The Weekly Download

“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.”

“In this blogcast, "WorkerTech" experts Michelle Penson of the AFL-CIO and Adrian Haro of the Workers Lab join Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris to discuss how technology is being used as a tool to build worker power.”

“Tesla has beaten back previous efforts by workers to unionize – but the United Auto Workers hopes a successful strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis could help it organize at Tesla. UAW membership has declined in recent decades, and the auto industry is moving to electric vehicles. EV battery and production plants thus far in the United States are mostly non-union. To grow, the UAW will have to make inroads at EV plants.”

“Former Starbucks Corp CEO Howard Schultz violated federal labor law by telling a barista in California who questioned the coffee chain's response to union organizing to ‘go work for another company,’ a National Labor Relations Board judge has ruled. Administrative Law Judge Brian Gee in Los Angeles said in a decision issued on Friday that the comment Schultz made during a ‘listening tour’ last year amounted to an illegal threat against the worker, Madison Hall.”

“Hey Instacart shoppers, you might have noticed that you got something extra from the app recently–some misinformation from the company asking you to contact city council members. The real story is that they are hoping to use you to undermine new laws Seattle passed to protect their workers. Let me explain. It’s been a banner couple of months for Instacart. The megacorporation went public with a $10 billion valuation, netting its CEO more than $15 million. At the same time, they announced they were cutting their workers’ base pay nearly in half. Now, they’re spreading misinformation and coming after PayUp, Seattle’s new worker protection laws.”

“The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is accusing Shangri-La dispensary in Columbia of numerous violations of labor law for aggressively fighting a union organizing campaign in the late spring of 2023.”

“As a new commercial pilot, Nate Hilliard came to Southern Airways Express two years ago with no illusions. He knew the commuter airline’s starting pay for a first officer ― the co-pilot next to the captain ― was just $12 per hour, less than he could earn behind a fast-food counter.”

“Many states across the Southern United States employ an economic model that prioritizes business interests and the wealthy over ordinary citizens. This model—which we refer to in this report as the ‘Southern economic development model’—is characterized by low wages, low taxes, few regulations on businesses, few labor protections, a weak safety net, and vicious opposition to unions. The model is marketed as the way to attract businesses into Southern states, with the implicit promise that this will lead to an abundance of jobs and shared economic prosperity for all Southerners. The reality is this economic development model is fundamentally flawed as a strategy for improving living conditions for most Southerners.”

“Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) approved a new three-year contract with major studios on Monday, five months after the union called a strike that plunged Hollywood's film and television production into turmoil. The WGA said 99% of the roughly 8,500 votes supported the deal, which provides pay raises, some protections around use of artificial intelligence and other gains.”

“Indeed, across the country — but perhaps most intensely in the South — the rising heat at work is having a surprising ripple effect: It is driving workers to organize. At workplaces from Waffle House and Dollar General to e-bike-share warehouses, extreme heat is often the last straw for workers in previously temperate jobs. Once workers complain about heat, calls for better wages, benefits and schedules often follow.”

“Nearly 2,000 AFSCME Council 5 union correctional officers have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a landmark new contract that places historic and transformational investments in our corrections workforce in order to better recruit and retain the best talent in our corrections system and enhance public safety. This new union contract that our AFSCME Council 5 Correctional Officers secured will provide corrections officers working for the State of Minnesota the largest wage increases they've ever seen. Within a period of 10 months, these brave heroes will see historic pay increases ranging from 18% all the way up to 34%.”

“The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) museum and their employee union have come to an agreement, securing their first contract which promises pay raises, new career opportunities, and affordable healthcare while protecting workers' rights on the job for four years. The union, which comprises over 500 employees of the museum and its affiliated school, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), has been in negotiations for over one year with AIC. At the approach of the one-year mark, the union began plans for a strike, but the museum presented a bargaining contract, which was accepted.”