All posts tagged: tentative

EU reaches tentative deal on Ukraine aid coming from profits of frozen Russian assets

EU reaches tentative deal on Ukraine aid coming from profits of frozen Russian assets

Published by skeptic

BRUSSELS —  European Union nations reached a tentative breakthrough deal to provide Ukraine with billions in additional funds for arms and ammunition coming from the profits raised from frozen Russian central bank assets held in the bloc. The agreement among the 27 EU ambassadors was announced by Belgium, which holds most of the frozen assets in the bloc. It came after weeks of tough negotiations among member states, which were made more complicated by the stringent financial limits on using such funds. The deal should free up to $3.2 billion a year for Kyiv, of which 90% could be spent on ammunition and other military equipment. Officials said a first installment of the funds could reach Kyiv in July. The EU is holding around $225 billion in Russian central bank assets, most of it frozen in Belgium, in retaliation for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Kyiv has long been urging that those funds be used to get vital military supplies as it struggles to stave off renewed Russian attacks. A small group of member states, especially …

Local 705 Reaches Tentative Craft-Specific Deal

Local 705 Reaches Tentative Craft-Specific Deal

Published by Sam

The union representing West Coast costumers has reached a tentative agreement on its craft-specific issues with studios and streamers. IATSE Local 705 struck a provisional deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Wednesday, the crew union IATSE announced Friday. Like with other recent IATSE Local tentative deals, the details of the agreement are not yet public and will be communicated with union members once a memorandum of agreement (a more detailed summary of the deal) is drawn up, the union added. “These productive talks are a result of the leadership shown by the negotiation committees for the West Coast Studio Locals, many of whom were new to the process. We look forward to entering the next phase of this calendar,” IATSE international vp Mike Miller said in a statement. The Local began its craft-specific negotiations with the AMPTP on Monday. IATSE Local 44, representing propmasters, prop makers and set decorators, and Local 884, which bargains on behalf of studio teachers, also started negotiating this week but have not yet concluded their …

Tentative deal reached to avoid shutdown as negotiators resolve Homeland Security bill

Tentative deal reached to avoid shutdown as negotiators resolve Homeland Security bill

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WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders struck a deal Monday evening on funding the Department of Homeland Security, two sources familiar with the talks said, paving the way for lawmakers to begin processing the remaining spending bills and avert a government shutdown next weekend. Details of the deal, which another source characterized as an agreement in principle, were not immediately available. Funding is set to expire Saturday morning for the departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor and Health and Human Services and a host of other agencies. The other five funding bills were effectively settled by the end of last week, with only the Homeland Security bill presenting deep divisions Republicans and Democrats were unable to settle. Heading into the weekend, negotiators were poised to release a package that includes the five other funding bills and would fund DHS separately on an extended stopgap basis, largely continuing the status quo, before reviving attempts to negotiate a full-year funding bill for the department through the end of September. Separately, a source familiar with negotiations said the White House and …

Philly’s UArts Faculty Reach Tentative Contract Agreement After 3 Years

Philly’s UArts Faculty Reach Tentative Contract Agreement After 3 Years

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After three years of negotiating, unionized faculty at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts (UArts) announced on Instagram Sunday that they have reached a tentative contract agreement with school administrators for a first contract. The agreement came hours before a strike authorization vote slated for Monday. This would be the first contract passed since UArts faculty unionized in November 2020. The union has been fighting for such issues as job security, wages, and healthcare. Previously, there were also wage disparities between departments, as well as those teaching studio and lecture courses. They have held multiple actions, demonstrations, and picket lines, with contract negotiations beginning in March 2021. Related Articles The union is organized under the United Academics of Philadelphia, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 9608. The agreement, should it be ratified, will be retroactive from January 2024 and effective through August 2026, reported the Art Newspaper Wednesday. It includes an average pay increase of 11% for full-time faculty in the first year of the contract and an average raise of 13% for part-time workers. Per …

Former RNC chair urges lawmakers in both parties to ‘take the win’ on tentative border deal

Former RNC chair urges lawmakers in both parties to ‘take the win’ on tentative border deal

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Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, urged lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to “take the win” in the tentative border deal as negotiations continue and uncertainty remains on whether it will pass. “Take the win. Take the win. This is a moment that, you know, when you stop and think about it, is very clarifying. Democrats and Republicans have negotiated a conservative border bill,” Steele said Friday in an interview on MSNBC. The Biden-backed deal faces resistance among House Republicans, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) having said the bill would be “dead on arrival” in the House. “It does a lot of the things that these Republicans in the House, in particular, have been yammering about for years, and quite frankly, did nothing about when Trump was president,” Steele said. Steele criticized former President Trump’s attempt to get Republicans in both chambers to reject the deal and deny President Biden a legislative win ahead of the 2024 election. While the text of the border deal being drafted in the …

Hollywood actors’ union reaches tentative deal with studios to end strike | US actors’ strike 2023

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Hollywood actors are set to end their nearly four-month strike, the Sag-Aftra union announced on Wednesday, bringing to a close a historic work stoppage that had brought the film and television industry to a standstill for months. Sag-Aftra and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday, ending film and television actors’ longest strike roughly a month after writers signed their new contract. The deal came after parties had resumed talks last week following stalled negotiations in early October. The union said negotiators had reached a preliminary deal on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Walt Disney, Netflix and other media companies. The breakthrough means Hollywood can ramp up to full production for the first time since May, once union members vote to ratify the deal in the coming weeks. The union had fought for increased base pay for residuals and guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence in film and television, concerns shared by writers who fought for similar …

GM reaches tentative deal with UAW, ending widespread six-week strike

GM reaches tentative deal with UAW, ending widespread six-week strike

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The United Autoworkers reached a tentative agreement Monday with General Motors, wrapping up a six-week strike that affected the Big three U.S. automakers and sent nearly 50,000 workers to the picket lines.  The deal, which has yet to be officially announced, came two days after the UAW expanded its strike against GM to its Spring Hill, Tennessee factory, surprising industry watchers. GM has yet to confirm the deal and declined to comment. However, sources who spoke to TechCrunch along with numerous other media outlets have said a tentative deal was reached Monday morning. UAW reached a tentative deal with Ford on October 25. Days later, the UAW reached a tentative agreement with Stellantis, the automaker that owns Jeeps, Ram and Chrysler. All three tentative agreements must be approved by UAW-represented workers in ratification votes. While details of the GM and Stellantis agreements are still vague, the UAW has made its bargaining contract with Ford publicly available. If GM and Stellantis’s agreements align with Ford — which is the expectation — it would mean historic and …

Ford and UAW negotiators reach ‘tentative agreement’ to end strike

Ford and UAW negotiators reach ‘tentative agreement’ to end strike

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Ford has reached a “tentative agreement on a new labor contract” with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union for the automaker’s U.S. operations. The UAW began its strike of the Detroit Three automakers — Ford, Stellantis and General Motors — in mid-September. If successful, Ford will be the first of the three to settle the strikes by 45,000 members. Ford said it will work on restarting the Kentucky Truck Plant, the Michigan Assembly Plant and the Chicago Assembly Plant, calling 20,000 Ford employees back to work and “shipping our full lineup to our customers again,” according to the company. Ford’s UAW-represented employees still need to ratify the agreement, but UAW president Shawn Fain seemed optimistic about what he called a “historic victory” during a Facebook Live event Wednesday evening. Fain said the UAW had taken the strike to a “new phase” this week, hitting the companies with “maximum effect,” which spurred Ford to come to the table. On Monday, the UAW called members to strike at Stellantis’s Sterling Heights Assembly plant. The following day, they …

‘Exceptional’: Hollywood writers hail tentative deal to end strike | US writers’ strike 2023

Published by Sam

The tentative deal reached between Hollywood and studio executives has been received well by those on strike and others within the industry. Members from the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who took on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) with demands that included better pay and residuals, and safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence, shared their collective relief. In a statement issued on Sunday, the WGA said: “We have reached a tentative agreement on a new 2023 MBA, which is to say an agreement in principle on all deal points, subject to drafting final contract language. “What we have won in this contract – most particularly, everything we have gained since 2 May – is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days. It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table …

Hollywood writers strike: WGA reaches ‘tentative’ deal to end 146-day strike | US writers’ strike 2023

Published by Sam

Hollywood writers are poised to end their nearly five-month strike after reaching a tentative agreement with studios, the writers’ union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said Sunday night, though the full details of agreement still have to be formally approved. The deal came after five marathon days of renewed talks by negotiators for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and an alliance of studios, streaming services and production companies, and must be approved by the guild’s board and members before the strike officially ends. The terms of the deal were not immediately announced, but the WGA called the deal “exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” in an email to members of its negotiating committee, Variety reported. The WGA and AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement. This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who stood with us for over 146 days. More details coming after contract language is finalized. #WGAStrike pic.twitter.com/GBg2wZBwGB — …