Due to an exemption to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act, fines for OSHA workplace-safety violations had not increased since 1990. Under the new budget signed into law November 2, an amendment strikes the initial exemption and raises OSHA fines for the first time in 15 years. Accounting for current inflation levels, fines could be increased by about 80%. For example, the fine for a willful violation would increase from $70,000 to $127,000. The new fines, which will be instituted by August 2016, are still tiny compared to those issued by other agencies.

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. APWU President Mark Dimondstein called Sanders “a true champion” for workers and “a fierce advocate of postal reform.”

“No other candidate has his record of standing with workers on picket lines, fighting for a $15 per hour minimum wage, supporting free public college tuition, and advocating for veterans’ benefits,” says Dimondstein. He also praised Sanders’ commitments to Social Security, advocacy for Medicare expansion, and opposition to Trade Promotion Authority granted by Congress and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The first union to endorse Sanders was the National Nurses United (NNU) back in August. “He can talk about our issues as well as we can talk about our issues,” said NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro in a statement.

AFM members Russ Hicks of Local 257 (Nashville, TN) and Bob Thompson of Local 136 (Charleston, WV) were inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame October 24 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston. Hicks is a renowned pedal steel guitar player. He was a member of the Hee Haw house band for 13 years and has recorded with many musicians, including Marty Robbins; Local 257 members Jerry Lee Lewis, the Charlie Daniels Band, Ronnie Milsap, and Larry Gatlin; Don Gibson; and Townes Van Zandt.

Jazz pianist Thompson and his band, The Bob Thompson Unit, have performed for audiences worldwide. However, he may be best known as the house pianist for West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio show Mountain Stage for more than 30 years.

Also inducted was late television and radio artist Buddy Starcher, a former member of Local 257.

Quebec public sector workers—thousands of teachers, health care workers, support staff—began November with a series of rotating strikes to bring attention to stalled negotiations with the provincial government over public sector agreements that expired in March. The Common Front, uniting Quebec’s largest labor unions and the union of public employees, represents around 400,000 workers. Common Front is seeking a 13.5% salary increase (4.5% per year for three years), while the government has proposed a two-year salary freeze, followed by three years of 1% salary increases.

“We don’t believe the negotiations are moving forward, particularly at the head table, where the government has not budged an inch on its initial offer,” says Confederation of National Trade Unions President Jacques Letourneau in a The Globe and Mail article. “The negotiation process is not broken, we continue to hope the strike days this week will cause the Quebec Treasury Board to move.” Unless progress is made, rotating strikes will continue in November and December. For updates on Common Front visit: http://frontcommun.org.

More than 80 workers at a FedEx freight facility in Gardena, California, staged the first strike in the company’s 42-year history, and they are hoping that other FedEx employees will do the same. Employees are complaining about pension, benefits, and the company’s union-busting tactics. One of the most anti-union companies in America, FedEx has reportedly spent more than $21 million to prevent its truckers from unionizing, including holding anti-union meetings and intensely scrutinizing pro-union workers.

Despite these tactics, last year 47 workers in Pennsylvania voted to join Teamsters Local 107, hoping to relieve “constantly changing unfair and unwritten work rules.”

The Gardena workers, represented by Teamsters Joint Council 42, plan to continue their strike during the busy holiday season, if demands are not met.

The 2 million member strong Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, calling her a leader who will stand up for people building a movement to secure a better future for their families. In a press release, SEIU explained that the decision follows much debate and discussion, as well as a months-long member engagement process.

According to the International Union of Food Workers (IUF), union busting by multinational companies is violating the rights of courageous workers overseas.

In West Bengal, India, workers at three warehouses, which are contracted exclusively to the PepsiCo, were fired for defending their rights as workers. The 162 workers were harassed before being let go for forming a union. The beverage giant then offered to secure re-employment, if they agree to never join a union. Supported by the IUF, some of the workers formed an Action Committee to fight for their rights. Together they are demanding the workers be offered jobs at warehouses or in PepsiCo’s own operations, with full back pay and guarantees that their rights are protected.

Phillips Seafood, which runs a chain of seafood restaurants in the US, is being blasted for brutal treatment of workers in Lampung, Indonesia, where it processes crabmeat. Sixty percent of the mostly female workforce has no permanent jobs and are kept on “standby.” When a IUF-affiliated union attempted to begin negotiations for permanent contracts for long-term employees, 205 workers were terminated by text. Jobs were then outsourced to illegal “mini plants” operated from private homes in the forest. Workers at these plants suffer constant cuts. They have no insurance for work-related injuries, so they mut continue to work with open cuts or be out of work until healed.

To show support for these workers log on to the IUF website: http://www.iuf.org.

Upon finally getting a chance to read the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), AFL-CIO President Trumka released a statement that said, in part, “… we are deeply disappointed that our policy recommendations and those of our trade reform allies in the environmental, consumer, public health, global development, and business sectors were largely ignored. … it is clear that the threats of this expansive new agreement outweigh its benefits—for good jobs, for democracy, for affordable medicines, for consumer safety, and for the environment. The hardworking families of the AFL-CIO will join with our allies to defeat the TPP.

The AFL-CIO’s list of top five scariest things about TPP includes: It will push wages down; allows too much discretion in the enforcement of labor rights; currency manipulation could wipe out any tariff reductions for US exporters; foreign companies will be allowed to bypass American courts; and countries outside the agreement will benefit from tariff reduction and not be obliged to follow the agreement’s rules.

Congratulations to all the AFM members—winners, nominees, and members—honoured at this year’s Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. Among the awards that went to AFM members were:

New Artist of the Year: Chris Stapleton of Local 257 (Nashville, TN)

Album of the Year: Traveller, Chris Stapleton

Male Vocalist of the Year: Chris Stapleton

Musical Event of the Year: Raise ’em Up, Keith Urban of Local 257, featuring Eric Church of Local 257

Musician of the Year: Mac McAnally of Local 257