"Los Angeles public schools will remain closed Thursday, the last of a three-day strike, as Mayor Karen Bass stepped in Wednesday to join talks with union and school district leaders to offer “assistance and support,” the district reported."

“Hundreds of Starbucks workers from coast to coast are striking on Wednesday to send the company’s new CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, a message to break the trend and bring an end to the company’s fierce union-busting campaign. Over 100 stores are going on strike, including in major cities like Boston, New York, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Workers are also planning to strike in Seattle, where they will march outside of the company’s headquarters the day before the company holds its annual shareholder meeting.”

“The presidents of the two national teachers unions took Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to task in his home state over the weekend, slamming the Republican and likely 2024 presidential candidate for attempting to dismantle the U.S. public education system – underscoring the seriousness with which they see him as a threat to K-12 education and foretelling the lengths they’re set go to mobilize their forces against him as election season looms.”

“Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) employees began a three-day strike on March 21, closing schools in the country’s second largest district, which serves approximately 420,000 students. The roughly 30,000 workers represented by Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) include bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians and special education assistants. They are demanding a 30% wage increase in addition to an increase of $2 an hour for the lowest earners and are joined in a solidarity strike by 35,000 teachers, counselors, therapists, nurses and librarians with United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), which is also negotiating its contract.”

“Rank-and-file activists at UPS have a huge task: getting our 340,000 co-workers ready to mount a credible strike threat by August 1. Luckily we don’t have to do it alone, like we did in 2013 and 2018. This time we have the support of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, and the rest of our international leadership. We have a contract campaign coordinator, internal organizers, and a whole team of staff from the international union to engage members and coordinate all our efforts toward one big fight.”

"The 1951 Empire Zinc strike made history and spawned a landmark labor film. Its impact is still reverberating today.”

“TV and movie writers want more money, but Hollywood companies say the demands ignore economic realities. The deadline to sort out those differences is approaching.”

“The roughly thirty striking Teamsters work for the Post-Gazette as drivers and in the paper’s circulation department. They, alongside three other unions that walked out in October — the NewsGuild joined the strike a few days later — were moved to do so in response to the Post-Gazette’s refusal to cover those costs. Workers now have not had a contract for nearly six years.”

“Stepping up their pressure against Starbucks, a multinational company currently worth $113 billion, workers at 113 of its U.S. outlets went on strike March 22. In Seattle, the company was finally forced to the bargaining table in earnest with some workers, a major step forward, according to representatives of Starbucks Workers United (SBWU).”

“As the WGA begins its second week of bargaining for a new contract with the AMPTP today, the guild is prepared for a strike, if it comes to that, though that’s by no means a foregone conclusion. The WGA’s current film and TV contract expires May 1. The WGA West’s most recent annual report shows that as of last March 31, it had amassed a strike fund of nearly $20 million, all of which has been set aside to provide loans or grants to members “adversely affected by a strike.” That’s more than double the $9.2 million it had set aside in a strike fund in advance of the 100-day strike of 2007-08, when more than $3 million in strike loans was distributed to members during and after the walkout.”

"In a letter sent by ATU International President John Costa and President/Business Agent of Local 265-San Jose, CA, John Courtney, to the VTA Board of Directors among others, the ATU outlines numerous reasons the independent investigative report was a transparent effort by the agency to avoid any accountability or culpability for the tragic shooting that took the lives of ten VTA workers.”

“The Los Angeles school strike that kept about a half-million students out of classrooms for three days this past week has ended, but that happened even before the union announced a tentative labor contract late Friday. Still, the union’s success is another sign of why short-term strikes like it are surging nationwide.”

“Members of a fledgling union for low-wage workers took to the street Tuesday in three Southeastern cities to protest unsafe conditions and insufficient pay to mark the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. In Atlanta, about 50 members of the Union of Southern Service Workers chanted, held posters, listened to speeches and talked about their own complaints in front of the offices of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal agency responsible for workplace safety. Union members also gathered in Durham, N.C. and in Columbia, S.C.”

“No one enters California civil service expecting to get rich. But some state workers say their stagnant wages fail to cover basic living expenses, let alone provide the sense of security and financial stability that many seek from a job in state government.”

“Members of AFSCME Council 57 and SEIU Local 521 demanded that the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors resolve the harsh socioeconomic realities facing extra help workers by ending the county’s two-tiered labor class system — one for permanent staff and another for extra help, or ‘flex’ employees. Members say county administrators have created a second-class labor system that strips front-line extra help workers of basic rights to negotiate their wages, and leaves them with few options for health benefits, retirement or paid vacations. Extra help workers who are part of AFSCME Local 829 (Council 57) and SEIU Local 521 want to overhaul a system that prevents them from accessing basic rights and privileges full-time county workers enjoy — despite delivering identical public services.”

“Higher education workers are helping drive labor struggle right now …On January 31, Temple University’s grad workers joined the ranks of that struggle. With a light winter rain sprinkling them, 750 members of TUGSA walked off the job — and onto the picket lines.”

“Even as newspaper profits have plummeted and job losses have piled up, newsroom employees in the U.S. have stopped short of open-ended strikes for more than 20 years. But the Post-Gazette is ending that streak.”

“At Duke’s Hawaiian Coffee Shop and Deli in San Marcos, California, Friday mornings are abuzz with organizing talk—building unity among fellow Teamsters ahead of a potential strike at UPS. We began meeting in February, just a few of us. Soon enough, word spread about what we called “Unity Breakfast,” and the coffee shop filled up. At the first meeting, my co-worker Tim Peppers defined the main purpose: to educate members about the contract campaign and potential strike. We talked about how we are part of a movement much bigger than our own building, and why it’s important to build unity across our differences in seniority and classification.”

“The unions representing Rutgers University’s 9,000 academic workers — nearly its entire teaching force — went on strike starting Monday morning. It’s the first faculty strike in the school’s 257-year history.”

“Most readers know that the Graduate Employees’ Organization, the union representing Graduate Student Instructors at the University of Michigan, is on strike. The University moved a state court for an injunction to end the strike and order GSIs back to work. The hearing on that motion is set for April 10. An injunction to force people back to work is properly understood as an extraordinary remedy, effectively banned at the federal level and disfavored at the state level.”

• “Negotiations for a new WGA contract have made “a little bit of progress” on feature films, but otherwise the two sides remain “far away” from a deal.”

“Philadelphia’s building trades unions have tens of thousands of members, who have historically been overwhelmingly white and male. But labor leaders in the region are making efforts to increase the number of young women and people of color entering the trades, where they can pursue careers with ample opportunity and a tangible path toward middle-class income without a four-year degree and the debt that entails.”

“Writers for the U.S. film and television industries have given their unions the green light to declare a strike if they can’t reach a satisfactory deal on a new contract with the major studios. On Monday the two affiliated unions, the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East, released the results of a strike authorization vote held among their members amid contract talks. Nearly 98% voted in favor of authorizing a work stoppage, and nearly 80% of eligible members participated in the vote — figures that the unions said were record highs.”

“Rutgers University’s historic academic-worker strike is suspended after unions reached a tentative contract deal with school officials, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said on Saturday.”

“In March, Service Employees Union (SEIU) Local 99 won important victories after a three-day strike and months of negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Union members voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract on April 8.”

“One day into a strike at Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages in Philadelphia, a union representative says trucks are standing still, and they’re not sure yet when negotiations will restart. The Teamsters at Liberty Coca-Cola’s production center in the Juniata Park neighborhood got their last contract five years ago, not long after the company’s ownership changed. It expired on Saturday for the 414 workers.”

“For the first time in their history, 3,000 grocery workers in the local chain Cub Foods across the Twin Cities metro area were set to strike. They were going to shut down 33 stores during the busy Easter weekend. Hours before the strike was to begin, the company offered a settlement that gave the workers much of what they wanted, and none of the concessions it had been demanding.”

“On Wednesday, workers at the New York Times and the Washington Post engaged in collective actions, mobilizing hundreds of workers demanding fair contracts. Both groups called on newsroom management to get to the negotiating table and agree to contracts raising minimum pay immediately.”

“But the primacy of streaming is also the reason why TV writers are now threatening to go on strike. For years, streaming services have slashed residual payments, which writers rely on, prompting the Writers Guild of America (WGA) to vote to strike.”

“Many unions are engaged in climate action initiatives to help reduce the harm that carbon emissions have on our communities and our environment. Often collaborating with environmental and community organizations, unions are mobilizing to ensure that the transition to a clean energy economy keeps workers at the center – all the while benefitting the greater communities in which they live. A just transition to a clean energy economy will include well-paying jobs in renewable energy industries as well as support for fossil-fuel workers so they adapt and thrive as well.”

“In a victory for AFGE and employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs Roseburg Healthcare System in Oregon, an arbitrator ordered the VA to restore all vacation and sick leave and reimburse all leave without pay for employees who took time off or were told to stay home due to COVID-19. The arbitrator found that the agency should have offered employees other leave options available through various laws passed in response to the pandemic.”

“‘Workers across the battery supply chain, from electric vehicles to agricultural equipment, must have the right to organize,’ said UAW President Shawn Fain. ‘We applaud SPARKZ for doing the right thing in agreeing not to interfere with workers’ right to join a union and look forward to winning a strong contract that sets the standard for the battery industry.’...‘UAW members in California have a critical role to play in the fight for climate justice,’ said UAW Region 6 Director Mike Miller. ‘Collective bargaining in the emerging green economy is a key piece of that work.’ California will be the first location for the partnership. SPARKZ has committed to over 800 new, full-time jobs and over $700 million of investment in the state.

“The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had been negotiating over pay, streaming residuals and other issues for a new contract to replace a three-year deal that expired May 1….Here’s everything leading up to and what you need to know about a writers strike.”

"The leaders of three faculty unions voted Sunday to approve contract language finalized Friday with Rutgers University, meaning a tentative agreement is ready for union members to vote on “in the coming days” to formally end a long standoff that led to an unprecedented walkout, according to a union announcement."

“Pilots for American Airlines have voted to approve a strike, if the negotiations currently taking place are not fruitful. Members of the Allied Pilots Association union employed by American were offered a raise to match the market rate set by Delta Air Lines earlier this year that raised pay by more than 30%. But American Airlines pilots are pushing the airline to change its scheduling methods and rules, arguing that it’s necessary for pilots’ well-being and to avoid flight cancellations and delays.”

“After 65 days on the picket line, workers at Metal-Matic in Bedford Park, Illinois have ratified their first union contract, winning equal pay for equal work, and an end to major pay disparities. The 140 workers who make steel tubing for major automakers and suppliers joined UAW Local 588 in June of 2021, and have been fighting for a first contract for nearly two years. ‘These UAW members held a 24/7 picket line for two months through torrential rain, hurricane-force winds, and bitter cold,’ said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell. ‘They showed us all the power of solidarity.’”

“Union President Anthony Burke said he and his members are looking for what he called a “fair and equitable” salary increase. He did not detail the specific requests besides saying the ideal pay bump would be similar to what the town has agreed to with the teachers and police unions over the past several months…The fire department is staffed with 42 firefighters, a number Burke said is not enough to appropriately handle an increasing call volume in the growing town. Studies on staffing levels in the past have recommended 11 firefighters for each of the department’s four crews, but that number is at nine currently, he said…The fire union in December filed for assistance with the state Joint Labor-Management Committee, which helps resolve collective bargaining disputes involving municipalities and police and fire departments.”

“Hundreds of union workers at the Clarios automobile battery plant in Holland walked off the job Monday morning after 98% of the membership voted down the company's most recent contract proposal. UAW Local 12 President Bruce Baumhower said the facility employs about 500 people who have been in negotiations with the company for several months. The previous contract was extended multiple times in an attempt to reach a fair agreement.”

“Teachers unions said Wednesday that they are filing a lawsuit in federal court to stop Florida’s new anti-union law from taking effect, arguing that it violates their constitutional rights. The legislation, known as Senate Bill 256, bars most unions representing government employees from receiving dues directly from workers’ paychecks. It also requires that those unions maintain at least 60% membership in their workplaces to avoid being “decertified” and losing their collective bargaining agreements.”

“As the busy summer travel season approaches, 25,000 union pilots at two of the nation’s largest commercial airlines — American and Southwest — are taxiing on the runway of a potential strike. Last week, the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents 15,000 pilots at American Airlines, announced that its members had voted overwhelmingly to authorize a work stoppage. Signaling their unity, thousands of uniformed APA members held informational pickets on May Day at ten of the nation’s major airports, including Chicago’s O’Hare and Boston’s Logan.”

“Still deadlocked on negotiations related to pay and proposed “common good” measures, the Oakland Education Association prepared to enter its second week on the picket lines, and planned to rally outside a now-canceled board meeting as its open-ended strike against the Oakland Unified School District heated up Wednesday. Despite earlier indications that the two sides were close to an agreement on compensation, on Wednesday teachers alleged they were given misleading information by the district — and that only 44% of union members would receive the hoped-for 22% salary bump.”

“It’s not just posturing: As screenwriters continue their strike against Hollywood companies, the two sides remain a galaxy apart, portending a potentially long and destructive standoff. ‘Any hope that this would be fast has faded,’ said Tara Kole, a founding partner of JSSK, an entertainment law firm that counts Emma Stone, Adam McKay and Halle Berry as clients. ‘I hate to say it, but it’s going to be a while.’ The Writers Guild of America, which represents 11,500 screenwriters, went on strike on Tuesday after contract negotiations with studios, streaming services and networks failed. By the end of the week, as companies punched back at union in the news media, and striking writers celebrated the disruption of shows filming from finished scripts, Doug Creutz, an analyst at TD Cowen, told clients that a ‘protracted affair seems likely.’ He defined protracted as more than three months — perhaps long enough to affect the Emmy Awards, scheduled for Sept. 18, and delay the fall TV season.”

“Shocking video of Medieval Times strikers in Buena Park, California, run down by a car and then physically assaulted while picketing in a crosswalk had hundreds of thousands of views on social media in April.”

“Work stoppages by labor unions are having a moment. Several high-profile strikes have taken place locally in less than a year, including Temple University graduate student workers, Philadelphia Museum of Art staff, Rutgers University faculty, and Teamsters at the Liberty Coca-Cola distribution center. Noticing this, leaders of the AFL-CIO Philadelphia Council figured a lot of workers might have questions. Their solution: Strike School.”

“Affixed to the gate was a piece of paper that read: “You are crossing a picket line (cool!)” The site has become one of the recurring picket locations for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) East, which is now entering its third week of a nationwide strike. The 11,500 members of the guild and its counterpart on the West Coast stopped working after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down on May 1, with the studios rejecting several key proposals from the writers without offering any counterproposals.”

“More than 500 registered nurses (RNs) and other health care professionals held a rally on Tuesday, calling on California lawmakers to act to relieve the chronic staffing shortage. They are seeking a half-billion-dollar investment and legislation that will double California’s capacity to graduate new RNs and bring transparency and accountability to the enforcement of California’s groundbreaking nurse-to-patient ratios. Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) participated in the rally at the state Capitol and then visited elected representatives.”

“Following what the Air Line Pilots Association called ‘more than four years of empty promises,’ 3,000 off-duty United Airlines pilots represented by the union protested at major airports across the U.S. on Friday, demanding the finalization of a contract with higher pay and humane scheduling practices…United pilots—joined by ALPA president Capt. Jason Ambrosi, fellow ALPA pilots, and union supporters—demonstrated in front of terminals at airports in 10 cities as well as outside the company's flight training center in Denver.”

“As of midnight on the morning of May 17th,160 workers at Constellium Automotive are on strike, after weeks of the company refusing to bargain in good faith. The plant supplies parts for the Ford F-150, F-150 Lightning, Explorer and Super Duty at six UAW-represented Ford Assembly plants. The workers, members of UAW Local 174, are seeking to address serious health and safety issues, along with unfair discipline from management.”

“For decades, a giant, inflatable rat with beady eyes, sharp teeth and a pustule-covered belly has loomed over union protests, drawing attention to various labor disputes. As New York City deals with an influx of actual rats, Scabby the Rat has become that rare thing, like Pizza Rat or Buddy the Rat — a rodent New Yorkers can rally behind. But in the era of TikTok and influencer culture, middle-aged Scabby faces a new challenge: staying relevant.”

In anticipation of the union’s forthcoming TV/Theatrical Contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which begin June 7, the SAG-AFTRA National Board agreed unanimously to recommend that its members vote to authorize a strike. An affirmative vote does not mean a strike would necessarily happen, but it would allow the National Board to call one if deemed necessary during the negotiations process. The action comes following a unanimous agreement by the TV/Theatrical negotiating committee that the strike authorization would give the union maximum bargaining leverage as it enters this round of negotiations with the AMPTP. SAG-AFTRA represents more than 160,000 entertainment and media professionals.

“The 3,000 teachers and support staff of the Oakland Education Association walked out May 4, shutting down all 85 elementary, middle, and high schools. Community support was immediate and widespread—parents were already familiar with the cuts the district had inflicted or proposed. Many donated food and joined our picket lines to walk, dance, and chant in solidarity.”

“More than 150 trainee doctors went on strike Monday at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, the first physician strike at a hospital in New York City in more than 30 years. Chief among their grievances is the fact that they are generally paid less working at a public hospital in Queens, where they care for poor patients, than their counterparts are paid at wealthier Manhattan institutions…Now the striking young doctors say the experience of the pandemic has encouraged activism and organizing — and a growing willingness to challenge the relatively low salaries that resident physicians, as doctors in training are called, receive for working long and grueling hours.”

"A Popeyes location in Oakland, California, closed its doors on Thursday, May 18, due to complaints of child labor violations and unsafe working conditions. Teenaged employees filed a report with the California Labor Commissioner and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CalOSHA) alleging excessive work hours and shifts on school days that were restricted by California law, among other workplace irregularities…Per California labor laws, workers who are between 16 and 17 years old cannot work more than four hours per day when school is in session. The limits are even stricter for those aged 13 to 15. According to employees, a 13-year-old worker clocked 40-hour weeks with shifts lasting until midnight on school nights, in violation of state restrictions. Workers also claimed the franchisee failed to request work permits when hiring teenage employees. In response to the reported violations, protesters took to the sidewalks outside the Oakland store's location at 7007 International Boulevard. Popeyes employees went on strike, speaking out about their complaints, excessive work schedules, and resulting struggles to meet school performance standards.”

“More than 70 percent of Americans—including a clear majority of Trump supporters—support the Writers Guild of America’s ongoing strike for better pay, working conditions, and job security, according to a new poll commissioned by More Perfect Union via Blue Rose Research. The two-way poll found overwhelming support for the strike that cuts across racial, age, gender, and even political lines—even 63 percent of Trump voters with an opinion on the strike back the writers’ effort, while just 37 of those same Trump voters back the studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).”

“As SAG-AFTRA prepares to begin contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on June 7, it has laid the groundwork for some hard bargaining with the companies, telling members that ‘the AMPTP will often make proposals designed to cut costs at member expense in order to pad corporate profits and fund lavish executive compensation.’ The Writers Guild of America is now in the 21st day of its strike, and the Directors Guild of America began its contract talks with the AMPTP on May 10.”

"Unionized reporters and editors at NBC News staged a daylong walkout on Thursday in protest of recent layoffs and the network’s handling of ongoing contract bargaining."

“More than 120 artists have signed an open letter to SXSW from the Union Of Musicians And Allied Workers (UMAW) demanding higher pay. Artists who signed include Guy Picciotto, Y La Bamba, Anjimile, Wednesday, Vijay Iyer, Eve 6, Cadence Weapon, Zola Jesus, Heba Kadry, Speedy Ortiz, and more. The letter marks the launch of a campaign called Fair Pay At SXSW.”

“After REI employees in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio walked off the job Friday morning, the recreational equipment retailer agreed to schedule a union election vote next month and stopped pushing to exclude certain workers. Following successful union drives at two other REI stores, employees in Beachwood last month filed for a union election with National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking representation with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU).”

“A group of YouTube Music contract workers in Austin, Texas will go on strike on Friday afternoon protesting a return-to-office policy that “threatens the livelihoods of workers” who don’t live nearby, according to a press release. CWA says this is the first time any Google-affiliated workers have planned to strike, although workers have undertaken work stoppages in support of Black Lives Matter and over the company's sexual harassment scandals before.”

“Last week, outside the L.A. Live Marriott, more than 1,000 members of UNITE HERE Local 11 gathered for a demonstration. Inside, executives mingled at the American Lodging Investment Summit, which is billed as the largest hotel investment conference in the world. The union members’ goal: to make the investors understand they’re part of the problem in L.A. — and should be part of the solution.” 

“The two workers, who comprise 50% of the employees at their store, say the collective action was necessary after enduring months of hazardous working conditions. Together with the support of the newly formed Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW), both employees have filed safety complaints with the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a wage theft complaint with the state’s Office of Wages and Child Labor, and an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.” 

“IAM Special Assistant to the International President for the Rail Division Josh Hartford and TCU/IAM Assistant National Legislative Director David Arouca, along with representatives from other major rail unions, joined U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mike Braun (R-IN) for a press conference on Capitol Hill demanding paid sick time from rail companies for all rail workers.”

“HarperCollins Publishers and the union representing around 250 striking employees reached a tentative agreement providing increases to entry level salaries. If union members ratify the contract, it will run through the end of 2025 and end a walkout that began nearly three months ago.”

“The number of major worker strikes in the U.S. rose to its second highest level in two decades in 2022, per a government report out Wednesday. Why it matters: The strength of the labor market and the rise in popularity of unions drove up the numbers. COVID-era issues, like short-staffing, burnout and pay that didn't keep up with inflation, also pushed workers to the picket lines.” 

“Alabama coal miners who have been on strike for almost two years have offered to return to work. The United Mine Workers of America sent a letter Feb. 17 to executives at Warrior Met Coal Inc. offering an unconditional return to work while the union and the company continue to negotiate a new labor agreement.”

“2022 was yet another important year for the US labor movement, with organizing victories at major private employers and an increase in strikes across the country from the prior year. We are pleased to release the second Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker Annual Report, which presents key findings from our data on work stoppages in 2022. We have created a comprehensive database of strikes across the United States because official data sources only record a small fraction of this activity.”

“Watch as Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris and Director of the Cornell ILR Labor Action Tracker Johnnie Kallas unveil the latest data about strikes and other work stoppages in the United States. This blogcast was posted at the same time the report was released to the public, and is the first analysis of these numbers.”

“Unionized workers at Medieval Times’ castle in Buena Park, California, launched a surprise strike against their employer last Saturday afternoon, just ahead of the day’s second performance. The dinner-theater chain managed to put on its show, but not without some serious scrambling as workers headed to the picket line.”

“Nearly 500 front-line health care workers at Kaiser’s Maui Health System have gone on strike in a dispute over pay. Nurse’s aides, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, cooks and other workers at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital walked out and began organized picketing at all three locations on Wednesday at 6 a.m. Hawaii time. United Public Workers/AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO, which represents the workers, said its members voted by a 97.6% majority to authorize the strike.”

“A group of contractors who work for Google’s YouTube Music service are in their third week of picketing in Austin in what their union says is the first strike in the company’s history. Their efforts have received attention and assistance from U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, as backers hope the strike will inspire more labor organizing in the tech sector.”

“A group of contractors who work for Google’s YouTube Music service are in their third week of picketing in Austin in what their union says is the first strike in the company’s history. Their efforts have received attention and assistance from U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, as backers hope the strike will inspire more labor organizing in the tech sector.”

“In New York – a city poised to hire its first “rat czar” after rat sightings doubled in the past year – street-side rodents are fairly commonplace. But the rat stationed on a Union Square curb is something of a different beast. This one is roughly 10ft tall, with incisors the size of iPads. Its eyes are bloodshot, its claws extended, and its belly marked with what look like open, oozing sores. Depending whom you ask, its name is “Scabby”, or just “the Rat”.”

“Unionized academic workers at Rutgers University have organized across hierarchies and are preparing to go on strike.”

“IG Metall, the UAW and Volkswagen’s Group and World Group Works Council welcome the construction of a new plant in South Carolina, where electrified vehicles will be manufactured under the traditional US brand Scout Motors. This investment will create thousands of new manufacturing jobs and will further drive the transformation towards electromobility.”

“A three-day strike that would shut down Los Angeles public schools is scheduled to start Tuesday, union leaders announced Wednesday during a massive downtown rally by the district’s two largest employee groups. L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho on Wednesday urged union leadership to negotiate “around the clock” to avert the strike, which he said would further harm more than 420,000 students trying to recover academically and emotionally from the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced them into remote learning for more than year. Union leaders responded that they are looking out for the long-term interest of students as well as workers through their demands for higher pay and improved working and learning conditions.”

“The headlines on stories about this week’s California Court of Appeals decision upholding most of Proposition 22, which classified app-based drivers as “independent contractors” under California law, declared the decision a huge victory for Uber, Lyft, and the other online platform companies. But there is one part of the decision that could turn into a potentially important opportunity for the Service Employees International Union and other unions seeking to organize these workers into unions.”

“A California appeals court reversed most of a ruling invalidating Proposition 22, the state’s 2020 voter-approved gig economy law allowing giant ride-hailing and delivery companies to classify their workers as independent contractors rather than employees”

“We may be seeing problematic signs for workers and worker power in the economy. It’s too soon to be definitive and the signals, at this point, are decidedly mixed. But if these early signs continue and build into a trend, workers may experience rising unemployment, slower (or no) wage increases, and less ability to change jobs to raise their pay and improve their working conditions.”

“After the union rejected a proposal last month, an agreement between Temple and its striking graduate students this time was approved by a vast majority of members, officially ending the six-week strike that has disrupted operations at the 33,600-student university. Results of the vote were released late Monday afternoon by the Temple University Graduate Students Association, which represents 750 graduate student teaching and research assistants. With more than three-quarters of members voting, 98% said yes to the new four-year contract, hammered out during meetings last week.”

“A union is asking 15,000 workers at hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties to authorize a strike during the height of tourist season. Unite Here Local 11 said contracts are expiring June 30 at 62 Southern California hotels, including luxury stays such as the Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles, the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica and the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Union officials say they are asking for the strike authorization vote on June 8 to jump-start sluggish negotiations and convince hotel operators to seriously consider pay increases for their workers.”

“Labor unions are fighting back against a controversial higher education bill in the Ohio Senate that would ban public university employees from striking. This isn’t the first fight, either. Nearly 700,000 people in Ohio are part of unions or related associations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. With that, Ohioans are continuing to unionize faster than the national average. If a corporation isn’t playing ball, a union’s greatest tool to getting a fair contract is a strike, or the threat of one.”

“A strike this week by resident physicians at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, a public hospital serving one of the world’s most ethnically diverse communities, lasted just three days. Only 130 doctors participated. Still, it was enough to make history.”

“Tens of thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) education workers stood shoulder to shoulder with thousands of parents, students, and allies. It felt as if the entire city had come together to loudly make one particular demand: LAUSD must use the district’s $5.2 billion it held in reserves to invest in staff, students, and communities rather than continue to sit on the reserves at a time when those staff, students, and communities suffered without the funding.”

“The Writers Guild of America West received the most robust support from their sister unions in Los Angeles at the “Unions Strike Back” Rally on Friday evening. In solidarity with WGAW President Meredith Stiehm stood Hollywood Teamsters Local 399 secretary-treasurer and chief negotiator, Lindsay Dougherty; SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland; UTLA President, Cecily Myart-Cruz; Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11; and California Federation of Labor AFL-CIO Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Lorena Gonzalez, among others…Stiehm spoke of the solidarity between the sister unions whose members have joined her and fellow striking writers on the picket lines held daily at the various studios across Los Angeles… ‘Something is happening out there. Something new. Labor is rising. We have your support because other unions and other workers see their struggle in our struggle. We are also feeling marginalized, gigged out, and pressed for as much work as possible for as little pay as possible, and it’s not right. It’s not humane. It’s not moral. The bosses, management, and corporations must share the wealth that we helped create. They must share it properly and fairly, and until they do, we will hold the line,’ she said.”

"Thousands of corporate employees, across industries, who remain adamant that they do not want to return to the office are now confronting a tension: How do their demands compare with those of the millions of workers whose jobs have never permitted them the ease of remote work? And can a corporate employee’s advocacy be of use to workers, including those trying to unionize, outside the corporate sphere?"

“Operations at several West Coast ports were "throttled" Monday due to labor stoppages or slowdowns, the WSJ reported, as union contract negotiations between dockworkers and shipping companies dragged into a second year.”

“‘I wish to be like eggs,” said Abdullah Saleem, in his third week of striking Constellium Automotive west of Detroit. ‘You know how eggs used to be a dollar a dozen and now they’re $4,’ said Saleem, who has 11 years working at the plant. Pointing to the $18.60 that’s the usual pay for a Constellium operator, Saleem wants his wage to show the same progress as eggs. Constellium, a supplier of aluminum parts and crash management systems to Ford, is refusing to budge on wages, according to bargaining committee member Mohamed Alturki. The workers’ first contract was rushed through three years ago during Covid and contained no wage increase the first year, and just two 3 percent boosts the other two years. ‘This time,’ he said, ‘it’s a different scenario. The people don’t accept it.’”

“Seattle, WA – 2,400 UW Postdoctoral Researchers and Research Scientists/Engineers (RSEs) at the University of Washington are on strike after not reaching agreement with UW administration in bargaining. They will head to the picket lines beginning at 5am. Hundreds will gather Wednesday for a strike kickoff rally at 12pm on Red Square. Press are encouraged to attend…At issue still for RSEs are three core demands: support for an inclusive workforce — including the same harassment prevention program for RSEs that is available for Postdocs and student employees, support for childcare, and fair compensation. For Postdocs, the biggest sticking point is that UW is refusing to pay Postdocs a living wage in line with state minimum wage standards.”

“According to the union, nearly 65,000 members, or about 47.69% of its base, took part in the strike authorization vote. Of this total, 97.91% of them voted in favor of joining the Writers Guild of America if contract talks stall…According to their website, the Screen Actors Guild - American Film, Television and Radio Artists represents more than 160,000 actors, journalists, radio personalities and more. They are expected to enter negotiations with studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on June 7.”

“Hundreds of journalists are walking off the job Monday and Tuesday at two dozen newspapers owned by the Gannett company. They're protesting working conditions at their papers and launching a lacerating attack on Gannett's chief executive. The newspapers, in seven states, include The Arizona Republic, The Austin American Statesman, The Florida Times-Union, The Asbury Park Press and others. The journalists and representatives at their union, the NewsGuild, accuse Gannett of undercompensating them for years. And, they note, they are now being asked to do more than ever.”

“With the largest private sector labor contract in the United States set to expire on July 31 at midnight, the eyes of the American labor movement are on United Parcel Service (UPS) and the nearly 350,000 Teamsters who work there. The Teamsters announced a UPS strike authorization vote starting this week, with results to be announced June 16. Union leaders are strongly urging a yes vote. “This is how we win,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien.”

“Dozens of Amazon STL8 warehouse workers here marched on the boss May 23 to deliver a petition to demand safer conditions on the job. The petition, signed by more than 400 workers, urged Amazon to implement safer work rates, more break time, implementation of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety recommendations, and an independent safety audit.”

“On June 16, the leadership of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters will report the results of its authorization vote to strike against the United Parcel Service (UPS). This is a vote of the union's membership that allows the union's leaders to commence a strike, but does not require them to call a strike. Because that date is drawing closer, several journalists have reached out to me to ask for my assessment of whether there will be a strike and, if there is, what economic consequences will result. I thought it might be easier for you if I simply provided six brief observations about the negotiations and potential strike here.”

“The week prior, union members voted overwhelmingly to authorize local leadership to call a strike should negotiations with Wabtec (an abbreviation of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) fail to produce a tentative agreement. Updates during this week, printed on flyers disseminated throughout the plant, suggested that they would do so.”

“But many nannies, caregivers, and cleaners are still hesitant to address violations of this law, out of fear that their employer will retaliate, said Nicole Kligerman, NDWA’s Pennsylvania director. The chapter wants to put more muscle behind the bill of rights, she said, so they’re asking for new legislation to speed up enforcement, empower workers to report violations, and provide them with some financial security in case reporting costs them their job.”

“A group of registered nurses at HCA Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford joined a national day of action on Tuesday, uplifting a need for safe staffing levels in their hospitals. ‘We care,’ said Lorraine Sikes, an emergency room nurse, who rallied with fellow off-duty nurses outside of the Central Florida hospital Tuesday morning…Owned by the Hospital Corporation of America, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital system, Sikes’ hospital was one of over a dozen sites nationwide where members of the National Nurses United labor union rallied on Tuesday, and one of just three in Florida. The call to action? For the hospital industry to take safe staffing levels seriously, and for Congress to pass federal legislation, modeled after a California law, to establish nurse-to-patient ratio standards.”

“United Parcel Service workers have authorized their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to call a strike as soon as Aug. 1, after the current contract expires, the Teamsters announced Friday. The Teamsters represent more than 325,000 UPS employees in the United States, where the company has nearly 450,000 employees overall. The union said 97 percent had voted in favor of strike authorization.”

“The new president of the United Auto Workers gave his strongest warning yet Friday that the union is preparing for strikes against Detroit’s three automakers when contracts expire in September. In a Facebook Live appearance to address members, Shawn Fain said the union is in a strong position to make major gains in talks with Stellantis, Ford and General Motors, ‘but only if our members get organized and are ready to strike.’”

“In 2021, the veteran trucker triumphed in an insurgent campaign to become president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, an election marking the end of the Hoffa era. James P. Hoffa, that is, the 82-year-old son of mid-century labor legend Jimmy Hoffa and a lawyer by training who, rivals like O’Brien believed, lacked his dad’s connection with the average worker and conceded too much for the sake of remaining friendly with employers.”

“Amazon delivery drivers and dispatchers walked out of their delivery facility on Thursday to demand that Amazon bargain with them. The 84 drivers currently on strike have held picket lines before, but this is the first time Amazon drivers have walked out in the U.S., according to a Teamsters press release.”

“AFGE workers and its General Committee leadership descended on Capitol Hill to demand Congress fix the problems festering inside the Social Security Administration. Representative Maxwell Frost (FL), Representative Matt Cartwright (PA), Social Security Works, and the Center for American Progress joined AFGE leaders for our National Day of Action Rally. The worsening SSA staffing attrition and service crisis has left many Americans helpless and without lifesaving resources. Individuals are waiting too long for claims to be processed while SSA workers grapple with overwhelming caseloads and little to no support.”

“Strikes are workers’ most important and impactful weapon. They can be an essential tool in achieving workers’ objectives at the bargaining table or when an employer has broken the law, put workers at risk, or behaved unfairly. Strikes embody the power of collective action and worker power. But strikes come at a cost. Only the workers who are directly involved can or should decide if that cost is worth the potential benefits.”

“Over the last year, unionization drives by Starbucks baristas and Amazon warehouse workers have all but monopolized the attention of the labor organizing world. That may be why the most important development in the field has operated under the radar until very recently. We’re talking about the contract talks between United Parcel Service and about 340,000 members of the Teamsters union.”

“Some members of the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have written a letter to union leadership urging the negotiating committee not to settle with the Hollywood studios on a deal that does not represent their demands. The letter, which was shared with CNN, expresses concern that ‘this is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough….We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade. We need to reverse those trajectories,’ the letter continued.”

“Starbucks Corp. plans to issue “clearer centralized guidelines” for in-store visual displays and decorations following a union’s allegations that managers banned Pride-themed decor, which the company disputes. ‘We have heard from our partners that you want to be creative in how our stores are represented and that you see visual creativity in stores as part of who we are and our culture,’ North America President Sara Trilling said Monday in a memo to employees seen by Bloomberg News. ‘Equally, we have also heard through our partner channels that there is a need for clarity and consistency on current guidelines around visual displays and decorations.’ Starbucks on Monday also filed complaints against the union with the National Labor Relations Board. In an emailed statement, Workers United said that it is confident the complaints will be dismissed. Workers United alleged in mid-June that store employees in states across the US were told Pride decorations weren’t allowed. On Friday, baristas at several unionized locations kicked off a 150-store ‘Strike With Pride’ protesting the company’s ‘illegal union-busting campaign’ while speaking against ‘Starbucks’ treatment of LGBTQIA+ workers,’ according to a statement from the union. The company denies illegal anti-union activity.”

“On Wednesday, June 7, 2,400 academic workers walked off the job at the University of Washington in Seattle for six days. About nine hundred postdocs represented by United Auto Workers (UAW) 4121 Academic Workers and 1,400 researcher scientists/engineers (RSEs) represented by University of Washington (UW) Researchers United–UAW were striking in response to what they describe as bad-faith bargaining by the university.”

“Striking workers at Erie's Wabtec Corp. plant picketed for hours earlier this week in driving rains. On Wednesday, as the strike entered its seventh day, members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machines Workers of America found themselves walking through a smoky haze thanks to ongoing Canadian wildfires.”

“New England farm workers with the Milk with Dignity campaign are planning a rally in the city on Saturday, and campaign organizers are demanding action from Hannaford supermarkets. The organizers want the supermarket chain to sign a farmworker-authored code of conduct that sets standards for labor and housing conditions on dairy farms — including those in Maine — that the chain uses to supply its store brand milk. Hannaford operates 186 stores in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Locally headquartered in Scarborough, Hannaford’s corporate, multinational parent company is Ahold Delhaize of the Netherlands. Vermont-based farm worker organization Migrant Justice is heading up the Milk with Dignity campaign. Dedicated to New England farm worker rights, it was founded in the wake of Jose Obeth Santiz Cruz’s 2009 death. Cruz was pulled into a mechanized gutter scraper and strangled to death by his clothing on a Vermont dairy farm.”

“15,000 hotel workers in Los Angeles, California, just walked out in the largest hotel strike in 50 years. We spoke to workers about why they’re taking this historic action. They told us that they’re getting priced out of Los Angeles and are forced to spend hours commuting or cram multiple families into one apartment.”

“When the Wrights and their two young daughters joined the picket line, it upended every aspect of their lives — and that was just the beginning. Two years later, they look back at their family's role in one of the longest coal strikes in U.S. history.”

"The head of the United Auto Workers, which represents 150,000 U.S. hourly workers at General Motors (GM.N), Ford Motor (F.N) and Chrysler-parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI), said the union is not afraid to strike any of the automakers without a fair contract. ‘The Big Three is our strike target. And whether or not there's a strike, it's up to Ford, General Motors and Stellantis,’ UAW President Shawn Fain said Tuesday in online remarks…Talks with Detroit's Big Three automakers start on Thursday, ahead of the mid-September expiration of the current four-year labor deal. Up first is Stellantis, followed by Ford on Friday and GM on July 18."

"Hollywood actors are officially headed to the picket line. Unable to reach a deal with producers, members of The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will join up with more than 11,000 already striking film and television writers starting at midnight. The failed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers means film and television productions featuring actors will immediately halt, essentially shutting down Hollywood. It’ll be the first tandem strike in Hollywood since 1960."

"With the scribes’ strike now finishing its 71st day and the actors’ union just 30 hours from a possible labor action of its own, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are planning to dig in hard this fall before even entertaining the idea of more talks with the WGA, I’ve learned. ‘Not Halloween precisely, but late October, for sure, is the intention,’ says a top-tier producer close to the Carol Lombardini-run AMPTP."

"'Outside it smelled like burnt plastic, almost like trash,' said UAW member Cody Zaremba, who works at a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan. He and his co-workers were experiencing coughing, runny noses, watery eyes, and trouble breathing. But GM didn’t even acknowledge the smoke, Zaremba said, much less offer any protection."

"The clock is ticking on a contract between UPS and the union that represents roughly 340,000 of its employees, who have already voted to go on strike if they don’t have a new collective bargaining agreement in place by August 1."

"Through wet weather in Wichita, Kansas, and scorching heat in Austin, Texas, hundreds of nurses walked picket lines June 27 in a one-day strike for safe staffing and patient safety. Nearly 2,000 nurses represented by National Nurses United (NNU) walked out. They’re trying to get the company to bargain in good faith after winning union elections in the last year at the three struck locations: Ascension’s two campuses in Wichita and Austin’s huge Ascension Seton Medical Center, where 900 nurses work."

“I was fortunate to be invited onto two television outlets on July 13, 2023 to discuss SAG-AFTRA's announcement that it would strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers beginning at midnight that night. They join the Writers Guild of America in striking against the corporate Hollywood studios. The discussions inevitably expanded into a conversation about rising worker activism and strike activity, including the breakdown of negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS and the UAW's aggressive posture in its forthcoming negotiations with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. I gave my take on why worker activism is rising and suggested that the speech SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher gave at her press conference today could have been delivered in any Teamsters or UAW union hall anywhere in the country.”

“United Parcel Service (UPS.N) on Wednesday said it would return to the bargaining table with a better offer for roughly 340,000 Teamsters-represented U.S. workers, in a bid to avert a potentially economically damaging strike on Aug. 1…The union said the world's largest delivery company contacted it on Wednesday with an offer to resume talks next week, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in a statement on Twitter…A key sticking point in the talks is pay increases for experienced part-time workers who are making roughly the same or even less than new hires because starting wages jumped due to the labor shortage in the last few years.”

“Celebrities like Fran Drescher got a lot of media attention last week when they went on strike. The 160,000+ members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined 11,000 already striking film and television writers in the first industrywide shutdown in 63 years. But it is not just actors—workers across the economy are either walking a picket line or preparing for labor actions later this summer. This has led many to wonder: why do so many workers feel their only option this summer is to strike?”

“While actors and writers across the country are striking, audiences are wondering how their entertainment consumption affects the strike. Amid prominent movie debuts, such as the highly anticipated ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer,’ fans are asking on social media whether purchasing tickets to the cinema or streaming new seasons of television shows increases barriers to a new union contract.”

“Teachers went on strike on May 4, 2023, just three weeks before the last day of the academic calendar. The strike lasted seven school days. In negotiations, teachers not only fought for higher salaries and a better schedule, but for a set of what they called ‘common good’ demands — like ensuring that all unhoused families in the district are expedited for Section 8 housing vouchers and implementing a task force on reparations. The strike had what appeared to be fairly widespread support based on turnout at school sites, though many caregivers and community members expressed confusion about the broader demands on climate and housing. Wasn’t this a salary renegotiation? Why were the teachers talking about transportation? These demands are part of a broader movement among unions to bargain for the common good by including provisions in teachers’ contract demands that don’t just affect them directly, but also the quality of life for their students and the city.”

“The union representing UPS pilots says they will not cross picket lines if Teamsters drivers and package sorters walk off the job when the current contract expires Aug. 1, resulting in the immediate shutdown of the express logistics company’s global air operations. UPS (NYSE: UPS) has 3,300 pilots who are represented by the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), a separate union from the Teamsters. ‘If the Teamsters are on strike, we will honor that strike and we will not fly,’ IPA spokesman Brian Gaudet told FreightWaves.”

“In the middle of Amazon’s Prime Day promotional sales rush, 60 warehouse workers walked out for more than three hours at its delivery station in Pontiac, Michigan—bringing the facility to the brink of a total shutdown. A delivery station is the last warehouse an Amazon package passes through before it is loaded into a truck or van en route to the customer. This year’s “Prime Day” shopping bonanza July 11 and 12 set a record for the largest sales day in Amazon’s history. The crush of Prime Day puts even more pressure on workers to keep up with conveyor belts overflowing with boxes that can weigh as much as 50 pounds.”

“The White House will not intervene in the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild strikes against the large corporate Hollywood studios, or a potential UAW strike against the big three automakers. Presidents in the modern era very rarely intervene in private-sector labor disputes.”

“I appeared on Bloomberg TV on Thursday afternoon, July 20 with Scarlet Fu to talk about the 'summer of strikes,' the rising popularity of unions, and surprisingly poor decision-making and perhaps-unsurprising labor-law-breaking by some brand name corporations.”

“The Teamsters Union and UPS have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract to cover the 340,000 Teamsters who work for the package shipping giant. It was UPS workers’ willingness to strike — not corporate kindness — that earned them a new tentative agreement.”

“From Hollywood to UPS, the U.S. labor movement is uniting to support striking workers and win contract demands across industries.”

“Fed-up workers across a sprawling range of industries are aligned like never before over fears of being displaced by artificial intelligence and the belief that corporations left them with a minuscule slice of the profits they made during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Los Angeles, where thousands have taken to the streets in recent weeks, shutting down sectors of the local economy, blowing up supply chains, and thrusting America’s second largest city into the white-hot center of a national strike wave.”

“For a quarter of a century, Andi Brittan has worked steadily as a set decorator on movies and TV shows, but as Hollywood began to slow down this year in anticipation for what has become known as the summer of labor strife, she hasn’t worked a single production job. Mid-City-based Brittan’s most recent big show was Prime Video’s Emmy-nominated ‘Daisy Jones & the Six’ last year. To make ends meet, she has been taking on side gigs, like teaching set decorating to high schoolers. ‘It’s been a huge struggle,’ she said. ‘At this moment, I’m not really making ends meet.’ Despite the personal financial hardship, Brittan, 52, refuses to cross a picket line. ‘I feel like this is a fight worth fighting for,’ Brittan said. ‘It’s not just for the writers, it’s for all of us.’”

“A new law in Texas – a state that’s experiencing one of its hottest summers on record – will soon make it illegal for cities and counties to mandate breaks and other protections for workers, including water breaks for construction workers. The so-called ‘Death Star bill’ is bound to have deadly consequences. This year alone, a U.S. Postal Service employee in Dallas died while on his route in 115-degree heat and a lineman restoring power in Harrison County, Texas, likely died from heat exhaustion, according to a letter from members of Congress to Biden administration officials. That’s why AFSCME Local 1624 members flew from Texas to Washington to join an all-day vigil and thirst strike on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday. They supported Texas Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), an AFSCME member, as he went without food or water throughout the day and stood outside in the sun to protest the law’s cruelty.”

“John McGillis earned $18 an hour when he started working at Leinenkugel's brewery in 1990, a top wage befitting a company recognized as a community cornerstone since it began brewing for local lumberjacks in 1867. Now more than three decades later, McGillis is earning only $5.50 more - a meager increase that prompted him to put down his tools this month and join 40 colleagues in a picket line outside the brewery's red-brick walls in a push for better pay. They walked off the job just as Leinenkugel's was entering the crucial Oktoberfest brewing season.”

“Last week, I posted a piece about Hollywood studios' efforts to partner with online content creators to promote their TV and film projects during SAG-AFTRA’s strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Since then, there’s been a flurry of conversation about the role of online influencers in this moment. While there have been many encouraging stories about creators turning down lucrative partnership opportunities with studios in order to stand in solidarity with the striking workers, some influencers have expressed confusion about why they should support the strike when they aren’t members of the union.” 

“When Disney CEO Bob Iger said in mid-July that writers and actors were “just not realistic” in what they hoped to achieve through their respective negotiations with Hollywood’s major studios, he practically teed himself up for a public roasting. He received it. ‘We’ve got a message for Mr. Iger: I know, sir, that you look at things through a different lens. We don’t expect you to understand who we are,’ Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston said at a SAG-AFTRA rally in New York days after Iger’s comments. ‘But we ask you to hear us,’ Cranston said. ‘We will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots. We will not have you take away our right to work and earn a decent living. And lastly, and most importantly, we will not allow you to take away our dignity.’ By personalizing the message, writers and actors are trying to galvanize public sentiment — putting a human face on massive corporate riches.”

“July was one of the busiest months for strikes in three decades, reflecting growing public support for unions and increased worker leverage in an era of low unemployment, as tens of thousands of workers have pushed employers for higher wages to keep up with high inflation. The labor unrest erupting in Hollywood, where 170,000 actors have joined 11,500 screenwriters on picket lines, is far from the only example of workers banding together to demand more from their employers this summer. Baristas, national park bus drivers, hotel housekeepers, lawyers, book sellers, locomotive plant workers, sour cream producers and brewery workers also went on strike in July.”

“Striking hotel workers say that their hotel is using Black workers to break strikes, but does not keep them on permanently. An app called ‘Instawork’ is perpetuating this issue.”

“Registered nurses at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital (SLUH) held an informational picket July 19 to demand that management address the staffing crisis at the facility and its impact on patient safety.”

“Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) at Frontier Communications in West Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia voted to grant strike authorization to union leaders on Friday. The CWA began contract negotiations with Frontier Communications last month. The union represents about 1,400 Frontier employees. Its current contract is set to expire on Aug. 5. Union leaders now have the authority to call a strike if negotiations between CWA and the telecom company fail to reach a settlement.”

“A sea of royal blue shirts filled the floor before the Miami-Dade County Commission on July 18. They belonged to dozens of outdoor workers with WeCount!’s ¡Que Calor! campaign demanding ‘agua, sombra, y descanso’—water, shade, and rest. Miami commissioners held in their agenda legislation proposing what would be the nation’s first county-wide heat standard for outdoor workers. ‘The demand of ¡Que Calor! is a step in the right direction for bringing dignity and respect for outdoor workers,’ said Pedro Marcos Raymundo, one of the leaders of ¡Que Calor!. ‘But it’s not only about outdoor workers; it’s a step in the right direction for any and all workers.’ Raymundo is one of more than 200 workers organizing with WeCount!, a coalition of immigrant workers and families advocating for better labor conditions in South Florida. ¡Que Calor unites workers across the outdoor industries to create solutions to the problems they are facing in the workplace. The heat standard laid out in 14A1 is one such solution.”

“The outcome of this strike could have far-reaching implications, especially for Black actors and writers. From Taraji P. Henson receiving only $40,000 for her Oscar-nominated role as Queenie in the $300 million-grossing “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” to “Abbott Elementary” writer Brittani Nichols tweeting that she’d see no additional compensation after her episode earned record views, Black writers and actors have historically been — and continue to be — at a disadvantage in the TV and film industry.” 

 “Top managements in the U.S. have sought to deploy all the technological wizardry coming out of Silicon Valley to slice and dice the labor of employees so as to create a 'flexible' work regime—displacing the cost of an unpredictable demand for labor from the corporate balance sheet onto the shoulders of the workers who provide the service.”

“Nearly 100 days after declaring a strike, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) remains unwavering in their commitment to securing a fair contract for its 11,000 members. The WGA made it clear last week that after a non-starter meeting with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents major television studios, they will not end the strike until their terms are met: ‘Rest assured, this committee does not intend to leave anyone behind, or make merely an incremental deal to conclude this strike.’”

“Los Angeles municipal employees went on a 24-hour strike on Tuesday to protest what their union calls bad-faith bargaining by city officials over a new contract, the latest in a series of job actions affecting Los Angeles. Mechanics, lifeguards, traffic officers and others marched in picket lines at city hall and the Los Angeles International Airport, saying city management has engaged in unfair labor practices in contract negotiations.”

“Nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick were on strike for a fourth day Monday. Staffing levels are a sticking point between the United Steelworkers Local 4-200 and the hospital. After contract talks stalled, more than 1,700 nurses walked off the job Friday. But passion on the picket line is not waning. ‘Clearly, we're all united for a common purpose here,’ said Jennifer Kwock. Kwock, who works in the neonatal ICU, said depleted staffing levels create dangerous conditions for patients and cause nurses burnout.” 

“Pennsylvania workers represented by United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America have been on strike since late June. They’re fighting for a green overhaul of the rail industry.”

“The Power at Work Blog is delighted to lift up two videos from the 100-day Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike in 2007. We were inspired to share these videos with you by the current WGA strike, which as of today has lasted 106 days. Earlier this year, the WGA released a report that writers have been negatively impacted by the growth of streaming services in the industry.”

“Labor negotiations resumed Tuesday between the striking Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios, but despite some apparent concessions on both sides, the stalemate appeared to be far from over. Neither side had publicly commented on the status of the talks as of late Tuesday afternoon. Negotiators for the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers -- which represents the studios -- met Friday for the first time since writers went on strike May 2, and the AMPTP provided the union with some counterproposals to its demands.”

“School bus employees have voted to authorize a strike, which could potentially cause massive disruptions for tens of thousands of New York City public school students and their families at the start of the school year. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 is negotiating contracts with several private companies contracted with the city public school system to provide school bus service. In June, members overwhelmingly voted to approve a strike against some of the companies, according to a newsletter from the union.”

“Following an 11-day strike that galvanized a Chicago West Side neighborhood, around 200 hospital workers treating uninsured and underinsured patients have won and ratified a new contract they believe will help them better serve the community. Members of SEIU Healthcare, the mostly Black employees include nursing assistants, emergency room technicians, mental health workers and janitorial staff at Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed medical facility in the Austin neighborhood.”

“The past 18 months have been marked by loud labor organizing efforts — and opposition — at several massive corporate enterprises, including Starbucks and Amazon. Public approval of unions, meanwhile, is up to 71%, the highest level since 1965, according to a Gallup poll from August 2022. Yet according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the union membership rate of 10.1% last year was the lowest since records were kept, dating to 1983. There’s certainly no single reason for those seemingly contradictory sets of statistics. But there is a main culprit: the country’s wildly outdated labor laws.”

 “As 150,000 members of the United Auto Workers gear up for a possible strike against the 'Big Three'—Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors—we are seeing the re-emergence of a well-worn media trope: fearmongering about how a collective work stoppage could harm 'the economy.' This slant is common, from the media buildup to the potential rail strike to the potential UPS strike. This time, media outlets are throwing around a scary-sounding number: $5 billion.”

“As Hollywood writers breezed past the 100th day of their strike last week, some 11,000 city employees walked off their jobs and picked up placards, demanding better pay. This year alone, public school teachers, hotel employees, health-care workers and actors have also called work stoppages across Los Angeles, shutting down some of the city’s largest institutions and most important industries…For much of its early history, the Los Angeles business and political class treated unions like a public enemy. The attitude was an extension of the city’s deeply conservative environment, which stood in stark contrast to San Francisco, a more labor-friendly city with a longer tradition of active unions.”

“Amid talk of labor strikes, many salaried white-collar workers are wondering whether they have the right to not cross a picket line, in support of lower-paid colleagues. The Detroit Free Press reported that Ford Motor Co. has been preparing its salaried workers to assume jobs in parts depots in case of a strike. So the issue of what is — and isn't allowed — in a strike situation is top of mind.”

“UAW President Shawn Fain will be joining practice pickets this week in Detroit, Mich., and Louisville, Ky. Practice pickets are not work stoppages; no entrances will be obstructed, and workers will report to their shifts as usual. (Dates, times and locations of all three practice pickets are below.) Fain’s visits to the practice picket lines come as 150,000 UAW members at the Big Three are holding strike authorization votes. Voting is scheduled to end by Aug. 24 and results are expected to be announced on Aug. 25. Bargaining at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis began in mid-July and the union’s contracts with the companies expire on Sept. 14. Fain has called the date ‘a deadline, not a reference point.’”

"1,700 nurses are currently on strike at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. They are members of United Steel Workers Local 4-200."

 “For the first time since I started working at UPS 15 years ago, it feels like unions across the country are on the rise. UPS Teamsters mobilized for a massive contract campaign to win the best contract we’ve ever had. Now it’s the Auto Workers’ turn.”

“UAW President Shawn Fain announced today that the union’s strike authorization vote passed with near universal approval from the 150,000 union workers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Final votes are still being tabulated, but the current combined average across the Big Three was 97% in favor of strike authorization. The vote does not guarantee a strike will be called, only that the union has the right to call a strike if the Big Three refuse to reach a fair deal. ‘Our union’s membership is clearly fed up with living paycheck-to-paycheck while the corporate elite and billionaire class continue to make out like bandits,’ said UAW President Fain. ‘The Big Three have been breaking the bank while we have been breaking our backs.’"

“This summer, workers across the country—from Hollywood writers to nurses, factory workers, and Starbucks baristas—were either walking a picket line or preparing for labor actions, the latest sign that U.S. workers are increasingly interested in using collective action to improve the terms and conditions of work. In fact, workers are filing petitions for union elections and charges for violations of their right to organize and bargain collectively at the highest rates since the 1950s…This backdrop of high and rising inequality and the role that policy-driven attacks on collective bargaining have played in generating inequality should be kept in mind as this summer’s labor actions unfold.”

“This two-year series explores how American workers across political, geographic and racial lines are challenging an increasingly unequal economic status quo. Our reporters take readers inside some of the most innovative, high-stakes organizing campaigns in the country, from the Deep South to the industrial heartland to the urban centers of both coasts and beyond.”

“Members of Unite Here Local 11 announced the boycott Thursday, describing it as a 'major escalation' in a battle with hotels that has rattled LA’s tourism industry. They want groups planning large-scale meetings to cancel or postpone them until the union has reached new deals with the hotels, or to move the events to another town.”

"Even after more than one hundred days of a nationwide strike of Hollywood writers, studio heads are monumentally out of touch with the most basic demands that those writers are unified around winning."

“The union representing employees of the National Science Foundation are fighting orders reducing the number of days they can telework, warning people will quit if greater flexibility isn't preserved.”

“Union leaders identified the man who died Friday while working at a Kroger Distribution Center in Memphis. Members of Teamster 667 are demanding change at the facility located in the 5000 block of Bledsoe Road, following the death of Tony Rufus. The union said Rufus died Friday while desperately trying to find a way to cool off amid extremely hot temperatures.”

“Picket lines can be dramatic places, when scabs try to cross. But most of the time, the drama is muted, and if the strike is a long one, it can get, well, dull. But that doesn't have to be.”

The court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization posed an imminent threat to collective bargaining agreements, and the justices heard arguments earlier this month in a case that could deal a devastating blow to workers' right to strike. These fights are deeply connected, and in many states where abortion has been restricted, workers; rights are also severely limited. Working people have the ability to respond and that's why we launched a new map to help workers make informed decisions to better advocate for ourselves and our families.

The court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization posed an imminent threat to collective bargaining agreements, and the justices heard arguments earlier this month in a case that could deal a devastating blow to workers' right to strike. These fights are deeply connected, and in many states where abortion has been restricted, workers; rights are also severely limited. Working people have the ability to respond and that's why we launched a new map to help workers make informed decisions to better advocate for ourselves and our families.

The court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization posed an imminent threat to collective bargaining agreements, and the justices heard arguments earlier this month in a case that could deal a devastating blow to workers' right to strike. These fights are deeply connected, and in many states where abortion has been restricted, workers; rights are also severely limited. Working people have the ability to respond and that's why we launched a new map to help workers make informed decisions to better advocate for ourselves and our families.

The court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization posed an imminent threat to collective bargaining agreements, and the justices heard arguments earlier this month in a case that could deal a devastating blow to workers' right to strike. These fights are deeply connected, and in many states where abortion has been restricted, workers; rights are also severely limited. Working people have the ability to respond and that's why we launched a new map to help workers make informed decisions to better advocate for ourselves and our families.

"Los Angeles public schools will remain closed Thursday, the last of a three-day strike, as Mayor Karen Bass stepped in Wednesday to join talks with union and school district leaders to offer “assistance and support,” the district reported."

“Hundreds of Starbucks workers from coast to coast are striking on Wednesday to send the company’s new CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, a message to break the trend and bring an end to the company’s fierce union-busting campaign. Over 100 stores are going on strike, including in major cities like Boston, New York, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Workers are also planning to strike in Seattle, where they will march outside of the company’s headquarters the day before the company holds its annual shareholder meeting.”

“The presidents of the two national teachers unions took Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to task in his home state over the weekend, slamming the Republican and likely 2024 presidential candidate for attempting to dismantle the U.S. public education system – underscoring the seriousness with which they see him as a threat to K-12 education and foretelling the lengths they’re set go to mobilize their forces against him as election season looms.”

“Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) employees began a three-day strike on March 21, closing schools in the country’s second largest district, which serves approximately 420,000 students. The roughly 30,000 workers represented by Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) include bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians and special education assistants. They are demanding a 30% wage increase in addition to an increase of $2 an hour for the lowest earners and are joined in a solidarity strike by 35,000 teachers, counselors, therapists, nurses and librarians with United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), which is also negotiating its contract.”

“Rank-and-file activists at UPS have a huge task: getting our 340,000 co-workers ready to mount a credible strike threat by August 1. Luckily we don’t have to do it alone, like we did in 2013 and 2018. This time we have the support of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, and the rest of our international leadership. We have a contract campaign coordinator, internal organizers, and a whole team of staff from the international union to engage members and coordinate all our efforts toward one big fight.”

"The 1951 Empire Zinc strike made history and spawned a landmark labor film. Its impact is still reverberating today.”

“TV and movie writers want more money, but Hollywood companies say the demands ignore economic realities. The deadline to sort out those differences is approaching.”

“The roughly thirty striking Teamsters work for the Post-Gazette as drivers and in the paper’s circulation department. They, alongside three other unions that walked out in October — the NewsGuild joined the strike a few days later — were moved to do so in response to the Post-Gazette’s refusal to cover those costs. Workers now have not had a contract for nearly six years.”

“Stepping up their pressure against Starbucks, a multinational company currently worth $113 billion, workers at 113 of its U.S. outlets went on strike March 22. In Seattle, the company was finally forced to the bargaining table in earnest with some workers, a major step forward, according to representatives of Starbucks Workers United (SBWU).”

“As the WGA begins its second week of bargaining for a new contract with the AMPTP today, the guild is prepared for a strike, if it comes to that, though that’s by no means a foregone conclusion. The WGA’s current film and TV contract expires May 1. The WGA West’s most recent annual report shows that as of last March 31, it had amassed a strike fund of nearly $20 million, all of which has been set aside to provide loans or grants to members “adversely affected by a strike.” That’s more than double the $9.2 million it had set aside in a strike fund in advance of the 100-day strike of 2007-08, when more than $3 million in strike loans was distributed to members during and after the walkout.”

"In a letter sent by ATU International President John Costa and President/Business Agent of Local 265-San Jose, CA, John Courtney, to the VTA Board of Directors among others, the ATU outlines numerous reasons the independent investigative report was a transparent effort by the agency to avoid any accountability or culpability for the tragic shooting that took the lives of ten VTA workers.”

“The Los Angeles school strike that kept about a half-million students out of classrooms for three days this past week has ended, but that happened even before the union announced a tentative labor contract late Friday. Still, the union’s success is another sign of why short-term strikes like it are surging nationwide.”

“[Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris] appeared on MSNBC's 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle on Monday, September 25 to discuss the tentative agreement in the Writers Guild of America strike against the Hollywood studios and, briefly, the UAW strike against the Big Three automakers.”

“President Joe Biden grabbed a bullhorn on the picket line Tuesday and urged striking auto workers to ‘stick with it’ in an unparalleled show of support for organized labor by a modern president…Asked if UAW members deserved a 40% raise, one of their demands over the course of negotiations, Biden said: ‘Yes. I think they should be able to bargain for that.’...The White House said Biden was the first modern president to visit a picket line, a sign of how far he’s willing to go to cultivate union support as he runs for reelection.”

“The United Auto Workers union says it will announce on Friday how it plans to expand its strike against Detroit’s three automakers. The union says President Shawn Fain will make the announcement at 10 a.m. Eastern time in a video appearance addressing union members. Additional walkouts will take place at noon Friday without serious progress in contract talks, the union said. The union went on strike Sept. 14 when it couldn’t reach agreements on new contracts with Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis.”

“More than 75,000 workers at the largest nonprofit health-care provider in the United States threatened Friday to strike if an agreement is not reached to resolve a staffing crisis by the end of next week. A union coalition warned Kaiser Permanente that its members will walk out for three days in October at hundreds of health facilities across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Virginia and Washington D.C., if a deal is not reached to relieve the issue.”

“Hospitality workers in Las Vegas have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike against major resorts along the Strip, a critical step toward a walkout as the economically challenged city prepares for major sporting events in the months ahead.”

“On September 22, citing inadequate progress by GM and Stellantis in contract talks, the UAW expanded its strike against these two companies to an additional thirty-eight sites across the country. The union has so far decided not to take further action against Ford.”

“Voice actors and motion capture performers in the multi-billion dollar video game industry voted overwhelmingly on Monday to authorize a strike if negotiations on a new labor contract set to begin Tuesday fail, setting the stage for another possible work stoppage in Hollywood. SAG-AFTRA said 34,687 members cast ballots, 27.47% of eligible voters. SAG-AFTRA is the same union representing film and television actors who went on strike in July, putting Hollywood in the midst of two simultaneous work stoppages for the first time in more than six decades.”

“On Wednesday, more than 75,000 unionized employees of Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health providers, walked off the job, marking the largest health care worker strike in US history. The striking employees, who work across California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Oregon and Washington, DC, are represented by a coalition of eight unions that comprise 40% of Kaiser Permanente’s total staff. The vast majority of the striking workers are in West Coast states. The strike began at 6 am local time, and will run through Saturday morning.”

“SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on just wrapped their second day of renewed talks over a new three-year contract with a plan to meet again on Friday and even further down the line…As they did Monday, SAG-AFTRA leadership sat down with studio CEOs and AMPTP boss Carol Lombardini Wednesday to move forward on ending the actors’ strike, which will reach its 85th day tomorrow. Talks got off to a late start today, one source informs us.”

“General Motors (GM.N) and Ford Motor (F.N) on Monday said they are laying off another 500 workers at four Midwestern plants because of the impact on some of the facilities of the United Auto Workers strike in its 18th day. Separately, the UAW confirmed it presented a new contract offer to GM on Monday. GM said it received the counterproposal ‘but significant gaps remain.’ The UAW also held a new round of bargaining with Chrysler-parent Stellantis.”

“The UAW’s 'stand-up' strike strategy, which targets portions of the Big Three simultaneously, was a gamble. But the approach has worked so far, allowing the union to gradually escalate pressure on companies while empowering rank-and-file workers.”

“Over 100 union workers at ZF Chassis Systems in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, went on strike on Wednesday, September 20, demanding the end of a tier wage system and lower healthcare costs. The striking workers, UAW Local 2083 members, recently rejected a fourth contract proposal by the company which again failed to address workers’ core demands.”

“Many commentators – including me – have focused on workers and their rising organizing activity, activism, and militancy. I have said that workers are angry at their employers because of the pandemic and bloated profits. However, workers are only one half of the equation. It takes two to make a strike. The other half of the reason for America’s historic strike wave is employers’ failure to comprehend that times have changed and the model they developed and exploited during an earlier time is no longer relevant in 2023.”

“The latest round of talks between the studios and SAG-AFTRA on ending the actors’ now 92-day strike collapsed tonight. As the fallout and blame game begins, the Fran Drescher-led guild is accusing the AMPTP of using ‘bully tactics’ and ‘the same failed strategy they tried to inflict on the WGA’ to cripple the deliberations.”

“More than 75,000 unionized Kaiser Permanente employees are returning to work after a historic three-day strike. But an even bigger, longer work stoppage could be just around the corner. This week’s temporary work stoppage — the largest health care strike in US history — concluded at 6 am PT on Saturday without a deal.”

“The United Auto Workers launched a surprise strike at Ford's most profitable plant on Wednesday evening, calling on nearly 9,000 members in Kentucky to walk off the job after the company did not come to the bargaining table with a new contract proposal.”

“Detroit's Big Three automakers continue to lay off hundreds of factory workers as the United Auto Workers strike reaches its fourth week. General Motors on Monday idled a total of 155 workers at plants in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, the company confirmed. Ford let go 537 workers in Michigan and Ohio, according to the latest numbers posted on X. Stellantis (the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram) laid off 570 workers at plants in Indiana and Michigan as recently as October 6, the company confirmed Monday. To date, Ford has laid off a total 1,865 workers while GM has let go of 2,330 and Stellantis has released 640 — bringing the combined total of strike-related layoffs by the Big Three to roughly 4,835.”

“Nearly 4,000 United Auto Workers members walked out of Mack Trucks facilities in three states on Monday after voting down a five-year contract with the Volvo Group subsidiary amid a weeks-long UAW strike at “Big Three” automakers and other labor actions.”

“From auto production lines to Hollywood, the power of labor unions is back in the national spotlight. But despite historic strikes and record contract negotiations this year, there’s a lot stacked against labor organizers today. Union membership rates have been falling for decades due to changes in the U.S. economy, employer opposition, growing political partisanship and legal challenges. ‘Even though we’re seeing stronger support for unions, (with) the highest popularity of union favorability in polls since at least 1960s, translating the worker desire for representation into actual representation is really hard under our current system,’ Alexander Colvin, dean of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, told The Associated Press.”

“In a year of unprecedented labor activism, the Post-Gazette workers have maintained their solidarity through 2023’s longest ongoing strike. The Post-Gazette has violated the law and continues to refuse to comply with the court’s orders to restore the terms of the previous contract and make the workers whole. In January, Judge Geoffrey Carter ruled the Post-Gazette violated federal labor law by unilaterally imposing conditions against its unionized editorial workers. The National Labor Relations Board found that the Post-Gazette bargained in bad faith, substantiating charges of Unfair Labor Practices against the company.”

“Nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, have now been on strike for two months, demanding that the hospital increase pay and address short-staffing issues that ultimately hurt the quality of care.”

“City workers won $6.5 million in bonuses at the City Council meeting on October 5. Bonuses of $5,000 will go to workers making under $42,800, with smaller bonuses going to those who make more. The union still wants an across-the-board $5,000 bonus for workers making less than $75,000 a year.”

“A Walgreens pharmacy manager who helped organize the walkouts told The Associated Press that teams were short-staffed and overworked, especially with the additional demands from the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘It’s led to upset customers,’ said the organizer, who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity for fear of being punished by the company. ‘It’s led to medication errors, vaccination errors, needle sticks.’ Many Walgreens workers aren’t unionized and the employees who walked out are organizing online.

“Dozens of workers chanting, ‘We’re fired up; we can’t take it no more!’ and ‘No justice; no peace’ rallied  on Tuesday at Four Seasons Nursing home in Westland. The effort kicked off a series of strikes at three metro Detroit nursing homes representing nearly 250 workers organized by Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The labor union plans similar efforts later this month at other nursing home sites in Royal Oak and Livonia.”

“Almost a month into the UAW strike against the Big 3, get an update from these union leaders on members' mood about the ongoing negotiations, the conversations happening between UAW union members, the stand-up strike strategy, and more. This blogcast is not only informative, but fun. This is absolutely a conversation you don't want to miss.”

“Thousands of Detroit casino workers went on strike Tuesday after negotiations between the three casinos and unions representing the workers failed to reach a new labor agreement by a noon deadline. The strike is the first at the Detroit casinos — MGM Grand, MotorCity and Hollywood Casino at Greektown — since they opened in the late 1990s and 2000. The Detroit Casino Council, which represents 3,700 casino workers across five unions, has been seeking better wages and benefits in negotiations with the casinos that started in early September.”

“The largest health care strike in US history produced a tentative labor agreement for a coalition of unions at Kaiser Permanente — but the deal was reached almost a week after the strike ended. That might seem odd. Once a strike ends, why should an employer settle? But the cost of the three-day strike earlier this month, and the threat of another, even larger strike next month, brought about a deal with one of the nation’s largest health systems. And the union’s win is just the latest reason why short strikes are happening more and more.”

“The executive chairman of Ford Motor Company broke his silence on the monthlong auto workers strike on Monday and said the work stoppage could ‘devastate local communities’ if it continues. Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford and the company’s chairman since 1999, also criticized the United Auto Workers union for recently shutting down the company’s Kentucky Truck Plant, where it produces highly profitable large pickups and SUVs. Workers walked out of the Louisville facility, which employs 8,700, in a surprise strike last Wednesday…The comments drew a sharp rebuke from UAW President Shawn Fain, who said in a statement Monday that the chairman ‘knows exactly how to settle this strike.’”

“After Hollywood writers ratified a contract earlier this month, it seemed that striking actors might get a deal soon, too. But the studio bosses are still playing hardball, and actors continue to press for a better deal on residuals and the use of AI.”

“Good things are happening! Auto workers secure major wins in the electric vehicle transition, while California protects restaurant employees from exploiting themselves. Meanwhile, Vermont goes big on batteries, and Biden tosses out junk fees.”

“Workers at several Waffle House locations in the southern US are among the latest group of employees in the US to hold walkouts around a slate of demands for improvements to wages and working conditions. A petition circulating by the Union of Southern Service Workers, a worker organization supported by the Service Employees International Union, includes a push for a $25 hourly minimum wage at the huge restaurant chain that is often seen as an icon of working-class Americana.”

“Nearly six weeks into its historic strike against the Big Three U.S. car manufacturers, the United Auto Workers late Wednesday announced a tentative contract deal with Ford that includes significant wage increases and cost-of-living adjustments that were scrapped during the 2008 financial crisis. In a statement, the UAW's leadership said the gains achieved in the deal amount to four times what workers received in the 2019 contract that recently expired. Ford's original proposal for a new contract included wage increases of just 9% while the union demanded a 46% boost, pointing to the automakers' surging profits over the past decade.”

“SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are back at the table today for more talks to resolve the actors strike that has been going on for over 100 days…Crabtree-Ireland made a quick stop to Paramount where the union was hosting the Hip Hop Alliance and its co-founder Kurtis Blow before heading back over to the guild’s Wilshire Boulevard offices for talks with the likes of Carol Lombardini, Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCU’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav.”

“Thousands of hotel workers marched through downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 25, protesting “poverty wages” and the use of unhoused migrants to replace striking hospitality employees as the labor unrest nears its four-month mark. Unite Here Local 11, which represents the 15,000 employees involved in the walkout, said the most recent contract proposal from the hotels’ Coordinated Bargaining Group falls short.”

“Thousands of workers across industries are going on strike. From Dunkin’ workers to Hollywood actors and screenwriters, the American labor movement has reached a boiling point. Labor attorneys and workers’ rights advocates say the country’s growing inequities and rising cost of living are the driving forces behind the movement that continues to build momentum.”

“In a major escalation of its six-week strike at the three large U.S. automakers, the United Automobile Workers union on Monday told 6,800 workers at a large Ram pickup truck plant in Michigan to walk off the job. Union workers at the Sterling Heights plant, which is owned by Stellantis, the parent of Ram, Chrysler and Jeep, joined the strike on Monday morning. Shutting down production at the plant, the largest Stellantis factory in the United States, suggests there are still big gaps in contract negotiations between the automakers and the U.A.W., which is seeking raises of 40 percent over four years, better retirement benefits and other changes.”

“On Monday morning, over 1,300 unionized health care workers employed by PeaceHealth Southwest and PeaceHealth St. John in Washington State walked out of their workplace to commence a five-day unfair labor practice strike in protest of low wages, chronic understaffing and management’s canceling of bargaining sessions. They are represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) and consist of workers in the tech, service and maintenance, and lab professional units.”

“Climate change is fueling record high temperatures, and the number of workers who die from heat exposure has doubled since the early 1990s. More than 600 people died on the job from heat between 2005 and 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics…Federal regulators call these numbers “vast underestimates”, because the health effects of heat, the deadliest form of extreme weather, are infamously hard to track…Yet there are almost no regulations at the local, state or federal levels across the United States to protect workers.”

“Thousands of hotel workers fighting for new union contracts rallied on the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday evening, halting rush-hour traffic before dozens were arrested for sitting in the street. The stepped-up labor unrest aimed to draw attention to negotiations with three major casino companies…The Culinary Workers Union overwhelmingly voted last month to authorize a strike if they don’t soon reach agreements with MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts.”

“One of the largest non-nurse health care strikes in Pacific Northwest history began at 6:30 a.m. this morning, shedding light on skilled workers who often get overlooked. We’re demanding that PeaceHealth, a Jesuit-run health system, raise wages and fix critically short staffing—two issues that are closely related. The strikers are 1,300 workers at two hospitals in southwest Washington: PeaceHealth Southwest in Vancouver, and PeaceHealth St. John in nearby Longview.”

“Worker activism and worker organizing have both increased substantially. In a recent post, I chronicled how and why workers in the United States are on strike in larger numbers than in a generation. It is fair to ask, will this greater worker activism and worker militancy continue if the unemployment rate rises? I have discussed that question with both sets of panelists on the Power At Work Blog’s Power Hour blogcasts. This post continues and expands that discussion. It also explains why strikes and worker collective action will continue at higher-than-expected, if not historic, levels even if the unemployment rate climbs and labor markets grow more slack.”

“The United Auto Workers called off its six-week strike on Monday after union leaders reached a tentative labor agreement with General Motors — the last of the Detroit Big 3 car manufacturers to strike a deal with the union…The GM deal features a 25% wage increase across a four-and-a-half year deal with cost of living adjustments, the UAW said. Employees from GM's parts distributors, car care facilities and a plant in Brownstown, Michigan, also will be removed from the two-tier wage system. The deal also brings employees from GM's manufacturing subsidiary, GM Subsystems, and Ultium Cells — a battery joint venture with LG Energy Solution in Ohio — under the UAW national contract.”

“Employees at some of the largest drugstore chains in the United States staged a new series of walkouts across the country Monday to demand the companies fix what employees say are harsh working conditions that make it difficult for them to safely fill prescriptions, and which could put the health of their customers at risk. Walgreens and CVS employees are mostly not unionized, which makes a largescale walkout difficult to execute. Staff and organizers in multiple states confirmed to CNN that the walkouts have begun and will take place through November 1, but it remains unclear how widespread the action is.”

“As more than 3,000 striking actors and supporters united Wednesday at a massive rally in Los Angeles, the performers union, SAG-AFTRA, and the major Hollywood studios appeared to make progress on key issues and inch closer to a deal. SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have convened frequently over the past couple weeks in an effort to reach an agreement that would end the months-long work stoppage that has ground much of the entertainment industry to a halt.”

“Fifty thousand UAW members are heading back to work after securing tentative agreements that deliver landmark gains. The UAW strike has been a master class in how to flex worker power.”

“The Detroit Casino Council, which represents five unions whose members are on strike against the gaming houses, said in a statement earlier Monday: ‘As sports fans flood into downtown Detroit today for the big Lions’ game, Detroit’s striking casino workers are making a simple request: Please don’t cross our picket lines.’”

“Culinary Union members have continued their negotiations with the top three largest resort companies these last couple of weeks and its members say they are still too far apart. Last week, they met with MGM International Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, and Monday with Wynn Resorts. Secretary/Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said earning a living wage is just one issue.”

“Unionized workers at Scholastic – the children’s publishing powerhouse – are walking out in protest of the billion-dollar company’s refusal to pay its workers fair wages, specifically its rejection of the Scholastic Union’s proposal for annual raises.”

In this blogcast, we hosted a roundtable of labor reporters who discussed and reacted to some of the biggest stories about the labor movement today. Their conversation covered the covered recent collective bargaining stories, including the negotiations between the UAW and the "Big Three"; the ongoing wave of strikes, pickets, and other forms of collective action that workers and unions are using to confront corporate power; the state of worker worker power within the news business; and much more.

Flight Attendants at American Airlines voted to strike by 99.47 percent at the end of August, with 93 percent turnout. The 26,000-member union, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, has been in negotiations since 2019—and members have seen no raises since then.

The 4,500-member union is demanding more counselors, more planning time for teachers, more support for special education students, smaller class sizes, and increased salaries and cost-of-living adjustments.

“The union’s core message throughout the strike was simple: After years of stagnant wages and painful concessions, workers should share in the auto industry’s prosperity.”

“Thousands of Starbucks Corp. baristas went on strike Thursday, claiming the coffee chain refuses to fairly negotiate with their union. The work stoppage is pegged to the company’s Red Cup Day, when Starbucks gives out holiday-themed reusable cups. Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, said staff at hundreds of cafes are participating. It’s one of several tactics — along with outreach to politicians and to students on campuses where Starbucks has contracts — that the union has deployed in an effort to make the company change its behavior.”

“Artificial intelligence has the capability to reshape the ways that we work. Experts predict that AI will increase wealth, raise the GDP, improve health care and education. Generative artificial intelligence (AI, or GAI) is also a potential existential threat to labor. That’s not hyperbole, that’s the dream and prediction of OpenAI founder Sam Altman, who explains that the promise of AI’s wealth-generating capability is premised on AI reducing labor costs to zero. That outcome is not inevitable, however, and if and how it happens will be shaped and influenced by humans—and in particular by unions.”

“On November 14 and 15, American Airlines passenger service workers – members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA)-International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Association – walked picket lines at eight airports across the country to educate travelers about their fight for a fair collective bargaining agreement that guarantees job security, worker safety, adequate pay, and better working conditions.”

“Ever since Starbucks workers in Buffalo won a landmark union election nearly two years ago, there’s been growing talk of a resurgence of the labor movement, with that sense of resurgence increasing as the number of strikes and union drives has soared in recent months. But there’s one aspect of labor’s resurgence that has gotten far too little attention and analysis: many unions are now winning far bigger raises and better contracts than they did just a few years ago, and that’s largely due to workers’ increased willingness to stand up and demand more.”

“For this episode, we invited Barry Eidlin back on the show to unpack the gains and wider implications of the UAW’s tentative agreements. Barry Eidlin is an associate professor of sociology at McGill University, who studies class, labor, politics and social movements. He is the author of Labor and the Class Idea in the United States and Canada, published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. We explore why the agreements may represent a shift toward a ​’new kind of unionism,’ how the UAW’s prospects for organizing the rest of the auto industry may have changed, and what listeners should be following in the rest of the labor movement.”

“Classes in Portland Public Schools will be canceled again Wednesday as its teachers strike continues its third week, the district announced late Tuesday…Late Tuesday, the union sent a cautiously optimistic email to its members, calling the day’s bargaining ‘very productive’ and said they had offered significant cost reductions to a number of their proposals, in hopes of moving towards a settlement.”

“Five days. That’s how long AFSCME members who work for Oregon’s Yamhill County government were on strike seeking a fair contract. And five days is all it took to force Yamhill County management to offer a three-year contract that the members of Yamhill County Employee Association/AFSCME Local 1422 (Oregon AFSCME) found palatable.”

“Over 200 bartenders, event staff, and other in-house workers across seven venues affiliated with First Avenue marched on the boss and delivered a petition that included the faces and names of over 70% of staff who want to unionize with UNITE HERE Local 17.”

“Woodland Pulp workers, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 1490 (District 4), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 330-3 and Millwrights Local 1121 have become the first striking workers in Maine to be eligible for unemployment benefits.”

“The Cornell ILR Labor Action Tracker is a database that provides reliable information on strikes to fill the hole left by budget cuts to the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Reagan administration in the early 1980s. Listen to Johnnie Kallas explain how to use the Labor Action Tracker to track current strikes across the U.S.”

“Amazon workers and allies in dozens of countries around the world took to the streets Friday to protest the e-commerce behemoth's atrocious working conditions, low pay, union busting, tax dodging, and inaction on planet-warming emissions.”

“After 95 percent of voting members authorized a strike on October 30, the 29,000-member California Faculty Association plans to roll out strikes at Cal Poly Pomona December 4, San Francisco State University December 5, Cal State Los Angeles December 6 and Sacramento State University December 7.”

“Amazon workers were joined by Teamsters and labor allies as they rallied today outside of the company’s massive SWF1 warehouse to protest low wages and dangerous working conditions. The rally was one of many coordinated actions by Amazon workers around the country on Cyber Monday, Amazon’s biggest shopping day of the year.”

“What if a bunch of unions say they’re all going to walk out on May 1, 2028, unless their employers offer record contracts to make up for years of runaway inequality?”

“About four hundred Macy’s workers in Washington state began striking on Friday – known as Black Friday among retailers and one of the year’s busiest shopping days – citing allegedly unfair labor practices and the retail giant’s purported refusal to agree to a new contract. The union representing the employees, UFCW 3000, said workers started arriving about 3am on Friday to form picket lines. Workers are striking outside the Alderwood, Southcenter and Bellis Fair Macy’s stores and plan to continue for three days.”

“After eleven weeks on strike, the UAW has announced a tentative agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network. The agreement contains historic wins, including the reduction of the wage progression from twenty-two years to five, significant general wage increases, a $6,500 ratification bonus for Blue Cross Blue Shield workers, a $5,000 ratification bonus for Blue Care Network workers and inflation protection bonuses of $1,000 each year of the contract. Negotiators were also able to secure stronger contractual language to protect worker jobs from being outsourced during the life of the agreement.”

“Several workers and the United Farm Workers of America have sued a Sunnyside mushroom farm, alleging they faced retaliation for unionizing. The lawsuit filed Tuesday morning in Yakima County Superior Court accuses Windmill Farms — formerly Ostrom Mushroom Farm — of intimidating, harassing and firing workers who supported efforts to unionize. Workers voted to unionize in September 2022 but Ostrom wouldn't recognize the move.”

“Faculty at California State University, the largest public university system in the U.S., will hold a series of four one-day strikes starting Monday across four campuses to demand higher pay and more parental leave for thousands of professors, librarians, coaches and other workers.”

“More than 750 journalists and business-side staffers at The Washington Post walked off the job for the day, saying they are angered by the company's decision to embark on massive job cuts while contract negotiations have stalled. ‘We did not come to this decision to do this walkout lightly,’ says Post reporter Marissa Lang, who covers housing and serves on the union's bargaining team. ‘We all work at The Washington Post because we believe in its mission and we believe in what we do. And we care deeply about the work we do, the people, the communities, the stories we cover.’”

“More than 500 Postdoctoral Researchers at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine who are members of the Sinai Postdoc Organizing Committee-UAW (SPOC-UAW) walked off the job and onto the picket line for an Unfair Labor Practice strike on Wednesday, December 6. After more than one full year at the bargaining table with Sinai administrators, no agreement has been reached. Hundreds gathered for a rally to kick off the strike at 10am ET at East 99th and Madison Ave.”

“Union workers across America flexed their collective muscle this year, using strikes, strategic walkouts and picket lines large and small to elicit concessions from their employers. This year proved to be one of the busiest for strikes in recent years. In October, for example, there were 4.5 million days of idleness because of work stoppages nationwide, the most of any month in four decades, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

“The four-day rolling walkout of professors and other workers this week at multiple California State University campuses is significant in its own right. But it also has the distinct aura of prelude.”

“After five months of on-and-off strikes by Southern California hotel workers, there are signs of progress toward a resolution. On Friday, Unite Here Local 11 announced it had reached a tentative contract agreement with the Beverly Hilton covering more than 500 unionized workers.”

“UPS Inc. has reinstated 35 unionized workers at its Louisville, Kentucky, ground hub who it had laid off late last week, thus averting a threatened work stoppage by the Teamsters union that could have affected operations at UPS’ ground hub and its primary air hub there.”

“The last time workers reached an agreement with Kaiser was in 2018, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when conditions for healthcare workers deteriorated as efforts to treat those affected by the illness reached extreme levels of urgency. The effects on health care workers also were extreme.”

“A theme this year is that reform movements led to bolder contract demands, which led to winning contract campaigns and strikes, which are giving workers hope in new organizing.”

“The longest adjunct strike in U.S. history ended this week after part-time faculty at Columbia College Chicago voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratifying a new four-year contract that will grant them greater job security and more decision-making power over their working conditions.”

“Trader Joe’s United has accused the company of trying to blunt the organizing campaign by punishing union leaders and supporters. The union has also filed charges with the labor board alleging the company has failed to bargain in good faith. The union is still without a contract, even though the first store unionized nearly a year and a half ago.”

“In this episode, United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz joins Bianca and Jamala to discuss the challenges she has faced as the first woman of color to head this powerhouse union, and a leader who took over during the COVID-19 pandemic. When she advocated for educators and students in 2020, she faced immediate backlash. The interview explores how she found the resolve to continue to stand up for LA’s teachers, students, and their families amidst such hostility.”

“The California Faculty Association (CFA), representing 29 thousand faculty at the 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU), held a series of rolling strikes against the largest public university system in the United States in December. The union has been engaged in contract reopener talks in advance of a full contract battle later this year.”

“In the rain and cold, nurses at SSM St. Louis University Hospital, represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU)  launched a two-day strike Wednesday, Dec. 27, outside the hospital on South Grand Boulevard. The two-day walkout marked the second strike the union nurses have called in four months, calling out the hospital’s union-busting, unsafe staffing, outsourcing of jobs and stagnant wages as negotiations drag on.”

“University of Washington students rallied in Lakeview Park on Jan. 7 to demand that UW President Ana Marie Cauce end the university’s contract with Starbucks. Flanked by larger-than-life coffee cups reading “Cut the Contract, President Cauce” and “Wake up and smell the union,” students amplified Starbucks workers’ bargaining demands and shared stories about what unions mean to the next generation of workers: college students.”

“A wildly successful, illegal three-day strike by the Andover Education Association in November has reverberated statewide for educators in Massachusetts. The lowest-paid instructional assistants got a 60 percent wage jump immediately. Classroom aides on the higher end of the scale got a 37 percent increase.”

“Workers who make Bud Light and other top-selling beers are threatening to strike in demand of significant wage increases, job security and improvements to retirement and benefits in the first big union contract battle of 2024. Five thousand workers, represented by the Teamsters at 12 Anheuser-Busch breweries in the US, are threatening to strike after voting 99% in favor of a strike authorization last month. Their current union contract is set to expire on 29 February.”

“When the Great Depression sank workers to new depths, craft unions weren’t up to the task. Then, in 1934, a team of revolutionary leftists in Minneapolis organized a brave and bloody strike that reinvigorated labor and changed the course of American history.”

“Yesterday in downtown St. Louis, BMWED members on the Class III Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis demonstrated outside the boss’ office on Olive Street, imploring him to finally recognize the common and necessary benefit of paid sick leave. TRRA has the shameful distinction of being the only shortline within the American Rail System Federation of the BMWED yet to provide paid sick days to its employees. While management continues to insist that they are open to providing the need paid time off for illness they have yet to make the simple maneuver to put it in writing.”

“The California State University system and the union representing thousands of professors and lecturers reached a tentative deal on Monday to raise wages, ending what was the largest strike by university faculty members in U.S. history. The deal, announced by both sides on Monday night, came just hours after the California Faculty Association, the union that represents 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches, began what was planned as a five-day walkout across the 23 C.S.U. campuses, which serve nearly 460,000 students.”

“Pilots at the Dallas-based carrier will get a 29.15% pay raise immediately and a hike of 4% each in 2025, 2026 and 2027. The agreement provides for a 3.25% gain in wages in 2028. Carriers are offering bumper contracts to attract and retain pilots as travel rebounds after the pandemic. Last year, pilots at United Airlines Holdings (UAL.O), ratified a contract with cumulative increases in wages ranging between 34.5% and 46% over four years, as well as other benefits, following deals at American Airlines (AAL.O), and Delta Air Lines (DAL.N).”

“It wasn’t such a merry Christmas for grocery store management in central Minnesota. Five hundred grocery workers in the Brainerd Lakes area walked out on an unfair labor practice strike, deserting five stores between December 22 and 25. Management tried to keep the stores running, but workers said they turned into disaster zones. Why did two Cub Foods stores, two Super Ones, and a SuperValu find themselves on Santa’s naughty list last year? Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 663 charges management with interrogation, surveillance, intimidation, and bargaining in bad faith.”

“Six years after forming their union, workers at the Los Angeles Times struck for 24 hours over illegal behavior by management and a plan to gut the largest newsroom on the West Coast. The newsroom of about 400 walked off the job in a quickly organized strike, the first ever work stoppage in the L.A. Times’ 142-year history. Workers struck across the country and gathered in downtown Los Angeles, Sacramento, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts and Texas.”

“Local 1391 members in UAW Region 4 have been holding the line on strike at CVR Nitrogen in East Dubuque, IL, since October of last year, courageously standing up to protect their retirement security. Workers walked out after the company refused to guarantee they will provide a match to workers’ 401(k) contributions during current contract negotiations.In a new video released by the UAW, workers at CVR Nitrogen speak out about why they are willing to stay out on strike as long as it takes to secure their future.”

“Today, Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien demanded Anheuser-Busch deliver its last, best, and final offer, after the company wasted another negotiating session putting forth an unacceptable proposal that threatens to kill Teamster jobs by closing breweries and permanently laying off Teamsters systemwide. After refusing to commit to protecting Teamster jobs since mid-November, Anheuser-Busch executives returned to the bargaining table this week with an offer to butcher the good-paying jobs behind its products. If the company does not reverse course and come to terms on an agreement that rewards and protects workers, 5,000 Teamsters will be forced to go on strike as soon as March 1.”

“Production workers at Nickelodeon’s Animation Studio are fighting for their first contract alongside already-organized artists (writers, designers, colorists, storyboarders and background painters) who have been working under an expired contract for two and a half years. The workers collectively produce animated shows: The Loud House, Rugrats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Spongebob SquarePants. The artists have been members of IATSE Local 839, The Animation Guild (TAG) since 2002, and 3D computer graphics staff joined in 2013.”

“Unionized editorial staff at Forbes are walking off the job through Monday in protest of the business magazine’s attempts to prevent union members from exercising their rights as well as slow-walking contract negotiations. This the first walkout for the Forbes Union, and the first known work stoppage in the magazine’s 106-year history. It occurs during the production of its February/March print issue.”

“Journalists at New York’s Hometown Newspaper, the Daily News, walked out Thursday — the first walkout since the end of their historic strike in 1991 — fed up with chronic cuts ordered by the paper’s owner, the ‘destroyer of newspapers’ Alden Global Capital.”

“February is Black History Month and this year’s theme, “African Americans and the Arts”, highlights the artistic influence woven through the field of written, visual and performing arts, from both a historic and modern perspective. In the labor movement, picket signs play a crucial role in messaging and mobilization – the creation of these signs and the act of striking is an artform within itself. Many signs made for and by Black workers have stood the test of time and visually mark some of the most historically recognizable picket lines.”

“While most Chicagoans were bracing for a major snowstorm, 130 truck drivers who deliver food from warehouses to cafeterias and kitchens spent the first weekend in January preparing for another kind of storm: a strike. US Foods had stalled negotiations over wages, health care, and safety provisions. At 12:01 a.m. on Monday, January 8, Teamsters Local 705 picket lines went up at the Bensenville, Illinois, facility. Over the next three weeks, Teamsters extended the Bensenville line nationwide. Rolling pickets hit more than two dozen US Foods distribution centers and drop yards from Los Angeles to Indiana to New Jersey, paralyzing its operations in some of the nation’s highest-volume markets.”

“Fifteen hundred auto workers in Indianapolis made their New Year’s resolution public: unless Allison Transmission agreed to eliminate tiers in wages, benefits, shift premiums, and holidays, they would hit the bricks. ‘The fight plan throughout negotiations was ending tiers,’ said Phil Shupe, a 10-year assembler on tier two and bargaining committee member. ‘We weren't going to accept anything from the company that had any more division. We stood firm that we all needed to be equal.’”

“A teachers union in Nevada is now attacking the Oakland A’s and their stadium efforts in Las Vegas on a second front. A teacher-backed political action committee on Monday sued the state and Gov. Joe Lombardo, challenging the legality of the bill that last year granted $380 million in public money to a new Las Vegas stadium for the A’s. The lawsuit, which also names state treasurer Zach Conine, is the second effort aimed at the A’s brought by the Nevada State Education Association, one of Nevada’s teachers’ unions.”

“More than 200 Tribune Publishing journalists, designers, and production workers at seven newsrooms across the country walked off the job as part of a historic 24-hour strike to protest the company’s refusal to pay journalists, designers and editors a fair wage and management’s threat to take away the 401k match benefit.”

“How transformative was the strike that the United Auto Workers concluded in November 2023, when it shut down factories at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, which now incorporates Chrysler? The UAW has been in existence for nearly 90 years, during which three contests with capital have defined the character of the union and–because of its vanguard role–the expectations and standards for millions of other workers. Should we add last Fall’s brilliantly led and highly successful “stand-up” strike to that list?”

“Drivers for Uber Technologies, Lyft, and delivery workers for DoorDash were staging a strike on Wednesday, seeking fair pay and better treatment. Workers say the rideshare and food delivery platforms are taking disproportionate sums from their fares as fees, hurting their earnings. The protest comes just as Uber, the largest ride-share company, saw its shares hit a record high after announcing a $7 billion share buyback.”

“Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), voted 99.48% yes, with 93.47% participating, on strike authorization should management fail to agree to significant improvements…The last time Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants went on strike was the famous 1993 strike, where Flight Attendants took over the schedule using AFA’s trademarked strike strategy, Creating Havoc Around Our System or CHAOS. A CHAOS strike is an intermittent strike strategy, where Flight Attendants could strike any flight at any time without notice to management or passengers.” 

“Bob Batz, Jr., thought it would end quickly. ‘It's kind of cute now, that we thought getting into last December [2022] and January was a long time,’ Batz said. ‘Little did we know. [We said] ‘Oh, it’s Christmas and we're still on strike. We can't believe it.’ Batz is one of 31 Newspaper Guild workers striking the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, owned by the family company Block Communications, Inc. Journalists at the Post-Gazette have been on strike since October 2022—making this strike the longest of the digital age—along with four other units: mailers, advertising workers, and Teamster truck drivers and pressmen.”

“Last year saw a resurgence in collective action among workers. More than 16.2 million workers were represented by unions in 2023, an increase of 191,000 from 2022. Workers filed petitions for union elections in record numbers and captured significant wage gains through work stoppages and contract negotiations. Further, organizing efforts continued in a variety of sectors—including health care, nonprofits, higher education, museums, retail, and manufacturing (Shierholz et al. 2024).”

“The number of major strikes jumped 43% to 33 in 2023, according to the official Labor Department count released Wednesday, the biggest number of large work stoppages in America in more than 20 years…When contracts are reached to end or avoid strikes, they typically run for multiple years. For example, the three labor deals at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis that ended the six-week strike by up to 50,000 autoworkers last fall will run through April 30, 2028. So many of the major strikes and contract negotiations that occurred in 2023 will not occur again in 2024. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance of some major work stoppages this year. Here’s some possible strikes that could make headlines in 2024.”

“About 420 workers at one of the biggest breweries in the United States, Molson Coors’ Fort Worth facility, went on strike Saturday over pay and other benefits. The workers, represented by Teamsters Local 997, want larger pay raises than the company is proposing and the elimination of two-tiered health care and retirement benefits. By walking out, workers halted production at the only brewery that serves the western U.S. with Molson Coors products like Coors Light, Topo Chico hard seltzer and Simply juices.”

“Members of AFSCME Local 4041, who work for the state of Nevada, are celebrating a statewide grievance victory over changes to their schedule. Last fall, management at various state agencies unilaterally implemented temporary schedule changes during weeks with a state-recognized holiday for workers on four day, 10-hours-a-day schedule. These changes forced employees to change their whole lives, including child or elder care, to accommodate for holidays. AFSCME members argued this was against the holiday schedule provisions in their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the state and immediately filed a grievance.”

“Macy’s workers in northwest Washington rectified this last year by prominently featuring Scabby when they launched a strike and boycott campaign against the retailer over low wages and safety issues. Scabby was also the star of their own mock Thanksgiving Parade. Members of Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 3000 had been working under an expired contract since last March.”

“Influential labor groups announced Tuesday they are opposing efforts to move the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals from the nation's capital to northern Virginia, citing in part an apparent inability to reach a satisfactory deal for union workers on the construction projects. The opposition of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO and member unions including UNITE HERE Local 25, which represents hospitality workers in the national capital region, creates another hurdle for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and supporters of a proposed $2 billion deal to move the two franchises from Washington, D.C., to Alexandria.”

“5,000 Teamsters could shut down Anheuser-Busch on March 1st. 99% of the workers at 12 breweries voted to authorize a strike. One worker told us, ‘I work for the king, but I get paid like a peasant.’”

“Minnesota’s Labor Spring has arrived. Thousands of essential workers and community members are taking part in a Week of Action in the Twin Cities to fight for a host of social demands they hope will build worker power and strengthen communities. They are calling for better union contracts and a labor standards advisory board, alongside social housing, environmental sustainability, and better schools. The alignment of unions, workers’ centers and community organizations, and the broad scope of their aims, is being heralded as a model of social movement unionism, or bargaining for the common good. The effort, which emanates from more than a decade of organizing and movement building, is uniting under the motto, ‘What could we win together?’”

“Still fighting for a first contract, educators from KIPP St. Louis High School, represented by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 420, attempted to deliver a petition Feb. 22 to district leaders outlining their key concerns as contract negotiations drag on. Officials at the district headquarters at 1310 Papin St. in downtown St. Louis refused to accept the petition but did agree, earlier in the day, to return to the bargaining table with union members.”

“The persistence of AFSCME Local 1624 members has protected thousands of Austin city workers’ telework schedules that were on the chopping block. This past summer, the interim city manager shocked city workers when he announced a return-to-work policy that mandated employees to report to the office at least three days a week, a stark change from the mostly 100% telework schedules they had been working since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“After more than six months of bargaining their successor contract, teaching fellows, teaching assistants, course assistants, research assistants, and tutors at The New School, represented by United Auto Workers (UAW), will go on strike this coming Wednesday. Having authorized their strike with 94% voting yes, and a historic 77% of members participating, academic student workers have a powerful mandate for its work stoppage. For over half a year the workers have bargained continuously and in good faith with The New School. The university, meanwhile, has dragged its feet, and offered insulting poverty wages in a time of skyrocketing inflation. The strike will proceed unless the university comes back to the table before March 6 with an acceptable offer.”

“Amazon delivery drivers with Teamsters Local 396 in Southern California extended their picket line on Sunday to LAX5 in Buena Park, California. The picket extension is the latest escalation for Amazon Teamsters in their fight for fair treatment since beginning an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike in June 2023, leading to the largest Amazon strike in U.S. history.  Since their strike began last year, Amazon Teamsters have picketed at over 32 Amazon warehouses across 10 states, building solidarity among Amazon workers across the country. The picket extensions have been critical opportunities for Amazon Teamsters to meet with workers in other warehouses, learn about their shared struggles for better wages and working conditions, and grow support for the fight to build power for Amazon workers.”

“On Friday, March 8th, 7,000 Daimler Truck North America workers voted by a resounding 96% to authorize a strike if necessary. The contract covers 7,000 parts and assembly workers in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, and expires on April 26th. The workers who build Freightliner trucks, Western Star trucks, and Thomas Built Buses are facing declining real wages and job security against a backdrop of rising cost of living and massive profits and shareholder payouts by Daimler Truck. In a video released by the UAW last week, Daimler workers spoke out on the declining standards at the company that have led to their willingness to stand up and fight for better wages, benefits, and job security.”

“Palm Beach, Florida, is one of our nation’s true billionaire enclaves, whose denizens include some of the world’s most powerful corporate barons, with sunny oceanfront estates valued at eight- and nine-digits. But for the next three days, the farmworkers who harvest the produce plenishing the menu items and grocery store shelves that deliver their profits, are coming to town.”

“When “Reclaim your Momentum” was unveiled as the theme for Portland Community College’s 2023 in-service training, it struck a discordant note with members of my union, the PCC Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals. We hadn’t lost our momentum so much as we’d been subjected to two years of organizational restructuring in the midst of a global pandemic.”

“Last week, our members at the Palm Springs Desert Sun started an open-ended strike. Two days later, that strike ended with one of the best new contracts journalists have won in Gannett in the last several years. Members are seeing raises of 16.5% on average, with one member receiving a 48% raise. Across the newsroom, members are slowly moving up to be more in line with the cost of living in the Coachella Valley. They won annual raises during the life of the contract, language that protects against layoffs from artificial intelligence, requirements for managers to attend DEI conferences, held onto the 401(k) match, and much more!”

“Unionized editorial workers, represented by The NewsGuild of New York at LexisNexis-owned Law360, have walked off the job in a 24-hour work stoppage to protest layoffs that violate labor law.”

“AFSCME members who work for the city of Virginia, Minnesota, have called off their strike after management finally offered them a contract they took back just days ago.”

“A union that’s organizing Waffle House workers filed a petition with the Labor Department on Monday, asking federal officials to investigate the iconic chain’s policy of deducting mandatory meal costs from workers’ paychecks. Waffle House takes at least $3 for each on-shift meal out of workers’ pay, whether they end up eating it or not, according to the petition from the Union of Southern Service Workers. The USSW called it 'especially alarming' since many workers are paid a tipped sub-minimum wage 'as low as $2.90 per hour,' not including gratuities. Three workers at a restaurant in Georgia walked off the job Monday for a one-day strike in protest of the policy, the union said.”

“For union journalists, our work at the bargaining table and organizing newsrooms is not only about securing fair wages and benefits for our coworkers, it’s also about having a seat at the table for the future of an industry that we all depend on to protect democracy. Hedge funds and greedy CEOs don’t have the journalism industry’s best interest at heart, we workers do.”

“On June 24, 2023, upset delivery drivers who had just been terminated formed a picket line outside an Amazon warehouse in Palmdale, California. Under the blaring light of the desert sun, they raised picket signs in protest of Amazon’s alleged worker’s rights abuses.”

“United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain has called on unions to come together for a national strike in 2028. This is a radical idea — and elevating Medicare for All as a central demand would give workers across sectors a reason to join in.”

“Janitors and ground and maintenance crew workers represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 at Saint Louis University (SLU) were joined by other union members and students at a rally on campus March 21 to demand a fair contract with better pay and job protections.”

“Unionized reporters at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle have voted to strike this Saturday, April 6, ahead of the eclipse in western New York that’s set to take over media coverage in the Rochester region. The 24 journalists at the Gannett-owned newsroom, represented by The NewsGuild of New York, are prepared walk off the job if no contract has been reached by 11:59 pm ET on Friday in protest of the company’s bad-faith bargaining, which has denied reporters a new collective bargaining contract since their previous one expired in 2019. Their parent union, the NewsGuild-CWA, represents more than 50 Gannett bargaining units collectively covering more than 1,000 employees, including the Newspaper Guild of Rochester.”

“Twenty-five workers, all members of Boilermakers Local 1622, began an unfair labor practice strike last week on March 25 to protest illegal actions by their employer, T&W Stamping. Local 1622 filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against T&W, which is owned by Durrel Partners, a commercial and real estate investment firm located in Twinsburg, Ohio.”

“Seeking to strengthen high-quality free legal services for New Yorkers and fight high turnover, union members of Mobilization for Justice (MFJ), a nonprofit legal services organization, hit a historic landmark this week as their strike enters its seventh week. The strike is the longest legal services walk-out in New York City history since 2003, when unionized MFJ staffers held a nine-week long strike.”

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is necessary to prevent predatory corporate behavior. Americans need it to be functional. Instead it’s embroiled in an internal labor conflict, with management stonewalling unionized workers demanding a raise.”

“Members of Caring Across Maryland, a coalition that represents advocates, workers and patients in nursing homes, assisted living and home care, assembled in Annapolis, Md. on March 5 alongside partner organizations to rally support for key legislation that would enhance compensation and data collection across the state’s care landscape. The event was a part of a larger national campaign spearheaded by the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA). The initiative advocates for government to invest in a care infrastructure that provides comprehensive support and services to paid and unpaid caregivers and those who receive care. This includes living wages, benefits and pathways to citizenship for care workers, who predominantly tend to be women and people of color.” 

“Over 100 Flagship food service workers and their supporters picketed their employer’s cafeteria at the Meta San Francisco office today, calling for a new union contract with significant raises. Flagship workers in San Francisco participated in a survey with other employees of Meta’s food service contractors Flagship and Yarzin Sella. They say the aftermath of skyrocketing inflation has left them living paycheck to paycheck, being late on rent, and skipping meals because they can’t afford groceries. According to a UNITE HERE survey of 72% (788) of union food service workers at these contractors in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York, Washington, DC, and Cambridge, MA, many reported serious economic insecurity during the past year.”

“The 1937 Little Steel strike is often dismissed as a failure and relegated to a footnote. But it was a courageous organizing effort and a crucial moment in US labor history — revealing the limits of the New Deal order and the deepest dynamics of capitalism.”

“The UAW just released “Leftover Money,” a new video detailing Daimler Truck’s record profits and their intentions to reward Wall Street, not the workers, with the spoils. It features testimony from workers reviewing the eyepopping profits and their demands to no longer play ‘second fiddle’ when it comes to getting their fair share and raising standards. ”

“After months of organizing that culminated with a protest rally outside their school on April 16, staff and parents at PS 157 in the Bronx have spurred the Department of Education and NYPD to take immediate action to improve safety outside the Melrose school.”

“Members of the United Auto Workers courageously fought corporate greed at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis last fall during the historic six-week Stand-Up Strike. Because of their determination and commitment, we won record contracts with the Big Three automakers. After decades of falling behind, UAW autoworkers are finally moving forward again. We made a lot of ambitious demands at the bargaining table. One in particular may not have gotten the same attention as the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments or the reopening of the Stellantis assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill. — but it could also prove transformational: We aligned our contracts to expire at midnight on April 30, 2028. We are fully preparing to strike on May Day 2028, which is critically important for several reasons.”

“Thousands of hotel workers across the U.S. and Canada will protest on May 1 as they prepare for possible widespread labor disputes at major hotel brands including Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt. Union contracts covering around 40,000 workers have expired or are set to expire this year. Workers are calling for the hotel industry to “Respect Our Work” and “Respect Our Guests” by raising wages, reversing staffing cuts that have led to painful working conditions, and agreeing to protect guest services and amenities. Since the onset of the pandemic, many hotels have scaled back services and staffing, and hotel room rates have reached record highs as these service cuts linger. The hotel industry’s gross operating profit was 26.63% higher in 2022 than 2019, but hotel workers report heavy workloads, loss of hours, and jobs that aren’t enough to afford the cost of living.”

“Around 1,100 members of UAW Local 869 at Stellantis’ Warren Stamping Plant in Warren, Mich., will take a strike authorization vote on Monday, May 6th, after Stellantis’ failure to resolve health & safety grievances in the plant. On Monday, members will vote on whether to authorize strike action against Stellantis at the plant, over health & safety and outside contractor grievances that the company has failed to resolve.”

“A Boilermakers union strike at T&W Stamping in Austintown, Ohio, has passed the five-week mark with the employer finally talking with the union about the possibility of getting back to the table, with union’s expectation that the bargaining will be in good faith. Local 1622 had been attempting to renegotiate a contract since November 2023, after the previous contract expired. On March 25, the union went on strike after filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against T&W, protesting illegal actions by their employer.”

“In a move directly affecting approximately 8,000 workers in California and Nevada, CWA members at AT&T West in District 9 have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, if necessary. The AT&T West contract expired on April 6. The vote results showed over 92 percent in favor.”

“Over 1,000 members of UAW Local 869 who work at the Stellantis Warren Stamping Plant in Warren, Mich., have voted to authorize a strike over the company’s refusal to address health & safety grievances at the facility. In a new video, Stellantis workers at Local 869 speak out about health & safety issues in the plant. ‘We must stand up and stand together for this health and safety grievance procedure because this is our livelihood,” said Local 869 member Chautay Smith. “So, let’s stand up at Warren Stamping and take care of us the way we need to be taken care of.’”

“To Diane Babbin-Disciullo, a custodian for the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, her job is more than just a job. Babbin-Disciullo grew up in nearby Kingston and has been serving Duxbury schools for 19 years. She has worked in all the town’s schools — including the middle school and the high school — and loves what she does because it’s all about the kids.”

“Twenty-four hours before the first A-list guests were scheduled to walk the red carpet of the Met Gala, celebrities stationed in lavish hotels across New York City were putting the finishing touches on their designer looks. At the same time, the members of the Condé Union, a News Guild of New York-CWA affiliate composed of staffers from major fashion and lifestyle magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour and GQ, were putting the finishing touches on their picket signs. They planned to crash the fashion scene’s most exclusive and high-profile fundraising party after years of the company’s bad-faith bargaining.”

“Two years after organizing the first union at an Apple retail store, workers in Towson are preparing to take another unprecedented step: Becoming the first to go on strike against Apple. The union voted “overwhelmingly” to authorize a strike, according to a Saturday news release from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees. It’s unclear when the strike might take place. Bargaining is set to resume May 21, union spokesman DeLane Adams said. The union says it represents about 100 workers at the store inside the Towson Town Center. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”

“Union leaders and U.S. lawmakers on Monday criticized Boeing's lockout of its unionized firefighters and urged the planemaker to reach a contract deal.
Earlier this month, Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab locked out about 130 members of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local I-66 who rejected two contract offers - a move that last week drew the concern of President Joe Biden.
At a rally outside Boeing headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, IAFF President Edward Kelly, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Representative Val Hoyle urged Boeing to make a deal.”

“The University of California has asked the state for an injunction to force striking graduate students back to work. Hundreds of grad students at UC Santa Cruz walked off the job Monday in protest of the university system’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Their union, United Auto Workers Local 4811, has warned that the walkouts could soon spread to other campuses across the state. The university asked the state labor relations board on Tuesday to enjoin the strike, arguing that the work stoppage is illegal. If the request succeeds, the strikers would lose legal protections should they refuse to return to work.”

“Twelve thousand academic workers at UCLA and UC Davis are poised to walk off the job Tuesday morning as part of an historic strike in solidarity with Palestine.  The workers — 6,400 at the University of California, Los Angeles and 5,700 at the University of California, Davis — are members of United Auto Workers Local 4811, which represents 48,000 academic workers across the University of California (UC) system. ‘We’re taking this … unprecedented action because of the university’s serious, unfair labor practices (ULP), which really go to the heart of our rights for freedom of speech and protest, and the ability to take collective action,’ Local 4811 President Rafael Jaime told In These Times ahead of Tuesday’s walkout. The surge in the number of UC academic workers going on strike comes amid international outcry over an Israeli military attack this weekend targeting a refugee camp made up of tents housing displaced Palestinians in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.”

“From June 17 to 21, officers, staff and members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) will meet in Vancouver, Canada, for their biennial convention. Delegates to the convention will undoubtedly be preoccupied with the immediate business of the union, which represents workers in industries ranging from bookstores to breweries, though it’s best known for unionizing dockworkers up and down the West Coast.”

“This Thursday, May 23rd, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International staff represented by their internal staff union, the Washington-Baltimore News Guild (WBNG) Local 32035, will hold a one day strike and picket outside of UFCW headquarters for 12 hours in response to unfair labor practice charges filed by the Guild against UFCW.”

“The recent violence against Palestine encampments across the University of California system has led to an unprecedented labor response: a strike by UAW Local 4811 over alleged violation of rights to free speech and peaceful protest.”

“Members of the limited energy construction unit of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 46 in Seattle will be voting June 6 on the latest offer from the contractors’ association, after nearly eight weeks on an unprecedented strike. The current offer includes wages far below the union’s original demand, nothing on paid holidays except an exploratory committee that might not meet until September—and giving up the right to go on strike ever again. The 1,023 members of the limited energy unit—mostly specialty electricians, and a few installers—have been on strike since April 11, in an unexpected shake-up of standard-practice contract negotiations.”

“In today’s News & Commentary, unions report ‘panic mode’ in Boeing plant tied to anti-union policies and American Airlines flight attendants prepare to strike.In the wake of the company’s highly-publicized safety crisis, workers and union officials in Boeing’s largest plant have reported a campaign by managers pressuring workers to cover up quality concerns. The Everett, Washington plant is responsible for manufacturing several planes and for making repairs to the 787 dreamliner—the plane at the center of many of the safety concerns. “ 

“A state judge has ordered graduate student workers at the University of California to temporarily stop their strike at six campuses across the system, delivering a win to UC regents in their legal effort to force strikers back to work. Both the university system and the academic workers’ union, United Auto Workers Local 4811, said late Friday that the judge in Orange County had granted a temporary restraining order against the work stoppage. UC had argued that the strike would cause “irreparable harm” by disrupting classes and research as finals loom. The strike began last month in response to the administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests at the Los Angeles and Irvine campuses, part of a wave of college demonstrations across the country against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The union accused the university system of authorizing brutal arrests and violating workers’ right to peaceful protest.”

“U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday led 31 Senate Democrats in a letter calling on the agency that facilitates labor and management relations within the country's railroad and airline industries to allow flight attendants to strike if necessary. Sanders (I-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and his colleagues—including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—wrote to the three-member National Mediation Board (NMB), established by 1934 amendments to the Railway Labor Act of 1926. ‘Unlike workers covered by the National Labor Relations Act, workers covered by the Railway Labor Act do not possess the right to strike or engage in any other form of 'self-help' without a formal vote by the board," notes the letter. "We are concerned about the increasing number of contract negotiations before the NMB that are being unnecessarily drawn out at the expense of workers.’”

“On Saturday, June 8, workers at BMW’s Regional Distribution Center in Nazareth, PA, voted by 99% to authorize a strike if necessary. The contract covers warehouse workers and expires on June 30. The workers at the distribution center are facing stagnant wages and calls for concessions against a backdrop of rising cost of living and massive profits and shareholder payouts by BMW. Many of the workers have gone without a pay increase for over a decade, and the wage for most at the facility is less than $22 per hour, far lower than what economists estimate it costs for a family to live in the region.”

“About 6,000 grocery store workers are set to vote on strike action after the expiration of their union contract with the Kroger-owned Food 4 Less chain. The contract with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) expired on Saturday. Members are voting on whether to authorize an unfair labor practice strike if a new deal is not reached, and results expected late on Friday. Food 4 Less is already advertising for strike replacement workers in anticipation of a work stoppage.”

“After years of organizing Amazon workers and pressuring the company to bargain over wages and working conditions, two prominent unions are teaming up to challenge the online retailer. The partnership was made final after members of the Amazon Labor Union, the only union formally representing Amazon warehouse workers in the United States, overwhelmingly chose to affiliate with the 1.3-million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters in voting that ended Monday. The vote was overseen by the Amazon union.”

“Nearly 1,000 union members and their supporters— including Queens Congresswoman Grace Meng—rallied Wednesday in front of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. They made clear that they are ready to do whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump, on the grounds that Trump’s poor business- and political track records make him the wrong choice in the 2024 Presidential Election.”

“Members of the Oxford University Press USA Guild (a unit of the News Guild-CWA Local 31222) will stage a one-day strike after filing several Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against the employer. This strike follows nearly three years of contract negotiations with Oxford University Press. Speakers will include members of the Guild, News Media Guild President Vin Cherwoo, IAPE 1096 representative Marissa Dadiw, OUP author and labor historian Shannan Clark, and others.”

“Robert Bruno, professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the co-author of the 2016 book “A Fight for the Soul of Public Education: The Story of the Chicago Teachers Strike,” joins John Williams to talk about the contract negotiations between CPS and CTU. Professor Bruno is optimistic about these negotiations and thinks the chances for another strike is minimal.”

“Two weeks ago, the University of California (UC) hit the forum-shopping jackpot when it persuaded a state trial judge to do what California’s public sector labor board had twice refused: enjoin UAW Local 4811’s unfair labor practice (ULP) strike arising from the UC’s violent suppression of Palestine Solidarity Encampments at UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine. Members of the UAW, which primarily represents graduate students employed in instruction or research, participated in the encampments alongside the undergraduate-led Students for Justice in Palestine and UC Divest coalition. As a practical matter, the temporary restraining order (TRO) has largely crushed the strike, which was scheduled to end by June 30 in any event.”

“Following the layoff of 10 union workers and two editors, Herald reporters, photographers, editors and designers and community members plan to picket to save jobs.”

“Chicago rideshare drivers gathered between the first and second terminals of O’Hare International Airport on June 25 to launch their latest call for change: an end to ‘unfair deactivations.’ It felt personal for Bernard Moses, a 50-year-old driver based in Plainfield, Illinois. In May, Moses said, Uber deactivated his account without explanation. The change left him without income he’d depended on since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted his massage therapy business.”

“Disney could face the largest strike in the US this year after it was announced that thousands of theme park and hotel workers in California will vote on whether to stage a walkout. Three trade unions representing 14,000 “cast members” at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the Disney hotels announced that an unfair labor practice strike vote would be held next week amid negotiations over a new union contract.”

“St. Louis area unions turned out in numbers June 30 for the 2024 Grand Pride Parade capping off St. Louis Pride Fest in downtown, celebrating their LGBTQIA+ members and reminding the public that unions provide an equal voice on the job to all workers.”

“This is a historic day. After six years of bargaining including five years of mediation, Gate Gourmet workers—for the first time in 20 years—have finally been released from federal mediation. This is an important step towards allowing 8,000 union members across the United States who prepare, pack, and deliver inflight food and beverages to be able to strike.”

“On July 2, 2024, one day after the contract between The Bronx Defenders (BxD) and its wall-to-wall union, The Bronx Defenders Union–UAW Local 2325 (BxD Union), expired, BxD Union’s Bargaining Committee voted to authorize an unlimited Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike beginning the week of July 22, 2024. The difficult decision to authorize a strike comes after the Bargaining Committee attempted for months to engage BxD’s executive management team in bargaining without success. BxD’s failure to bargain in good faith—an unfair labor practice—has left BxD Union with no choice but to call for a strike.”

"Workers from various service industry sectors across Atlanta, Charleston, South Carolina, and Durham, North Carolina, united in a set of simultaneous rallies last month to address the escalating challenge of extreme heat in their workplaces. This coordinated effort, organized by the Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW), aimed to highlight the hazardous conditions faced by employees as temperatures soar to unprecedented levels this summer."

“Boeing's (BA.N) Washington state factory workers will vote on Wednesday on whether to give their union a strike mandate as they seek a 40% raise in their first full negotiation with the planemaker in 16 years. Many of the estimated 30,000 workers who build Boeing's 737 MAX and other jets will rally in support of a mandate at Seattle's T-Mobile Park, although they cannot strike before their contract expires on Sept. 12. While the vote is considered procedural, the union is kicking off the 12 p.m. PDT event with fanfare, including an earlier convoy of workers on 800 motorcycles.”

“United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain applauded the teachers union for helping to push for a ‘mass movement’ for workers' rights. At the American Federation of Teachers' annual convention in Houston on Wednesday, the AFT's 1.8 million members got a round of applause from one of the country's top union leaders—United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, who has called on the U.S. labor movement to join a nationwide strike in 2028.”

“Video game actors are inching closer to a walkout as performers union SAG-AFTRA and the top video game companies struggle to reach a deal on contract terms related to artificial intelligence. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced over the weekend that its national board has granted its national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the authority to call a strike if the union cannot obtain a settlement with the companies. The announcement comes nearly a year after more than 30,000 union members voted 98% in favor of authorizing a strike while bargaining for a new Interactive Media Agreement. The contract expired in November 2022 and covers about 2,600 performers doing voice and motion-capture work in the video game industry.”

“About 13,500 unionized hotel workers in four U.S. cities plan strike authorization votes next month as contract talks with Marriott International (MAR.O), opens new tab, Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT.N), opens new tab and Hyatt Hotels Corp (H.N), opens new tab stall, the union said. UNITE HERE, a union representing workers in hotels, casinos and airports across the U.S. and Canada, said the votes will begin the first week in August in Boston, San Francisco, Honolulu and Providence, Rhode Island. ‘We are getting ready,’ said Elena Duran, a server at Marriott's Palace Hotel in San Francisco. ‘Seeing the proposals from the hotels, people are not happy.’ Workers at 125 hotels in the four cities have sought significant pay raises in new contracts to replace ones that have expired or will expire soon. They are also seeking better healthcare and pension plans and are looking for hotel operators to reverse pandemic-era staff and service cuts like daily room cleaning.”

“Wentzville, MO – UAW Local 282 members at Lear Group here are on strike for better health and safety conditions on the job for the second time in two years. The 460 employees, who make seats for Chevy vans and Colorados, hit the strike line at midnight on Sunday, said Local 282 President Bill Hugeback. By Monday morning, the strike had halted production at the nearby GM Wentzville Assembly plant, which ran out of Lear-made seats.”

“NATIONWIDE—Over 8,000 airline catering workers at 30 U.S. airports are preparing to go on strike as soon as Tuesday, July 30. The workers are employees of airline catering subcontractor Gate Gourmet and are members of labor unions UNITE HERE, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM), and the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).”

“Video game performers are officially on strike. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists called a walkout this week on behalf of roughly 2,600 actors doing voice-over, motion-capture and other work in the gaming industry. Union leaders took the step after they could not reach an agreement on artificial intelligence terms while bargaining for a new contract with the top video game companies, including Activision, Electronic Arts, Insomniac and Blindlight.”

“For years, workers at Keck Medicine of USC watched as wages and benefits at other top Los Angeles health systems crept ahead of what they were receiving. The workers in the various health systems were dealing with the same external factors, like skyrocketing L.A.-area rents, staffing shortages and inflation. But USC’s employees were falling behind. ‘When I first started at USC, for me personally, it was a good environment,’ said Elaine Williams, a patient care technician (PCT) at Keck Hospital for four years. ‘There was still a shortage of nurses and PCTs and such, but we made it work. Since then, though, it’s gotten worse.’”

“About 13,500 hotel workers across Boston, Honolulu, Providence and San Francisco will vote on whether to strike this week as they push for significant wage increases and protections against job cuts. Employees at leading chains including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and Omni will decide in the coming days whether to approve the walkouts. The hotel industry stands accused of having used the Covid-19 crisis to reduce staffing and increase workloads.”

“Thousands of hotel workers in seven cities across the U.S. have authorized strikes at Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni hotel properties that are locked in unresolved contract negotiations. Hotel workers with the UNITE HERE union voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing strikes in Baltimore, Boston, Honolulu, Greenwich, New Haven, Providence, and San Francisco. Strike votes are upcoming in Oakland, San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle. Strikes may occur any time following the expiration of contracts.  Contracts in some cities have already expired, while the rest expire by the end of the month.”

“Thousands of hotel workers in Boston and Cambridge may soon walk out following a strike authorization vote on Thursday, which 99 percent of voting members approved. As many as 4,500 hotel workers in Boston and Cambridge could strike as early as Aug. 31, the Unite Here Local 26 hospitality workers union announced.”

“ITHACA – After months of negotiations, over 1,000 UAW members have walked out on strike at Cornell University, as the university has failed to present a fair package and has not bargained in good faith, stalling and retaliating against protected union activity by the workers.”

“After nearly two years of bargaining, unionized journalists at the LexisNexis-owned newsroom are ready to walk off the job in September. NEW YORK – Unionized editorial workers at LexisNexis-owned Law360 have put management on notice that they will walk off the job on an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike in September unless there’s real progress in rectifying the harm caused by the company’s unlawful tactics and at the bargaining table.”

“Hotel workers’ union UNITE HERE today published a guide of travel tips to help hotel guests plan for possible strikes across the United States. Thousands of hotel workers in nine cities have now authorized strikes at Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni hotels, but hotels rarely notify guests of a strike, and travelers sometimes learn of a strike only upon arriving at their hotel and being met by a boisterous picket line. The union launched the travel guide ahead of Labor Day weekend, when millions of Americans are planning travel.”

“Belvidere, IL – On Thursday, August 22nd, UAW members and leaders, including UAW President Shawn Fain, Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell, and Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen, will rally in Belvidere, Illinois to call on Stellantis to keep the commitment the company made to reopen Belvidere Assembly and invest in thousands of jobs in that community.”

“After 22 months on strike, CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (CWA Local 14827, Local 14842, and TNG-CWA Local 38061) were vindicated on Wednesday when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed for an injunction against the company for its unlawful behavior during and leading to the country’s longest-running strike. In the filing, the NLRB argues that the Post-Gazette has demonstrated that it will not follow federal labor law without a federal judge forcing it to do so.”

“Aug 28 (Reuters) - Flight attendants at United Airlines (UAL.O) have voted in favor of a strike authorization, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said on Wednesday. Over 90% of the flight attendants participated, with 99.99% of the votes in favor of a strike authorization, the union said. It is the first time since the 2005 bankruptcy negotiations that flight attendants at United voted on strike authorization, it added.”

“(SUMNER, Wash.) – Over 150 Costco fleet drivers have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. The strike vote is a result of Costco management’s refusal to bargain in good faith. The group of drivers, who became the first-ever Costco distribution center workers to organize with the Teamsters, voted to join Local 174 in April.”

“ATLANTA—In what is the largest strike in the United States, over 17,000 Communications Workers of America members in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee remain on strike due to AT&T’s failure to bargain in good faith.”

“Approx. 200 hotel workers walked off the job in Baltimore this morning. After months of unresolved negotiations, over 10,000 hotel workers with the UNITE HERE union were on strike at 25 hotels in nine cities: Baltimore, Boston, Greenwich, Honolulu, Kauai, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle. Each city’s strike will last one to three days. Strikes have also been authorized and could begin at any time in New Haven, Oakland, and Providence.”

“When a dockworkers’ union broke off contract talks with management in June, raising the likelihood of a strike at more than a dozen ports on the East and Gulf Coasts that could severely disrupt the supply chain this fall, it was not over wages, pensions or working conditions. It was about a gate through which trucks enter a small port in Mobile, Ala. The International Longshoremen’s Association, which has more than 47,000 members, said it had discovered that the gate was using technology to check and let in trucks without union workers, which it said violated its labor contract. ‘We will never allow automation to come into our union and try to put us out of work as long as I’m alive,’ said Harold J. Daggett, the union’s president and chief negotiator in talks with the United States Maritime Alliance, a group of companies that move cargo at ports.”

“Summer is winding down, but the Tennessee Drivers Union is just getting started. Following a vote to unionize in late August, a coalition of rideshare drivers kicked off Labor Day weekend by staging a strike at the Nashville International Airport. Around 100 Uber and Lyft drivers filled up the airport rideshare lot but refused to accept rides, aiming to deal a blow to Nashville’s $30 billion tourism industry on a holiday weekend. The Tennessee Drivers Union, which represents drivers from more than 14 countries, says it’s the largest strike of its kind to occur in the Deep South and has vowed to continue staging periodic strikes until its demands are met.”

“As the AT&T Southeast unfair labor practices strike continues, CWA members are staying strong on the picket lines with the support of other CWA members and retirees, members of other unions, community organizations, and customers. Supporters from across the country are posting solidarity photos on social media (you can view them here and here).”

“Most of the 10,000 hotel workers who went on strike during the busy Labor Day weekend have returned to work Wednesday, but one group of 700 union members in San Diego will stay on strike for the foreseeable future.Those workers, employed at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, will remain on strike until there is a contract agreement, their union, Unite Here, says…. The union and members say that in many cases workers are now being paid less than before the pandemic due to reduced hours and tips, even as travel demand returns and profits in the hotel sector soar.”

“On Labor Day, Monday, September 2, the Greater Boston Labor Council held their annual Labor Day Breakfast. The event featured many notable speakers, from Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey to labor leaders such as Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Chrissy Lynch. This breakfast was unlike any prior year as it coincided with UniteHere! Local 26's Hotel Workers strike. The breakfast was held outdoors due to the striking workers of the Park Plaza Hotel, and many of the efforts of the event were turned to supporting Local 26's workers.”

“Hundreds of trade unionists and several high-profile Massachusetts politicians gathered outside of the Hilton Park Plaza Hotel for the Greater Boston Labor Council’s annual Labor Day breakfast on September 3. Rather than merely celebrating the holiday, the event turned into a large-scale show of support for the close to 1,000 striking hotel workers in Boston. Originally planned to be held in a hotel ballroom, the event was moved outside so attendees could join the picket line rather than crossing it.”

“Retailers and manufacturers are seeking to mitigate a potentially multibillion-dollar hit if members of the International Longshoremen’s Association go on strike beginning Oct. 1 at 13 of the nation’s major East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. The contract between the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance, which negotiates on behalf of management of the ports, terminals and shipping lines, is due to expire at midnight on Sept. 30. The contract covers 25,000 workers and ports stretching from Boston to Houston, the ILA said.”

“The results are in! Flight Attendants at United Airlines finalized their strike vote last week with 99.99% of voters in favor of authorizing a strike. Over 90% of the membership participated in the vote, and the results are clear: United Airlines Flight Attendants are fed up.”

“More than 10,000 hotel workers across nine cities went out on a rolling strike Labor Day weekend after contract talks with the Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotel chains stalled. They are members of UNITE HERE. “We came to the decision to go on strike because of all the success other unions have had,” said Christian Carbajal, a market attendant who has worked at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront for 15 years. “[It’s frustrating] that we have to go this far to be given a fair wage” to live in one of the most expensive areas in the country, he said.”

“The New York Times Tech Guild, which represents more than 600 staffers, on Tuesday voted to authorize a strike in protest of stalled contract negotiations with The Times' management, sources confirmed to Axios. Why it matters: The guild, which was formed in 2022, has yet to secure a contract after more than two years of bargaining. Driving the news: Of the union's 622 workers, 89% participated in the strike authorization vote Tuesday and an overwhelming majority supported the vote to strike. Between the lines: It's unclear when the guild plans to strike, but with the elections coming up, any time in the near future would be problematic for The Times.”

“SACRAMENTO, Calif. — CWA’s Executive Board has authorized a strike against AT&T West, subject to CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. setting a date. Last week, CWA members at AT&T West rejected a tentative agreement for a new contract. CWA’s AT&T West bargaining team resumed negotiations with AT&T today to address the concerns members have about the agreement.”

“NEW YORK – Unionized editorial workers at LexisNexis-owned Law360 have been hard at work in marathon bargaining with Law360 and LexisNexis management, but significant barriers remain, prompting the union to schedule an open-ended strike to begin just after midnight Tuesday.”

“Contracts come and contracts go, but the bosses keep on scheming forever. So workers’ resistance must be permanent. In August, 17 union locals representing tens of thousands of workers charged the automaker Stellantis with failing to honor its agreements by reneging on investment promises, including the celebrated reopening of the Belvidere assembly plant in Illinois.”

““We’re fighting for every family,” said the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union that represents about 33,000 workers at commercial plane manufacturer Boeing, on Friday, after its members voted to reject a tentative contract offered by the company and go on strike. “We’re fighting for the future of Boeing.””

“At ports from Maine all the way down to Texas, 45,000 dockworkers are looking for a substantial pay raise and protections against automation. But negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association union and port employers have stalled ahead of an end-of-month deadline. As a result, we’re likely looking at an East Coast port strike just in time for the holiday shopping season. More than half of U.S. imports arrive via the East Coast and Gulf Coast, said Mia Ginter, who follows ocean freight at freight transport company C.H. Robinson, including lots of cargo from Asia.” 

“JACKSON – After months of negotiations, approximately 525 UAW members have walked out on strike at Eaton Aerospace, an aerospace factory in Jackson, Michigan that produces hydraulics equipment for civil, commercial, and military aircraft. The strike came after the workers’ extended contract expired on September 5.”

“Boston, Mass. – Over 1,250 hotel workers are on strike in Boston, New Haven, Conn., and San Diego as labor disputes continue across the country. They are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts. The workers are members of the UNITE HERE union, and they include housekeepers, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, bellhops, doormen, and more.”

“Across the Southeast, members of CWA District 3 continue their strike against AT&T. Members have been on the picket lines since August 16. Workers hope to return to their jobs soon, but AT&T must engage in good faith bargaining and send negotiators who have both the authority to make decisions and a serious intent to reach an agreement.”

“Public service workers in Washington state who are members of AFSCME Council 28 walked out of their jobs at noon on Tuesday to stand in solidarity with each other and demand fair contracts. The workers, who are members of the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE/AFSCME Council 28), are employed at state agencies, local hospitals, community colleges and four-year universities. They are negotiating a two-year collective bargaining agreement to begin in 2025.”

“Before we went out on indefinite strike, we held a one-day warning strike, but we could not get where we wanted. Then, we did our indefinite strike for nineteen days, and we did not come off the picket line until we had an agreement that we were satisfied with. The big blockbuster Henri Matisse show was being installed during the strike. They got scab art handlers to install the show. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have gone up, and we were planning to picket the opening gala. We reached an agreement two days before the gala, so that didn’t happen. They used random people; we have no idea where they came from. Or who they were. When my department came back, our materials and shop spaces were an absolute mess. There was stuff, tools, everywhere. They did not care at all. And that is who they got to install a priceless blockbuster show because they cared more about getting the show up than giving us what we deserve.”

“Workers have manned a picket line outside Boeing’s airplane factory in Renton, Washington, around the clock since tens of thousands walked off the job earlier this month. Almost two weeks into the strike, the largest now under way in the US, nobody knows when it will end….When Boeing tabled a new ‘best and final’ offer on Monday, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAW) declined to put it to a vote ahead of a Friday deadline imposed by the company, complaining it had been ‘thrown at us without any discussion.’”

“Workers have manned a picket line outside Boeing’s airplane factory in Renton, Washington, around the clock since tens of thousands walked off the job earlier this month. Almost two weeks into the strike, the largest now under way in the US, nobody knows when it will end….When Boeing tabled a new ‘best and final’ offer on Monday, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAW) declined to put it to a vote ahead of a Friday deadline imposed by the company, complaining it had been ‘thrown at us without any discussion.’”

“Marathon Petroleum and the Teamsters union, which represents refinery workers in Detroit, Michigan, are at a standstill as negotiations for a new labor agreement stagnate and the strike at the plant enters its third week. More than 200 Teamsters at Marathon's Detroit refinery called for an economic strike on Sept. 4 after nine months of pay- and safety-related negotiations and mediation with Marathon failed to reach agreement. The prior contract expired in January.”

“Hawaii now has two major labor disputes at two of its biggest industries. While nurses remain locked out at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, workers at Hawaii’s biggest resort started what could be [a] long strike. At 5 a.m. Tuesday, about 1,800 UNITE HERE Local 5 workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village walked off the job. They’re seeking wage and staff increases but, unlike limited strikes this year, the union says this time, it’s for good. Their strike won’t end until they actually have an agreement with Hilton, according to the union’s financial secretary-treasurer, Cade Watanabe.”

“Earlier this week, bargaining teams reached tentative agreements with AT&T Southeast and AT&T West. The agreement in the Southeast ends the 30-day unfair labor practice strike—the longest telecommunications strike in CWA District 3’s history—with union members across nine states pressuring the company to negotiate in good faith. The agreement at AT&T West comes after members rejected a previous tentative agreement on September 6.”

“Hollywood’s performers union has called a strike against one of the video game industry’s most recognizable marquee titles. On Tuesday SAG-AFTRA announced that it was telling members to cease work for the multiplayer online game League of Legends after its producer, Formosa Interactive, “tried to subvert” the union’s ongoing video game strike on an unnamed separate title. The union is responding by calling a work stoppage against League of Legends, a game that was not previously struck and is one of Formosa Interactive’s most well-known projects”

“San Francisco, Calif. – Over 1,500 San Francisco hotel workers walked off the job today in the latest strike to hit the U.S. hotel industry. Like hundreds of San Diego hotel workers, who have been on strike for 22 days, the San Francisco hotel workers will strike until they win a new contract. A total of over 2,200 hotel workers are now on strike at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels in San Diego and San Francisco. A three-day strike by over 1,250 Boston hotel workers ended yesterday, and more strikes could begin soon.”

“Journalists employed by Southern California News Group, including the Orange County Register and L.A. Daily News, have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike, their union announced Monday. The SCNG union said that its members granted their leadership the authority to call an open-ended walkout by a vote of 94%. More than 90% of 125 unionized journalists — including reporters and photographers, as well as digital, social media and production staffers — spanning 11 SCNG newsrooms participated in the strike authorization vote, according to the union.”

“The Local 1622 (Austintown, Ohio) strike that began against T&W Stamping in March has ended with Boilermakers returning to work Sept. 3. After more than five months on the picket line, the workers received guaranteed yearly raises, along with weekly incentives, but no retroactive compensation. “The members of L-1622 are grateful for the support of their community, Boilermakers from across the U.S. and Canada, other unions and so many people who reached out in solidarity and with supplies, gift cards and financial donations,” said Don Hamric, Executive Director-ISO. “This was a stressful time for them, and even as they stood together on the picket line, it meant a lot to know so many people were standing with them.”

“Roughly 33,000 Machinists union members are now in the fourth week of a historic strike at Boeing with no obvious end in sight. While technically an unfair labor practice strike, union members have made it clear what will resolve it: pay raises that catch them up for inflation, quicker wage progression, more paid time off, and above all restoring the pension that Boeing took away in 2016.”

“Boeing's largest union urged new CEO Kelly Ortberg on Tuesday to get more involved in contract negotiations to end a strike by around 33,000 U.S. West Coast workers, after the U.S. planemaker cut off their healthcare benefits. In August, the former Rockwell Collins boss took over the reins of Boeing, which has been rocked by multiple crises this year, including the strike that has hit production of Boeing's strongest-selling 737 MAX jets.”

“Greenwich, Conn. – Hotel workers in Greenwich, Conn., and Providence, R.I., have ratified new union contracts that include wage increases and more affordable health care. The contracts at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich and Omni Providence Hotel are the first in ongoing national disputes between the hotel workers’ union UNITE HERE and Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni.”

“STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — UAW President Shawn Fain will headline a Detroit-area rally and march on Thursday demanding that Stellantis fulfill its promise to invest in good American jobs. Stellantis is trying to backtrack on its contractual commitments to build the Dodge Durango in Detroit and to reopen the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois.”

“Just because McLaren Flint Hospital in Michigan calls itself a nonprofit doesn’t mean its executives don’t prioritize boosting their coffers. They prioritize it so much they’re willing to put the safety of their patients at risk, according to the nurses who work there. Last year, the hospital reported $24 million in net income, according to ProPublica. The compensation for the hospital’s president and CEO, Christopher Candela, was in the seven figures and many employees received similarly exorbitant pay packages.”

“For decades, the narrative surrounding organized labor in the United States has been one of decline. Union membership has plummeted by over 60% since 1970, and worker participation in strikes saw an even more dramatic 90% drop. The watershed moment came in 1981 when President Reagan's decision to fire striking air traffic controllers set a precedent for harsh responses to labor actions. This decline led many to declare American unions "basically dead."”

“The lead negotiator for a Boeing union representing about 33,000 workers who have been on strike for nearly a month said on Wednesday that members were prepared to wait out the planemaker, after pay talks collapsed a day earlier. ‘We're in this for the long haul and our members understand that,’ Jon Holden said in an interview with Reuters. He said Boeing offered only minor improvements before breaking off talks on Tuesday and the union had a strong fund to support paying members $250 a week during the stoppage.”

“WASHINGTON — The campaign to Keep The Promise at Stellantis is coming to Washington. UAW members, lawmakers and allies are rallying on Thursday to demand that Stellantis keep its promise to invest in good American jobs. UAW members at Stellantis won $19 billion in product and investment commitments from the company during last year’s Stand Up Strike. Those commitments include the reopening of an idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Now, the company is trying to backtrack on that and other contractually required investments.”

“NEW YORK – The New Yorker Union has unanimously voted to authorize a strike less than a month ahead of the magazine’s most star-studded and high-profile event. The New Yorker Union represents about a hundred editorial workers at the legendary magazine, owned by publisher Condé Nast, and is a bargaining unit of The NewsGuild of New York. The strike-authorization vote concluded Wednesday: 100 out of 101 members voted; all 100 voted yes.”

“Boston, Mass. – Around 600 Boston hotel workers walked off the job today in the latest strikes to affect the U.S. hotel industry.  A total of over 4,700 hotel workers are currently on strike at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels in Boston, Honolulu, San Diego, and San Francisco. Workers in all four cities say they will strike until they win new contracts, and more strikes could begin at any time.”

“Boeing announced it has withdrawn its contract offer to striking machinists union workers as it considers “next steps.” The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has been on strike for 27 days now, seeking higher pay, a better savings plan and more affordable health insurance. Boeing COO Stephanie Pope said in a message to employees on Tuesday that the strike in the Pacific Northwest has deeply affected Boeing’s business, its customers and its communities.”

“More than 2,700 health care workers at Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan's academic medical center, issued a formal strike notice Friday, saying they're planning a one-day strike on Oct. 15. “No one wants to go on strike, but sometimes the message must be loud and must be clear," Larry Alcoff, deputy trustee of the Service Employees International Union Health Care Michigan, said in a statement issued Friday evening.”

“It had been nearly 15 years since the public safety professionals of Rhode Island Council 94 had their pensions and retirements upended. But thanks to years of dogged activism, their futures will look a lot brighter come Jan. 1. That’s when changes to Rhode Island’s pension system are set to take effect, finally bringing many AFSCME Rhode Island public safety professionals’ retirements in line with their law enforcement counterparts, providing a huge boost to recruitment and retention for these critical jobs.”

“CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) have proven their mettle as a fighting union, standing strong as their strike against the newspaper surpassed two years this week. To mark the strike’s second anniversary, strikers took their demands directly to the corporate executives and board members responsible for violating the strikers’ rights and federal labor laws, with a mobile rally and billboard truck targeting the Post-Gazette office and the homes of union busters, executive editor Stan Wischnowski, parent company BCI board member and Block family heiress Emily Escalante, publisher, board vice chair and PG owner John Block, and BCI board member Ronald Davenport.”

“Boston, Mass. — Nearly 700 additional Boston hotel workers went on strike today, among 5,000 hotel workers on strike nationwide as coast-to-coast labor disputes continue to impact the hotel industry. 5,060 hotel workers are on strike at Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni hotels across the country. The latest Boston strikes include the largest hotel in Boston and the oldest continuously operating hotel in the country, bringing the city’s total to nearly 1,300 hotel workers on strike. More strikes could begin soon.”

“There is a credible call for a general strike in the United States in four years. The call first came from the United Auto Workers after its fall 2023 stand-up strike, in which the union took on the Big Three carmakers simultaneously in rolling, surprise work stoppages. All three contracts that emerged are slated to expire on the same day: May 1, 2028, International Workers’ Day. This is not the first time UAW has aligned the Big Three contracts, but what the union did next is remarkable. It put out a challenge to the US labor movement: “We invite unions around the country to align your contract expirations with our own so that together we can begin to flex our collective muscles,” UAW announced on October 29, 2023.”

“UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital nurses cite understaffing, lack of resources, and "horrendous working conditions" as the main reasons for authorizing a strike. A press release from the SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania union states that on Oct. 7, Western Psych nurses "voted unanimously to authorize a strike." The decision comes a little over two months into workers negotiating a new union contract with UPMC after their previous contract expired on Sept. 30.”

“After the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) authorized a strike Sept. 23 in protest of low wages, the musicians’ union reached an agreement with management at the Kennedy Center Sept. 27, before the NSO’s season opener. The musicians unanimously voted in support of a strike over their lower salaries in comparison to other major orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony, after remaining in a stalemate over contract negotiations since May. As a result, the Musicians Union Local 161-710, the union that represents members of the NSO, picketed at the Kennedy Center for the first time since 1978.”

“Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab factory workers held a large rally in Seattle on Tuesday to demand a better wage deal, mounting pressure on new CEO Kelly Ortberg to end a bitter strike that has plunged the planemaker further into financial crisis. Hundreds of striking workers packed the main hall at their union's headquarters chanting ‘Pension! Pension! Pension!’ and ‘One day longer, one day stronger!’...Around 33,000 of Boeing's unionized West Coast workers, most in Washington state, have been on strike since Sept. 13, demanding a 40% wage increase spread over four years and halting production of the planemaker's best-selling 737 MAX and its 767 and 777 widebodies.”

“When it was announced in October of 2023, Kaiser Permanente’s massive settlement with California regulators over its inadequate mental health care services to its patients briefly raised hopes among Kaiser workers. They saw the settlement, which included a record $50 million fine and a required plan of correction, as an opportunity for the health giant to lead on mental and behavioral health care. A year later, those hopes have been dashed. Kaiser’s leadership has yet to even agree with the state on the action plan to improve its services. And now thousands of mental health care professionals in Southern California are on the brink of a strike. An Oct. 21 strike date was announced Friday morning by the National Union of Healthcare Workers. It came after months of bargaining on a new contract yielded little movement on key issues related to mental health care services. The union represents about 2,400 Kaiser Permanente psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, addiction medicine counselors and marriage and family therapists in Southern California.”

“Pilots with Denver-based Frontier Airlines took the first step toward a possible strike on Tuesday. About 97% of pilots participated in a strike authorization vote. Of those, 99% voted in favor of a strike if necessary, according to Captain Michael Maynard, chairman of the Air Line Pilot's Association [sic] executive council. ‘This is one step along the way,’ said Captain Alan Christie with Frontier Airlines. Christie said pilots have been negotiating a new contract with Frontier leaders for about a year. According to Christie, the last time Frontier's 2,200 pilots received a new deal was nearly 5.5 years ago.” 

“San Francisco, Calif. – Hundreds of Marriott hotel workers walked off the job in San Francisco on Friday and Sunday as strikes continued to roil the hotel industry for the seventh consecutive week. Around 2,000 San Francisco hotel workers are now on strike – including at the iconic Palace Hotel, known for its Beaux-Arts architecture – and a total of over 4,400 Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotel workers are on strike nationwide.”

“Highland, IL  — Approximately 400 members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 660 (District 9) are on strike for a fair contract at Eaton Corp., facilities in Highland and Troy, Ill. On Sunday, Oct. 20, IAM Local 660 members voted to reject a contract offer from Eaton management that had insufficient wages to keep pace with inflation and industry standards, high health insurance costs, no improvements to work-life balance, and substandard retirement security. IAM members at Eaton are currently forced to work six day work weeks. The company is also seeking to turn a 30-minute break into two 15-minute breaks, leaving little time to have a meal. Management also wants to eliminate the two 10-minute breaks per shift.”

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Jenny Brown, an assistant editor at Labor Notes and Mylo Lang, a machinist apprentice at Boeing and a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Watch now to to get an inside perspective on the strike and contract negotiations from a Boeing worker currently on strike. Also learn about the history of Boeing and unionization, and what the union members are demanding in their next contract.”

“...The strike against three of the industry’s most iconic global brands has expanded to include nearly 2,000 workers. Most are entering their sixth week on the picket line. The employees at five Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels near Union Square want wage increases and pensions that keep up with the cost of living. Additional demands include maintaining health benefits and the reversal of COVID-era staffing cuts that exacerbate workloads when there are surges of guests, according to the hospitality union Unite Here. The walkout comes during a wave of strikes across the country by Unite Here members. In Honolulu, more than 1,800 Hilton staffers at Hawaii’s largest resort walked off the job more than a month ago. In Boston, a picket line by 600 workers has continued for over three weeks.”

“Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) crossed a virtual picket line by publishing an opinion piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday, according to the union whose workers are on strike at the newspaper…Early Thursday, the Post-Gazette ran a piece under Vance’s byline entitled ‘Kamala Harris’ prejudice against Catholics,’ in which he criticized the Democratic nominee for skipping the Al Smith dinner last week to campaign. The dinner traditionally features a roast of both candidates and benefits Catholic charities; Trump attended and said a bunch of nasty stuff. Vance’s piece does not appear to have run in any other publications. Beneath his byline, it reads: ‘Special to the Post-Gazette.’”

“Members of the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE-CWA) Local 9119 working for the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) are voting on whether to strike in response to unfair labor practice charges (ULP) filed against the university. Members hold positions at the Parnassus and Mission Bay campuses, as well as other UCSF worksites across the city, including San Francisco General Hospital.”

“TAMPA, FL – Airport concession workers employed by Delaware North who are members of UNITE HERE Local 362 have voted unanimously to authorize a strike at the Tampa International Airport (TPA). Delaware North employs around 157 concession workers at the airport who are covered by a national agreement between Delaware North and UNITE HERE, which will expire on October 31st. Workers say they are fighting for free health insurance and significant wage increases so they don’t have to choose between paying the rent and putting food on the table.”

“When 64 percent of Boeing machinists voted to continue their strike this week, many of them had in mind a goal rarely seen this century: the return of a traditional defined-benefit pension. That retirement option was already rare in the private sector when Boeing ended its pension plan for the machinists a decade ago. These days at U.S. companies, worker-driven savings accounts like 401(k)s have mostly replaced pension plans that provide fixed monthly payments to retirees….Congress created 401(k)s in 1978, allowing companies to contribute a set amount to employees’ individual accounts each month and let the workers invest the money as they choose. Since then, those and other defined-contribution plans have become much more common than defined-benefit plans in the private sector, although state and local government jobs are more likely to offer traditional pensions.”

“Nearly 50 days into a strike that has crippled the company's operations, the union representing its machinists and Boeing had a ‘productive face-to-face’ meeting Tuesday, according to the International Association of Machinists District 751. The union shared an update on social media late Tuesday night, but did not offer any details on where negotiations stand. Last week, machinists voted down a new contract offer from Boeing by 64%.”

“Workers are battling an overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service that would cost thousands of jobs and slow the mail for half the country. In the name of efficiency, a letter mailed within Cheyenne, Wyoming, would travel to Denver and back. And if you miss a package, your local post office would no longer have it. It might be 45 minutes away. In March, Buffalo became the first place to fend off the closure of its mail processing plant, in a team effort by Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 3 and Postal Workers (APWU) Local 374. The unions turned out 300 people to picket in front of the plant, and 700 to pack a public hearing, said Branch 3 President David Grosskopf. They deluged USPS with feedback in its online survey. They lined up the support of their state reps and city council; they got neighboring town councils to pass resolutions too. They even got their senator to call the Postmaster General personally—and it didn’t hurt that their senator was Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Within a few weeks, the plant consolidation was canceled.”

“A year and a half into bargaining for a new contract, CWA-represented passenger service and ramp agents at Piedmont Airlines walked the picket line at airports across the country to show the company they are serious about a contract that secures the livable pay, health care, and workplace safety they deserve.”

“NEW YORK – The Times Tech Guild – the union that powers the technology behind election coverage at The New York Times – has walked off the job in a ULP strike that threatens Election Day. The work stoppage began at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday despite multiple rounds of intense bargaining and a practice picket that drew more than 400 outside the headquarters of The Times and another 200 remotely on Wednesday.”

“Honolulu, Hawaii – Nearly 2,000 hotel workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract. If ratified as expected during a vote today, it will conclude a 40-day strike at Hawaii’s biggest hotel. Marriott workers in Boston have a tentative agreement and will vote to ratify their contracts on Wednesday. The hotel workers’ union UNITE HERE celebrated the settlements as a signal of momentum but noted that 2,000 hotel workers remain on strike at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels in San Francisco and cautioned that more strikes are possible in cities across the country.”

“San Francisco, Calif. – Eighty-five striking hotel workers and supporters were arrested in San Francisco during a non-violent civil disobedience yesterday as widespread strikes continued to affect the U.S. hotel industry. Over 3,800 Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotel workers with the UNITE HERE union remain on strike in San Francisco and Honolulu, and guests report significant disruptions to hotel operations. Approx. 756 Hilton workers in Boston have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract and will hold a ratification vote today. Approx. 650 Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott workers in San Jose have ratified or will vote today to ratify their new contracts.”

“​​Highland, IL  — Approximately 400 members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 660 are on strike for a fair contract at Eaton Corp., facilities in Highland and Troy, Ill.”

“On January 19, 2024, teachers went on strike in the Boston suburb of Newton, Massachusetts. Before their union came to the decision to strike—with 98 percent of members voting in favor—it spent 10 months negotiating new contracts with the city to no avail. By striking, the teachers hoped to secure pay increases on par with hikes in Newton’s cost of living, especially for classroom aides. They also demanded social workers in every school, describing them as essential to students’ mental well-being, particularly after the pandemic. Furthermore, in fiscal year 2024, the school district’s budget was cut by nearly $4 million, even as the city held nearly $29 million in surplus.”

“Times Tech Guild members who power the technology behind mobile push alerts and app and website maintenance at the New York Times walked off the job earlier this week in an ongoing unfair labor practice strike. The strike is the first NewsGuild-CWA work stoppage to coincide with a presidential election day in 60 years and the largest strike of tech workers in modern U.S. history.”

With Democratic leaders grappling with how to move forward following this month's devastating electoral losses and governors in the party moving to resist President-elect Donald Trump's policies, low-wage workers are planning on Wednesday to send a clear message to several Democrat-led statehouses: Prioritize workers and fair wages, or ‘face the consequences.’ The national economic justice group One Fair Wage, which works closely with restaurant industry and other service workers, is organizing direct actions in Detroit, New York, and Springfield, Illinois, demanding that Democratic leaders in blue states ‘act decisively’ to protect working people from Trump's anti-regulation, pro-corporate agenda. The group said tipped service workers, advocates, and labor leaders will take part in the actions, in which participants will deliver an open letter calling for the passage of legislation to raise the minimum wage and eliminate subminimum wages.”

“Following eight days of an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike, New York Times Tech Guild (TNG-CWA Local 31003) workers have returned to work and ended their boycott of New York Times Games and Cooking. The strike was one of the first tech workers’ strikes in the U.S., and the striking workers ran one of the largest remote pickets in the nation.”

“Earlier this week, hundreds of Maryland and Texas video game workers at Microsoft subsidiary ZeniMax Studios, members of ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, walked off the job in a one-day strike to call out the company for the lack of progress at the bargaining table on a few key issues. Workers cited a lack of remote work options and the company’s replacement of in-house quality assurance work with outsourced labor without notifying the union. In October, CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company.”

“The Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire (PFFNH) and a coalition of public safety groups are taking their fight to restore lost retirement benefits to court. The class-action lawsuit, filed Oct. 31 in Merrimack County Superior Court, challenges revisions New Hampshire lawmakers made to the state pension system in 2011 amid fallout from the Great Recession. “We have been fighting to get these pension benefits back since then because our members should be able to retire with peace and dignity after years of service and sacrifice to their communities,” PFFNH President Brian Ryll said. “The state association will continue to work all angles until this wrong is made right.’”

“San Francisco, Calif. — At a march on Wednesday, thousands of striking hotel workers called on hotel companies to “Bet on SF” and settle contracts before hotel strikes expand and continue into 2025, jeopardizing future bookings in San Francisco. Hotel workers at two additional hotels, the Marriott-operated St. Regis San Francisco and W San Francisco, announced they will take strike votes on Thursday; if authorized, 435 workers at those hotels could strike at any time, joining approx. 2,000 San Francisco hotel workers on strike at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels. The union also announced that four major clients have pledged to book 25,000 room nights in San Francisco hotels beginning in 2025 if the strike is settled in time.”

“(WASHINGTON) – United Airlines Teamsters Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMTs) held their third nationwide rally for an industry-leading contract to demand improved wages, higher safety standards, and more comprehensive health care coverage from the international carrier on the busiest travel day of the year. These rallies come as the current collective bargaining agreement with United Airlines approaches the December 5 amendable date despite the lack of a new agreement for over 10,000 Teamster technicians.”  

“Their chants starting before sunrise, about 100 Culinary Union workers picketed Friday in front of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas as they went on strike to demand higher wages. “No contract, no peace,” they said in unison. ‘If we don’t get it, shut it down.’”

“Workers at the Strand Bookstore are threatening to strike just before the shop's holiday season spike. Members of United Auto Workers Local 2179 held a strike authorization vote last week, with 92 percent of members who voted approving a walk-out. A strike would be first at the legendary bookstore since the 1990s.”

“The teacher strikes in Marblehead and Beverly ended Tuesday night after educators and School Committees in both districts reached contract agreements the day following a court-ordered deadline. In Marblehead, school will be back in session on Wednesday, which will be an early release day before the Thanksgiving holiday break, as scheduled. Beverly schools also have a scheduled early release.”

“Amazon workers in more than 20 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, plan to hold protests or go on strike between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two of the marquee shopping promotions of the year, according to organizers. The planned “Make Amazon Pay” demonstrations are intended to “hold Amazon accountable for labor abuses, environmental degradation and threats to democracy,” according to the initiative’s organizers, the Switzerland-based labor federation UNI Global Union and the grassroots activist group Progressive International.”

“NEW YORK – Unionized editorial staff at Forbes – who ordinarily would be staffing the launch of the magazine’s most important issue of the year, “30 Under 30” – have walked off the job. The one-day ULP work stoppage is in protest of the business magazine’s continued intransigence at the bargaining table and repeated labor law violations.”

“Hundreds of hospitality workers at a Las Vegas casino walked off the job Nov. 15, launching the first open-ended strike in more than two decades for Nevada’s largest union. The workers are members of the Culinary Workers Union as well as an affiliated bartenders union, which together representsome 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in downtown Las Vegas.”

“The rain was no match today in Washington, D.C., as leaders from America’s largest labor unions united to send a clear message to the U.S. Senate: It’s time to call a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act. IAFF General President Edward Kelly led the rally and was the first of more than a dozen speakers who called on the Senate to act.”

“The shooting death last week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson exposed a deep vein of anger toward private health insurance providers. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, frustration over the cost of insurance is fueling a prolonged hotel worker strike that threatens to upend the city’s slowly recovering tourism industry.”

“Proving CWA to be one of the hardest-fighting unions, striking CWAers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are waging the longest-running strike in America and facing a third holiday season fighting for a fair deal and the newspaper Pittsburgh deserves. “We have parents who have told their kids, ‘This’ll be over soon. We’ll be able to have a normal Christmas next year.’ And that obviously is not the case because we have an employer that will not bargain in good faith,” said striking photojournalist Steve Mellon.”

“The Teamsters said workers will begin striking at Amazon facilities across the country Thursday morning -- in what the union calls the largest strike against the online shopping giant less than a week before Christmas. The Teamsters said the strike will begin early Thursday at several facilities, including in New York City, Atlanta, three locations in Southern California, one in San Francisco and one in Skokie, Illinois. In addition, the Teamsters said local unions would also put up primary picket lines at hundreds of Amazon Fulfillment Centers nationwide.”

“The workers' union representing more than 10,000 Starbucks baristas said they have authorized a potential strike, ahead of this year's final round of bargaining talks with the coffee giant on Tuesday. Workers United, which has a bargaining delegation that represents workers at 525 Starbucks stores in the United States, said the coffee giant has yet to bring a comprehensive economic package to the table, while hundreds of legal disputes over unfair labor practices remain unsettled. The union, which has been urging Starbucks to increase wages and staffing at its stores as well as implement better schedules, said it had not yet decided on when to go on strike.”

“One-day strikes and other ‘fixed-duration strikes’ — defined as those with a short duration and predetermined time limits — are common at hospitals. While some healthcare unions have held longer or open-ended strikes, most have opted for shorter strikes in 2024. From 2021 to 2023, the majority of healthcare strikes were of a fixed duration rather than indefinite walkouts, Johnnie Kallas, PhD, an assistant professor at Champaign-based University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations and project director of the Labor Action Tracker, told Becker's. The tracker, a collaboration between Ithaca, N.Y.-based Cornell University and the University of Illinois, serves as a strike activity database.” 

“In America’s longest-running strike, CWA members from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are finally getting their day in court. Last month, a federal judge began hearing testimony to consider granting the federal labor board’s (NLRB) request for a 10(j) injunction. If granted, this could compel the newspaper to pay for workers’ health care expenses until a new contract or health care arrangement is reached.”

“Ports on the East and Gulf Coasts could close next week if dockworkers and employers cannot overcome their big differences over the use of automated machines to move cargo. The International Longshoremen’s Association, the union that represents dockworkers, and the United States Maritime Alliance, the employers’ negotiating group, on Tuesday resumed in-person talks aimed at forging a new labor contract. After a short strike in October, the union and the alliance agreed on a 62 percent raise over six years for the longshoremen — and said they would try to work out other parts of the contract, including provisions governing automated technology, before Jan. 15. If they don’t have a deal by that date, ports that account for three-fifths of U.S. container shipments could shut, harming businesses that rely on imports and exports and providing an early test for the new Trump administration.”

“Workers organizing at the electric vehicle maker Lucid have won a settlement with a quarter-million dollars in back pay, the right to return to work, and a sweeping cease and desist order that stops the company from committing a long list of unfair labor practices.”

“The labor union representing stagehands went on strike Sunday against Atlantic Theater Company in Manhattan, prompting the prestigious nonprofit to postpone two productions that had already begun performances and to warn that union demands could force the closing of the Atlantic and other Off Broadway nonprofits.”

“Declaring that understaffing had them “running on empty,” 5,000 nurses, doctors, midwives, and nurse practitioners walked off the job January 10 in an open-ended strike at Providence Health and Services, the dominant hospital chain in the Pacific Northwest. The strikers work at eight hospitals plus women’s health clinics across Oregon. They’re demanding proper staffing, affordable health insurance, and competitive pay that can attract and retain seasoned workers.”

“This season finale brings the full picture into perspective as Carlos Jimenez, head of the special projects division of the AFL-CIO, joins host Jamala Rogers to analyze the history of labor fights that got us to this moment, and how organized Black workers have shown up throughout that history.”

“For more than a month, workers at Essentia Health’s hospital in Deer River, Minn., have been on what is considered to be the longest open-ended unfair labor practice strike in their union’s history in over 40 years. They have been showing up on picket lines in northern Minnesota’s wintry conditions, in snow and negative temperatures, and will continue with a rally in Duluth on January 15.”

“Nurses at Matthieu’s hospital — one of HCA’s top 50 most profitable — first voted to unionize in 2010, representing one of NNU’s earliest victories in a state where only about 6 percent of the workforce even has union representation. Adequate staffing levels has consistently been a concern of nurses over the years, and nurses have rallied outside their hospitals — outside of scheduled work hours — to raise awareness of the issue multiple times. On Thursday, nurses at Mathieu’s hospital joined a national day of action with thousands of other nurses in their union — including nurses at about half a dozen other hospitals in Florida — to again highlight their call for safer staffing levels. A group of nurses rallied outside of HCA Osceola hospital early Thursday morning.”

“Visitors to Disney Springs and the Japanese restaurant Morimoto Asia were met with a spontaneous flyering event on Monday, organized by the labor union UNITE HERE Local 737, which represents thousands of theme park and hotel workers employed by Disney World. The labor action, highlighting what the union declares a wrongful firing by Morimoto Asia’s parent company — the Patina Restaurant Group — was organized just ahead of the restaurant’s annual Ramen Rumble event Monday evening. The goal? To get Ramen Rumble attendees on their side as part of a pressure campaign to get the Patina Restaurant Group to rehire Julie Ruiz, a former server at Pizza Ponte in Disney Springs, who was fired in October after speaking up about alleged sexual harassment by a supervisor."