The Weekly Download

“Often still referred to as ‘The Steel City,’ Pittsburgh was once a major hub of steel production, manufacturing, and union power. Beginning in the 1950s, a precipitous decline in steel and manufacturing employment decimated the city and much of the region. Over the last four decades, however, Pittsburgh has rebounded, driven in part by the rise of an ‘Eds and Meds’ economy centered on its universities and health care institutions. Today, higher education institutions, such as the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, and health care giants, like the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Allegheny Health Network, are primary employers in the city and region. ”

“Episode #13 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:”

“Everyday we are inundated with media headlines touting AI’s potential to usher in sweeping changes to the labor market — often predicting full-scale automation and widespread job loss. However, labor has a radically different vision for the future of technology adoption, one that centers workers and communities, embraces common-sense guardrails, and enhances workers’ quality of life on and off the job.”

“Senate Democrats had some leverage, but they dropped the crowbar. Seven Democratic senators and an independent caved, spurring a Democratic deal with the Trump administration to end the 41-day government shutdown. It requires 60 Senate votes, with a preliminary vote expected today. The Democrats had been refusing to approve the funding bill until Republicans restored health care funding. But the deal only extracted the promise of a floor vote in December on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits. There is no guarantee that any funding will be restored. That means the dire cuts to the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid will continue, and so will Trump’s ability to override congressional spending decisions to slash vital services. An estimated 50,000 Americans will die for lack of health care each year if the cuts go through, and 300 rural hospitals will close.”

“Georgia’s workers, organizers, and labor leaders know what it’s like to live and work in a hostile political climate. They know the challenges of operating in a world where laws make it harder for workers to organize, where statewide electeds overturn or bar local policies that put workers first, and where resources are too often allocated without workers’ needs prioritized.”

“Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) released Monday morning a sweeping package of bills that would fundamentally change the last eight decades of US labor law. In an interview in his office Friday, the HELP Committee chairman told reporters he’s aiming for a balanced set of reforms that both parties would agree to—though that’s a long way away…While there are some pro-union changes, most of the provisions would benefit management. Cassidy will have his work cut out for him if he wants Democratic support. On the Republican side, the legislation could bridge the divide between traditional, anti-union Republicans and a populist, pro-worker wing—including JD Vance and Josh Hawley—that’s increasingly aligning itself with organized labor.”

“A trio of federal employee unions on Thursday sued the Office of Personnel Management seeking to excise essay questions recently added to most federal job applications that institute a ‘thinly veiled’ political loyalty test and effectively upend the nonpartisan civil service. Last May, OPM published a new “merit hiring plan,” which, among other things, mandated the inclusion of four open-ended essay questions for every job announcement at GS-5 level or above. One of those questions quizzes the applicant on their favorite Trump administration policy and how they would support its implementation.”

“The head of the air traffic controllers union said Friday that some members were resigning from their jobs due to the stress inflicted by the government shutdown, worsening the already troubling staffing situation at airports. ‘We’re seeing air traffic controllers resign,’ Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told CNN…The government has been shut down for 37 days, leaving federal employees with no sign of when they’ll be paid…The Transportation Department, which includes the Federal Aviation Administration, has said they’ve seen an uptick in air traffic controllers calling in sick. The Trump administration, in turn, has started curbing air traffic at 40 airports around the country to ease congestion — what Democrats see as an attempt to raise pressure on them to cave in negotiations. Hundreds of flights across the country were canceled on Friday.”

“Conflict lies at the heart of the employment relationship. Indeed, Employment and Labor Law emerged in the early twentieth century as a political response to social unrest, seeking to channel these tensions into legal frameworks for adjudication. Whether expressed through wage and hour disputes, discrimination claims, unfair labor practices, or struggles over union recognition, such conflicts demand swift resolution and strong institutions. In this sense, consider, for example, the average duration of an employment dispute: approximately 16 months in Paris, 256 days in Santiago de Chile, and nearly 35 months in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. As a former employment lawyer in Chile now practicing in the United States, I found the exchange between Samuel Estreicher, Roger King, and David Sherwyn on one side, and Andrew Strom, on the other, very curious. Estreicher, King, and Sherwyn proposed that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could be replaced by a super-appeals agency, while Strom advanced a more radical idea: creating Article III judges to adjudicate labor disputes. Estreicher et al dismissed this as a ‘non-starter.’”

“Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story. On Wednesday, the National Lacrosse League Players’ Association (NLLPA) announced it is formally affiliating with the AFL-CIO, becoming the ninth professional sports union in the AFL-CIO Sports Council. The AFL-CIO Sports Council was formed in 2022 to build power across unions in professional sports, amplify the voices of athletes and shine a light on the challenges they face as workers.”

“Salt Lake City’s oldest and longest-running LGBTQ+ bar has closed, with workers claiming the shuttering was a ‘stunt’ to prevent unionization. The SunTrapp, widely considered the oldest LGBTQ+ bar in Utah was founded in 1973 and is one of the few safe havens for the community. It shut on 31 October after workers pushed to unionize. Workers who spoke with the Guardian allege the owner of the bar engaged in numerous unfair labor practices after they submitted a letter requesting voluntary recognition of the union with Communications Workers of America Local 7765 in late September.”

“Nearly 400 food service workers are set to go on strike at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas this week over wage disputes. They are underpaid and haven’t seen a raise in many years. This is the predicament facing many workers in the service industry, even though they play a critical key role in the contemporary capitalist economy. Gig and service sector workers are indeed among the most overexploited segments of the working class — struggling with low pay, lack of legal protection, and insecure employment. Moreover, as Marxist-feminist scholar Annie McClanahan has explored in her research on the struggles of service workers, “The absence of legal regulation in service work has also kept the sector tethered to racialized, gendered, xenophobic, and ableist logics.” In the Truthout interview that follows, McClanahan — who is associate professor of English at the University of California, Irvine, and author of the forthcoming book Beneath the Wage: Tips, Tasks, and Gigs in the Age of Service Work — shares her analysis of the impending airport strike and the conditions of service workers in the U.S. more broadly.”

“U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has sent a letter to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg urging the company to ‘negotiate in good faith’ and ‘quickly reach an agreement that the IAM 837 machinists can afford to accept,’ continuing growing bipartisan pressure on Boeing to end its strike in St. Louis. Nearly 3,200 IAM District 837 members have been on strike for more than three months – 15 weeks without a paycheck or health care. Boeing has refused to offer a fair contract that reflects the value of the highly skilled workforce building America’s most advanced military aircraft.”

“On Monday, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to repeal more than five years of worker rights violations and to compensate the workers who were impacted by those violations. The order, which enforces a September 2024 ruling from the National Labor Relations Board, reflects the longstanding demands of Post-Gazette workers. They have been on strike since October 2022. The Post-Gazette must now comply with the Court’s order. Strikers look forward to ending the strike and returning to work.”

“Four years after the first Starbucks store in the US unionized in 2021, workers across the country are still facing rampant union busting and still fighting for a first contract with the coffee giant. That is why a supermajority of unionized baristas with Starbucks Workers United recently voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike, which is set to begin on Thursday, Nov. 13, on ‘Red Cup Day,’ in over 25 cities around the US. ‘Union baristas mean business and are ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract and end Starbucks’ unfair labor practices,’ says Michelle Eisen, Starbucks Workers United spokesperson and 15-year veteran barista. ‘If Starbucks keeps stonewalling, they should expect to see their business grind to a halt. The ball is in Starbucks’ court.’ In this urgent episode, we speak with Eisen about the impending strike and the state of the yearslong union struggle at Starbucks.”

“Today, the members of Kickstarter United (KSRU) ended their 42 day-strike and declared victory over the tech company. KSRU secured an escalating minimum salary floor tied to cost of living, strong protections for a codified 32-hour, 4-day workweek from the tech company, key issues that had been unresolved and led to their strike on October 2nd along with union rallies and pickets in Seattle, New York City, and Boston. Kickstarter workers are represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153.”

“Students and professors at over 100 universities across the United States on Friday joined protests against President Donald Trump’s sweeping assault on higher education, including a federal funding compact that critics call ‘extortion.’ Crafted in part by billionaire financier Marc Rowan, Trump’s Compact for Excellence in Higher Education was initially presented to a short list of prestigious schools but later offered to other institutions as a way to restore or gain priority access to federal funding…’The attacks on higher ed are attacks on truth, freedom, and our future. We’re organizing to protect campuses as spaces for learning, not control—for liberation, not censorship,’ said Brianni Davillier, a student organizer with Public Citizen, which is among the advocacy groups and labor unions supporting the Students Rise Up movement behind Friday’s demonstrations.”

“Fleet service workers at Sun Country Airlines have overwhelmingly ratified their first collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 970. The three-year contract delivers significant wage increases, stronger job security, and access to improved benefits. The agreement was approved by a margin of nearly 82 percent.”

“Nearly 50% of Project 2025’s goals have been completed. While the administration is showing no signs of slowing down its effort to fulfill Project 2025’s anti-worker agenda, AFSCME members remain more committed than ever to fighting back through our Get Organized campaign. Since reporting on Project 2025 in April, at least 25 more objectives have been achieved.”