The Weekly Download

“Tech accountability advocates and whistleblowers are raising alarms daily about the dangers posed by unfettered deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), while tech companies have enjoyed the current lack of regulation. As digital technologies including AI are deployed in a growing range of settings including the workplace, they pose a particular threat to workers’ rights.”

“Can Zohran Mamdani make New York City a union town again? Organized labor here is stronger than in the rest of the country. But this isn’t saying much. The unionization rate of the city’s private sector is only 13.5%, almost half of what it was in the 1980s. And while 61.1% of public sector workers remain unionized, only 1 in 5 New York City workers belongs to a union—a significant drop from the 1 in 3 unionization rate of the 1970s. Turning around labor’s decline is crucial for achieving Mamdani’s overarching goal of an affordable New York. In a state with the highest income inequality in the nation, millions of workers urgently need the wage boost and job protections that only a union can provide. Moreover, it will take a huge increase in grassroots power to force Albany and Governor Kathy Hochul to fund Mamdani’s core policy planks for childcare, transport, and housing. Union resurgence could both feed into and feed off of a broader bottom-up movement for an affordable New York.”

“In this episode, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris will recap all seven of the blogcasts that were a part of the 'What Could Happen Under Trump?' series published on Power at Work. Watch now as Seth shares clips of some of the most important insights from the 14 guests who generously participated in this series.”

“Episode #8 of the Power Half-Hour has arrived! The Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, fast-paced, bi-weekly roundtable with a rotating group of regular guests. Our guests discuss the biggest labor story of the preceding week and the labor story everyone should be talking about over the next two weeks. Joining Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris for this episode are:”

“President Trump on Thursday signed a new executive order targeting unions at more than half a dozen agencies, again under the auspices of national security. The edict, which was published within minutes of Trump’s proclamation marking Monday’s Labor Day holiday, appends a March edict that seeks to outlaw collective bargaining for two-thirds of the federal workforce, citing a seldom-used provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act allowing the president to exclude agencies from federal labor law if the law ‘cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements.’”

“Gov. Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers on Friday announced a landmark deal with Uber and Lyft to allow hundreds of thousands of rideshare drivers to unionize and bargain collectively while still being classified as independent contractors. The compromise between labor unions and the Silicon Valley companies, backed by Newsom, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, would advance a collective bargaining bill through the Legislature along with a bill backed by Uber and Lyft that would significantly reduce the companies’ insurance requirements.”

“Workers in Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks have voted to unionize—and campaigns are underway at upwards of 100 more. The parks have long been chronically understaffed. After losing even more workers, national parks employees are mobilizing to save the parks.”

“The artificial-intelligence revolution has foisted a whole new set of anxieties onto workers. Of course, there’s the growing specter of AI automation that many fear could soon displace entire industries. But even those workers who do manage to hold onto their jobs might soon come under increasing pressure as more companies adopt AI systems that assess worker performance, track them throughout the day and push them to reach ever-higher levels of productivity. In response, there is a growing effort to pass new regulations that might rein in the potentially epochal changes this technology could bring to the workplace.”

“Jason was elected to represent unionized workers at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in New York state. But on August 8, he got the same notice as 400,000 colleagues across the VA: their union contracts were being abruptly eliminated in response to a Trump administration executive order. It was a Friday, and by the following Tuesday he had to clear out the union local’s office, which was housed in a VA facility.”

“‘When I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips,’ Donald Trump said at a June 2024 election rally in Las Vegas, home to tens of thousands of tipped workers. ‘You do a great job, you take care of people, and I think it’s going to be something that really is deserved,’ he added. This pledge, which Trump would go on to repeat at multiple campaign events over the next few months, became a signature part of his appeal toward working-class Americans.”

“We often think of labor law as protecting workers, and to some extent it does. But it also protects employers. The most obvious way is by banning secondary boycotts. Some months back I wrongly said that this prohibited unions from honoring each other’s picket lines. That is not true, although a contract may prohibit honoring another union’s picket line.”

“Tariffs do not automatically raise wages or create good jobs. While strong tariff policies can help preserve jobs in industries facing unfair competition, strong unions are a prerequisite for tariffs to translate into widespread job and wage gains.”

“Just ahead of Labor Day weekend, President Donald Trump escalated his attack on the federal workforce by trying to strip union rights from more federal employees. Trump signed an executive order Thursday purporting to strip collective-bargaining abilities from workers at the National Weather Service, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other federal agencies, claiming a ‘national security’ exemption. The move builds on a sweeping executive order in March that aimed to end bargaining rights for an estimated 1 million federal workers under the same premise.”

“On this Labor Day, more than any in recent memory, there is widespread bipartisan support in Congress and across America for the right to be in a union. Unions are as popular now as they have ever been and they’re even receiving support from Republicans in Congress like Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley. Yet the labor law that’s currently on the books — the Wagner Act of 1935 — isn’t strong enough to protect workers who want to unionize. The basic problem is straightforward: Employers don’t want their workers to unionize and are generally willing to fire union supporters to stop a union drive. That means that trying to form a union means risking your job, which is a risk that most workers rationally don’t want to take. That’s especially true when the law is too weak to provide recourse to pro-union workers who do get fired.”

“Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) under the Biden administration, was one of the first officials to be fired by Donald Trump once he took office in January. She wasn’t the last. Since then, Trump has fired a slew of government officials, including the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) chair, Gwynne Wilcox, the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, and most recently, he has attempted to fire the Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook. Abruzzo served at the agency for nearly 30 years before Trump fired her in January 2025, a move recommended in Project 2025. Now she is warning that the attacks on the US’s top labor watchdog threaten to return workers’ rights to levels unseen since 1935 and empower corporations to run roughshod over the agency.”

“Kentucky battery plant workers at the BlueOval SK Battery Park (BOSK) in Glendale have voted to join the United Auto Workers. The workers make batteries to power Ford’s all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck and E-Transit cargo van. On August 27 at 10 p.m., an unofficial tally showed 526 yes and 515 no votes, with 41 challenged ballots. There were 1,200 eligible voters; turnout was over 90 percent.”

“Today, workers of Nebraska Appleseed publicly announced their intent to unionize. Nebraska Appleseed, founded in 1996, is a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to fighting for justice and opportunity for all Nebraskans. The group tackles systemic issues like child welfare, immigration, health care, and poverty—working in the courts, at the Capitol, and in communities to create lasting change.”

“After a hard-fought organizing campaign, workers at two Santa Fe Springs, California, Trojan Battery facilities voted Aug. 20 in favor of unionizing with the Boilermakers. Out of 306 workers in the facilities, 282 voted, with a final of 151 to 131 for unionization. The victory was the second to take place on the same day for Western States organizers, who also celebrated a favorable vote at Mountain Cement Company in Laramie, Wyoming.”

“The current state of unions across the country is a study in contradiction. On one hand, public support for unions in the U.S. is at 70%, just a tick off the highest mark in 60 years. Petitions for union elections filed with the National Labor Relations Board have more than doubled in the last four years. On the other hand, the national membership numbers are down. It’s only a slight decrease, but it continues a long, steady decline. In 1983, the first year for which a comparable data set to today exists, the union membership rate among American workers was 20.1%. By 2024, it stood at 9.9%. It is a steep slide — but there are outliers. California is one of them.”

“Two and a half years ago, thousands of workers at one of Amazon’s giant warehouses, known as JFK8, voted to unionize.  Their victory generated huge amounts of attention across the country, and suddenly, one of the leaders of the organizing drive, Chris Smalls, was everywhere.  Smalls became an overnight celebrity, and he even met with President Biden at the White House.  The Amazon warehouse victory created a spark of hope that we might be witnessing a turning point for workers.  Of course, even at the time, I cautioned that “without a lot more pressure on Amazon, the workers at JFK8 will be waiting a long time for their union contract.”  Now, two and a half years later, it’s safe to say the spark has been extinguished.  What happened, and what lessons can we learn?”

“Westinghouse Electric Corporation waged a brutal anti-union campaign against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in 2023 and 2024. The employer – which is owned by the private equity firm Brookfield Asset Management – hired no fewer than 12 individual anti-union consultants to undertake this campaign and paid them as much as $475 an hour plus travel expenses. In all, Westinghouse Electric Corporation seems to have shelled out close to, and perhaps more than, $1 million for their services. Knowing about these expenditures and the services that these persuaders had been contracted to provide might have influenced the decision of workers on whether or not to vote for IBEW representation. In fact, disclosure requirements that are part of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) were enacted based on the premise that such information is essential in order for workers to fully exercise their labor rights. But Westinghouse Electric Corporation and the consultants denied its employees those rights through a smorgasbord of apparent LRMDA violations. Due to their sheer scope and magnitude, LaborLab recently filed a special complaint with the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) over these violations.”

“A day after leaders from the International Association of Machinists (IAM) visited St. Louis Machinists on the strike line, Boeing agreed to restart contract negotiations. Machinists District 837 members in St. Louis, St. Charles and Mascoutah, Ill. have been on strike at Boeing since Aug. 4. Contract negotiations resumed Monday, Aug. 25, only to be stopped shortly afterward, the union said. Negotiations are scheduled to begin again after Labor Day.”

“This Labor Day, workers at the Hilton Americas-Houston have walked out on strike to protest wages that are not keeping up with the cost of living. Holding signs that read ‘One Job Should Be Enough,’ workers will maintain picket lines for 9 days, ending their strike on September 10. This is the first strike of hotel workers in Houston’s recent history. Workers are calling for at least $23 an hour in a new union contract. Hilton workers’ contract expired on June 30, and they have been in bargaining with their employer since June. In addition to fair wages, Hilton workers are fighting for fair schedules, fair workloads, and respect.”

“Boeing Defense said Wednesday it would consider ‘minor adjustments’ to its last contract offer to roughly 3,200 union members on strike in the St. Louis area, where it produces fighter jets and munitions. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' District 837 voted 67% to reject the offer on August 3, according to the union. They went on strike the next day.”

“Workers at Disney World Epcot’s Italy Pavilion announced Tuesday that they plan to take a vote on whether to authorize a strike at Epcot as soon as Sept. 30, due to lack of progress made in union contract negotiations with their employer. Spread across Epcot’s Via Napoli, Tutto Italia and Tutto Gusto restaurants, the workers are technically employed by the Patina Group, a contractor that has an agreement with Disney to operate restaurants on its property. They're represented by Unite Here Local 737, a labor union that represents roughly 19,000 workers in the local tourism industry, including direct employees of Walt Disney World.”

“As the Labor Day holidays get under way, tens of thousands of protesters have gathered at rallies across the United States to call for stronger worker protections and attack a range of policies undertaken by the administration of US President Donald Trump. More than 1,000 demonstrations are expected on Monday to span all 50 states, under the banner ‘Workers Over Billionaires.’Protesters are demanding stronger worker protections, fully funded schools, healthcare and housing for all, and an end to corporate corruption, attacks on marginalised communities, and federal overreach under the Trump administration. In New York, hundreds of people gathered outside the Trump Tower, chanting for Trump to step down and calling the president a fascist. As a brass band played, workers held up signs demanding a living wage and universal healthcare.”

“‘Nobody goes into education to become rich, but we deserve what was guaranteed to us,’ Cindy Sexton, president of the Teacher’s Association of Baltimore County (TABCO), told Truthout. After months of renegotiations regarding a pay-raise deal for teachers for the 2025-2026 school year, in mid-July, both TABCO and the school district reached an agreement that grants teachers less than they’d bargained for.”