Worker Rights

A New Idea For New Union Organizing

August 3, 2023 Hamilton Nolan, In These Times. Strategize! Labor Movement, Labor Unions, Worker Rights

Why is it that unions, the only things that exist to do new union organizing, do not organize enough new union members? Unions will tell you that there are many reasons — hostile labor laws, corporate union-busting, difficult political climates. There is some truth to all of these explanations, but they are also a bit like stopping and sitting down while a wild dog is chasing you, because running is tiring. Sure it is, but that’s not much consolation when you’re dead. There always have been, and always will be, political and corporate forces hostile to unions. That does not change the fact that unions must find a way to organize, or else die.

VA, AFGE Reach ‘Historic’ Settlement To Reinstate Wrongfully Fired Workers

August 2, 2023 Drew Friedman, Federal News Network. Educate! Jobs, Unions, Veterans Health Administration, Worker Rights

Thousands of former Department of Veterans Affairs employees will soon have the option to return to work, after the VA reached a settlement agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees. The agreement will let former VA employees who were terminated for minor offenses under the 2017 VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act choose between either getting reinstated at VA or receiving compensation. Hundreds of other former employees whom VA and AFGE agree had engaged in grievous misconduct will have their terminations upheld.

Bosses, Union Officials And Rank-And-Filers Debate Work From Home

July 18, 2023 Steve Early, Popular Resistance. Educate! CWA, Unions, Work From Home, Worker Rights

Work from home arrangements proliferated during the pandemic and became very popular among white-collar workers. They are now the subject of a tug of war between labor and management because high profile bosses—like Mark Zuckerberg at Meta, Elon Musk at Twitter, Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan Chase, and Andy Jassy at Amazon--have decreed that it’s time to get back in the office. Such mandates have triggered widespread resistance, even among workers without collective bargaining rights. At Amazon, for example, more than 20,000 employees signed a petition urging Jassy to reconsider his May 1 deadline for everyone showing up at least three days per week, with few exceptions.

Houston Workers Protest New Law Removing Water Break Requirements

July 17, 2023 Emily Foxhall and Francisco Uranga, The Texas Tribune. Resist! Dehydration, Texas, Water, Worker Rights, Workplace Safety

Houston — Luz Martínez was working on remodeling a school without air conditioning in the summer when one of her coworkers fell over, vomited and passed out from the heat. On Friday, she joined other workers, labor advocates and politicians on the steps of Houston’s City Hall to protest a new Texas law that will take away cities’ power to help workers who must endure the Texas heat. House Bill 2127, which takes effect on Sept. 1, will do away with local rules that require water breaks for construction workers. The cities of Austin and Dallas, for example, require 10-minute breaks every four hours. San Antonio officials had been considering a similar ordinance.

Thousands Of Los Angeles Hotel Workers Are On Strike Again

July 10, 2023 Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post. Resist! Hotel workers, Los Angeles, Strikes, Unions, Worker Rights

Several thousand hotel workers in Los Angeles walked off the job Monday morning over wages and staffing levels in the latest escalation of a heated labor dispute in the region. The strikes are affecting major hotels near Los Angeles International Airport, disrupting businesses and domestic and international travelers during the peak of summer. Wages in high-cost Southern California are a key point of contention between hotels and Unite Here Local 11, the union representing hospitality workers. Workers say they are commuting from hours away because they cannot afford to live where they work. They are seeking an immediate $5-an-hour raise, followed by additional increases.

Rank-And-File UPS Workers Prepare To Strike And Refuse To Back Down

July 3, 2023 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG National Strike, Teamsters, Unions, UPS, Worker Rights

In 2013 and 2018, UPS workers were forced to accept contracts that failed to protect them and that created a growing underclass. In 2023, the rank-and-file are refusing to accept less than what they need. As the end of their current contract on July 31 grows near, workers across the nation are organizing strike captains, educating workers and holding practice pickets. UPS employs 340,000 people and is responsible for 6% of the nation's GDP. Clearing the FOG speaks to Richard Hooker, Jr., of Teamsters Local 623 in Philadelphia. Richard has been leading the fight for a decent contract. He speaks about the current working conditions, the workers' demands and why this fight is critical for all workers.

Winning Is Only The Start: Jane McAlevey On Building Worker Power

June 10, 2023 Paige Oamek, In These Times. Strategize! Labor Movement, Negotiations, Unions, Worker Rights

In April 2022, Amazon workers in Staten Island voted to form a union. But a year after that historic victory, union members at the JFK8 warehouse still don’t have a contract, thanks largely to Amazon spending $14 million on union avoidance consultants. That may be shocking but it’s not unusual. When workers vote to form a union, it takes an average of 465 additional days to sign a contract with their employer. Meanwhile this spring in Buffalo, where the first Starbucks Workers United election was won in 2021, a new decertification petition attempted to extinguish the spark that inspired hundreds of other locations to follow suit.

University Of Washington Postdocs And Research Scientists Go On Strike

June 10, 2023 Mantak Singh, Fightback News. Organize! Graduate School, Higher Education, Labor Unions, Washington State, Worker Rights

Seattle, WA - On June 7, postdoctorates and research scientists and engineers (RSEs) at the University of Washington Seattle, members of the UAW 4121 went on strike. Over 700 workers, students and community members turned out to picket lines in support. While postdoctorates and RSEs have separate bargaining committees, they are united in their fight for a strong contract. In December 2021, RSEs submitted a union certification petition, and they are still fighting to achieve a strong agreement. The certification process faced a significant delay of over six months when the University of Washington administration contested the inclusion of more than 300 individuals in the bargaining unit.

Union Square Barnes & Noble Workers Win Vote To Unionize

June 10, 2023 Elizabeth Schwe, The Gothamist. Organize! Barnes and Nobles, New York City (NYC), Unions, Worker Rights

Workers at the Barnes & Noble flagship store in Union Square voted overwhelmingly to unionize in a 76-2 vote this week. This comes after the Barnes & Noble Education store on Rutgers University’s campus in New Jersey unanimously voted to unionize last month and two weeks after workers at the Barnes & Noble store in Park Slope submitted a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union will represent over 100 workers at the four-story Union Square store, which includes booksellers, baristas and other non-supervisory employees.

West Coast Container Ports Hit As Labor Talks Take Ominous Turn

June 9, 2023 Greg Miller, FreightWaves. Resist! Ports, Unions, West Coast, Work Stoppages, Worker Rights

Will West Coast port labor negotiations devolve into a major, extended disruption to U.S. supply chains, akin to the labor fallout in 2014-2015? If there was a way to place a “prop” bet on this, how have the odds changed since the last port labor contract expired on July 1, 2022? The longer the talks drag on, the higher the chance of a worst-case scenario. Talks on the new contract began in May 2022. The one-year anniversary has now come and gone. There have been glimmers of hope along the way, at times nudging the betting line toward a less dramatic climax. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) said on April 20 that agreements were reached “on certain key issues,” reportedly including automation.

UPS Teamsters Start Strike Authorization Vote

June 8, 2023 Sean Orr and Elliot Lewis, Labor Notes. Resist! Strikes, Supply Chain, Unions, UPS, Worker Rights

With the largest private sector labor contract in the United States set to expire on July 31 at midnight, the eyes of the American labor movement are on United Parcel Service (UPS) and the nearly 350,000 Teamsters who work there. The Teamsters announced a UPS strike authorization vote starting this week, with results to be announced June 16. Union leaders are strongly urging a yes vote. “This is how we win,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien. Our contract fight matters for the entire working class. We want workers everywhere—and especially at Amazon and FedEx—to see that organizing a union leads to better pay and working conditions and greater control over their working lives, and opens the door to a better world.

ICE, Homeland Security Accused Of Targeting Outspoken Migrant Worker

May 27, 2023 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. Resist! Deportation, Homeland Security, ICE, Immigration, Retaliation, Worker Rights

Immigrant rights attorneys filed a complaint against United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that alleges that ICE detained a migrant worker known for speaking out against workplace abuse at construction and poultry plants. Baldomero Orozco Juarez, an indigenous father from Guatemala who lives in Mississippi, was arrested at an ICE check-in on April 12, 2023. Authorities sent Orozco Juarez to a private detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, owned by LaSalle Corrections. He faces deportation. In 2019, Orozco Juarez was deported to Guatemala after the “largest workplace immigration raid in a single state.” Nearly 700 people at poultry plants owned by companies like Koch Foods and PECO foods were rounded up by ICE.

Kshama Sawant Takes Successful Worker-Led Struggle Nationwide

May 22, 2023 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG Kshama Sawant, Socialism, Unions, Worker Rights

Roughly ten years ago, Kshama Sawant won a seat on the Seattle City Council as an open socialist. Sawant eschewed politics as usual and led by example, taking only the average worker's salary from her paycheck and putting the remainder into worker-led movements. She used her office as a platform for people's struggles and won many victories from a higher minimum wage, to the Amazon tax to housing rights and more. She also survived a recall election. Clearing the FOG speaks with Sawant about her plans to leave city council when her term ends next year, what she has learned as a councilwoman and the new Workers Strike Back campaign being organized by Socialist Alternative and rank-and-file union members.

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