATSE launched a rates and conditions study for VFX artists on Monday. “VFX is integral to almost every film and television production made today, yet the workers who make VFX possible are among the only film and TV workers not represented by a union today,” said IATSE organizer and VFX worker Mark Patch. “Knowing our worth is an essential step towards building a more sustainable VFX industry.”
Tell Philadelphia Orchestra Association: Respect your singers! Recognize their union!
In only six years, the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir has established itself as the premier chorus for symphonic works, drawing some of the best choral singers from the region and the country. They have been the only group directly involved in the Philadelphia Orchestra’s performances that is not part of a union.
 
That changed on Dec. 5, when the Choir voted to join the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). They asked the Philadelphia Orchestra Association to voluntarily recognize their union by noon on December 12. That deadline passed.
 
Will you help? Click here to send a letter to the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, demanding that they respect their singers and voluntarily recognize their union!
U.S Senator Sherrod Brown:
Working For Working People!
Spread TWICE the holiday cheer
As we prepare for the holidays, we’re all facing higher costs for food, gas, and other necessities. But that impact is much more severe for families who are already finding it difficult to put nutritious food on the table — and we’re seeing so many more neighbors coming to us for support. I’m hoping you’ll take a moment to help today because I have some very exciting news!


That means every dollar you give will double in impact to help provide twice as many meals for tristate families this holiday season.

The holiday season can get hectic, so I hope you’ll take the time to help now. Your gift today will go twice as far to help your neighbors facing hunger.

I hope you’ll consider giving now while you can double your impact. Think of all the families whose holidays will be brighter because of you. Thank you for your generosity!
Your Latest News Roundup from RetireMed
COVID-19 Dashboard
Why the Omicron Offshoot BA.5 is a Big Deal
By Brenda Goodman, CNN
(CNN) Once again, Covid-19 seems to be everywhere. If you feel caught off-guard, you aren't alone.

After the Omicron tidal wave washed over the United States in January and the smaller rise in cases in the spring caused by the BA.2 subvariant, it might have seemed like the coronavirus could be ignored for a while. After all, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in December that nearly all Americans had been vaccinated or have antibodies from a past infection. Surely all that immunity bought some breathing room.
But suddenly, many people who had recovered from Covid-19 as recently as March or April found themselves exhausted, coughing and staring at two red lines on a rapid test. How could this be happening again -- and so soon? [READ MORE]
Ohio Vaccination Dashboard

The COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard displays the most recent data reported to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) regarding the number of individuals that have started and completed the COVID-19 vaccination series by various demographics and county of residence.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard displays the most recent data reported to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) regarding the number of individuals that have started and completed the COVID-19 vaccination series by various demographics and county of residence. “Vaccination started” indicates that the individual has received at least one valid dose of COVID-19 vaccine. The number listed as “vaccination completed” is a subset of the number included in “vaccination started,” indicating that those individuals within that group have received all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses and are considered fully immunized. ODH is making COVID-19 data available for public review while also protecting privacy. This dashboard will be updated daily. Please see footnotes below for more details.
Ohio COVID-19 Dashboard
Overview

ODH is making COVID-19 data available for public review while also protecting patient privacy.

The State of Ohio COVID-19 Dashboard displays the most recent preliminary data reported to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) about cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Ohio by selected demographics and county of residence. Data for cases and hospitalizations is reported to ODH via the Ohio Disease Reporting System (ODRS), and verified mortality data is reported via the Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS).
Current Trends
Below are the current reporting trends from Friday, December 16 for key indicators calculated from data reported to the Ohio Department of Health. These trends are updated daily and are presented by report date.
Below is a snapshot of key metrics pulled Friday, December 16, 2022 from daily data reporting to the Ohio Department of Health. These metrics are updated daily.
Hamilton County
Cases
229,867
Hospitalizations
7,131
Deaths
2,178
Clermont County
Cases
63,145
Hospitalizations
1,779
Deaths
603
Brown County
Cases
13,592
Hospitalizations
115
Deaths
193
Butler County
Cases
112,476
Hospitalizations
3,752
Deaths
1,219
Warren County
Cases
70,133
Hospitalizations
1,474
Deaths
633
Other News For and About Working People:
Cincinnati AFL-CIO
Labor Council
President

Executive Secretary-Treasurer

Executive Assistant to the Executive Secretary-Treasurer
1385 Tennessee Avenue | Second Floor | Cincinnati, OH 45229 | 513.421.1846 | info@cincinnatiaflcio.org | www.cincinnatiaflcio.org