The Weekly Download

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Johnnie Kallas, Assistant Professor at the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois and Program Director of the Labor Action Tracker, to discuss the Labor Action Tracker 2023 Annual Report. Listen to their conversation as they dissect the report's numbers, discuss 2023 strike activity, and make predictions for the next year.”

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Tia Koonse, Legal and Policy Research Manager at the UCLA Labor Center, and Todd Vachon, Assistant Professor in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations and the Director of the Labor Education Action Research Network at Rutgers University. Listen to their conversation on the results of the 2023 BLS Union Members Survey, just transition in climate change and automation, and the business community's growing attacks on the NLRB.”

“RTW laws—and the phrase ‘right to work itself—are intended to deceive and confuse. The misleadingly named policy is designed to make it more difficult for workers to form and sustain unions and negotiate collectively for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. As Martin Luther King, Jr. pointed out in 1961, ‘right to work’ is a ‘false slogan’ since RTW laws provide neither rights nor work and are in fact designed ‘to rob us of our civil rights and job rights [and] to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone.’ Decades later, research bears out King’s contention that ‘wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower.’”

“UFT President Michael Mulgrew told delegates at the Delegate Assembly on Jan. 17 that the union faces both a city and a state budget fight this spring. Gov. Hochul’s proposed 2.6% increase in state aid for New York City public schools was ‘a good starting point, but not enough,’ he said. The governor previously won accolades for committing to fully fund Foundation Aid, but this year she has proposed two changes to that aid that together would result in school districts receiving significantly less than they expected.”

“Tuesday, Feb. 13 will be the first day of the right-to-work repeal. Originally enacted in 2012 by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, the law allowed union workers to opt out of paying dues and fees but still receive union representation. Now all members of a union can be required to pay for the cost of representation at the bargaining table. Something that Ron Bieber the President of Michigan AFL-CIO said this repeal will make for stronger unions and in turn a stronger economy. ‘If we want to make Michigan a place where people want to come and raise a family and build their careers for the long haul, it is critical that we have got these strong workplace protections,’ he said.”

“Grocery and retail workers helped win the strongest tenant protections in Washington state last November for the 100,000 renters in the city of Tacoma. First we had to beat the mayor’s and city council’s attempt to bring a competing watered-down ballot measure. And then we had to overcome a vicious and deceptive landlord opposition that smashed all previous political spending records in Tacoma.”

“The St. Louis Board of Aldermen unanimously passed a Service Employees (SEIU) Local 1 sponsored worker retention bill that will enhance protections for workers and ensure that on city contracts, workers have an opportunity to keep their jobs when there is a change of contractor. The bill is a major victory for working families across St. Louis.”

“A profession that we do not often associate with the moniker of “workers” is football, but that is exactly what those players on the field are. They are the workers whose labor has made football the most popular and prosperous sport in America with revenues closing in at nearly $20 billion. The players who will take the field in Las Vegas this Sunday to play in Super Bowl LVIII will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the NFL, broadcasters, and advertisers with their labor. The concept of the football player as a worker took root among the players in the 1970s and it began a battle that started players on the road to winning their rights – a fight that continues today.”

“As the Opinion video above explores, these are heady times for organized labor. Unions have recently scored big victories in the auto industry and Hollywood; an increasing number of health care workers are starting to organize; and the threat of a strike resulted in big gains for hospitality workers in Las Vegas. Elsewhere, baristas, nail salon and fast food workers, graduate students, warehouse and retail workers, tech employees, domestic workers and ride-share drivers have been mobilizing as unions enjoy levels of public support not seen since the 1960s.”

“California’s fast food workers have a new union to advocate for higher pay and safer working conditions, organizers announced Friday. Thousands of workers statewide will be able to join the California Fast Food Workers Union, an organization that will likely represent a small share of workers but advocate for all fast food employees in the state. The organization doesn’t have the same collective bargaining power of traditional unions, but it will be affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, a traditional union that represents workers in various industries and for more than a decade has fought to raise pay at fast food restaurants. Recently it helped secure a $20-an-hour minimum wage for all fast food workers in California.”

“A group of 1,700 performers who play characters and cheer and dance in parades at Disneyland in California announced their intent Tuesday to unionize with Actors’ Equity. The group, which includes performers who conduct meet and greets in the park and appear in character dining experiences, as well as the hosts and trainers that support them, are asking for increased wages, greater transparency on scheduling and rehiring decisions and addressing concerns about safe and sanitary workplace conditions. Calling themselves ‘Magic United,’ the group has already begun circulating union authorization cards and will aim for voluntary recognition from Disney Resort Entertainment. If that recognition is not granted, Equity will file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board with the goal of being granted an election.” 

“Basnet believes the best way to solve these problems would be for New York State to pass the Nail Salon Minimum Standards Council Act. Daisy Chung, director of the New York Healthy Nail Salons Coalition, the organization spearheading this legislation, describes the bill as an effort to create a permanent sectoral council — giving nail salon workers and business owners a seat at the table with government representatives to recommend changes. Instead of a conventional union, the board would support and promote sector-wide changes. With the creation of this council, nail salon workers, owners and legislators can come together and set standards across the industry without worrying about pitting shop against shop. Chung even notes that Starbucks Workers United-Downstate NY supports the bill.”

“Workers at the Evansville Courier & Press in southwestern Indiana won their union certification election. On February 8, every member of the nine-person unit voted in favor of unionization, becoming the latest Gannett newsroom to form a union. ‘We’ve remained firmly united since the beginning here in Evansville, and I believe the unanimous vote illustrates that,’ said Sarah Loesch, a government reporter at the Courier & Press.”

“On Jan. 25, workers at the Trulieve cannabis dispensary on East Magnolia Street in Phoenix made history by becoming the first group of cannabis agriculture workers in Arizona to unionize by joining UFCW Local 99 and the second group of agriculture workers to form a union in state history.”

“Trader Joe’s isn’t backing down in a trademark battle with its workers’ union. Last month a federal judge threw out all of the company’s claims that the union, Trader Joe’s United, had violated its trademarks with the union’s name and logo. The judge went so far as to say that the company’s attorneys nearly deserved sanctions for even filing the lawsuit. But the scathing order didn’t stop Trader Joe’s from filing an appeal in federal court Thursday in hopes of keeping the lawsuit alive. The company is trying to force the union to stop selling merchandise like tote bags, T-shirts and mugs that have the name Trader Joe’s United on them.”

“A lawsuit filed by New York growers challenges the right of farmworkers on H-2A visas to unionize. Win or lose, the lawsuit is posing an obstacle to the state’s farmworkers, who only won the right to collectively bargain in 2019.”

“Last month, Passional Boutique and Sexploratorium, a Philadelphia sex shop with a reputation for “inclusivity,” laid off its entire staff after they asked the store to recognize their union. Jacobin spoke with one of the workers.”

“How transformative was the strike that the United Auto Workers concluded in November 2023, when it shut down factories at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, which now incorporates Chrysler? The UAW has been in existence for nearly 90 years, during which three contests with capital have defined the character of the union and–because of its vanguard role–the expectations and standards for millions of other workers. Should we add last Fall’s brilliantly led and highly successful “stand-up” strike to that list?”

“Drivers for Uber Technologies, Lyft, and delivery workers for DoorDash were staging a strike on Wednesday, seeking fair pay and better treatment. Workers say the rideshare and food delivery platforms are taking disproportionate sums from their fares as fees, hurting their earnings. The protest comes just as Uber, the largest ride-share company, saw its shares hit a record high after announcing a $7 billion share buyback.”

“Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), voted 99.48% yes, with 93.47% participating, on strike authorization should management fail to agree to significant improvements…The last time Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants went on strike was the famous 1993 strike, where Flight Attendants took over the schedule using AFA’s trademarked strike strategy, Creating Havoc Around Our System or CHAOS. A CHAOS strike is an intermittent strike strategy, where Flight Attendants could strike any flight at any time without notice to management or passengers.” 

“The approximately 2,500 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 1005 want more from the Metropolitan Council, the municipal agency that manages the transit system in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area. The previous contract expired on July 31, 2023 and on September 10 and 11 of 2023, members voted to authorize a strike, with 94% of those who turned out voting in favor. Five months later, on February 8, 2024, a tentative agreement (TA) was reached between the Metropolitan Council and the union’s bargaining committee.”

“This spring, thousands of workers across Minnesota will have expired contracts all at the same time. Among them are healthcare workers, janitors, security officers, airport workers, construction workers, educators, education support professionals, and public workers. Organizers within Minnesota’s labor movement are making use of this unique moment to exert joint pressure on employers across sectors to meet workers’ demands. Over the past decade, unions and community groups in Minnesota have been creating partnerships with a shared analysis of power, and holding employers and leaders accountable, all while building an alignment strategy that they say grows their organizations and wins more for their members. It’s culminating in a joint escalation, with a deadline of March 2 kicking off a week of action. At that time, potentially six unions will have expired contracts at once, meaning they would legally be allowed to strike at the same time, and allied community groups, workers centers, and unions have agreed to push social demands.”

“Floor Leads and Cannabis Guides at Enlightened Dispensary, a subsidiary of multi-state operator Revolution Cannabis, voted 20-1 in favor of ratifying their first collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 777…The organizing victory marks a milestone for Local 777, which has successfully secured collective bargaining agreements at virtually all dispensaries it now represents. In addition to wage increases, improvements in the new contract at Enlightened include 11 paid holidays, a better scheduling policy, and employer-provided lunch or celebration on 4/20.”

“The Federation of Nurses/UFT members at Staten Island University Hospital–South overwhelmingly voted in late December to ratify a renegotiated contract that provides additional wage and step increases. After months of advocacy on the part of the union, SIUH Northwell Health agreed to take the unusual step of reopening the contract to renegotiate fair compensation for the nurses, said UFT Vice President Anne Goldman, the head of the Federation of Nurses/UFT.”

"Unions and collective action have long served as a vehicle for ensuring prosperity for working families and creating a more equal economy. Despite these critical functions, workers engaged in collective action, like strikes, have historically been barred from accessing safety net programs like unemployment insurance (UI). In a welcome development, state lawmakers are beginning to rethink this convention, recognizing the dual roles of UI in stabilizing the economy and unions in securing broad-based economic growth."