The Weekly Download

“In this first blogcast of the new Power At Work series "What Could Happen Under Trump?", Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris laid out a worker power overview of the next Trump administration in Power At Work's first-ever live blogcast. Harris also answered questions from the live audience. He discussed the implications of a Trump presidency for unions, the NLRB, the Labor Department, federal employee unions, and much more.”

“A Democrat-led push to secure a majority on the National Labor Relations Board until 2026 fell short on Wednesday, as Senate Republicans and two independents blocked the nomination of Lauren McFerran to continue serving on the labor board. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture Monday on the nominations of McFerran, a Democrat, to remain for another five-year term on the National Labor Relations Board. McFerran is the current chair of the NLRB whose term is set to expire later this month. Her confirmation to another term would have maintained a Democratic majority on the board, in a move that would have marked a key victory for Democrats heading into a second Trump administration and a Republican trifecta in Washington.” 

“Every Jan. 1, California employers must comply with a raft of new workplace laws, most of which expand protections and benefits for employees. Though perhaps not as sweeping as in recent years, some of those taking effect in 2025 are uniquely Californian. Some will help workers who need time off for their own disability or pregnancy, to care for a sick family member or to recover from a crime or help a family member recover. There’s also new help for freelancers, a ban on certain types of mandatory meetings, a few updates to anti-discrimination laws and two that could help protect employees from workplace violence and stalkers. In addition, employers won’t be able to use a “digital replica” of a performer’s voice or likeness without the performer’s consent. Nor can they require job applicants to have a driver’s license if they don’t really need to drive for work. And even though voters in November rejected a ballot measure that would have increased the statewide minimum wage, it’s still going up next year thanks to an annual inflation adjustment.”

“The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against the hit reality show “Love Is Blind” on Wednesday in which it classified the show’s contestants as employees, opening a case that could have ripple effects across the reality television industry. The complaint by the labor board’s regional office in Minnesota says that the show committed several labor violations, including unlawful contractual terms related to confidentiality and noncompete provisions. By classifying the cast members — who date and sometimes marry other singles on the show — as employees with certain federal legal protections, the complaint opens the door to possible unionization. It is one of the labor board’s first forays into reality television and a major development in the effort by some onscreen personalities to change the industry through the legal system.”

“California high school students are now required to learn about their rights as workers with materials created by labor organizations, however, students in Los Angeles have reportedly participated in simulated collective bargaining situations for decades. The passage of AB 800 last year requires juniors and seniors to be taught about their workplace rights, the achievements of organized labor and students’ right to join a union. However, the Los Angeles Unified School District has reportedly been teaching students how to participate in labor discussions for decades.” 

“Sin Fronteras Organizing Project (SFOP), an El Paso nonprofit that has served indigent farmworkers for decades, settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) over DOL’s continued failure to abide by regulations requiring it to seek input from farmworkers and to coordinate among DOL agencies its enforcement of laws protecting farmworkers. Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) and Public Citizen Litigation Group represent SFOP. The settlement now entered as an order of the court, requires DOL to (1) establish and maintain a National Committee that will meet twice annually and guide DOL components on enforcement related to farmworkers; (2) convene a National Committee staff-level working group that will meet at least quarterly; (3) create Regional Committees that will meet at least quarterly and maintain contacts with farm labor groups, state agencies, and other interested parties, and hold annual public meetings in each region; and (4) develop annual national coordination plans and regional enforcement strategies for farmworker protective statutes.”

“A Wisconsin judge issued a ruling Dec. 2 that strikes down most of a 2011 state law that stripped public workers of their union rights. Dane County Circuit Court judge Jacob Frost ruled that the law violates the state constitution because it unfairly exempts police officers and firefighters.”

“How will voters’ approval of Missouri’s Proposition A, increasing the minimum wage and allowing all workers to accrue paid sick time, impact union workplaces? Is there a difference for workers, such as in the construction industry, who work for multiple contractors in a single year? Under Prop. A, Missouri’s minimum wage will increase from $12.30 an hour to $13.75 on Jan. 1, 2025; and $15 on Jan. 1, 2026 – followed by annual cost-of-living adjustments so the minimum wage does not lose purchasing power in the future. Beginning May 1, 2025, employees will be able to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.”

“As the first city in the Midwest to pass a minimum wage standard of $15 an hour, Minneapolis is often described as a place with strong labor standards. But the Twin Cities Fight for $15 was a grassroots movement coalition led by workers and activists that organized to pressure city leaders for change, and those workers and organizations are continuing to fight for better standards and enforcement today. One of those struggles has been to establish a Labor Standards Board, a tool for improving working conditions in specific industries, through a city council resolution. On Thursday, December 5, the Minneapolis City Council fell one vote short of overriding Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of the resolution that the council had passed 9-3 in November.”

““Do no harm” is the guiding principle of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters’ professional code of conduct. But when Joe Klug, 28, worked as a Video Relay Service (VRS) interpreter for a Twin Cities metro area office of Purple Communications, he says this principle was routinely violated. The VRS field, which allows Deaf and Hard of Hearing people to make phone calls by video interfacing with interpreters, is difficult and fast-paced work. While some calls are social, others can be serious: medical emergencies, job interviews, jargon-heavy discussions with lawyers or sensitive conversations with doctors. Amid heavy staff turnover at Purple Communications, new interpreters struggled to keep up the pace and wait times soared, according to Klug.”

“In May 2020, as the United States was reckoning with the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd was murdered by police. That summer, a majority of American adults acknowledged racism as a problem. Between six and 10 percent reported participating in protests against racialized police violence, which made Black Lives Matter (BLM) the largest social movement in U.S. history. Teachers — alongside their unions — confronted urgent calls to address racism and discrimination in communities, schools, and classrooms, just as they were concluding a chaotic, exhausting school year. While studies have examined teachers unions’ impact on achievement gaps and learning modality amidst COVID-19, little research has examined how they grappled with what was often described as the “other” pandemic: racism.”

“Buying union-made is an important act of solidarity that helps support good union jobs in America. Working people value the hard work and craftsmanship that goes into the products and services we make and provide. That’s true during this holiday season and every day of the year. That’s why we’re pleased to share our annual Union-Made Holiday Gift Guide. No matter what you celebrate or how, we want to help you find the perfect gift for your friends and family that you can also feel good about buying. The gifts listed in our guide are made by workers who stood together for family-supporting wages and good benefits.”

“Amazon drivers at the company’s DGT5 facility in Atlanta have formed a union with the Teamsters and demanded union recognition with a ‘March on the Boss’ today. The Atlanta drivers’ demand for recognition comes just weeks after neighboring drivers at the DGT8 facility organized with the Teamsters. With this announcement, nine Amazon locations and more than 7,000 Amazon workers have organized with the Teamsters across the country.”

“Whole Foods workers say they’re surveilled, tracked to the minute, and have to work two jobs to survive. Amazon bought the grocery chain in 2017. Now it’s like “walking around in the corpse of what used to be.” So workers are organizing to form the first Whole Foods union.”

“A supermajority of eligible staff at Metro Caring, a Denver-based anti-hunger nonprofit, formed a union and sought voluntary recognition last week. Workers are organizing with the Denver Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA Local 37074. A supermajority of workers signed union authorization cards, forming Metro Caring Workers United, and asked nonprofit management for voluntary recognition by December 12.”

“Twenty-one days without running water. A week before any cell service or internet. Hospitals closed, and thousands of houses swept away. Not long after developers started trumpeting the city of Asheville, North Carolina, as a “climate haven” from coastal storms, the area experienced catastrophic flooding. Upland Tennessee and North Carolina were the hardest hit by Hurricane Helene on September 27.”

“The rain was no match today in Washington, D.C., as leaders from America’s largest labor unions united to send a clear message to the U.S. Senate: It’s time to call a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act. IAFF General President Edward Kelly led the rally and was the first of more than a dozen speakers who called on the Senate to act.”

“The shooting death last week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson exposed a deep vein of anger toward private health insurance providers. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, frustration over the cost of insurance is fueling a prolonged hotel worker strike that threatens to upend the city’s slowly recovering tourism industry.”

“Proving CWA to be one of the hardest-fighting unions, striking CWAers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are waging the longest-running strike in America and facing a third holiday season fighting for a fair deal and the newspaper Pittsburgh deserves. “We have parents who have told their kids, ‘This’ll be over soon. We’ll be able to have a normal Christmas next year.’ And that obviously is not the case because we have an employer that will not bargain in good faith,” said striking photojournalist Steve Mellon.”

“NEW YORK – The NewsGuild of New York, which represents the Times Tech Guild, and New York Times management have reached a tentative deal on a three-year contract, just over a month after the Tech Guild’s election week ULP strike. The tentative agreement is the first for the Times Tech Guild, the largest union of tech workers with collective bargaining rights in the country. The Times Tech Guild is a bargaining unit of The NewsGuild of New York, which represents nearly 6,000 media workers including two other units at The New York Times.”

“As Hollywood grapples with worries about the threat of artificial intelligence, the union that represents animators is facing dissent over its latest deal with major studios. Three Animation Guild negotiations committee members said they will vote “no” on a tentative contract the guild reached with their employers, saying the AI protections they wrangled don’t go far enough. ‘I believe the A.I. and outsourcing protections in this contract are not strong enough — and in my opinion — could lead to the loss of a lot of jobs,’ wrote negotiations committee member Michael Rianda, who directed the animated film ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines,’ on Instagram. ‘Real members’ lives could be hurt by not having these protections.’

“When Eric Tillotson, who helps sort and ship cards for games like Magic: The Gathering at TCGPlayer, looks at his budget, he does so with dismay. He knows the money he earns at his job at the largest trading card game retailer in the world doesn’t go far enough….Tillotson’s is but one story of the dozens of workers employed at TCGPlayer. The union, supported by the broader Communications Workers of America (CWA), compiled a report in October that found some grisly facts: For one, about 87% of the workers at the Syracuse Authentication Center where Tillotson works earn less than a living wage for the area…Workers, union officials, and elected leaders say the economic instability brought on by TCGPlayer’s low wages is a primary reason why workers and the company need to come together on a first contract that establishes a living wage.”