Pittsburg, PA
Starbucks workers at Pittsburgh's Sixth Street store vote for a union – Pittsburgh Union Progress
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Starbucks workers and organizers in Pittsburgh began celebrating. During a phone conversation, you could hear their excited voices in the background. Moments earlier, they’d stood in the Downtown Sixth Street Starbucks cafe while an agent from the National Labor Relations Board counted ballots that would determine whether the store’s baristas would unionize.
The finally tally proved unanimous: Nine votes in favor of joining Starbucks Workers United. It was a committed crew. One worker, a high school student, skipped classes to cast a vote.
“Everyone is so happy,” said Tori Tambellini, a Starbucks worker and union organizer. She’d stepped outside to spread the news by phone. “I think the store manager may have teared up a bit. He’s not as happy as we are.”
The Sixth Street store is the 400th in the U.S. to organize. The Starbucks United campaign began in late 2021.
The past several days have been exhilarating for Pittsburgh’s unionized baristas. Last week, the coffee company announced it would work with the union toward reaching a contract for its organized employees — a sharp reversal in what had been a hardline company stance against the union. And on Monday, a crowd of United Steelworkers from around the U.S. and Canada, in town for a convention, filled the sidewalks on Sixth Street to rally and offer support ahead of the vote.
“We’re really stoked,” said Eric Shorthouse, 28, a worker at the Sixth Street store. “This is huge. It’s not something I really ever thought would happen.”
Both Shorthouse and fellow employee Harper Blackstock, 22, said they felt as though they were “standing on the shoulders of giants,” meaning organizers and workers who paved the way for the Sixth Street effort. That includes workers who initiated the national Starbucks organizing effort in Buffalo, as well as those at the cafe in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, which became the first to organize in Pennsylvania.
One issue for workers at the Sixth Street store is that managers have been cutting baristas’ hours. This results in smaller paychecks and too few workers performing too much work.
”A lot of times it feels like our position there is not taken seriously as a job and a livelihood,” Blackstock said, “and that goes for scheduling, for pay, and for the amount of work that any individual person is made to do.”
Another issue is safety. Baristas at the store sometimes must deal with unruly customers – there have been occasions in which customers have thrown items at workers, Blackstock said. Workers want the company to take those incidents more seriously.
“There have been times in the past when safety measures were subpar at best,” Blackstone said. “And that’s disheartening.”
Steve is a photojournalist and writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he is currently on strike and working as a Union Progress co-editor. Reach him at smellon@unionprogress.com.
Pittsburg, PA
Aaron Rodgers wife revealed: NFL legend reveals marriage on day one of pre-season with Pittsburg Steelers | The Express Tribune
Aaron Rodgers marked his first day with the Pittsburgh Steelers by revealing a surprising personal update: he secretly married earlier this year.
Rodgers, 41, who signed a one-year contract with the Steelers after a turbulent season with the New York Jets, wore a black band on his wedding ring finger during his contract signing last Saturday.
The revelation came during a Tuesday press conference, following his first day of training at the Steelers’ mandatory mini-camp.
“Yeah, it’s a wedding ring,” Rodgers confirmed when asked about the ring. When pressed further on how long he had been married, he replied, “It’s been a couple of months.”
The four-time NFL MVP and 2011 Super Bowl champion had spent months contemplating his future before deciding to join Pittsburgh. His move came after being released by the Jets, following a second season that fell short of expectations.
Rodgers, a free agent for the first time in his 20-year career, had visited the Steelers and was also reportedly considering an offer from the New York Giants.
Before making his decision, Rodgers had kept his options open, even hinting at the possibility of retirement.
However, speaking on Tuesday, Rodgers explained that personal matters had delayed his decision to sign with Pittsburgh. “I was dealing with a lot of things in my personal life,” he said. “Some things improved a little bit, where I felt like I could fully be all in here with the guys.”
Rodgers, who spent 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers before joining the Jets, has kept his personal life relatively private. He did not elaborate on the identity of his wife but has previously spoken about his relationship with a woman named Brittani.
He had mentioned her in public interviews last December and April, confirming he was in a serious relationship.
Despite his high-profile career, Rodgers had never been married before, making this announcement all the more unexpected.
When asked about his decision to join the Steelers, Rodgers credited head coach Mike Tomlin for much of his decision. “It starts with Mike Tomlin. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time,” Rodgers said.
“The rapport that fell in between me and Mike made it to where, as I was going through my personal stuff, that there wasn’t any other option for me. It was here or not play.”
Tomlin, who has led the Steelers since 2007 and has never had a losing season, played a significant role in Rodgers’ choice.
The quarterback also expressed his desire to bring a Super Bowl title to Pittsburgh, calling it “a seventh championship for the city” — a fitting goal for a team with a storied history.
Rodgers, who has won MVP four times, acknowledged the continued drive to win a second Super Bowl.
“I have a lot that motivates me, but this is about the love for the game — a game that has given me so much over the years,” he said.
Rodgers’ first day with the Steelers marked not only a fresh start in his NFL career but also a new chapter in his personal life, leaving fans eagerly awaiting his performance in the upcoming season.
Storm crews will be out Tuesday morning surveying what could be the area’s 11th tornado of the year so far in Clarion Township.
Daily average High: 78 | Low: 58
Sunrise: 5:50 a.m. Sunset: 8:51 p.m.
Any Alert Days Ahead: None for now. There will be storm chances in place for the weekend.
The worst damage being reported in Clarion County is an aluminum shed that was reportedly flipped and is sitting on its roof. Route 22 was briefly blocked by debris.
Pictures of the broken shed were shared on Facebook. Several trees were also reported downed by debris.
Photo Credit: Brett Whitling, Clarion County Department of Public Works
Brett Whitling from the Clarion County Department of Public Works caught the aftermath of the storm that toppled a tree onto a garage in Clarion Township. The homeowner also took a picture of what appears to be a wall cloud just before the trees were snapped.
We won’t deal with anything like that on Tuesday, with calmer and more comfortable weather moving into our area. Highs will hit the mid-70s with very low humidity levels.
KDKA-TV Weather Center
It will be a little breezy, with winds coming in from the west this afternoon at around 10-15 mph. Skies would normally be sunny after 8 a.m., but a plume of Canadian smoke will also be moving through, so skies will be hazy at best and overcast at worst. Air quality is not expected to be significantly impacted, as the plume is expected to remain mostly above ground level.
Wednesday and Thursday will be just as comfortable, with our next rain chance coming on Friday afternoon.
The U.S. Open third and final rounds may be impacted by rain, though, with scattered rain around both Saturday and Sunday.
KDKA-TV Weather Center
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers will continue their fight against their divisional rivals this coming season, but will now boast a quarterback that will be mostly unfamiliar to the rest of the division.
Now that Aaron Rodgers has joined the Steelers, the rest of the division will have to prepare accordingly to face a future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback. The Bengals, Ravens and Browns have occasionally faced the incoming Steelers quarterback, but never on a regular basis due to his two prior teams being out of division.
Harbaugh spoke to the media during the Ravens OTAs, so he was asked about the move by the Steelers to mix it up at the quarterback position.
“I don’t really have a reaction, just respect. Respect for the Steelers. Respect for the team that they have, the coaches that they have,” Harbaugh said. “Obviously, we’ve always respected Aaron Rodgers. He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. So we’ll have to go against a Hall of Fame quarterback with one of the premiere teams in league, and who happens to be our archrival. So we’ll be preparing for that.”
The Ravens and Steelers have gone through quite a tumultuous last couple seasons for the rivalry, as neither team has been able to establish themselves as the true better team when facing each other. The Steelers came away with the season sweep in 2023, but split the regular season series for 2024 before being knocked out by the Ravens in the Wild Card Round in a 28-14 loss.
The Ravens look like they will be the better team when this coming season begins, but prior games and the team on paper mean little when it comes to rivalry games. The Steelers will not play the Ravens until Week 14, so it will be clear the skill that Rodgers has by that point in the season.
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