The Weekly Download

“This summer has broken records for heat all across the country. From the smoke generated by the Canadian wildfires spreading south, to the sweltering heat wave in Southern states, to the earliest heat advisories on record in New York and Boston, Americans are increasingly concerned for their health. Like other public health issues, the heat affects some groups of people disproportionately.”

“Paying the National Labor Relations Board a backward compliment, Republican senators seem to be celebrating Labor Day this year by trying to shut it down. The good news is that they’re making a terrible hash of it.”

“​​With more than 340 victories at Starbucks stores across the US, the campaign to organize the coffee chain’s workers is one of the most successful union drives in a generation. But Starbucks’ fierce union-busting campaign has badly slowed its momentum and exposed deep flaws in US labor law that threaten other promising unionization efforts…Many labor experts say the unionization campaign at Starbucks has done more than any other effort to inspire union drives, whether at Trader Joe’s, Apple or elsewhere, but if Starbucks succeeds in quashing its baristas’ organizing efforts and prevents them from ever getting a first contract, that would be a major symbolic and substantive blow to the hopes for a union rebirth in the US.”

“Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Tuesday vetoed an ordinance that would have set minimum rideshare pay rates and guaranteed a host of other labor protections for Uber and Lyft drivers, in what the leader of a rideshare workers’ advocacy group called a 'second painful experience' during the last several months. The ordinance passed by the Minneapolis City Council last week would have set pay rates for drivers to a minimum of $1.40 per mile, $.51 per minute, and $5 per ride. The bill would have also created a city-run resource center for drivers, allowed them to appeal deactivations from the services, and banned the use of gift cards to force riders to use their own names, which drivers’ advocates argue would blunt an increase in crimes against drivers.”  

“Two of the New York Times' unions have sent cease-and-desist letters to management over its new policies that will see the Times monitoring its workers' return to office via badge swipes, sources told Axios.”

“Wall Street’s insatiable thirst for profit has created a dangerous environment in the railroad industry, especially after wide implementation of stock buybacks and precision scheduled railroading, or PSR. The railroad owners’ actions demonstrate unconcern for their employees—the very people who make their profit—and for public safety, as evidenced in Norfolk Southern’s lukewarm response to this year’s train derailment and subsequent environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.”

“The Hawaii Nurses Association says it is filing an unfair labor practice charge against the management at Oahu Care Facility, a nursing home in Honolulu. The union said after months of contentious negotiations over a new contract — and a seven-day strike in July — on behalf of the facility’s registered nurses and certified nurse aides, it was hopeful…. After notifying management last Thursday that members had voted to ratify the agreements, the union learned the next day it was eliminating a medical insurance plan.”

“Labor unions continue to enjoy high support in the U.S., with 67% of Americans approving of them, similar to the elevated level seen in recent years after more than a decade of rising support. Mirroring this trend, Americans have gradually become more likely than a decade ago to want unions’ influence to strengthen and to believe unions benefit various aspects of business and the economy.”

“Unionization so far this year has hit near-historic levels, with more than 58,000 workers—driven largely by graduate students and medical interns—voting to organize within the last six months. In the first half of 2023, organized labor has held onto its momentum from 2022, unionizing a total of 58,483 workers, 10,000 more than last year’s first-half tally of 43,502, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis of National Labor Relations Board election data. The figure represents the second-highest first-half organizing total since 2000.”

“Members of Data Center Operators of Colorado-CWA Union won their National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election on August 28, marking a significant step towards ensuring fair treatment and just compensation for workers in the data center industry. The workers are based at International Game Technology’s Pueblo, Colorado data center…Workers at the IGT Pueblo data center began organizing after discovering that new workers were being paid substantially higher rates compared to existing staff, many of whom had dedicated years to the company. This unsettling pattern was exacerbated by cumulative negative adjustments to compensation, fringe benefits, overtime calculations, and a 15% pay reduction during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Trader Joe’s workers in New York City may be getting a second chance at forming a union after their election failed with a tied vote earlier this year, thanks to a groundbreaking new rule handed down by federal labor officials last week.”

“Before she had turned 18, Syrah May Lark rode a unicycle across the United States. Now a month shy of 24, the precocious bike mechanic has been a co-lead for the successful Blue Krewe United unionization campaign in a state where union density is at its lowest in the last decade.”

“The Power At Work Blog proudly presents an exclusive and important interview with Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, as our first Labor Day blogcast.  General Counsel Abruzzo is the nation’s labor law prosecutor and a driving force for pro-worker strengthening of America’s private-sector labor law. Abruzzo talks candidly about her long history with the NLRB, the organization’s mission and workers’ rights, and some of the most important labor issues in our country today. If you care about worker power, collective action, and unions, this is one interview you should not miss.”

“The Treasury Department today is releasing its most comprehensive ever look at the role that labor unions play in the American economy with a new report by the Department’s Office of Economic Policy. The report represents one of the over 70 actions implemented by the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, chaired by Vice President Harris. The report finds that unions play an important role in addressing longstanding challenges faced by the middle class – including stagnant wages, high housing costs, and reduced intergenerational mobility.  In doing so, unions contribute to a more robust and resilient economy.”

“Today, the NLRB issued two full-Board decisions, Wendt Corporation and Tecnocap, LLC, (both decided on August 26, 2023), addressing the statutory duty of employers to bargain with unions before making changes in terms and conditions of work.”

"The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a notice of proposed rulemaking to revise regulations regarding who can be authorized by employees to act as their representative to accompany the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance officers during physical workplace inspections. Specifically, the proposed rule clarifies that employees may authorize an employee, or they may authorize a non-employee third party if the compliance officer determines the third party is reasonably necessary to conduct an effective and thorough inspection."

“A coalition of labor unions and civic groups in Georgia and Alabama will launch a pressure campaign on Monday targeting Hyundai’s electric vehicle plants and its clean energy suppliers, an effort that could also push the Biden administration to make good on its oft-repeated pledge to create not just jobs but ‘good union jobs.’ By focusing on the shift to electric vehicles at Hyundai, a nonunion carmaker expected to reap huge benefits from Mr. Biden’s prized initiatives, the coalition hopes to make inroads at other automakers, such as B.M.W. in South Carolina and Mercedes-Benz in Alabama, which similarly chose union-hostile territory for their American manufacturing bases.”

“UAW President Shawn Fain announced today that the union’s strike authorization vote passed with near universal approval from the 150,000 union workers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Final votes are still being tabulated, but the current combined average across the Big Three was 97% in favor of strike authorization. The vote does not guarantee a strike will be called, only that the union has the right to call a strike if the Big Three refuse to reach a fair deal. ‘Our union’s membership is clearly fed up with living paycheck-to-paycheck while the corporate elite and billionaire class continue to make out like bandits,’ said UAW President Fain. ‘The Big Three have been breaking the bank while we have been breaking our backs.’"

“This summer, workers across the country—from Hollywood writers to nurses, factory workers, and Starbucks baristas—were either walking a picket line or preparing for labor actions, the latest sign that U.S. workers are increasingly interested in using collective action to improve the terms and conditions of work. In fact, workers are filing petitions for union elections and charges for violations of their right to organize and bargain collectively at the highest rates since the 1950s…This backdrop of high and rising inequality and the role that policy-driven attacks on collective bargaining have played in generating inequality should be kept in mind as this summer’s labor actions unfold.”

“This two-year series explores how American workers across political, geographic and racial lines are challenging an increasingly unequal economic status quo. Our reporters take readers inside some of the most innovative, high-stakes organizing campaigns in the country, from the Deep South to the industrial heartland to the urban centers of both coasts and beyond.”

“Members of Unite Here Local 11 announced the boycott Thursday, describing it as a 'major escalation' in a battle with hotels that has rattled LA’s tourism industry. They want groups planning large-scale meetings to cancel or postpone them until the union has reached new deals with the hotels, or to move the events to another town.”

"Even after more than one hundred days of a nationwide strike of Hollywood writers, studio heads are monumentally out of touch with the most basic demands that those writers are unified around winning."

“The union representing employees of the National Science Foundation are fighting orders reducing the number of days they can telework, warning people will quit if greater flexibility isn't preserved.”

“Union leaders identified the man who died Friday while working at a Kroger Distribution Center in Memphis. Members of Teamster 667 are demanding change at the facility located in the 5000 block of Bledsoe Road, following the death of Tony Rufus. The union said Rufus died Friday while desperately trying to find a way to cool off amid extremely hot temperatures.”

“Picket lines can be dramatic places, when scabs try to cross. But most of the time, the drama is muted, and if the strike is a long one, it can get, well, dull. But that doesn't have to be.”

“SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee said Sunday it ‘remains ready at a moment’s notice to go back to the bargaining table to secure a righteous deal’ to end the actors’ strike, which is now in its 46th day. ‘Unfortunately, as we’ve seen from the recent news out of the WGA negotiations, it appears the AMPTP is still unwilling to make the concessions necessary to make a fair deal that would bring the strikes to a close.’”

“After six years of negotiations, AFGE’s National VA Council and the Department of Veterans Affairs signed a collective bargaining agreement that defends critical protections for VA workers while modernizing the hiring process.”

“United Auto Workers-represented employees at the General Motors Co. and LG Energy Solution joint-venture battery plant in northeast Ohio have approved a wage increase agreement, Ultium Cells LLC, the GM-LG company, and the UAW said Sunday. The interim wage increase for about 1,100 employees was ratified with a 97.6% approval, according to Ultium Cells. The UAW said the agreement was approved 895 to 22.”

“On August 10, the Humboldt Bay Harbor District approved a project labor agreement (PLA) for the construction of an offshore wind terminal at the Port of Humboldt Bay that also secures the ILWU’s traditional, historic, and geographic jurisdiction at the Port.”

“After a seven-month contract campaign and a seven-day strike, the Oakland Education Association won substantial raises and broad benefits, including 'common good' demands. It was a hugely popular tentative agreement—ratified with a 90 percent yes vote, with nearly 80 percent of members voting—in large part because of our 'big bargaining' approach, meaning an expanded bargaining team with robust communication back and forth with the members.”

“Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers (USW) have reached a tentative agreement. The new three-year contract will cover the approximately 430 workers who mine taconite in Babbitt and make iron ore pellets in Silver Bay at the Northshore Mine. This comes after the workers chose to unionize in July.”

“Within the labor movement, all of the bright ideas and strategic insights in the world won’t amount to much if the democratic rights of union members themselves aren’t respected, restored, and expanded.”

“In this Q&A with Prism, Union of Southern Service Workers member Mama Cookie discusses the uphill battle of fighting for labor rights and protections in North Carolina.”