The Weekly Download

“Over three days in October, 75,000 frontline healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente held an unfair labor practice strike. The actions, led by workers across multiple states and Washington, D.C., constituted the largest strike of healthcare workers in U.S. history ... The following is an interview with Christian Siguenza, a laboratory assistant at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California and a member of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West.”

“After 118 days on strike, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) board voted Nov. 8 on a tentative new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) by a majority of 86% to 14%. After sending ballots to its 160,000 members over the past few weeks, voting on the contract wrapped on Dec. 5.”

“Southwest Airlines and its pilots union are closing in on a new contract that would raise pay for the carrier’s more than 11,000 aviators and end months of contentious negotiations, weeks ahead of the crucial holiday travel season.”

“Two weeks after Hollywood Casino at Greektown and MotorCity Casino ratified a new contract, workers at MGM Grand Detroit have followed suit, officially ending the Detroit casino strike. Union members with the Detroit Casino Council voted Saturday to ratify a new contract with MGM after 47 days on strike, the council announced in a news release. The five-year agreement, which covers 1,700 employees, includes the largest wage increases ever for MGM Grand Detroit workers. Upon ratification, workers will receive an immediate $3 an hour raise and $5 more per hour total over the life of the contract.”

“After more than two years of negotiation, the union for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, ALDF United, has officially ratified its first collective bargaining agreement with its employer.”

“Listen to Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation about organizing in higher education with William Herbert, executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions; Joseph van der Naald, Affiliated Researcher with the National Center and a Ph.D candidate at the City University of New York Graduate Center; and Scott Phillipson, president of SEIU Local 200 and chair of the SEIU Higher Education Council.”

“The United Auto Workers said it has signed up more than 1,000 employees at Volkswagen AG’s non-union Tennessee auto plant, setting up a high-stakes showdown at a site where the union suffered painful past defeats.”

“Dr. John Wust does not come off as a labor agitator. A longtime obstetrician-gynecologist from Louisiana with a penchant for bow ties, Dr. Wust spent the first 15 years of his career as a partner in a small business — that is, running his own practice with colleagues…But that changed in the months leading up to March, when his group of more than 100 doctors at an Allina hospital near Minneapolis voted to unionize. Dr. Wust, who has spoken with colleagues about the potential benefits of a union, said doctors were at a loss on how to ease their unsustainable workload because they had less input at the hospital than ever before.”

“Last year, the independent, fledgling union Trader Joe’s United accomplished what had never been done before: It formed the chain’s first unionized store, in Massachusetts, then its second, in Minnesota. Once the celebrations were over, workers got down to the less glamorous business of negotiating a first contract. But Trader Joe’s insisted everyone participate in person, with no virtual option, according to the union. The company’s stance meant grocery store workers from Hadley, Massachusetts, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, had to travel to one another’s bargaining sessions if they wanted to take part ― a great expense for a brand-new labor group that was still crowdfunding.”

“An internal Amazon memo has provided a stark look at the company’s carefully laid out plans to grow its influence in Southern California through a plethora of efforts that include burnishing its reputation through charity work and pushing back against ‘labor agitation’ from the Teamsters and other groups.”

“Food delivery workers in New York City are now earning a mandated minimum $17.96 an hour before tips, following months of unsuccessful legal challenges by delivery platforms DoorDash, Uber and Grubhub. But a sudden coinciding move by the affected apps to change how customers can tip is taking money back out of their pockets, the workers say — and the city’s labor enforcement agency says it’s reviewing the situation.”

“The head of the union that represents track maintenance workers says Union Pacific is jeopardizing safety by delaying nearly 1,200 planned projects until next year and laying off more than 1,000 workers, but the railroad says the seasonal move shouldn’t be alarming.”

“Uber and Lyft drivers are among the workers for whom traditional collective bargaining law doesn’t work, and the results are low pay, long hours, and terrible working conditions. To date, Uber and Lyft drivers have been excluded from even the opportunity to try to organize a union under federal labor law…That’s why, as Massachusetts becomes the latest battleground in the national fight over rideshare drivers’ rights, we’re celebrating efforts in the state to build a new path for unionizing Uber and Lyft.”

“Workers with disabilities—numbering 7.5 million in 2022 and growing since 2020—face a range of challenges in the workplace, from finding stable jobs to receiving equal pay to getting the accommodations they need to keep working. Research shows that unions not only increase wages for disabled workers by 30 percent but also narrow the pay gap between workers with disabilities and those without, while increasing their retention and helping them speak up on the job to secure accommodations. All workers benefit from being able to join a union, but unions help disabled workers in particular overcome inequities in the workplace and support themselves and their families.”

“This report advocates for the broad implementation of state and local WBE policies in labor law that expand the reach of public enforcement agencies and allow affected workers, whistleblowers, and community-based organizations to take legal action on behalf of the state against employers who violate the law.”

“Faculty at California State University, the largest public university system in the U.S., will hold a series of four one-day strikes starting Monday across four campuses to demand higher pay and more parental leave for thousands of professors, librarians, coaches and other workers.”

“More than 750 journalists and business-side staffers at The Washington Post walked off the job for the day, saying they are angered by the company's decision to embark on massive job cuts while contract negotiations have stalled. ‘We did not come to this decision to do this walkout lightly,’ says Post reporter Marissa Lang, who covers housing and serves on the union's bargaining team. ‘We all work at The Washington Post because we believe in its mission and we believe in what we do. And we care deeply about the work we do, the people, the communities, the stories we cover.’”

“More than 500 Postdoctoral Researchers at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine who are members of the Sinai Postdoc Organizing Committee-UAW (SPOC-UAW) walked off the job and onto the picket line for an Unfair Labor Practice strike on Wednesday, December 6. After more than one full year at the bargaining table with Sinai administrators, no agreement has been reached. Hundreds gathered for a rally to kick off the strike at 10am ET at East 99th and Madison Ave.”

“December 1, 2023 marks the first anniversary of the Power At Work Blog. We arrived at exactly the right time. This has been a historic year for workers, worker power, collective action, and unions. Dramatic increases in organizing and greater success in union representation elections. Historic gains through collective bargaining in industry after industry. A president (and other public officials) visiting picket lines. We have done our best to give you a front row seat to all of it.”

“From the UAW to the Writers Guild, this year’s biggest contract victories have been won by unions in which members directly elect their leaders. That’s a right denied to most US union members — but it may be the key to unleashing broader labor militancy.”

“In Writing the Wrongs: Eva Valesh and the Rise of Labor Journalism, historian Elizabeth Faue examines how Valesh challenged gender norms in both journalism and the labor movement. She worked alongside women and girls and reported on the conditions and culture. Workers were inspired to participate in strikes after her reporting.”

“Jenny Brown of Labor Notes discusses the Auto Workers, Teamsters, nurses, hotel workers and teachers who have been making waves this year. Listen on ‘Revolutions Per Minute,’ the podcast of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America.”