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Worker Rights and Jobs

Members In Motion Changed The Game In Daimler Contract Campaign

January 9, 2025 Chris Brooks, Jonah Furman, and Mike Morrison, Labor Notes. , , , , , ,
Inspired by the success of the Big 3 strike, United Auto Workers members at Daimler Truck North America ran a very different kind of contract campaign this year than we ever had before. The 7,300 members at DTNA’s four North Carolina plants and parts distribution centers in Atlanta and Memphis were very active, informed, and involved in the bargaining process. This is not how the union had done things in the past. Here’s what we did differently, and some ideas on how to keep members in the loop and in motion for an effective contract campaign.

Why More And More Journalists Are Launching Worker-Owned Outlets

January 9, 2025 Angela Fu, Poynter. , , , , ,
When staff at the Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal decided to unionize in March, they were almost immediately hit with layoffs. The paper’s parent company, a nonprofit called the Long Beach Journalism Initiative, laid off nine of the 14 staff involved with the union drive just four days after their unionization attempt. Undeterred, those nine workers — along with three others who had gone on strike in protest — decided to start their own publication: a worker-owned cooperative called the Long Beach Watchdog. “We wanted to build this as a place that respected workers, respected the labor that they do, and allowed everyone a seat at the table and a voice in how the business is run,” said Dennis Dean

Philadelphia’s Doctors-In-Training Are Unionizing By The Thousands

January 8, 2025 Juan Cruz Ferre and Jason Koslowski, Left Voice. , , , ,
I think pretty universally in medical training, there’s an under-appreciation and under-compensation of medical residents. A lot of it comes down to pay, because that’s so fundamental, but other benefits, like time off and parental leave, are certainly a major concern for people, and moonlighting and overtime and things like that generally are under-compensated as well. At my hospital specifically, there are concerns about access to appropriate equipment and basic medical supplies. So, a lot of this becomes very much like logistical issues.

Dark Clouds Gather At The National Labor Relations Board

January 8, 2025 Robert M. Schwartz, Labor Notes. , , ,
On December 10, the five-member board, still under Democratic control, issued a long-awaited decision freeing unions from the most deleterious features of management-rights clauses. The case, Endurance Environmental Solutions, LLC, overruled MV Transportation, a 2019 decree from Donald Trump’s first term in office. MV Transportation created an outrageous presumption that unions which agree to generally worded management-rights clauses intend to give employers a right to change work rules, hours, or other conditions of work without giving prior notice or extending an opportunity to bargain.

Amazon Strike By The Numbers

January 7, 2025 Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes. , , ,
An estimated 600 Amazon workers went on a short strike or participated in pickets from December 19 to Christmas Eve across eight warehouse locations, from Queens to San Francisco. The coordinated mobilization was an opening salvo to Amazon, and a test of capacity for the Teamsters’ growing national network. The union says it represents between 7,000 and 10,000 Amazon workers, either by authorization election or majority demand for recognition: a fulfillment center on Staten Island, an air hub in Southern California, a delivery station warehouse in San Francisco, and a handful of delivery contractors.

The Common Ground Between Labor And Climate Justice

January 7, 2025 Pradnya Garud, Portside. , , , ,
A fault line runs between labor and environmental movements, or so we’re told. Labor unions have been criticized for focusing on jobs without considering environmental consequences, with some unions supporting controversial projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline, and others opposing bans on fracking. Meanwhile, environmental groups are accused of being divorced from working-class realities, sometimes neglecting lost employment and wages related to the energy transition. The urgency of cutting emissions and phasing out fossil industries to mitigate climate change has brought the seemingly contentious relationship between labor and environment into sharp focus.

IKEA Workers Vote To Extend Strike Into The New Year

January 6, 2025 Nick Barrickman, World Socialist Web Site. , , ,
Perryville, Maryland - On December 28, 320 unionized workers at the Perryville IKEA distribution center in northern Maryland voted to remain on strike into the new year after voting down a tentative agreement offered to them by the company and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union. The distribution workers have been on strike since mid-November, citing seniority treatment and pay which is below the cost of living. “Seniority is the most important thing here,” said striking worker Lisa Mengel in a video statement released by More Perfect Union.

Unions Get Bigger In Texas

January 5, 2025 Emily Markwiese, Progressive.org. , , ,
Texas has long ranked at the top of the list for the best states to run a business and the worst for quality of life and working conditions. Almost one out of every five Texans does not have health insurance. We are the only state in the country that allows private-sector employers to opt out of providing workers’ compensation. Despite having a $33 billion surplus to put toward improving life for all Texans, our state lawmakers instead chose to spend the most recent regular legislative session attacking workers’ rights, immigrants, public schools, transgender people, voting access, and higher education.

2024: Workers Organized, Bosses Grew Nervous

January 5, 2025 Tom Sandborn, Rabble.CA. , , ,
If in the 19th century Marx and Engels could prematurely proclaim that Communist revolution was a “spectre haunting Europe,” in 2024 the business class of North America and its compliant mainstream press were growing increasingly nervous about a different but related spectre, a working class that was showing signs of increased and well organized militance. Strikes were more common and workers, still remembering the hypocritical Covid-era praise for them as heroes and the post-pandemic collapse into attempts to restore business as usual exploitation, are pissed off, and their anger has been expressed with increased levels of organizing and work stoppages.

Trump Has Promised To Build More Ships

January 2, 2025 Nicole Foy, ProPublica. , , , ,
Early last year, President-elect Donald Trump promised that when he got back into the Oval Office, he’d authorize the U.S. Navy to build more ships. “It’s very important,” he said, “because it’s jobs, great jobs.” However, the companies that build ships for the government are already having trouble finding enough workers to fill those jobs. And Trump may make it even harder if he follows through on another pledge he’s made: to clamp down on immigration. The president-elect has told his supporters he would impose new limits on the numbers of immigrants allowed into the country and stage the largest mass deportation campaign in history.

How Labor Can Fight Trump’s Authoritarianism

December 31, 2024 Alex Caputo-Pearl, Convergence. , , ,
Given the critical impacts that the victories of Trump and his broader right-populist Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement will have on the social and political terrain of the country, this installment looks at imperatives for labor in the coming years. It integrates lessons from UTLA and the broader educator union movement, which fought necessary defensive battles during Trump’s first term and, critically, also went on offense to make significant breakthroughs in red, blue, and purple states. MAGA’s attacks will be much more vicious in the coming years. Yet we fought and won battles in Trump’s first term — and can do so again.

From Pickets To Power: Lessons From The Amazon Walk-Outs

December 30, 2024 Luigi Morris, Left Voice. , , ,
On December 18, incoming President Donald Trump hosted Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. After years of tension, Bezos was eager to build a closer relationship with Trump. He had just donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, praised him for his “energy around reducing regulation,” and also kept the Washington Post from endorsing a presidential candidate, which showed his willingness to deal with Trump on good terms. But as they enjoyed their luxurious dinner, Amazon workers were finalizing plans for the largest worker action across the country in the company’s history, set to begin the following day.

Court Rejects Starbucks’ Challenge To US Labor Board

December 30, 2024 Reuters, Portside. , , , , ,
A federal appeals court has largely rejected Starbucks’ appeal of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding that the coffee chain illegally fired two Philadelphia baristas because they wanted to organize a union. The third US circuit court of appeals said the coffee shop giant lacked standing to challenge the constitutionality of administrative law judges of the NLRB, the government agency that is set up to enforce labor laws in the US concerning labor practices and collective bargaining. The judgment represents a possible setback for companies such as Amazon, the Trader Joe’s grocery chain and SpaceX that have sought to limit the agency’s enforcement powers.

Calls For A Migrant Labor Strike Grow On Social Media

December 29, 2024 Arturo Dominguez, Unicorn Riot. , , , , , , ,
Since the xenophobia-fueled presidential re-election of Donald Trump, calls have been growing on social media for a pro-immigrant labor strike beginning on January 11, days before Trump is to take office. The emerging movement’s goal is to highlight the social, cultural, and economic importance of immigrants in the United States. The Trump campaign’s racist rhetoric — targeted at Latin Americans and Caribbean Islanders — is an urgent threat driving the need to speak out against his proposed immigration policies — such as the plan to conduct mass deportations.

Portland: Workers Fight Sizzle Pie’s Union-Busting Tactics

December 28, 2024 Jey Clayton, Workers' World. , , ,
On December 21, following months of struggle and firings of pro-union employees, a group of workers picketed one of the Sizzle Pie locations in Portland. Supporters held signs in front of the restaurant and handed out a statement explaining the situation to customers. Some potential customers were deterred from entering and patronizing as they appeared shocked and even disgusted by the company’s tactics. Several passersby shouted support and jeered Sizzle Pie for its anti-worker policies. After asking for basic protections, including regular work hours for decent pay, Sizzle Pie employees have been met with legal threats against them for attempting to form a union.
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