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Unions

Mass Solidarity Picket Backs Striking Bin Workers In Birmingham

May 11, 2025 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , , , , ,
In a mass demonstration of solidarity, trade union activists from across Britain blocked the entrance of a Birmingham waste depot as part of an ongoing dispute between the city’s refuse collectors and the Labour-led council. Birmingham’s bin workers, many of whom are members of the trade union Unite, have been taking intermittent action against planned pay cuts since the beginning of this year – and have spent the past two months on strike. As part of an extreme austerity agenda, the city council is planning to downgrade at least one section of the workforce. This proposal has raised concerns not only about workers’ income but also about health and safety conditions.

Repression Of Panama’s National Strike Draws More Workers

May 10, 2025 Pablo Meriguet, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
After 11 days of strike, Panamanian workers from across sectors are not giving up their struggle against the economic plans of the government of President José Raúl Mulino, its security agreements with the US government, and its plans to reopen a huge copper mine that closed in 2023. Not only have workers continued to mobilize, but they have been joined in their struggle by more sectors of society. Workers claim that Law 462, passed on March 18, 2025, opens the door for the privatization of Social Security, increases the retirement age, and halves the amount of money for future pensions, among other things.

How Federal Workers Without A Union Can Still Act Like A Union

May 10, 2025 Colin Smalley, Labor Notes. , , , ,
The reality for over 1.3 million federal government workers leading up to the second Trump Administration has been collective bargaining through unions recognized by the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). This recognition comes with the right to bargain over working conditions and conditions of employment. It also includes an individual right to representation when the boss is asking questions that could lead to discipline. However, for a majority of these workers, Trump’s Executive Order 14251 strips those rights in the name of “national security.” These workers, myself and my union included, are now faced with a scenario that’s been all too common.

Norway’s Largest Trade Union Votes For Boycott Of Israel

May 10, 2025 Palestine Chronicle. , , , , ,
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), the country’s largest labor federation, has voted in favor of a comprehensive boycott of Israel, including a ban on trade and investment with Israeli companies. The decision was passed with an overwhelming 88 percent majority during LO’s national congress, held in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, from May 8 to 9, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The Palestine Committee of Norway also announced the move on its Instagram page, saying the LO “will introduce an economic boycott of Israel, with 240 votes for economic boycott, and 69 votes against.” It said the resolution “means that LO now requires that the State Pension Fund abroad, Norwegian companies and financial institutions withdraw from companies that contribute to the Israeli occupation.” “The resolution shows strong support among LO’s one million members to introduce boycott, divestment and sanctions,” it added.

RMT Launches Campaign To #Endrailoutsourcing Amid Shocking Practices

May 10, 2025 The Canary. , , ,
The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) has launched a campaign to end outsourcing on the railways. It has branded the practice as a vehicle for systemic racism, low pay, and poor service standards across the network. A new RMT report, How Outsourcing Embeds Systemic Racism on the Railway, exposes how rail companies have trapped thousands of rail workers – predominantly from Black and racially minoritised communities – in outsourced roles with no pensions, no training, and no pathway to progression. Key findings from the RMT reveal: 58% of outsourced cleaners and caterers are from Black or racially minoritised backgrounds. This is despite making up only 25% of directly employed train operator staff.

Locomotive Builders Forge Green Rail Project

May 9, 2025 Kari Thompson, Labor Notes. , , ,
Union workers who make diesel locomotives at a plant in Pennsylvania are pushing ahead with their campaign to manufacture more green-powered locomotives. The workers aim to clean up diesel railroad pollution while also revitalizing their locomotive engine manufacturing plant in Erie. But they’re facing roadblocks, and the recent federal chaos has added to the uncertainty. In the meantime, workers are making direct changes to clean up their jobsite. The Wabtec plant, formerly General Electric, makes diesel locomotives for both freight and passenger trains. The company began researching all-electric and hybrid diesel-electric locomotives several years ago, and more recently began exploring hydrogen power.

Putting Reentry Out Of Business

May 8, 2025 Calvin John Smiley, In These Times. , , , ,
About a decade ago, Richard Trumka, then president of the AFL-CIO, told a crowd gathered at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles that ​“the theme of this event is mass employment, not mass incarceration.” A year earlier, the AFL-CIO had committed to addressing mass incarceration as a labor issue. In his speech at the jobs and reentry organization, where he was introduced by labor leader María Elena Durazo, Trumka described why: ​“When some people are forced to work for close to nothing, all workers’ living standards are pushed down.” Then, Trumka repeated the refrain ​“it’s a labor issue because,” followed by explanations about mass incarceration’s impact on families, communities, the economy and voting, among others, until finally: ​“because labor rights and social justice and civil rights are intertwined.”

Farm Workers Union Holds Anti-Ice Protest

May 8, 2025 Keller O'Dekirk, Workers World. , , ,
Dozens of activists responded to a call by the United Farm Workers (UFW) for an emergency demonstration on May 2 at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Batavia, New York, near Buffalo. That morning ICE agents had stopped a bus carrying farmworkers to Lynne-Ette Farms in Kent, New York, and arrested several workers — targeting workers who had been engaged in union-building efforts through the UFW. The bus was owned and operated by Lynne-Ette Farms, and it is more than likely that the company used ICE as a means to intimidate its workers from unionizing.

Warehouse Workers Power New York City’s Fashion Industry

May 7, 2025 Natascha Elena Uhlmann, Labor Notes. , , ,
Minutes from the high-end boutiques of SoHo in Manhattan sits Bergen Logistics’ fulfillment facility in North Bergen, New Jersey, where workers sort, package, and ship hundreds of packages a day for luxury fashion brands including Acne Studios, Kenzo, and Phillip Lim. The workers themselves can’t realistically afford the ornate gowns and crisp suits they ship to online shoppers. Some work two jobs just to stay afloat, and rush to keep up with unit-per-hour expectations. Now they’re fighting for union recognition and the reinstatement of a colleague the union alleges was fired for her organizing. The workers point to the gap between word and action for high-profile brands that publicly claim to care about working conditions.

Home Is Where The Union Is

May 7, 2025 Rebecca Burns, In These Times. , , ,
Hartford, CT — Three years ago, Dave Richardson was spending half of his monthly income on an apartment with rats, roaches and a broken elevator. A stroke had made climbing the stairs difficult, forcing him to limit trips outside of his third-floor home. Other wheelchair-bound tenants had to be physically carried up and down. The landlord was ignoring phone calls, Richardson says, but one day in 2022, a group of organizers came to his door with a pitch to build a tenants union. It didn’t take much to convince Richardson. Before his stroke, he had spent nearly two decades as a member and elected officer of the carpenters’ union. The prospect of mobilizing neighbors to demand a working elevator, for starters, made intuitive sense.

Most (But Not All) VA Workers Lose Union Bargaining Rights

May 6, 2025 Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
When President Trump’s cabinet picks trooped up to Capitol Hill earlier this year for Senate confirmation hearings, hardly any boasted about their past union connections. But Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins did. He helped win broad bipartisan approval for his nomination from a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC) that includes Bernie Sanders (I-VT) by mentioning that he belonged to the United Food and Commercial workers, while working for five years at a Georgia grocery store chain. Said Collins: “I believe that the employees of the VA, whether they’re union or not, are very valuable and I respect that… I get the issue.”

Italy Shows How Amazon Can Be Forced To Bargain

May 3, 2025 Laura Montanari and Jonathan Rosenblum, Truthout. , , ,
Is Amazon so formidable that it can’t be beaten? Three years after Staten Island warehouse workers won a union election, Amazon’s legal machinations have blocked all bargaining. Amazon delivery drivers and warehouse workers at a handful of sites have demanded direct recognition and bargaining — only to be fired or ignored by the company. Earlier this year, Amazon deployed a full range of union-busting tactics to beat down workers in a union election in North Carolina. Union organizers in the U.S. and elsewhere struggling to build worker power might look to their Italian counterparts for a bit of encouragement.

UAW Members Strike At Lockheed Martin In Two States

May 2, 2025 United Auto Workers. , , , ,
Detroit, MI – After months of negotiations, over 900 UAW members in Orlando, FL (Local 788) and Denver, CO (Local 766) have walked out on strike at Lockheed Martin, after the company committed multiple unfair labor practices and refused to present a fair economic proposal that meets the membership’s needs.  The strike begins during a time of record taxpayer-funded profits for the U.S. government’s largest defense contractor. Lockheed Martin made $24 billion in profit and paid its CEO $66 million over the last three years. Profits were up the first quarter of 2025, with Lockheed taking in another $1.7 billion.

What Do We Do Now? First, Gather To Talk

May 1, 2025 Barbara Madeloni, Labor Notes. , , ,
I don’t have new words for the dizzying abuses of unions, immigrants, and all working people emanating from the White House in the last three months. Like many people, I’ve been cycling through anger, despair, and dismay. The dismay is less about Trump than about the weak and ineffective union response. Between overreliance on lawsuits and calls to “fight back” or even strike with no clear plan, unions have not shown up. I keep wondering, where are the leaders? I get that it’s overwhelming. Trump’s actions are designed to knock us off balance, to keep us hopeless, divided, confused, and afraid. But as organizers we also know what to do when bosses and the billionaires do this.

Unpacking Trump’s Attack On Federal Sector Unions

April 30, 2025 Nicholas Handler, Portside. , , ,
On March 28, President Trump issued an executive order purporting to bar federal workers at dozens of federal agencies and subdivisions from joining labor unions or entering into collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) with the federal government. Initial reporting suggests that the order could strip two-thirds of unionized federal workforce, or nearly 700,000 civil servants, of their collective bargaining rights. Following the issuance of the order, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum directing the named agencies to implement the president’s directive, which presumably will include the termination of any collective bargaining agreements and a refusal to recognize existing unions.
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