The Weekly Download

“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.”

"Watch Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris in discussion with Mike Sukal, AFSCME’s organizing and field services director, and three frontline volunteer member organizers as they discuss the role of volunteer member organizers, their experiences organizing through the pandemic, the future of organizing, and more."

“Starbucks Workers United has not yet asked supporters to stop frequenting Starbucks locations. But unionized workers have been ramping up customer solidarity organizing, potentially laying the groundwork for a Starbucks boycott.”

“Low wages and poor health care benefits were among the reasons some graduate students who work for the University of Maine System sought certification as a labor union. After a majority of the grad-student workers signed cards supporting the formation of a union and the cards were verified, the Maine Labor Relations Board last week certified the University of Maine Graduate Workers Union-United Auto Workers. The new union will represent the 1,000 graduate workers across all campuses of the University of Maine System, who make up a large percentage of the overall teaching and research workforce.”

“Teachers and staff at KIPP St. Louis High School, members of the American Federation of Teachers St. Louis (AFT Local 420), held an informational picket and leafletting action at the school on Sept. 21, demanding KIPP management bargain in good faith and negotiate a first contract.”

“Visual effects workers at Walt Disney Pictures have voted unanimously in favor of unionizing with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) in an election held by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The 13-0 vote comes just weeks after VFX workers at Marvel Studios voted to unionize with IATSE and comes amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, as the guilds continue to seek fair contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.”

“Starbucks Corp. broke federal labor law when it boosted wages and benefits only for workers in non-unionized stores across the US last year, a National Labor Relations Board judge held. Thursday’s decision from Administrative Law Judge Mara-Louise Anzalone marks the first nationwide ruling against the coffee giant amid its resistance to a unionization wave that began two years ago. Starbucks violated the National Labor Relations Act in August 2022 by lifting wages to at least $15 an hour and providing benefits such as credit card tipping, increased training, and faster sick time accrual to all stores that weren’t unionized, the judge said.”

“Amazon.com Inc. was accused by US officials of violating the terms of a labor board settlement, teeing up an expedited process for the government to consider claims that the company illegally tried to suppress union organizing. In a complaint issued Thursday, a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board accused the internet retailer of breaching obligations under a 2021 settlement. The accord required the company to let workers stay on its premises after their shifts in order to organize.”

“Trader Joe’s workers first began organizing their own union in 2022. They were partly inspired, they say, by the growing wave of union organizing at once-unlikely companies like Starbucks, Apple and REI. But they were also inspired by the divide between Trader Joe’s image and the way they say they were treated when customers were out of earshot…Workers say the company has also added injury to that insult. Half a dozen workers across the four union Trader Joe’s cited common complaints that spurred organizing, including safety concerns…Yet according to the New York Times and workers interviewed by Capital & Main, the company has pared back its health coverage and cut retirement contributions.”

“Anti-union law firms — the three biggest are Jackson Lewis, Ogletree Deakins and Littler Mendelson — are also being retained and have played a dominant role in campus union busting and academic reorganization.”

“A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that Medieval Times brought against its workers union last year accusing the group of trademark violations over its name and logo. In an opinion issued Thursday, the judge said the dinner theater chain failed to demonstrate that the union, called Medieval Times Performers United, was creating “confusion” among consumers and leading people to believe the labor group was somehow endorsed by the company.”

“A group of farm owners escalated their concerns that the state’s enforcement of new union standards for laborers violate their constitutional rights and threaten the livelihood of the agricultural industry. The viewpoint is vehemently rejected by the union representing the state’s first organized farm workers. The New York State Vegetable Growers Association, alongside the first five farms in the state to see activity by the United Farm Workers, has requested a federal court place a temporary restraining order on the novel state policy. The request was made on Tuesday and a briefing schedule is expected soon.”

“Thomas Armstrong, a professor of industrial and operations engineering at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, said musculoskeletal injuries are ‘inherent’ to this kind of work.”

“The mid-20th century spread of unionization is what built the middle class in America. Two factors drove it: a huge amount of grassroots organizing, and a concerted policy push under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal that supported unionization…The grassroots organizing that flourished in the mid-20th century is once again in place today. The energy and support for unionization are at levels not seen in decades…But unlike in the mid-20th century, today’s labor law is a massive impediment to increased unionization…The National Labor Relations Board has done a great deal to carve out better protections for workers’ right to organize—but their efforts need a serious legislative boost if they are to fundamentally rebalance the playing field.”

“We know that artificial intelligence might take our jobs – but what if it replaces our bosses? AI took up a prominent place in our national consciousness this past year as commentators observed with dismay and wonder that ChatGPT and other machine learning systems were passing the bar exam, writing college essays, and creating award-winning art. And AI has proven no exception to longstanding concerns that automation will take our jobs. But unlike automation of decades past, AI threatens to replace not just workers, but decisionmakers. Perhaps that is what elevates some stories of AI at work – the sense that it is worse, even intolerable, to have certain managerial tasks performed by something that is not human.”

“Supporters who celebrated as Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a fast food bill Thursday  bemoaned his decisions Saturday night when he announced he had vetoed two other high-profile labor bills. Newsom rejected Senate Bill 799, which would have paid striking workers California unemployment benefits after two weeks, and SB 686, which would have extended workplace safety protections to domestic workers, such as housekeepers and nannies.”

“Unions representing roughly 53,000 Las Vegas workers on Tuesday kicked off critical negotiating sessions with hotel and casino operators after its members voted at the end of September to authorize a city-wide strike. The culinary workers union and bartenders union represent workers at properties around the city, including those operated by MGM Resorts International (MGM.N), Caesars Entertainment (CZR.O), and Wynn Resorts (WYNN.O). Workers are negotiating for a new five-year contract to boost wages and benefits as tourism in Las Vegas recovers from depressed visitor levels during the pandemic.”

“New Orleans city employees, who are celebrating their right to form a union through AFSCME, are putting together their first contract. AFSCME Council 17 members had been advocating for their right to form a union since 2018. In June, the New Orleans City Council unanimously passed a landmark ordinance that established collective bargaining rights for police, fire and general government employees. AFSCME now represents 3,000 workers in the general government unit. The ordinance provides workplace protections for organizing and creates a process for recognition, collective bargaining and dispute resolution. Now, these city workers can gain a voice on the job by negotiating a contract that addresses salaries, benefits, working conditions, and more.”

“Workers at Asian Health Services approved a new union contract on Friday after more than 300 employees last month had threatened to go on strike. The three-year contract for members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 raises wages by an average of more than 21%.” 

“After nearly three months of sporadic strikes at dozens of hotels in Southern California, the union representing workers at one property — the Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles — announced Friday that it has reached a tentative deal for higher pay and benefits. The union, Unite Here Local 11, said in a written statement that once the contract is ratified, the 300 workers at the Biltmore will see ‘unprecedented wage increases that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing.’”

“Workers want unions. And in the states with the most anti-labor conditions, workers need unions more than anywhere else. The UAW (and other unions who face the same urgent necessities) desperately need to organize under these conditions. It will take a lot of money. To make a meaningful change, it will require an investment of billions of dollars in union organizing. Spending on this scale is completely reasonable when you consider the size of the task at hand, but no union in America has this much money to spend on what must be done. This is the place where the government — sympathetic to the cause, but hamstrung by political reality — can step in to help.”

“U.S. democracy is in crisis. Books are being banned, new voter suppression laws abound, and leading presidential candidates flirt with fascism. As the ‘hot labor summer’ of 2023 extends into autumn, including a high-profile visit by President Joe Biden to the United Auto Workers picket lines, the slew of national strikes and labor actions seems unrelated to our democracy problem. The unions’ actions are generally viewed as disputes about wages and benefits. But in fact, there is a close connection: Unions have a crucial and vastly underappreciated role in shoring up our fragile democracy.”