The Weekly Download

“In this edition of The Power Hour, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Roberto Corrada from the Denver University Sturm College of Law and Harry Katz from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations to discuss arbitration, organizing in college athletics, general views on the state of labor and much more.”

“Unionization and an interest in worker power may seem to be far from the minds of younger generations. However, Generation Z — born between 1997 and 2012, with those a part of it ranging from 12 to 27 years old today — has shown record breaking support for unions, signaling what could be a new era for the future of worker power and unions. Members of Gen Z have faced their fair share of struggle. The climate crisis is an ever-present fear. The Covid-19 pandemic affected almost all aspects of their lives. They suffer high rates of poor mental health. However, in the face of all this adversity and more, Gen Zers have used their voices to advocate for issues important to them. It is one of the most progressive generations, and worker power is one of their causes.”

“The Teamsters International, a powerful US transportation workers union that represents over 1.3 million workers, declined to endorse a candidate ahead of November’s presidential election – but released data suggesting most of its members backed Donald Trump over Kamala Harris.”

“The farmworkers scattered. There was a union representative in the workers’ employer-provided housing, on an orchard in upstate New York. Their employer, apple grower Porpiglia Farms, had hired them on H-2A, or temporary labor, visas. That day in August 2023, according to the workers’ union, United Farm Workers, the orchard’s owners burst in. The farmworkers ran or hid in their rooms.”

“In more than three decades as a studio executive and producer, Kevin Misher has worked on some of the most beloved movies in Hollywood, including ‘Rudy,’ ‘Meet the Parents’ and ‘Public Enemies’...But today, even as Mr. Misher continues to produce high-profile movies like ‘Coming 2 America’ and ‘You People,’ as well as television shows, documentaries and podcasts, his company has slimmed down amid the industry’s changing economics. Years often pass between the time producers start a project and the time they are paid. Deals for producers have dried up as studios have sought greater efficiencies. Mr. Misher’s six employees have dwindled to one, along with a partner who earns a portion of his fees.”

“A growing number of liberal states have passed paid sick leave laws in recent years, assuring workers get paid time off to care for themselves or their loved ones when they’re ill. Now some conservative states might be getting in on the act, too. Campaigns in Nebraska, Missouri and Alaska have secured enough signatures to put sick leave measures on their ballots this November. If voters approve them, the laws would let workers start accruing one hour of paid sick time for every 30 they work, capped at 56 hours per year at large employers and 40 at small ones.”

“Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a handful of artificial intelligence-related bills that would give actors more protection over their digital likenesses and fight against the spread of deep fakes in political ads, among other regulations aimed at the fast-rising technology….Two of the laws that Newsom signed would give performers more protections over their digital likeness. One prohibits and penalizes the making and distribution of a deceased person’s digital replica without permission from their estate. The other makes a contract unenforceable if a digital replica of an actor was used when the individual could have performed the work in person or if the contract did not include a reasonably specific description of how the digital replica would be used.”

“For nearly a century, the federal registered apprenticeship system has been transformative for millions of apprentices as a pathway to the middle class. Despite strong evidence that registered apprenticeships provide workers with higher-than-average wages and pathways to good jobs, the far-right authoritarian playbook known as Project 2025 proposes creating a lower-quality parallel program. This would be a fundamental attack on existing, successful registered apprenticeship programs, eliminating the incentives for employers to partner with workers on high-quality training. Specifically, Project 2025 seeks to revive a failed Trump administration proposal called the Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP), which was quickly reversed by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2021 after President Joe Biden took office. The IRAP model sought to eliminate and weaken quality standards and worker protections for apprenticeship programs, including by assigning oversight authority to third-party industry groups. The end result would have been a system that prioritized corporate interests over workers.”

“Erika Patricia Deluque Barros said she was working in a tomato field in Yolo County when she first started feeling shaky and nauseous. An immigrant from Colombia with little experience working in the fields, she said she didn’t know at the time that the summer heat could make her sick.”

“Contracts come and contracts go, but the bosses keep on scheming forever. So workers’ resistance must be permanent. In August, 17 union locals representing tens of thousands of workers charged the automaker Stellantis with failing to honor its agreements by reneging on investment promises, including the celebrated reopening of the Belvidere assembly plant in Illinois.”

““We’re fighting for every family,” said the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union that represents about 33,000 workers at commercial plane manufacturer Boeing, on Friday, after its members voted to reject a tentative contract offered by the company and go on strike. “We’re fighting for the future of Boeing.””

“At ports from Maine all the way down to Texas, 45,000 dockworkers are looking for a substantial pay raise and protections against automation. But negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association union and port employers have stalled ahead of an end-of-month deadline. As a result, we’re likely looking at an East Coast port strike just in time for the holiday shopping season. More than half of U.S. imports arrive via the East Coast and Gulf Coast, said Mia Ginter, who follows ocean freight at freight transport company C.H. Robinson, including lots of cargo from Asia.” 

“JACKSON – After months of negotiations, approximately 525 UAW members have walked out on strike at Eaton Aerospace, an aerospace factory in Jackson, Michigan that produces hydraulics equipment for civil, commercial, and military aircraft. The strike came after the workers’ extended contract expired on September 5.”

“Boston, Mass. – Over 1,250 hotel workers are on strike in Boston, New Haven, Conn., and San Diego as labor disputes continue across the country. They are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts. The workers are members of the UNITE HERE union, and they include housekeepers, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, bellhops, doormen, and more.”

“Across the Southeast, members of CWA District 3 continue their strike against AT&T. Members have been on the picket lines since August 16. Workers hope to return to their jobs soon, but AT&T must engage in good faith bargaining and send negotiators who have both the authority to make decisions and a serious intent to reach an agreement.”

“Public service workers in Washington state who are members of AFSCME Council 28 walked out of their jobs at noon on Tuesday to stand in solidarity with each other and demand fair contracts. The workers, who are members of the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE/AFSCME Council 28), are employed at state agencies, local hospitals, community colleges and four-year universities. They are negotiating a two-year collective bargaining agreement to begin in 2025.”

“In July 2023, early morning visitors to Baltimore’s Common Ground coffee shop found a sign taped to the door⁠. With a thank you to the Hampden community that had sustained it for 25 years, owner Michael Krupp announced the shop would be ceasing operations ​’effective immediately.’ Common Ground employees released a statement saying they had only been notified themselves the previous afternoon and, notably, had been a few months into forming a union. According to Common Ground barista Nic Koski, the effort was sparked by ​’general workplace concerns in terms of people wanting more fair, equitable wages, especially between in front of house and back of house, and better treatment — wanting to look into health care and benefits.’ Now out of work, Common Ground’s former staff turned to another idea — buying out the shop and turning it into a worker owned and managed cooperative. The plan moved fast. The Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED), an organization created to facilitate just those kinds of transitions, offered a loan for the purchase along with assistance managing the technicalities of the changeover. And within two months, Common Ground reopened, with 19 former employees on staff as worker-owners⁠ — a welcome surprise for Hampden and workers across the city.”

“Hundreds of Amazon drivers at a delivery station in Queens, New York, marched on their bosses today to announce they are joining the Teamsters. They are demanding the logistics giant recognize their union and negotiate a contract. “To march today and walk in there with everyone behind us, all of us standing together as a union, it was so amazing,” said Latrice Shadae Johnson, who earns $20 an hour delivering packages for Amazon, where she has worked as a driver since last November.”

“DENVER – More Colorado workers are gaining a seat at the table through AFSCME. Workers in Arapahoe County’s Facilities and Fleet Management departments voted overwhelmingly last week to join together in a union two years after Colorado lawmakers passed a law giving county employees throughout the state the right to collectively bargain.”

“ITHACA, N.Y. — A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge ruled that two Ithaca Starbucks stores were improperly shut down last year and ordered the company to reopen them. Administrative Law Judge Geoffrey Carter ruled that Starbucks closed the locations, near the Commons and on Meadow Street, in May 2023 in response to unionization efforts at both stores and did not negotiate with the union representing workers before making the decision. The decision comes a year after a similar judgment that Starbucks improperly closed its College Avenue location in Ithaca, where the union effort originated, in which the company was also ordered to reopen that location.”

“The National Labor Relations Board was prevented on Tuesday from moving forward with an unfair labor practices case against the social services tech company Findhelp, after a Trump-appointed judge granted the Texas-based firm's request for a temporary injunction. In the Northern District of Texas, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman ruledin favor of Findhelp's claim that administrative law judges at the NLRB have unconstitutional protections from being dismissed by the White House.”

“Facing a dire countdown to the first dock strike in decades, employers at East and Gulf Coast ports say a new contract is still within reach, and publicly called for the International Longshoremen’s Association to return to contract talks. “There has been no further progress on Master Contract negotiations – we remain committed to the bargaining process and need the ILA to return to the table,” the United States Maritime Exchange (USMX) said in a brief statement Friday.”

“CHATTANOOGA – After an historic victory earlier this year, where Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga voted almost 3-to-1 to join the United Auto Workers (UAW), union members are now turning their attention to securing a strong first contract. On September 19, workers will begin negotiations with Volkswagen, aiming to win a first agreement that raises standards and includes wages, benefits, and protections on par with those secured by autoworkers in unionized plants.”

“American Airlines flight attendants ratified a new contract Thursday, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) said, ending a contentious negotiation process and securing long sought-after compensation for time spent boarding planes. With the new contract, American Airlines flight attendants became the ‘first unionized work group to lock in pay for boarding,’ APFA national president Julie Hedrick said Thursday in a news release, calling the contract ‘a significant milestone.’ Eighty-seven percent of eligible flight attendants voted in favor of the five-year contract.”

“On August 27, more than 200 members of UFCW Local 5 who work for OLAM Americas in California recently ratified a new contract. OLAM Americas is an agricultural harvesting company, and these members harvest onions and garlic from April to November beginning in the Imperial Valley before moving to Blyth, Ariz., and then to the San Joaquin Valley. The majority of the members in this unit are women.”

“The Taos, New Mexico, Town Council voted unanimously last month to ratify Local 5245’s contract, the union’s first. “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with the town,” Local 5245 President Gabriel Romero said. “The negotiations process was tough, but I think we accomplished our primary goals, which included setting foundational contract language and a wage increase.” The road to success was a long one.”