The Weekly Download

“Strikes are workers’ most important and impactful weapon. They can be an essential tool in achieving workers’ objectives at the bargaining table or when an employer has broken the law, put workers at risk, or behaved unfairly. Strikes embody the power of collective action and worker power. But strikes come at a cost. Only the workers who are directly involved can or should decide if that cost is worth the potential benefits.”

“Over the last year, unionization drives by Starbucks baristas and Amazon warehouse workers have all but monopolized the attention of the labor organizing world. That may be why the most important development in the field has operated under the radar until very recently. We’re talking about the contract talks between United Parcel Service and about 340,000 members of the Teamsters union.”

“Some members of the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have written a letter to union leadership urging the negotiating committee not to settle with the Hollywood studios on a deal that does not represent their demands. The letter, which was shared with CNN, expresses concern that ‘this is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough….We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade. We need to reverse those trajectories,’ the letter continued.”

“Starbucks Corp. plans to issue “clearer centralized guidelines” for in-store visual displays and decorations following a union’s allegations that managers banned Pride-themed decor, which the company disputes. ‘We have heard from our partners that you want to be creative in how our stores are represented and that you see visual creativity in stores as part of who we are and our culture,’ North America President Sara Trilling said Monday in a memo to employees seen by Bloomberg News. ‘Equally, we have also heard through our partner channels that there is a need for clarity and consistency on current guidelines around visual displays and decorations.’ Starbucks on Monday also filed complaints against the union with the National Labor Relations Board. In an emailed statement, Workers United said that it is confident the complaints will be dismissed. Workers United alleged in mid-June that store employees in states across the US were told Pride decorations weren’t allowed. On Friday, baristas at several unionized locations kicked off a 150-store ‘Strike With Pride’ protesting the company’s ‘illegal union-busting campaign’ while speaking against ‘Starbucks’ treatment of LGBTQIA+ workers,’ according to a statement from the union. The company denies illegal anti-union activity.”

“On Wednesday, June 7, 2,400 academic workers walked off the job at the University of Washington in Seattle for six days. About nine hundred postdocs represented by United Auto Workers (UAW) 4121 Academic Workers and 1,400 researcher scientists/engineers (RSEs) represented by University of Washington (UW) Researchers United–UAW were striking in response to what they describe as bad-faith bargaining by the university.”

“Striking workers at Erie's Wabtec Corp. plant picketed for hours earlier this week in driving rains. On Wednesday, as the strike entered its seventh day, members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machines Workers of America found themselves walking through a smoky haze thanks to ongoing Canadian wildfires.”

“New England farm workers with the Milk with Dignity campaign are planning a rally in the city on Saturday, and campaign organizers are demanding action from Hannaford supermarkets. The organizers want the supermarket chain to sign a farmworker-authored code of conduct that sets standards for labor and housing conditions on dairy farms — including those in Maine — that the chain uses to supply its store brand milk. Hannaford operates 186 stores in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Locally headquartered in Scarborough, Hannaford’s corporate, multinational parent company is Ahold Delhaize of the Netherlands. Vermont-based farm worker organization Migrant Justice is heading up the Milk with Dignity campaign. Dedicated to New England farm worker rights, it was founded in the wake of Jose Obeth Santiz Cruz’s 2009 death. Cruz was pulled into a mechanized gutter scraper and strangled to death by his clothing on a Vermont dairy farm.”

“Watch Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris in conversation with Cathy Nolan, former New York State Assemblywoman for District 37, and Jessica García, Assistant to the President of the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Union (RWDSU), as they discuss agricultural workers rights, the barriers and triumphs organizing under the 2019 New York Farm Workers Bill, the fight to get it passed, and much more.”

“Amazon is embroiled in a fight with workers at one of its delivery service partners in what union activists say is part of a longstanding anti-union drive by the retail giant which is now facing scrutiny in the US Senate for its anti-labor rights practices. At Battle Tested Strategies, an Amazon delivery service partner in Palmdale, California, workers are currently fighting Amazon’s intent to terminate the delivery service partner’s contract on Saturday. That matters because the 84 drivers and dispatchers at BTS became the first in Amazon’s network to unionize in the US in April among the company’s roughly 3,000 delivery service partners. Workers are now engaged in an unfair labor practice strike to demand Amazon bargain with the union, rather than simply terminate the contract.”

“This year, workers from GrowNYC and FRESHFARM, two sustainable food access nonprofits in New York City and the Washington, D.C. metro area respectively, formed unions. Workers who support and organize farmers markets, compost programs, and other initiatives will begin collectively bargaining for higher wages and job security in the coming months for the first time in the history of the industry.”

“On-air hosts, disc jockeys, producers, and others at Philadelphia radio station Power 99-FM are trying to organize a union. A group of 10 employees of the WUSL-FM radio station, which is owned by iHeartMedia Inc., filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on June 20. They are seeking to be represented by the Philadelphia local of the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).”

“Last week, New York City finalized a rule setting a minimum pay standard of $17.96 per hour for delivery workers for gig companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Postmates. The new rule resulted from an extended campaign by Los Deliveristas Unidos, a fierce organization of delivery workers who brave traffic, snow, floods, heat, smoke, and COVID to bring New Yorkers our dinner. According to the city’s analysis, the current estimated pay rate from companies is a mere $7.09 per hour. This inadequate pay happens in large part because delivery-app companies treat workers as independent contractors, depriving them of the basic employee protections like paid sick days, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance…Instead of feeling lucky that for so long they’ve gotten to avoid the laws that every other business has to follow, these companies have expressed great consternation about New York City’s new rule on pay. DoorDash, for example, lambasted the city’s action as ‘deeply misguided’ and likely to harm workers; it also threatened a possible lawsuit.”

“The New Orleans City Council unanimously voted 7-0 to codify collective bargaining into city law. While New Orleans Local 632 already had the right to collective bargaining, this law extends that right to all city employees and adds binding arbitration. Until now, New Orleans Local 632 has been the only union allowed to collectively bargain; however, without binding arbitration, ongoing disputes with the city have prevented the Local from successfully negotiating a new contract since 2011.”

“In a new video, UAW President Shawn Fain lays out a key goal of 2023 contract negotiations with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis: winning back COLA, or Cost of Living Adjustments. Without COLA, inflation has far outpaced the raises UAW members negotiated in 2019. By contrast, CEOs of the Big Three have seen their pay jump over 40 percent between 2019 and 2022. ‘Inflation is hammering the American people. We see it in the cost of eggs, the price of milk. We feel the squeeze at the gas pump, and when we pay rent. Bills go up and our paychecks don’t. Working people can’t keep up.’...Big Three contracts are set to expire on September 14th.”

“The Directors Guild of America has voted to ratify a new labor contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. On Friday evening, as the seventh week of the Writers Guild of America’s ongoing strike was drawing to a close, members of the Directors Guild of America “overwhelmingly” ratified a new labor agreement with the AMPTP that guarantees pay increases and larger residual payouts and includes some language about protections against artificial intelligence tools.”

“Now that the Supreme Court has forced a fight over fundamental rights into statehouses across the country, working people are speaking out in favor of legislation that would protect and expand the right to bodily autonomy and the confidential relationship between providers and patients. We are also demanding that electeds must prioritize overdue and necessary investments in our child care system and family and medical paid leave, end the gender wage gap, and increase access to jobs with high wages and good benefits. Efforts from extremist lawmakers to curtail our rights will only continue to ramp up over the next several months, but the labor movement will continue to stand in the gap.”

“Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N) and its machinists union reached a tentative contract agreement on Tuesday, with about 6,000 workers set to vote Thursday on whether to end a strike at the company's plant in Wichita, Kansas. The four-year contract includes wage increases of at least 23.5% over the life of the deal, guaranteed annual bonuses and a yearly cost of living adjustment, and a $3,000 signing bonus if the contract is accepted by Thursday, Spirit said in a statement.”

“Over 1,000 Compass food service workers ratify life-changing union contracts that include more than $8 in raises, 4 weeks paid parental leave, affordable or free healthcare, an end to non-union temporary workers in their shops, and more.”

“In the 1970s, New York City was rescued by a collaboration of union leaders and money men. Could such an alliance happen today?”

“This June also marks the 80th anniversary of a remarkable strike at the giant R.J. Reynolds tobacco plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which established Local 22 of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers (FTA). One of those strikers, a sharecropper’s daughter named Moranda Smith, would be elected to the national union’s executive committee three and a half years later, making her the first Black woman in the national leadership of a U.S. union.”