The Weekly Download

"In this special blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by film and labor experts to reveal the results of the blog's #LaborOscars2024 and discuss the importance of supporting worker power in media. This conversation features Andrea Lyman, actor and New England Local President of SAG-AFTRA; Harold Phillips, actor, host of "Labor Week," co-coordinator of the Labor Radio Podcast Network, and SAG-AFTRA member; and Jennifer Merin, journalist, film critic, and co-founder and President of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Watch now to hear our experts' takes on our nominees and find out which films will take home ‘The Worker!’ You don't want to miss this star-studded awards ceremony!”

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Wendy Chun-Hoon, Director of the Women's Bureau in the Department of Labor; Anita Bruno, founder and CEO of Rhode Island Women in the Trades; Jeannine Giguere-Gagnon, retired union carpenter and RI Women in the Trades representatives; and Sinade Wadsworth, New York City union carpenter and RI Women in the Trades representative to discuss the Women's Bureau's WANTO grant program, the upcoming Rhode Island Labor Standards conference, and the importance of providing education and support to women in construction.”

“Contract faculty at New York University won a historic victory on Wednesday when an overwhelming majority voted to form a union affiliated with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 7902. The union, known as Contract Faculty United (CFU-UAW), is now the largest union for full-time, non-tenured professors at any private university in the United States, according to union organizers. In the union representation election, 87% of voters cast their ballots in favor of authorizing CFU-UAW to act as their bargaining representative. Of the 626 votes cast, 553 voted in favor, with 72 opposed (one blank ballot was also cast).”

“Auto workers at a Toyota engine plant in Troy, Missouri, have signed up 30 percent of their 1,000 co-workers to join the United Auto Workers (UAW)—a first at Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, on the heels of the union’s announcements of organizing campaigns at Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz.”

“When Shawn Fain, the United Automobile Workers president, unveiled the deal that ended six weeks of strikes at Ford Motor in the fall, he framed it as part of a longer campaign. Next, he declared, would be the task of organizing nonunion plants across the country…Four months later, the first test of that strategy has come into focus, and it features a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. According to the union, more than half of over 4,000 eligible workers have signed cards indicating support for a union. Workers say they have done so because they want higher pay, more paid time off and more generous health benefits — and because the recent strikes at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis persuaded them that a union can help win these concessions.”

“Members of the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team voted to form the very first union in a college sports program on Tuesday, delivering a boost to organized labor and another potential blow to the collegiate amateurism model. The union election held at the Ivy League school in Hanover, New Hampshire, could prove to be historic, but the legal battle over whether the players can bargain collectively is far from over. Dartmouth’s trustees have disputed the athletes’ legal status as employees eligible to unionize. It could be years before the case is resolved at the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees private-sector union elections, and possibly federal court afterwards.”

“Rocket maker SpaceX is being accused in a new lawsuit of refusing to promote a female production worker, paying her less than male colleagues and retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment by her manager. Michelle Dopak, a production coordinator at SpaceX headquarters in California, said in the lawsuit filed in state court on Tuesday that company officials including president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell have ignored complaints by her and other employees of widespread bias against women.”

“This week, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Fordham University for violating union members’ right to engage in a legally protected union action. Fordham leadership has waged a protracted fight against the workers who perform core functions of the university, including instructing graduate students and conducting research. Since the workers first formed their union, the Fordham Graduate Student Workers (FGSW-CWA), in 2022, Fordham leadership has drawn out contract negotiations for 18 months.”

“In this new Power At Work Blog weekly segment, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow and former top White House economic advisor Seth Harris provides his analysis of the latest news stories in the labor movement. In this episode, Seth discusses Starbucks and Workers United's framework for collective bargaining, UAW's organizing plans, and NYU contract faculty's recent election victory.”

“The idea that the labor and climate movements must unite for a Green New Deal is more popular than ever. To get it done, we'll need to take the threat of job loss seriously, finding and uplifting commonalities between climate goals and worker self-interest.”

“Communities across Florida soon may not be able to create employment regulations. The Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would ban cities and counties from having heat protections in place for workers. Last summer many parts of the state saw temperatures reaching more than 100 degrees.”

“Minnesota’s Labor Spring has arrived. Thousands of essential workers and community members are taking part in a Week of Action in the Twin Cities to fight for a host of social demands they hope will build worker power and strengthen communities. They are calling for better union contracts and a labor standards advisory board, alongside social housing, environmental sustainability, and better schools. The alignment of unions, workers’ centers and community organizations, and the broad scope of their aims, is being heralded as a model of social movement unionism, or bargaining for the common good. The effort, which emanates from more than a decade of organizing and movement building, is uniting under the motto, ‘What could we win together?’”

“Still fighting for a first contract, educators from KIPP St. Louis High School, represented by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 420, attempted to deliver a petition Feb. 22 to district leaders outlining their key concerns as contract negotiations drag on. Officials at the district headquarters at 1310 Papin St. in downtown St. Louis refused to accept the petition but did agree, earlier in the day, to return to the bargaining table with union members.”

“The persistence of AFSCME Local 1624 members has protected thousands of Austin city workers’ telework schedules that were on the chopping block. This past summer, the interim city manager shocked city workers when he announced a return-to-work policy that mandated employees to report to the office at least three days a week, a stark change from the mostly 100% telework schedules they had been working since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“After more than six months of bargaining their successor contract, teaching fellows, teaching assistants, course assistants, research assistants, and tutors at The New School, represented by United Auto Workers (UAW), will go on strike this coming Wednesday. Having authorized their strike with 94% voting yes, and a historic 77% of members participating, academic student workers have a powerful mandate for its work stoppage. For over half a year the workers have bargained continuously and in good faith with The New School. The university, meanwhile, has dragged its feet, and offered insulting poverty wages in a time of skyrocketing inflation. The strike will proceed unless the university comes back to the table before March 6 with an acceptable offer.”

“A coalition of labor unions said on Tuesday it is ending its boardroom fight at Starbucks (SBUX.O), opens new tab after the coffee chain last week agreed to work toward reaching labor agreements. The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of North American labor unions, is withdrawing its three director candidates for the coffee chain's 11-member board one week before Starbucks investors were slated to elect directors to oversee corporate strategy at the company's March 13 annual meeting. The union confirmed what Reuters had reported earlier. Many large investors told the coalition, which includes the parent of Workers United, which represents Starbucks workers, they are optimistic Starbucks is committed to changes and plans to repair its relationship with employees, the sources said.”

“Today, Teamsters at Anheuser-Busch voted by an overwhelming 86 percent to ratify a five-year agreement that significantly raises pay, improves health care and retirement benefits, and protects all members’ jobs. The new agreement rewards 5,000 Teamsters working at Anheuser-Busch breweries nationwide.”

“Thousands of Hollywood crew members and their supporters gathered Sunday in the crisp morning air and muddy fields at Encino’s Woodley Park in a show of unity ahead of contract negotiations that begin this week with the major film and TV studios…Sunday’s rally, organized by IATSE, Teamsters and other unions representing more than 66,000 Hollywood crew members, underscored that the labor unrest that roiled the entertainment industry last year is not over. After writers and actors secured historic gains by striking for nearly six months combined, camera operators, makeup artists, costumers, carpenters, animal trainers and others who work behind the scenes on film and TV sets are pursuing demands for improved pay and working conditions as their contracts with the major entertainment companies come up for renewal.”

“Unionized journalists at The Desert Sun, the Coachella Valley’s daily newspaper, have reached an agreement for a first contract. The tentative agreement comes two days after the 15 NewsGuild-CWA members at the Desert Sun launched a ULP strike — the 25th strike organized by NewsGuild members in 2024 so far — over the company’s refusal to offer consistent raises that reflect the skyrocketing cost of living in the valley, as well as its unwillingness to offer any protections against exorbitant health care cost hikes.” 

“It’s been nearly six years since the initial boot camp program kicked off in July of 2018, and the success of the program is evident. Dozens of local lodges have hosted the camps throughout the United States, completing 258,730 training hours in over 105 boot camps, teaching 1244 students with an overall pass rate of 86%. In just the first two months of 2024, seven boot camps trained both new recruits and apprentices.”

“A new election for top officers will be held in Machinists District Lodge 19 on May 3, after complaints about bad addresses and campaigning at polling locations during a close vote last year. The new vote for president and secretary-treasurer will establish who will set the union’s approach to the upcoming contract fight with the big freight rail carriers. Negotiations between the 13 rail unions and the carriers begin later this year. District Lodge 19 represents 8,000 machinists who repair locomotives and heavy equipment for carriers including CSX, BNSF, and Union Pacific.”