The Weekly Download

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Andres Grajales, AFGE’s Deputy General Counsel for Litigation, and Julie Wilson, NTEU’s General Counsel, to discuss the lawsuits that their unions are having against the Trump administration’s assault on federal employees. Watch now to hear the top lawyers from the two largest federal employee unions update the various lawsuits that they currently have against the administration, most notably Trump’s executive order to end collective bargaining rights for the large majority of federal employees. Grajales and Wilson will also go into their unions’ current legal strategies to defend executive agencies from the Trump-Musk effort to eliminate them and the Trump-Musk effort to radically downsize the workforce.”

“What happens when the law that’s supposed to protect workers... stops working? For decades, American workers have depended on the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to secure their rights to organize and bargain collectively. But today, the NLRA is in crisis, undermined by external constitutional attacks and hollowed out by internal dysfunction at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In my recent working paper, In Lieu of the NLRA, I argue that there is a surprising and underappreciated source of hope: state private-sector labor laws that have long been dormant. As the federal framework collapses, these state laws offer a vital path forward for workers seeking to build collective power. Here are three key takeaways I hope will spark interest, reflection, and action."

“There’s no bad time to stand up and protect the rights of workers, but there’s no better time than right now. In just the first few months of his term, Donald Trump has dismantled the Department of Labor, illegally fired the former head of the National Labor Relations Board, dismissed hundreds of thousands of federal workers without regard for their union contracts, and now is attempting to end collective bargaining rights for federal workers completely.”

“A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's sweeping overhaul of the federal government. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, came after a hearing Friday in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions, nonprofits and local governments. The plaintiffs argue in their complaint that President Trump's efforts to ‘radically restructure and dismantle the federal government’ without any authorization from Congress violate the Constitution.”

“A federal judge agreed Wednesday to temporarily block the Trump administration from stripping Foreign Service employees of their collective bargaining rights. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman granted a federal labor union’s request for a preliminary injunction that, while its lawsuit against the government is pending, stops the Republican administration from implementing a key portion of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The American Foreign Service Association, which represents more than 18,000 members of the Foreign Service, sued to stop the administration over the March 27 executive order.”

“Rather than a wish list of labor law reforms, we need “Labor Law Reform for the Long Haul”—sensible changes that can attract bipartisan support and that will not result in endless policy oscillation with each new administration. What follows is a sketch of some such changes; others are also possible.”

“The Trump administration is trying to keep a lid on its scheme to lay off thousands of workers across the federal government. On Sunday, the Justice Department asked for a protective order in federal court so officials would not have to divulge details of their looming “reductions in force,” or RIFs. Those potentially massive job cuts are expected to hit agencies throughout the bureaucracy in the coming weeks. A group of labor unions and nonprofits recently filed a lawsuit alleging the imminent layoffs and restructurings are illegal, and a judge on Friday issued a restraining order temporarily blocking them. As part of her ruling, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, of the Northern District of California, ordered the administration to cough up the details of its plans by Tuesday.”

“With Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’t as a soundtrack, nurses at New Orleans’ University Medical Center walked off the job for the third time, picketing along the city’s Canal Street thoroughfare earlier this month…Mogilles and roughly 600 University Medical Center nurses voted to unionize with National Nurses United in December 2023. They are in their 16th month of union representation but say their employer is stalling on a contract that would actually improve their jobs. (Disclosure: National Nurses United is a funder of Capital & Main.) Observers say nurses may be waiting even longer. On average, health care unions go around 17 months before obtaining first contracts. Today, the nurses not only have to overcome their employer’s resistance, but the downstream effects of the Trump administration’s policy changes, too.”

“Texas Teamsters are calling for emergency legislation to require human operators in self-driving trucks as Aurora’s driverless semis roll out commercially on the I-45 corridor. Teamsters’ representatives say Texas House Bill 4402 and Senate Bill 2425 are crucial for both public safety and the economic survival of thousands of truck drivers across the state. ‘Requiring human operators in driverless cars and trucks is not an unreasonable imposition; it is a basic necessity for economic prosperity and highway safety in our state,’ said Brent Taylor, Southern Region vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. ‘There are hundreds of thousands of Texans who turn a key for a living… We have a responsibility to protect their livelihoods from being stolen by out-of-state billionaires.’ The call for regulation follows the official launch of Aurora Innovation’s fully autonomous trucking service on the I-45 corridor between Houston and Dallas. This marks the first commercial rollout of self-driving Class 8 trucks in the United States, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The trucks operate without a human driver on board, guided instead by an array of sensors and Aurora’s proprietary AI software.”

“The team of nearly 200 Activision Blizzard developers behind the Overwatch franchise has unionized. Formed under the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Overwatch Gamemakers Guild is the latest wall-to-wall Blizzard union to be recognized by parent company Microsoft since the World of Warcraft development team announced its own union last July. The CWA announced on Friday that ‘an overwhelming majority of workers have either signed a union authorization card or indicated that they wanted union representation.’ The Overwatch union unit includes game developers across production, engineering, design, art, sound, and quality assurance, pushing for job security, salary, and layoff protection improvements.”

“A group of divers at SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove theme park in Orlando unanimously voted to unionize last week, forming the first union at the aquatic-themed resort. According to the National Labor Relations Board, which conducts union elections in the private sector, the group of divers and dive technicians unanimously voted (15-0) in favor of unionizing with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30, in an election that featured 100 percent voter turnout. It’s a remarkable show of support for unionization in a state that’s generally considered union-hostile, and where the vast majority of workers don’t have union representation. They’re the first group of employees at Discovery Cove to form a union.” 

“Workers at the rapidly expanding coffee chain Blank Street have filed for a union election, as baristas at the mobile- and technology-focused coffeeshops say they’re overworked while understaffed. ‘When you don’t meet the needs of every store and keep opening more and more stores, it’s very hard to staff those correctly and have everything you need to successfully run a cafe,’ said Lauryn Lopez, a Blank Street Coffee barista who has worked shifts at each of Boston’s seven locations. Lopez, a former Starbucks employee, is one of the chain’s employees leading workers toward unionization represented by the New England Joint Board UNITE HERE.”

“Minutes from the high-end boutiques of SoHo in Manhattan sits Bergen Logistics’ fulfillment facility in North Bergen, New Jersey, where workers sort, package, and ship hundreds of packages a day for luxury fashion brands including Acne Studios, Kenzo, and Phillip Lim. The workers themselves can’t realistically afford the ornate gowns and crisp suits they ship to online shoppers. Some work two jobs just to stay afloat, and rush to keep up with unit-per-hour expectations. Now they’re fighting for union recognition and the reinstatement of a colleague the union alleges was fired for her organizing. The workers point to the gap between word and action for high-profile brands that publicly claim to care about working conditions.”

“After losing their bid to unionize the Amazon warehouse in Garner by a three-to-one margin in February, labor organizers with Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment are challenging the election results, arguing Amazon coerced employees into voting against the union campaign. In a filing with the National Labor Relations Board on Feb. 24, CAUSE alleges that Amazon misled workers into believing that they would lose existing benefits and wages if they voted in favor of the union, brought in a speaker who said the union would deport workers, and targeted pro-union workers for discipline throughout the election period.”

“Hundreds of thousands of New Jersey commuters may be caught up in the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years as soon as Friday morning. The engineers who drive New Jersey Transit’s commuter trains have threatened to walk out after midnight Thursday if the union that represents them cannot reach an agreement with the agency on a contract that has been under negotiation for many months. Union officials met with NJ Transit executives for several hours on Wednesday and were scheduled to resume negotiating on Thursday. Kris Kolluri, the transit agency’s chief executive, described the talks this week as ‘constructive.’ But it was not clear how close the sides were to averting a shutdown of the rail system.”

“A week-long strike involving over 200 workers at a Keurig Dr Pepper plant in Victorville expanded Monday to include hundreds more people at five other facilities in Southern California. The workers with Teamsters Local 896 authorized a strike May 5 after their three-year contract expired April 1, according to Christian Castro, a spokesman for the Teamsters in Southern California. The strike was extended by the Teamsters to cover 700 workers at other unionized Keurig Dr Pepper plants in Orange; Vernon, Riverside, San Fernando, Thousand Palms and Ventura, Castro said.”

“Nearly 1,000 nurses at UnityPoint Health Meriter Hospital have given formal notice of their intent to walk off the job starting May 27th, if no tentative agreement is reached. The nurses, represented by SEIU Healthcare WI, gave a 10-day strike notice to the hospital on Friday. According to SEIU WI, the nurses have been in contract negotiations with UnityPoint Health Meriter since January and are demanding staffing solutions that prioritize nurse and patient safety, compensation to attract and retain nurses, improved security practices at the hospital, and resolutions to multiple unfair labor practice charges filed by SEIU WI against Meriter.”

“At two hospitals tucked in the quiet corners of Bellingham, Washington, an unfolding labor struggle cuts to the heart of the crisis in American healthcare. At PeaceHealth St. Joseph and PeaceHealth United General, hospitalists, including physicians and advanced practice providers, have walked off the job. However, this isn't a fight over salaries. It is a strike for the soul of their profession. As members of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), these clinicians are demanding the right to advocate for their patients without fear of retaliation. They're calling out a system in which metrics and margins take precedence over urgent care and human dignity, discharges are prioritized over medical necessity and unsafe staffing has become the norm. Despite a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board affirming their union, PeaceHealth, a large nonprofit hospital system, refuses to negotiate. The hospitalists are caught between two employers: Sound Physicians, which hires and pays them, and PeaceHealth, which controls their working conditions. Both point fingers, while the providers bear the burden.”

“After more than seven months on strike, workers at Bigfoot Beverages in Eugene thought the fight was over. Teamsters Local 324 filed an unconditional return-to-work notice on April 23, hoping to get back on the job after months of picketing over pension concerns. The picket line came down. The signs were packed up. But by May 7, the strike signs were back out — and the frustration had only grown.”

“More than 1,000 Starbucks baristas at 75 U.S. stores have gone on strike since Sunday to protest a new company dress code, a union representing the coffee giant’s workers said Wednesday. Starbucks put new limits starting Monday on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons. The dress code requires employees at company-operated and licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. Under the previous dress code, baristas could wear a broader range of dark colors and patterned shirts. Starbucks said the new rules would make its green aprons stand out and create a sense of familiarity for customers as it tries to establish a warmer, more welcoming feeling in its stores.”

“Earlier today, Provost David Madigan sent us all an email informing us that the University is presenting a “final package offer” in our contract negotiations. Madigan threatened that the University may regress on their offer to one with worse conditions if we do not accept this proposal. In an email to our Bargaining Committee, the University also threatened to claim impasse if we do not accept their offer in 30 days, which would end bargaining and illegally, unilaterally implement changes without reaching any sort of agreement with graduate workers. This deadline is fake and arbitrary. We have not reached impasse because our bargaining committee has continued to make movement as recently as our last session. In short, the University has given us an ultimatum: accept this paltry proposal, or they will impose whatever conditions they want. Together, we must reject this false choice.”

“SAG-AFTRA - the union that represents 160,000 actors, voiceover artists, and other media professionals - has responded to the ‘video game employers' April 30 offer ‘with a comprehensive AI proposal’ detailing ‘in plain language what the proposed changes would mean for performers.’ In a lengthy response posted to its website, SAG-AFTRA raised several points of contention, including a revised approach to the secondary performance payment (SPP) and questioning the video game employers' parameters of when it would be acceptable to seek a ‘vocal digital replica [...] in lieu of performer.’”

“After a strike that lasted more than a week, the University of Oregon Student Workers union and the university itself have announced that they have come to a tentative agreement on a labor contract. Student workers at the University of Oregon walked off the job in the morning of April 28, after 11 months of failed negotiations with the university. UOSW officials said they were on strike for better wages and the right to have personnel disputes with the university arbitrated by a neutral third party in certain cases including harassment. UO officials said that while they support the worker’s right to strike, the conduct of the strikers was disruptive and harmful to the university’s atmosphere.”

“United Food and Commercial Workers President Mark Perrone is expected to announce his retirement this week, according to sources close to the union’s leadership. UFCW has 1.3 million members in the U.S. and Canada, mainly in grocery and meatpacking. A special meeting of the union’s 55-person International Executive Board has been called for May 13. The board is expected to choose Perrone’s successor there. UFCW presidents are supposed to be elected by delegates to the union’s conventions, which occur every five years. But the last three presidents have all been chosen by the IEB between conventions, following their predecessors’ retirements.”