The Weekly Download

“Prosecutors at the National Labor Relations Board say Trader Joe’s illegally interrogated workers and threatened to take away their pay raises when they were trying to form a union last year. The alleged threats came in the run-up to a January 2023 election at a Louisville, Kentucky, store where workers voted in favor of joining a new union, Trader Joe’s United. The company has challenged the election results by claiming the union illegally influenced the vote. But according to the complaint filed Monday, prosecutors say it was Trader Joe’s that committed “unfair labor practices” meant to sway workers against unionizing.”

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Sarah Bright, Organizing Director at SEIU 925; Juan Eldridge, Assistant Organizing Director at IAMAW; and Indira Mohan, Associate Director of Organizing at AFL-CIO/AFSCME DC 37 to talk about how to become a union organizer, why union activism is increasing, and how to confront employer opposition to worker organizing.”

“Workers at the Denver Art Museum are celebrating their new union. They won their union election last week with a supermajority of 67% voting to join forces with AFSCME Council 18, making the Denver Art Museum the first unionized art museum in Colorado. Workers announced their union campaign in January and since then have endured upper management’s intense anti-union campaign. Through Council 18, the workers filed more than a dozen unfair labor practice charges. Now, the more than 200 workers from every department at the museum will have a voice to advocate for a culture that prioritizes employee and visitor experience over revenue.”

“Alicia Modestino, Associate Professor at Northeastern University, hosts this month's Workers by the Numbers Blogcast. Listen to her in conversation with Elise Gould and Teresa Ghilarducci as they discuss the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs, wages, and unemployment report for February 2024. This conversation was recorded live on March 8, 2024.”

“At the urging of the Service Employees International Union, the New York City Council enacted legislation in 2020 that Mayor Bill DeBlasio signed in 2021 requiring that large fast-food employers have “just cause” or a bona fide economic justification before discharging or significantly reducing the hours of their employees. In early January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted summary judgment to the city in a lawsuit by the Restaurant Law Center and the Chamber of Commerce claiming that the just-cause law is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). After this well-reasoned and thorough court of appeals decision upholding the just-cause law, local and state governments have the authority to adopt just-cause legislation for any and all workers. It should be on every legislative body’s docket.” 

“A federal judge in Texas has blocked a new rule by the National Labor Relations Board that would have made it easier for millions of workers to form unions at big companies. The rule, which was due to go into effect Monday, would have set new standards for determining when two companies should be considered “joint employers” in labor negotiations. Under the current NLRB rule, which was passed by a Republican-dominated board in 2020, a company like McDonald’s isn’t considered a joint employer of most of its workers since they are directly employed by franchisees. The new rule would have expanded that definition to say companies may be considered joint employers if they have the ability to control — directly or indirectly — at least one condition of employment. Conditions include wages and benefits, hours and scheduling, the assignment of duties, work rules and hiring.”

“In 2019, a poll revealed that nearly half of men believe that the wage gap is ‘made up.’ Contrary to their beliefs, the wage gap continues to hold an iron grip on the American workforce – and it affects men too. This is nothing new. Conflicting views around the wage gap are not uncommon, and the public’s perception of the wage gap is often clouded with misconceptions. The most prevailing, misguided narratives range from the idea that the wage gap exists because of a woman’s choice, or that the gap is caused by women not negotiating their salaries. Due to the tremendous research conducted by the 2023 Nobel Prize Winner, Claudia Goldin, we have been able to identify the main causes of the remaining wage gap.”

“Oregon lawmakers have overwhelmingly passed a bill that would make an historic investment in the state’s public safety workers. The Oregon Legislature passed HB 4045, the Public Safety Workforce Stabilization Act, with bipartisan support in the House and the Senate earlier this week. That marks a significant step forward in prioritizing the dedicated workers who serve on the front lines of public safety by allowing them to retire with enhanced benefits.”

“Amazon delivery drivers with Teamsters Local 396 in Southern California extended their picket line on Sunday to LAX5 in Buena Park, California. The picket extension is the latest escalation for Amazon Teamsters in their fight for fair treatment since beginning an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike in June 2023, leading to the largest Amazon strike in U.S. history.  Since their strike began last year, Amazon Teamsters have picketed at over 32 Amazon warehouses across 10 states, building solidarity among Amazon workers across the country. The picket extensions have been critical opportunities for Amazon Teamsters to meet with workers in other warehouses, learn about their shared struggles for better wages and working conditions, and grow support for the fight to build power for Amazon workers.”

“On Friday, March 8th, 7,000 Daimler Truck North America workers voted by a resounding 96% to authorize a strike if necessary. The contract covers 7,000 parts and assembly workers in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, and expires on April 26th. The workers who build Freightliner trucks, Western Star trucks, and Thomas Built Buses are facing declining real wages and job security against a backdrop of rising cost of living and massive profits and shareholder payouts by Daimler Truck. In a video released by the UAW last week, Daimler workers spoke out on the declining standards at the company that have led to their willingness to stand up and fight for better wages, benefits, and job security.”

“Palm Beach, Florida, is one of our nation’s true billionaire enclaves, whose denizens include some of the world’s most powerful corporate barons, with sunny oceanfront estates valued at eight- and nine-digits. But for the next three days, the farmworkers who harvest the produce plenishing the menu items and grocery store shelves that deliver their profits, are coming to town.”

“When “Reclaim your Momentum” was unveiled as the theme for Portland Community College’s 2023 in-service training, it struck a discordant note with members of my union, the PCC Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals. We hadn’t lost our momentum so much as we’d been subjected to two years of organizational restructuring in the midst of a global pandemic.”

“Last week, our members at the Palm Springs Desert Sun started an open-ended strike. Two days later, that strike ended with one of the best new contracts journalists have won in Gannett in the last several years. Members are seeing raises of 16.5% on average, with one member receiving a 48% raise. Across the newsroom, members are slowly moving up to be more in line with the cost of living in the Coachella Valley. They won annual raises during the life of the contract, language that protects against layoffs from artificial intelligence, requirements for managers to attend DEI conferences, held onto the 401(k) match, and much more!”

“Writers Guild of America East members at Spotify Studios (formerly Gimlet Media and Parcast) and The Ringer have both reached tentative agreements with Spotify on new collective bargaining agreements. Two of the first podcast production companies to unionize with the WGAE, both bargaining units made important gains in wages and achieved first-of-their-kind protections against Artificial Intelligence (AI) during negotiations for their second union contracts. The tentative agreements will now go to the Spotify Studios Union, The Ringer Union and the WGAE Council for ratification votes. Details of each collective bargaining agreement will be made public upon ratification."

“Teamsters Local 688 members at Graybar have ended their strike and have approved a new contract with an 18-percent wage increase.”

“The American Federation of Government Employees is pleased to announce that it has ratified a new contract with the Transportation Security Administration. AFGE Council 100, which represents transportation security officers at airports across the country, and TSA reached a tentative agreement that will significantly improve the working conditions of America’s transportation security officers and strengthen our nation’s air security infrastructure. That tentative agreement was ratified Monday, March 11th, by leaders of AFGE TSA local unions nationwide.”

“Registered nurses at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital (SLUH) held a candlelight vigil for patient safety on Feb. 29. SLUH nurses are fighting for patient safety and a fair contract that addresses their concerns about nurse retention and recruitment. The RNs have been in contract negotiations since May 2023 with little to no movement on key issues. Their contract expired on June 15, 2023. RNs say chronic short-staffing is affecting patient care.”

“The 1930s rise of the Congress of Industrial Organizations led to millions of people being union members for the first time. The lesson of the CIO is that it’s necessary to harness the collective power of the working class on a grand scale.”

“In 2022, Amazon workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island became the first in the US to win a union election. The new documentary Union gives a compelling glimpse behind the scenes of the victory — and the challenges that have come since.”

“In October 2023, John See worked his last day at the Labor Education Service (LES) after a 39 year tenure…Workday Magazine interviewed John See shortly before his retirement about the changes he’s seen over the past four decades in the Minnesota labor movement, in both media and technology, and his advice to those who wish to continue this legacy of democratizing media and technology and devotion to the working-class struggle at the intersection of media and history.”

"During a period when union membership in the United States has continued its precipitous decline, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ has been growing steadily, having successfully organized more than 100,000 workers since 1999.  The innovative strategies and tactics used by SEIU’s Justice for Janitors (JforJ) campaigns explain important aspects of this increase, but usually overlooked is the role that trigger mechanisms have played in this growth.  Triggers are an organizing tactic that help facilitate unionization by binding employers in a given labor market together via an agreement that ensures that the bulk of employers will go union at once, or not all."