DPE Applauds USTR’s 2024 Special 301 Report for Monitoring IP Protection Around the World

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org

WASHINGTON, Apr. 30, 2024 - Last week, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its annual Special 301 Report, which details the findings of USTR’s review of  intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement in countries around the world. Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) President Jennifer Dorning released the following statement on the report:

“I applaud Ambassador Tai, USTR staff, and interagency partners for their hard work on the 2024 Special 301 Report. Current information on global trends related to IP enforcement is important to union creative professionals. In today’s digital era, members of DPE’s affiliate unions depend on effective copyright enforcement around the world because they earn collectively bargained pay and contributions to their health insurance and pension plans from the legitimate global sales and licensing of the content they help create. Inadequate copyright enforcement, along with content theft, harms every day creative professionals due to lost jobs and hard-earned pay.

Ensuring effective global IP enforcement matters now more than ever given the advent of generative AI. Without safeguards and appropriate transparency, AI will be used as a sophisticated, deceptive tool for content theft and the unauthorized digital replication of individual’s voices and likenesses. Special 301 Reports can help ensure that the copyright and IP protections union creative professionals depend on for their economic livelihoods are not weakened, distorted, or ignored to unfairly benefit AI developers.   

DPE reiterates its appreciation to USTR and the Biden-Harris Administration for its continued commitment to a trade policy that prioritizes the needs of professionals.”

About DPE

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration.

DPE Applauds USTR’s Annual Report on Markets with Substantial Content Theft

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2024 - The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its 2023 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy report, which calls out online and physical markets where substantial piracy or counterfeiting occurs in an effort to motivate private sector organizations and governments to reduce content theft. Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) President Jennifer Dorning released the following statement on the report:

“I applaud Ambassador Tai, USTR staff, and interagency partners for again highlighting the scourge of content theft through the 2023 Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy report. Union professionals who are members of DPE’s affiliated unions in the arts, entertainment, and media industries depend on legitimate sales and licensing of the films, TV shows, music, and other works they help create for their collectively bargained pay and contributions to their health insurance and pension plans. The theft of this content harms every day creative professionals and the American economy as a whole by leading to annual losses in jobs and revenue in the creative industries. 

DPE continues to push for strong copyright protections and enforcement to address these issues, especially with the emergence of generative AI. Absent safeguards and appropriate transparency, AI will be used as a sophisticated, deceptive tool for content theft and the unauthorized digital replication of individual’s voices and likenesses. Monitoring the misuse of AI for these illicit purposes in future Notorious Markets List will be important.

DPE appreciates USTR’s and the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued commitment to a trade policy that prioritizes the needs of working people.”

About DPE

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration.

Coalition of Entertainment Workers, Unions, and Employers Urges Congress to Restore Tax Fairness by Passing PATPA as Tax Season Begins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
Kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2024 - This week marks the start of another tax season with a tax code that punishes entertainment professionals for seeking employment. Entertainment workers, their unions, and their employers are continuing to stand together to demand Congress pass the bipartisan Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA) to restore tax fairness for those working in the arts and entertainment industries.

“For too long, hard-working, middle-class entertainment professionals have been penalized with an unfair tax code. Their taxes increased with the last tax reform bill while CEOs and billionaires got a tax cut,” said Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) President Jennifer Dorning. 

When the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed, it eliminated the ability of entertainment workers to deduct necessary work expenses that most spend 20 to 30 percent of their gross income on. Without the ability to deduct expenses like travel to auditions, talent agents, and equipment, entertainment workers now owe burdensome amounts in taxes, which causes many to struggle to make ends meet. 

PATPA would fix this issue by updating the Qualified Performing Artist (QPA) deduction. The QPA deduction allows eligible entertainment workers the option to take above-the-line deductions for certain unreimbursed expenses, but it is currently limited to taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of $16,000. PATPA would raise the thresholds of the QPA deduction to $100,000 for single tax filers and $200,000 for joint tax filers to help ensure middle-class entertainment workers qualify for the deduction.

PATPA was introduced for this Congress in the House of Representatives by Representatives Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Judy Chu (D-CA) in April 2023, and currently has support with 83 cosponsors. It also has the support of many employers and arts organizations, including Americans for the Arts, the Motion Picture Association, the Broadway League, National Independent Venue Association, and many state and regional arts organizations. 

“We are grateful for the leadership of Representatives Buchanan and Chu in fighting for a tax code that treats entertainment workers fairly by co-sponsoring PATPA. We urge both the House and Senate to pass PATPA and send it to President Biden’s desk to sign into law,” said Dorning.

About DPE

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration. For more on the Tax Fairness for Entertainment Workers campaign visit: https://www.taxfairness4entertainmentworkers.org.

Professional Union Membership Made Gains in 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
Kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2024 - Professional union membership grew by over 185,000 in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual union membership report released today. This increase in membership brings the total of professionals in unions up from 6.26 million in 2022 to 6.45 million in 2023, which is a new high for professional union membership. Union density among professionals saw little change in 2023 partially due to the growth in total employment of professionals. Density was 10.32 percent in 2023 compared to 10.45 percent in 2022. Additionally, overall union membership ticked up in 2023 to 14.4 million.

“Professionals in unions are exercising their workplace rights and winning improved working conditions,” said DPE President Jennifer Dorning. “The frequency and visibility of these victories combined with changes in the economy, such as high inflation, short staffing, and increasing use of AI in the workplace, have shown professionals that they need a real say in their workplaces, which can be achieved by joining together in union.” 

The nonprofit and federal sectors saw large increases in union membership among professionals in 2023, with membership growing by 13 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Additionally, school administration was an occupation category that saw a large bump in union membership in 2023, growing by 14 percent. DPE affiliates representing professional employees across the country contributed to these organizing gains by fostering solidarity and effectively demonstrating the value of union membership. 

Professionals have become an increasingly larger share of the labor movement. In 2023, professionals made up 45 percent of all union members, up one percentage point from 44 percent in 2022. A decade prior, in 2013, professionals made up 40 percent of all union members. 

“DPE is proud to support our affiliated unions as they bring a growing number of professionals together in union to raise standards in their workplaces and in workplaces across the U.S.,” said Dorning. “Professionals are continuing to prove that they are an important part of the current and future labor movement.”

About DPE

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration.

DPE Remembers Seafarers International Union Emeritus President Michael Sacco

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Katie Barrows
Communications Director
P: 202-549-5991
Kbarrows@dpeaflcio.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2024 - DPE President Jennifer Dorning released the following statement in response to the news of the passing of Seafarers International (SIU) President Emeritus Michael “Mike” Sacco:

“President Sacco will be remembered for his devotion to seafarers’ rights and service to the labor movement. He led SIU and the Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO for 35 years, which made him the longest-serving president in the history of the organizations. President Sacco brought stability during times of great change in his union, including a merger. His lengthy tenure of service will continue to be an inspiration to advocates of workers’ rights. 

President Sacco’s passing is a loss to the labor movement. My thoughts are with President Sacco’s family, friends, and SIU siblings during this difficult time.” 

About DPE

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) is a coalition of 24 unions representing over four million professional and technical union members. DPE affiliate unions represent professionals in over 300 occupations in education and healthcare; science, engineering, and technology; legal, business, and management; media, entertainment, and the arts; and public administration.