The Weekly Download is the place for ideas, features, research, and news coverage about workers, worker power, and unions — delivered to your inbox and the Power at Work Blog, every week. The Weekly Download hopes to promote the writing, research, and analysis that advances a discourse putting workers and their unions at the center of the national conversation. If you have an item that we should include in The Weekly Download, or a source we should review for future items, please email us at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Power At Work Blog here to get The Weekly Download sent directly to your inbox.
Corporate Power Opposing Worker Power:
Starbucks Violated Labor Law in Buffalo Union Drive, Judge Rules — The New York Times
By Noam Scheiber (@noamscheiber), March 1, 2023
“In a sweeping decision, an administrative judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that Starbucks had violated federal labor law dozens of times in responding to a union campaign in the Buffalo area shortly after the campaign began roughly 18 months ago.”
Group representing some Tyson workers urges rejection of child labor bill in Iowa - CBS 2 Iowa
By Nick Weig (@tbweig), March 1, 2023
“Eschucha Mi Voz (Listen to my Voice), a group who says its mission is to fight for worker justice and immigration reform, says it is opposed to the bill that would allow kids as young as 14 to work in meat packing plants. "This bad bill is a way for the big companies to disrespect the workers who have been there for many years while taking advantage of children, all in the name of profit." Said Pedro Neiro, a meatpacking plant worker at Tyson Foods in Columbus Junction.
Starbucks Faces New Front in Its Labor Disputes: White-Collar Workers — Bloomberg
By Josh Eidelson (@josheidelson), March 1, 2023
“Dozens of white-collar Starbucks Corp. employees and managers have signed an open letter protesting the company’s return-to-office mandate and its alleged union-busting, opening a new front in the battle over the avowedly progressive coffee chain’s treatment of its staff.”
Flight Attendant Leaders Will Meet Over JetBlue/Spirit Merger Discord — Forbes
By Ted Reed (@tedreednc), February 28, 2023
“Two influential labor leaders are working to hash out their differences regarding the potential merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines”
U.S. to crack down on child labor amid massive uptick - Reuters
By Nandita Bose (@nanditab1) and Mica Rosenberg (@micarosenberg), February 27, 2023
“The Biden administration announced measures to crack down on child labor on Monday amid a steep rise in violations and investigative reports by Reuters and other news outlets on illegal employment of migrant minors in dangerous U.S. industries. U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws.”
‘Old-school union busting’: how US corporations are quashing the new wave of organizing — The Guardian
By Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt), February 26, 2023
“US corporations have mounted a fierce counterattack against the union drives at Starbucks, Amazon and other companies, and in response, federal officials are working overtime to crack down on those corporations’ illegal anti-union tactics – maneuvers that labor leaders fear could significantly drain the momentum behind today’s surge of unionization.”
Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S. — New York Times
By Hannah Dreier (@hannahdreier), February 25, 2023
“Arriving in record numbers, they’re ending up in dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws — including in factories that make products for well-known brands like Cheetos and Fruit of the Loom.”
Fighting to Save Union Jobs at Boston Ship Repair – Maryland Library Workers Testify – Fighting for a Federal Pay Raise — IAMAW
(@MachinistsUnion) February 24, 2023
“IAM Secures Congressional Letter of Support in its Fight to Save Union Jobs at Boston Ship Repair: The IAM is fighting to save union jobs at the Boston Ship Repair and has secured a Congressional letter of support addressed to the Secretary of the Navy led by U. S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) to help the fight.”
Building Worker Power Through Organizing:
Duke grad students on verge of union filing, say they have support to win election — The News & Observer
By Brian Gordon (@skyoutbriout), February 28, 2023
“Doctoral students at Duke University say they have enough support to unionize the school’s workforce of Ph.D. student teaching and research assistants, but before doing so, the students have given the administration a deadline to act first.”
Why I signed a union card for Princeton Graduate Students United — The Daily Princetonian
By Alex Diaz-Hui, February 27, 2023
“Unlike many students across the country, my last all-nighter had nothing to do with my studies. In June 2020, the last month I was a graduate student at Oregon State University, I stayed on a Zoom call for almost 24 hours to support friends in my department who were members of the bargaining unit of our union, the Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE).”
It Looks Like a Strippers’ Union Is About to Become a Reality — Jacobin
By Libby Rainey (@rainey_l), February 27, 2023
“Dancers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in Los Angeles have recently received positive signs from the National Labor Relations Board, which bodes well for their contested union drive. If all goes as expected, they will be the only unionized strippers in the country.”
Federal Employee Unions Offer Valuable Lessons about Worker Power — Power At Work
By Seth Harris (@MrSethHarris), February 26, 2023
“Federal sector unionism offers several worthwhile lessons for those interested in worker power and worker organizing.”
Buffalo Community Shows Support to Fired Tesla Workers Seeking Union - Truthout
By Derek Seidman (@derekseidman80), February 25, 2023
“The Tesla union drive is a prime example of how the organizing models and infrastructure built by the Starbucks campaign and other labor efforts in Buffalo are inspiring and supporting other workers. The past few years of barista organizing in western New York — from SPoT Coffee to Starbucks, Perks Coffee to Remedy House — have created a culture of solidarity in the region and a growing diaspora of skilled organizers who are eager to assist new union drives when called upon.”
Students at Rollins College rally in support of dining workers’ union rights — Orlando Weekly
By McKenna Schueler (@SheCarriesOn), February 24, 2023
“Dozens of students and faculty at Rollins College, a private liberal arts college near Orlando, on Friday rallied in support of the college’s dining workers, who are seeking a fair process for union representation with the labor union Unite Here.”
Serving $66 entrees for $18 an hour: the union push at an upscale New York restaurant - The Guardian
By Frida Garza (@fffffrida), February 23, 2023
“If the workers at Lodi succeed, they could be a leader in a new labor organizing movement at higher-end eateries – but the union’s supporters say they are encountering fierce pushback from management.”
Major League Soccer Players Formally Affiliate with AFL-CIO - AFL-CIO Blog
By Kenneth Quinnell, February 23, 2023
“The Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA) today announced its formal affiliation with the AFL-CIO. The request to affiliate was unanimously approved by the MLSPA’s Executive Board and approved at the AFL-CIO’s Winter Executive Council meeting in early February. MLSPA members will join the more than 12.5 million workers who make up the unions of the AFL-CIO.”
Strikes and Other Worker Collective Actions
UPW workers go on strike - AFSCME Blog
By UPW (@UPW_Hawaii), February 23, 2023
“Nearly 500 front-line health care workers at Kaiser’s Maui Health System have gone on strike in a dispute over pay. Nurse’s aides, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, cooks and other workers at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital walked out and began organized picketing at all three locations on Wednesday at 6 a.m. Hawaii time. United Public Workers/AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO, which represents the workers, said its members voted by a 97.6% majority to authorize the strike.”
Google contractors on strike in Austin hope to rally support among tech workers — The Texas Tribune
By Julia Forrest (@juliaforrest35), February 23, 2023
“A group of contractors who work for Google’s YouTube Music service are in their third week of picketing in Austin in what their union says is the first strike in the company’s history. Their efforts have received attention and assistance from U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, as backers hope the strike will inspire more labor organizing in the tech sector.”
Collective Bargaining:
Caterpillar reaches tentative deal with union, averting possible strike - Reuters
(@Reuters) March 1, 2023
“Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) said on Wednesday it had reached a tentative agreement with a union that represents workers at four of its facilities, dodging a possible walkout at a time when companies across the United States are dealing with widespread labor shortages. The construction equipment maker's new six-year agreement, which needs to be put to a vote by employees, comes after some union workers had threatened a strike as they negotiated wage increases, improved safety measures and better healthcare benefits.”
Labor unions say East Palestine cleanup site workers are falling ill — Axios
By Sareen Habeshian (@SareenHabeshian), March 1, 2023
“The union that represents workers on Norfolk Southern Railroad, the rail operator of the train that derailed last month alleges that workers at the cleanup site are getting sick with "migraines and nausea" and are not being provided necessary protective equipment.”
Delta pilots vote to approve new contract with initial 18% raise - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Kelly Yamanouchi (@atlairportnews), March 1, 2023
“Pilots at Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines voted to approve a new union contract that will give them an initial 18% pay raise. The vote resolves simmering labor tensions that heated up last year when pilots threatened the possibility of a strike if they did not reach a contract that addressed their concerns. Delta is largely non-union and its pilots are the carrier’s biggest organized labor unit.”
Unions Safeguard Workers’ Sweat Equity — In These Times
By Tom Conway, March 1, 2023
“The United Steelworkers (USW) negotiating team ultimately delivered a historic contract requiring the company to invest $4 billion in 13 union-represented facilities, including about $100 million at the Weirton, West Virginia mill where Glyptis and his colleagues rely on ever more sophisticated equipment to make precision tin plate.”
No-Strike Clauses: Tips for First-Contract Bargainers - Labor Notes
By Robert M. Schwartz, February 27, 2023
“One thing you can be sure of when bargaining your first contract: management will demand a contract clause barring strikes while the agreement is in effect…Today, an overwhelming percentage of U.S. labor contracts, 94 percent according to a survey by the Bureau of National Affairs, contain no-strike clauses.”
BNSF, Norfolk Southern reach sick leave agreements with several unions - Freight Waves
By Joanna Marsh, February 24, 2023
“BNSF, Norfolk Southern and members of two union groups have struck sick leave agreements, the groups said Thursday. BNSF (NYSE: BRK.B) reached sick leave agreements with members of the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) and the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers (NCFO). The agreement with TCU is for insourced intermodal equipment operators, which BNSF says represent a majority of that union’s members at the railroad. Other TCU members at BNSF already have paid sick days as part of their existing agreement, according to the railroad.”
Ideas to Build Worker Power:
Bipartisan Labor Leaders Introduce Bill to Protect Workers’ Right to Organize — Committee on Education and the Workforce
February 28, 2023
“Today, a bipartisan group of House and Senate Members introduced the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2023 (H.R. 20), a comprehensive proposal to protect workers’ right to come together and bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces.”
In 1996, There Was Union Summer. This Year, There's "Labor Spring." — In These Times
By Cindy Hahamovitch (@Profhaha), February 26, 2023
“Something is stirring this spring. People in the U.S. are becoming increasingly interested in what commentators once called “the labor question,” following recent organizing victories at Starbucks, Amazon and Apple stores; well-publicized strikes of teachers, nurses and railway workers; and the unionization of staff, graduate assistants and even faculty at scores of campuses, including the recent successful strike of nearly 50,000 academic workers on the campuses of the University of California.”
Understanding the civil rights movement as a labor and economic movement — Marketplace
By Kai Ryssdal (@kairyssdal) and Richard Cunningham, February 23, 2023
“The civil rights movement wasn’t just about attitudes around racism, but about access to good jobs, access to economic institutions and expanding workers’ rights. “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Kelley about the labor and economic dimensions of the movement. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.”
Labor Markets, Public Policy, and Worker Power:
The NLRB is Preparing to Include More Workers in Labor Law’s Protections. But Not Enough. — Power At Work
By Seth Harris (@MrSethHarris), March 2, 2023
“In 1944, the Supreme Court interpreted the National Labor Relations Act --- our nation’s private-sector worker organizing and collective bargaining law --- to be broadly inclusive. Workers who might have been classified as “employees” or “independent contractors” using common-law tests could be covered by the statute.”
