Even though a Department of Labor rule extending overtime and minimum wage protections to US home health care workers took effect on October 13, California home health care workers won’t see the benefit until February 2016. That’s when the California Department of Social Services says it will begin paying overtime to the more than 400,000 home care workers in the state. SEIU California President Laphonza Butler expressed her frustration with that decision, saying she believes caregivers deserve overtime pay for work currently being performed. Aside from Fight for $15, the union announced a new proposed ballot initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2020 and ensure every full-time employee has at least six paid sick days per year.

Calling All Women Workers: AFL-CIO Launches Nationwide Survey

The AFL-CIO has launched the National Survey of Working Women for both union and nonunion women in all sectors of the workforce from across the country. The survey will cover all aspects of the lives of women in the workforce: economic interests, family and work life, and balancing those responsibilities.

“Working women need to stand together to let employers know what we need on the job. Our survey will reach out to working women from all different walks of life, both inside and outside the labor movement and will provide a much needed look into the daily lives of working women and how they struggle to achieve the ever-elusive work-life balance,” says Diann Woodard, president of the American Federation of School Administrators and vice-chair of the AFL-CIO Women’s Committee.

Launched this week, you may participate in the survey until December 4, 2015 at the website: go.aflcio.org/WomensSurvey. It only takes about 15 minutes to complete. Results of the survey will be published in March 2016 during Women’s History Month.

AFM Members Inducted into West Virginia Music Hall of Fame —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 on 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. Also inducted was late television and radio artist Buddy Starcher, a former member of Local 257.

Trump Hotel Sues Over “Deceptive” Flyers — The corporation that runs Trump Hotel Las Vegas (namely, Donald Trump and Phil Ruffin) are suing the Culinary Union and Bartenders Union over what they call “deceptively misleading” flyers about Trump’s campaign event held at nearby Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas. Trump Hotel claims that by stating that Trump stayed at Treasure Island, not his own hotel, the public was led to believe accommodations at the Trump Hotel were not adequate for Trump himself. The lawsuit claims that Trump did stay the night in the Trump Hotel while in town. The Culinary Union and Bartenders Union is currently in a battle to unionize the Trump Hotel’s workers, numbering around 500. The National Labor Relations Board has received more than 10 complaints about the hotel since 2014.

Quebec Public Workers Enact Rotating Strikes — This week Quebec public sector workers—thousands of teachers, health care workers, support staff—began 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.