The Weekly Download

“In a sweeping decision, an administrative judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that Starbucks had violated federal labor law dozens of times in responding to a union campaign in the Buffalo area shortly after the campaign began roughly 18 months ago.”

“Eschucha Mi Voz (Listen to my Voice), a group who says its mission is to fight for worker justice and immigration reform, says it is opposed to the bill that would allow kids as young as 14 to work in meat packing plants. "This bad bill is a way for the big companies to disrespect the workers who have been there for many years while taking advantage of children, all in the name of profit." Said Pedro Neiro, a meatpacking plant worker at Tyson Foods in Columbus Junction."

“Dozens of white-collar Starbucks Corp. employees and managers have signed an open letter protesting the company’s return-to-office mandate and its alleged union-busting, opening a new front in the battle over the avowedly progressive coffee chain’s treatment of its staff.”

“Two influential labor leaders are working to hash out their differences regarding the potential merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines”

“The Biden administration announced measures to crack down on child labor on Monday amid a steep rise in violations and investigative reports by Reuters and other news outlets on illegal employment of migrant minors in dangerous U.S. industries. U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws.”

“US corporations have mounted a fierce counterattack against the union drives at Starbucks, Amazon and other companies, and in response, federal officials are working overtime to crack down on those corporations’ illegal anti-union tactics – maneuvers that labor leaders fear could significantly drain the momentum behind today’s surge of unionization.”

“Arriving in record numbers, they’re ending up in dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws — including in factories that make products for well-known brands like Cheetos and Fruit of the Loom.”

“IAM Secures Congressional Letter of Support in its Fight to Save Union Jobs at Boston Ship Repair: The IAM is fighting to save union jobs at the Boston Ship Repair and has secured a Congressional letter of support addressed to the Secretary of the Navy led by U. S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) to help the fight.” 

“Doctoral students at Duke University say they have enough support to unionize the school’s workforce of Ph.D. student teaching and research assistants, but before doing so, the students have given the administration a deadline to act first.”

“Unlike many students across the country, my last all-nighter had nothing to do with my studies. In June 2020, the last month I was a graduate student at Oregon State University, I stayed on a Zoom call for almost 24 hours to support friends in my department who were members of the bargaining unit of our union, the Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE).”

“Dancers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in Los Angeles have recently received positive signs from the National Labor Relations Board, which bodes well for their contested union drive. If all goes as expected, they will be the only unionized strippers in the country.”

“Federal sector unionism offers several worthwhile lessons for those interested in worker power and worker organizing.”

“The Tesla union drive is a prime example of how the organizing models and infrastructure built by the Starbucks campaign and other labor efforts in Buffalo are inspiring and supporting other workers. The past few years of barista organizing in western New York — from SPoT Coffee to Starbucks, Perks Coffee to Remedy House — have created a culture of solidarity in the region and a growing diaspora of skilled organizers who are eager to assist new union drives when called upon.”

“Dozens of students and faculty at Rollins College, a private liberal arts college near Orlando, on Friday rallied in support of the college’s dining workers, who are seeking a fair process for union representation with the labor union Unite Here.”

“If the workers at Lodi succeed, they could be a leader in a new labor organizing movement at higher-end eateries – but the union’s supporters say they are encountering fierce pushback from management.”

“The Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA) today announced its formal affiliation with the AFL-CIO. The request to affiliate was unanimously approved by the MLSPA’s Executive Board and approved at the AFL-CIO’s Winter Executive Council meeting in early February. MLSPA members will join the more than 12.5 million workers who make up the unions of the AFL-CIO.”

“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.”

“Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) said on Wednesday it had reached a tentative agreement with a union that represents workers at four of its facilities, dodging a possible walkout at a time when companies across the United States are dealing with widespread labor shortages. The construction equipment maker's new six-year agreement, which needs to be put to a vote by employees, comes after some union workers had threatened a strike as they negotiated wage increases, improved safety measures and better healthcare benefits.”

“The union that represents workers on Norfolk Southern Railroad, the rail operator of the train that derailed last month alleges that workers at the cleanup site are getting sick with "migraines and nausea" and are not being provided necessary protective equipment.”

“Pilots at Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines voted to approve a new union contract that will give them an initial 18% pay raise. The vote resolves simmering labor tensions that heated up last year when pilots threatened the possibility of a strike if they did not reach a contract that addressed their concerns. Delta is largely non-union and its pilots are the carrier’s biggest organized labor unit.”

“The United Steelworkers (USW) negotiating team ultimately delivered a historic contract requiring the company to invest $4 billion in 13 union-represented facilities, including about $100 million at the Weirton, West Virginia mill where Glyptis and his colleagues rely on ever more sophisticated equipment to make precision tin plate.”

“One thing you can be sure of when bargaining your first contract: management will demand a contract clause barring strikes while the agreement is in effect…Today, an overwhelming percentage of U.S. labor contracts, 94 percent according to a survey by the Bureau of National Affairs, contain no-strike clauses.”

“BNSF, Norfolk Southern and members of two union groups have struck sick leave agreements, the groups said Thursday. BNSF (NYSE: BRK.B) reached sick leave agreements with members of the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) and the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers (NCFO). The agreement with TCU is for insourced intermodal equipment operators, which BNSF says represent a majority of that union’s members at the railroad. Other TCU members at BNSF already have paid sick days as part of their existing agreement, according to the railroad.” 

“Today, a bipartisan group of House and Senate Members introduced the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2023 (H.R. 20), a comprehensive proposal to protect workers’ right to come together and bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces.”

“Something is stirring this spring. People in the U.S. are becoming increasingly interested in what commentators once called ​“the labor question,” following recent organizing victories at Starbucks, Amazon and Apple stores; well-publicized strikes of teachers, nurses and railway workers; and the unionization of staff, graduate assistants and even faculty at scores of campuses, including the recent successful strike of nearly 50,000 academic workers on the campuses of the University of California.”

“The civil rights movement wasn’t just about attitudes around racism, but about access to good jobs, access to economic institutions and expanding workers’ rights. “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Kelley about the labor and economic dimensions of the movement. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.”

“In 1944, the Supreme Court interpreted the National Labor Relations Act --- our nation’s private-sector worker organizing and collective bargaining law --- to be broadly inclusive. Workers who might have been classified as “employees” or “independent contractors” using common-law tests could be covered by the statute.”