The Weekly Download

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by David Sirota of The Lever and Luc Triangle of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to discuss how some wealthy corporations are aggressively engaged in undermining democracy and how the labor movement is fighting back.”

“Combining her life journey with lessons for communicators, Marrianne McMullen’s memoir Persuasive: 40 Lessons in Communicating for the Common Good traces her steps from a Catholic, working-class home in Pittsburgh to newspaper offices, union communications roles, and the White House. Drawing on real-world experiences and crises, Marrianne distills communications techniques that show how to craft effective messages grounded in human experience and shaped by pro-worker, pro-community values.”

“Twenty years have passed since Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, devastating New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. But the legacy of the storm, and the decisions made in its wake, continue to structure the political economy and social fabric of the city and the state. In the realm of education, the mass firing of 7,500 New Orleans educators—the largest loss of Black teachers since the closure of historically Black schools following Brown v. Board of Education in 1954—haunts the school system, which, like much of the country, has been experiencing a years-long teacher shortage.”

“Front-of-house staffers and production employees for four major D.C. music venues — the Anthem, 9:30 Club, Lincoln Theatre and the Atlantis — said Monday that they are organizing with local unions in response to what they describe as stagnant wages, scaled-back privileges and safety concerns. Staffers at all four venues are employees of I.M.P., a production company whose staff regularly work across the several venues it owns.”

“Independent agencies were carefully designed by Congress to ensure that those charged with safeguarding critically important public interests—like workers’ rights, product safety, or household financial security—would act to serve the public good, not the president’s political needs. However, since taking office, the Trump administration has been on a crusade to attack and undermine the effectiveness of independent agencies.”

“The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed suit against the State of California and the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) seeking to block enforcement of Assembly Bill 288, a new law that would allow California to step into the NLRB’s shoes under certain conditions. The NLRB contends that AB 288 is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and that it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As discussed in our prior update here, California recently joined New York in passing legislation that would allow state agencies to assume powers delegated to the NLRB by Congress. AB 288 authorizes PERB to resolve private-sector labor disputes and grant relief if the NLRB has ‘expressly or impliedly ceded jurisdiction.’ The statute empowers PERB to enforce unfair labor practice claims, certify bargaining representatives, enforce collective bargaining agreements, and impose civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation (a remedy not available under the NLRA).”

“Three labor unions represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Trump administration on Thursday over a program that is searching the social media posts of visa holders, arguing that the practice violates the First Amendment rights of people legally in the United States. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, asks a judge to block the administration from engaging in ‘viewpoint-based investigation and surveillance.’ It also asks for a court order to purge any records created so far under the administration’s program. The Trump administration has said it is scouring social media for posts that it deems hostile or threatening and then using that information as a basis to revoke some people’s visas. President Donald Trump announced the basis for the policy in January in an executive order targeting noncitizens in the country who ‘bear hostile attitudes’ or support ‘threats to our national security,’ and the Department of Homeland Security in April said it was screening foreign nationals’ social media activity for antisemitism.’”

“Last Tuesday, a small group of retired coal miners gathered in front of the headquarters of the Department of Labor with a rather ambitious goal: to get Donald Trump’s attention. Due to the ongoing government shutdown, the streets of downtown Washington, DC, were far from bustling, but a few passersby still stopped to peer at the 80 or so camo-clad demonstrators and read the signs they bore: ‘Silica Kills,’ ‘Stand With Us! Enforce the Silica Rule!,’ ‘Coal Miners Lives Matter.’ The protest was an act of both proud determination and brutal desperation. A hard-won federal rule limiting miners’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica was meant to go into effect on April 14, but the Trump administration has refused to enforce it. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), which is nestled within Trump’s Labor Department and is now led by a former coal industry executive, voluntarily allowed this to happen.”

“Earlier this month, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA). The bill is virtually identical to the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act’s First Contract Arbitration provision, with one crucial difference: it has a chance of becoming law in today’s Congress. Whereas the PRO Act had no Republican sponsors in the Senate and only three in the House, the FLCA already has twelve Republican sponsors in the House and two in the Senate. Is this evidence of a genuine pro-worker turn within a faction of the MAGA right? A moment of political opportunism? The early stirrings of a cross-partisan realignment? These are worthwhile questions. But for the purposes of this post, I’m bracketing the confounding politics of bipartisan reform to focus on the bill’s substance.”

“Today, following the announcement that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California has filed a misdemeanor charge of obstruction against David Huerta, president of SEIU California State Council and SEIU-United Service Workers West (USWW), the following statements were released:...’Four months ago, SEIU California and SEIU-USWW President David Huerta was thrown to the ground, tackled, pepper sprayed, and detained by federal agents while exercising his constitutional rights at an ICE raid in Los Angeles. As the video of his arrest went viral, David’s courage showed the world what it means to peacefully stand up for immigrant workers and for all workers. ‘Despite David’s harsh treatment at the hands of law enforcement, he is now facing an unjust charge. This administration has turned the military against our own people, terrorizing entire communities, and even detaining U.S. citizens who are exercising their constitutional rights to speak out.’”

“Workers at Twin City Tanning have been on a historic unfair labor practice (ULP) strike since Thursday, October 9, after their union contract expired the night before. According to the union, this is the first time these workers have gone on strike at this facility, located next to the Mississippi River. The union, Chicago Midwest Regional Joint Board (CMRJB), Workers United Local 150, is affiliated with SEIU and represents 67 employees at the facility, where a largely immigrant workforce processes animal hides into leather and fat products. These are then bought by companies, such as Red Wing Shoes, for boots, clothes, upholstery, and foods.”

“Three years ago tomorrow the journalists of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh went on an unfair labor practice strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. While they withheld their labor at the paper, they kept telling stories in the Pittsburgh Union Progress. To mark three years on strike, they’re asking each other to share their thoughts about their fight for a fair contract.”

“Some of the largest labor unions in the US are involved in organizing the No Kings protests, with more than 2,700 demonstrations planned across all 50 states, with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and American Federation of Teachers anchoring events. ‘Unions understand that a voice at work creates power for regular people at work. Unions understand that a voice in democracy creates power for regular folks, for working folks in a society,’ said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. ‘These are two of the main ways that regular folks have any power.’”

“The nation’s health care workers want to be paid fairly, but that’s hardly news — you could say the same for any worker group in the United States. So what is driving the deep dissatisfaction among so many nurses, physicians, assistants and therapists? Increasingly, the answer is simple: time and resources. In my years interviewing those on the front lines of America’s struggle to care for its own residents, the same theme emerges: Health care workers consistently report that inadequate staffing and lack of time to spend with their patients have led them to conclude that their employers no longer strive to deliver top-level care — even at health care organizations known for such quality.”

“An independent arbitrator has stopped what would have been a history-making labor strike, had it happened, by food service workers at Disney World’s Epcot in Orlando, thereby forcing workers to take a different approach to leverage their demands for a new union contract. Restaurant workers at Epcot’s Italy Pavilion, represented by Unite Here Local 737, are employed by the Patina Group, a third-party company that leases property from Disney. The union — which represents 70 workers at Tutto Italia, Via Napoli and Tutto Gusto — has been in talks with Patina for a new union contract since earlier this year. Their last contract expired Sept. 30.”

“Workers at Horseshoe Indianapolis have launched a strike as they demand recognition of Teamsters Local 135 as their bargaining representative. The 200 dealers and dual rates were scheduled to vote in their union election on Friday, Oct. 17. The ongoing government shutdown caused the election to be delayed indefinitely, so the prospective Teamsters proposed using a neutral third party to conduct the vote as planned. Horseshoe’s management refused, forcing the group to strike for union recognition.”

“The announcement that both sides had accepted a Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) offer to resume mediation came days after Local 837 filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against Boeing for refusing to bargain in good faith. Members with the District 837, which represents more than 3,200 Boeing workers in St. Louis, St. Charles and Mascoutah have been on strike since Aug. 4.”

“Broadway actors have reached a tentative agreement to avert a strike that would shut down 32 stage productions as theater attendance approaches its peak season, according to their union. Actors' Equity, a union that represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers, said it reached a tentative, three-year agreement with The Broadway League, the trade association that represents theater owners, producers and operators. However, the producers have yet to reach an agreement with the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, which represents Broadway's musicians, so a strike by that union is still possible. The actors union said it would put its full support behind the musicians union as it works to reach an agreement.”

“Another branch of Blizzard Entertainment has organized under the Communications Workers of America. Today the union announced that over 400 employees of the company's Platform & Technology department have successfully voted to unionize. This group includes workers with a wide variety of job titles including graphic designers, engineers, and project managers on Battle.net, as well as workers in localization, quality assurance testing, and customer support on other Blizzard products. The union has been recognized by Microsoft. Workers will be represented by CWA Local 9510 in Irvine, CA and Local 6215 in Austin, TX.”

“Last year, U.S. unions cautiously celebrated a turnaround in their organizing fortunes. National Labor Relations Board election win rates had reached 79 percent, and the number of workers organized for the year approached 100,000, the highest number since 2009. Yet these gains masked a harsher reality for labor, even before the disastrous 2024 elections. For the labor movement to grow, it needs to organize millions of workers each year, not 100,000. Organizing continues to lag in fast-growing, low-density sectors such as personal services, IT, finance, and health care, while union-heavy sectors like government and manufacturing keep shedding jobs.”