The Weekly Download

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Nicole Anschutz, an SEIU member and Triage Registered Nurse at Planned Parenthood North Central States, and Jeffrey Hirsch, a law professor at the University of North Carolina. For the 52nd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, join Power At Work to reconfirm the importance of access to reproductive health care and how unions can be a strengthening tool for this issue. Also hear Anschutz’s insights at the front line in this fight for women’s bodily autonomy, along with Hirsch’s knowledge of the worker’s rights to bargain and how that is relevant in this fight.”

“The recent growth of the labor movement also owes much to well-known contemporary leaders, like Shawn Fain and Sara Nelson and Chris Smalls, people who carry on the legacy and stretch the tradition of worker struggle. But in order to keep growing — and keep building worker power — we need to raise the profile of and support the next generation of labor organizers who will help push the movement to be as diverse, as energized, and as creative as ever. It’s why In These Times, with support from Omidyar Network, decided to launch the Labor Organizer of the Year award, designed to celebrate and support emerging labor leaders — and inspire workers to rise up together.”

“The workers who answer calls for 1-800 Medicare and Healthcare.gov insurance exchanges have been organizing for a union at Maximus Inc. since 2017, part of a workforce of 12,000 customer service representatives at 12 worksites. Wages for workers start at $17.75, far beneath living wages, and workers say their health insurance is too expensive to use…Eileen Rivera, Maximus vice president of public relations and communications, told Capital & Main that wages are set by federal law under the Service Contract Act. That is true for ‘minimum monetary compensation,’ but the act does not ban contractors from paying higher wages, though doing so can lower profit margins.”

“In late December, while Amazon workers were striking across the country, Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE), a union of Amazon workers at the company’s RDU1 warehouse in Garner, North Carolina, filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). If the election is successful, they will be the second unionized Amazon warehouse in the country and the first in a right-to-work state.”

“A supermajority of workers at battery maker BlueOval SK filed a petition Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board for a vote to form their union with the UAW. The election filing at BlueOval SK (BOSK), a new joint venture of Ford and SK On, is the first major filing in the South in 2025 and continues the movement of Southern autoworkers organizing with the UAW.”

“The staff of EdSource, the award-winning nonprofit journalism outlet covering education in California, announced today that they are forming a union to maintain their organization’s relentless drive for critical journalism, while building an inclusive and equitable newsroom. An overwhelming majority, 93% of non-management staff, have signed cards authorizing union representation by The Pacific Media Workers Guild, NewsGuild-CWA Local 39521. They are asking EdSource leadership to voluntarily recognize the EdSource Guild as a unit of the Communication Workers of America.”

“Employees across five restaurants owned by two of DC’s biggest restaurateurs announced plans to unionize this week. The restaurants include Le Diplomate, St. Anselm, and Pastis from Stephen Starr and Rasika Penn Quarter and Modena from Ashok Bajaj. Among the issues workers say they are fighting for: better pay, more predictable hours, and respect they say is lacking from management at both companies.”

“The fundamental concept underlying collective bargaining is simple and elegant. The people closest to the workplace --- workers through their unions and employers through their managers --- negotiate over the rules governing their working relationship. At its best, collective bargaining solves problems by advancing both sides’ interests. Negotiators’ expert knowledge of the workplace makes this possible. In fact, at its very best, there are no sides, only collective solution identification and implementation. Of course, even well-intentioned parties with mature relationships can disagree, sometimes vigorously. Healthy relationships often involve some conflict. That’s human relations. By contrast, at its worst, collective bargaining descends into dishonesty, selfishness, broken communications, anger, and weapon-wielding that has nothing whatsoever to do with problem-solving.”

“After months of pushing the company to Keep The Promise made in 2023 contract negotiations, the UAW has successfully secured a commitment from Stellantis to invest billions in American autoworkers. In response, the union has agreed to settle its grievances concerning the Dodge Durango and the reopening of Belvidere Assembly. Specifically, Stellantis has committed to build the next generation Dodge Durango at the Detroit Assembly Complex and to reopen the Belvidere Assembly Plant in 2027 and allocate a new midsize truck, as agreed to in the union’s 2023 contract. Both of these commitments had been walked back by disgraced former CEO Carlos Tavares, and are being honored by the company’s new leadership.”

“A 69-day strike by some 700 non-gaming workers at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas quietly ended Wednesday with a joint announcement that a new contract had been reached. The agreement between the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 and operators of the off-Strip resort was surprising given neither party had announced that contract negotiations had resumed. The last discussions took place seven days before the walkout began Nov. 15.”

“In June, the front-of-house workers of the Guthrie, which includes guest services workers, box office staff, lounge hosts, janitors, and ushers, won their union with 70% of workers voting in favor. Represented by International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 13, the workers are preparing to bargain their first contract. They are fighting for wage increases, reinstatement of some positions that were cut, more transparency of pay tiers, scheduling hours two weeks in advance, additional safety training, and support with parking. Some positions, like ushers, work short shifts, and the cost of their wages for the day are eaten up almost entirely by the cost of parking in downtown Minneapolis, workers say.”

“Harris appeared with Matt Miller and Vonnie Quinn on Bloomberg TV's "The Close" on Thursday, January 16 to discuss several labor-related topics: the likelihood that President Trump's choice for Labor Secretary will be confirmed, the labor relations landscape in 2025, and the effect President Trump's proposed tariffs and mass deportation can be expected to have on the economy. Watch the video in this post.”

“President Donald J. Trump spent his first day in office issuing a slew of executive orders directly targeting federal workers: Schedule F reclassifying hundreds of thousands of federal workers as at-will employees; anti-telework policy requiring federal employees to return to in-person work fulltime; a hiring freeze; and anti-diversity policy ending equity and inclusion programs in the government.”

“Like many of my fellow immigrants, I had a union card before I had a green card. I knew my best path to security was through gaining power at my job through a union contract. As a leader of UNITE HERE, I know our first response in this moment must be to continue to grow the union and fight for our members. Working to build our movement is the way to empower immigrant workers and native-born workers alike to achieve greater equality and opportunity.”

“Most voters without a college degree supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election, reversing historical patterns of working-class voters preferring the Democratic Party, and economic issues were the primary concern for the vast majority of noncollege voters. Whether President-elect Trump will deliver for the working class during his second term remains to be seen. During his first term in office, Trump took many actions that were anti-worker—including pursing proposals to allow employers to steal tips, undermining registered apprenticeships, and exempting certain workers from the minimum wage—yet the media has given a great deal of attention to a few positive signs that President-elect Trump might focus on improving economic conditions for the working class in his second term, such as his decisions to invite Teamster’s President Sean O’Brien to speak at the Republican National Convention and nominate Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a supporter of the PRO Act, as U.S. secretary of labor…Proper evaluation should ignore the speculation and media circus that surrounds President-elect Trump and instead focus on policy actions and measures of economic well-being. Here are six key things to look at when judging whether Trump delivers for the working class.”

“President Donald Trump signed an order, within hours of taking office on Monday to make it easier to fire thousands of federal agency employees and replace them with political loyalists. The order, which is largely identical to one Trump issued late in his first term, is already facing a lawsuit by a major union and is likely to trigger more legal challenges.”

“A group of organizations immediately sued the Trump administration as the president was inaugurated on Monday, arguing that its new “Department of Government Efficiency” violates federal transparency law…Despite its name, DOGE is not a real government department and isn’t subject to the same oversight and accountability as normal federal agencies. The lawsuit alleges DOGE runs afoul of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a law passed in 1972 to ensure that the advice given by advisory bodies is ideologically balanced and transparent to the public…The lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing federal workers, and the watchdog groups Public Citizen and the State Democracy Defenders Fund.”

“More than 200 trade union members and technologists gathered in Sacramento this week at a first-of-its-kind conference to discuss how AI and other tech threatens workers and to strategize for upcoming fights and possible strikes. The Making Tech Work for Workers event was convened by University of California labor centers, unions, and worker advocates and attracted people representing dock workers, home care workers, teachers, nurses, actors, state office workers, and many other occupations. A key takeaway from the proceedings: Workers of all stripes are determined to fight — during contract negotiations and amid day to day operations — for the right to negotiate more control over how AI is deployed within companies. Union representatives detailed ways AI threatens jobs, from screenwriting to driving taxis to ringing people up as a cashier.”

“For more than a month, workers at Essentia Health’s hospital in Deer River, Minn., have been on what is considered to be the longest open-ended unfair labor practice strike in their union’s history in over 40 years. They have been showing up on picket lines in northern Minnesota’s wintry conditions, in snow and negative temperatures, and will continue with a rally in Duluth on January 15.”

“Nurses at Matthieu’s hospital — one of HCA’s top 50 most profitable — first voted to unionize in 2010, representing one of NNU’s earliest victories in a state where only about 6 percent of the workforce even has union representation. Adequate staffing levels has consistently been a concern of nurses over the years, and nurses have rallied outside their hospitals — outside of scheduled work hours — to raise awareness of the issue multiple times. On Thursday, nurses at Mathieu’s hospital joined a national day of action with thousands of other nurses in their union — including nurses at about half a dozen other hospitals in Florida — to again highlight their call for safer staffing levels. A group of nurses rallied outside of HCA Osceola hospital early Thursday morning.”

“Voice gap,” which measures a worker’s perceived gap between desired and actual influence at work, significantly impacts job-related outcomes, such as job satisfaction, according to new research by ILR Assistant Professor Duanyi Yang. ‘The findings were very straightforward,’ Yang said. ‘A voice gap is significantly associated with lower job satisfaction and well-being, as well as higher burnout and turnover intention.’”

“While running for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, working class candidate Dan Osborn characterized the Senate as “a country club of millionaires that work for billionaires.” In November, he almost crashed their party. Osborn, a 49-year old former local union president who helped lead a multi-state strike against Kellogg’s cereal company, was recruited by railroad workers to challenge two-term incumbent Senator Deb Fischer, a Republican. Rail is a major industry in Nebraska, and Fischer had voted to break the 2022 national railroad strike. She also opposed the Railway Safety Act.”