Top Stories
Click the star next to a story to save your favorite articles.
Sign Up For Our Daily Digest
Account Sign In
To customize your experience, you can save your favorite research by clicking the stars next to each article in during your visit.
Save your favorites permanently to your profile by signing in here.
Don't have a profile yet? Register now.
Registration
In the News
The “Troublemakers” of the Labor Movement Gather in Chicago
April 26, 2024 // ELLA FANGER for The Nation
To learn about strategies to combat union busting, Johnston attended a workshop on “inoculation,” or how to prepare coworkers for fear tactics from the boss. It gave him an idea—a bingo card with common anti-union talking points he could hand out for coworkers to fill out during captive-audience meetings, mandatory meetings managers can hold with workers to convey anti-union messages.
How changes to ‘noncompete’ agreements and overtime could affect workers
April 26, 2024 // The Associated Press for The Associated Press
They’ll also have to determine how they will budget for the extra pay for overtime. Small businesses will have the toughest time. “Some are going to have to cut workers,” Hollis said. “Others will have to cut hours from existing workers. “Some are going to have to raise prices, and some probably won’t be able to figure out a way to make it economically work and wind up having to shut down, unfortunately.”
Fast food chains find a way around $20 minimum wage: Get rid of the workers
April 26, 2024 // staff for Washington Times
The layoffs present a stark reality for employees and their unions, who have long advocated for wage increments. Workers at well-known chains such as Pizza Hut and Round Table pizza restaurants have also felt the impact, with job losses reported following statements from management about the unsustainable nature of the new wage costs. Meanwhile, major fast food players including McDonald’s, Chipotle, and Starbucks have signaled intentions to offset the increased expenses by raising prices.
Democrat & Chronicle workers end strike without reaching contract deal with Gannett
April 26, 2024 // News10NBC for News10NBC
In a statement posted to X, a spokesperson for the Newspaper Guild of Rochester says they are going back to work Thursday morning despite not reaching a deal. According to the union, the two sides negotiated Wednesday and had a possible agreement, but the union claims Gannett had inserted language that changed the meaning of the contract. They say they’ve lost faith in Gannett’s willingness to bargain in good faith and plan to file complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.
Some union workers at Sacred Heart are not participating in the strike
April 26, 2024 // Hunter Bertram for WKXLY
Not all Sacred Heart healthcare union workers are participating in the current strike, according to hospital leadership. Wednesday marked the third day in an eight-day strike at Sacred Heart Medical Center. Workers are picketing in hopes of negotiating a new and improved contract from Providence, but not all union members have joined the strike. "We had several more than what is normal for a strike of this nature of current union caregivers who chose to come into the building and take care of patients," said Susan Stacey, Providence Inland Northwest's Chief Executive.
U.S. labor secretary says UAW win at Tennessee Volkswagen plant shows southern workers back unions
April 25, 2024 // Jeff Amy for Associated Press
Biden is backing unions in other ways. Su noted the administration in January finalized a rule mandating unionized labor on all federal construction projects costing more than $35 million, despite complaints from nonunion contractors that the rule reduces competition and increases costs. “That’s one way that we ensure that you've got good union workers on jobs," Su said, saying union labor agreements are rising sharply on construction projects. Southern states are also pushing laws that would claw back economic incentive dollars if companies recognize unions without requiring a secret ballot election. Every major southern auto plant has received state economic development assistance.
Biden Grants Micron $6.1 Billion for New US Chip Factories
April 25, 2024 // Kate Irwin for PC MAG
Micron is expected to build two new chip manufacturing plants in Clay, New York as part of the funding deal. It will also build a third in Boise, Idaho, where it already has a substantial presence. Micron will also receive state tax breaks from New York as it builds the new plants. The three plants will likely create 20,000 direct jobs as well as another 50,000 indirect jobs as the plants begin construction, according to the release. Micron is also supporting apprenticeships at the new plants, supports worker union organization, and is entering into project labor agreements (PLAs), a type of construction-specific collective bargaining agreement, for the plants.
Cleaners at American Dream fired for union activity must be rehired, NLRB says
April 25, 2024 // Daniel Munoz for NorthJersey.com
Two former cleaning staff members at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford who said they were fired for trying to organize a union must be reinstated, a three-judge panel has ruled. Previously, the National Labor Relations Board sided with the two former workers, Jose Terán and Luis Valera, who were employed by HSA Cleaning Inc., a company contracted for cleaning services at the Meadowlands megamall.
Wesleyan Grad Students Move to Unionize
April 25, 2024 // Emilia Otte, for CT Examiner
Graduate students at Yale had their union recognized in January 2023, and Harvard graduate students had their first contract with the administration in January 2021. UConn has had a graduate and postdoc union since 2013. Sagarian said one of the biggest drivers for the Wesleyan students to unionize was the issue of pay equity across departments. Sagarian said that the graduate students in music have historically tended to make less than graduate students in other departments.
Hotel Maya and union workers reach agreement after months of strikes, walkouts
April 25, 2024 // Jeremiah Dobruck for Long Beach Post
Employees at the Maya and dozens of other Southern California hotels have staged strikes and boycotts since July as part of a campaign by their union, Unite Here Local 11, which represents 32,000 hospitality workers in the region. The dispute at the Maya has involved dueling complaints that the union was bargaining in bad faith and that workers were subjected to violence on the picket line, including allegations that a striking worker was grabbed and yelled at by a hotel investor, something the investor denied. In August, an altercation also resulted in a striking Maya worker being punched in the head by an unknown man, according to video of the incident.
Seattle’s new minimum wage rule undermining delivery drivers
April 25, 2024 // Sean Higgins for Competitive Enterprise Institute
It’s not just restaurant owners who are being squeezed. So are drivers. Drive Forward Seattle, an app-based driver advocacy group, recently surveyed its members on the impact of the rule. A DoorDash driver identified as Marvin said, “I went from making $300 a day during the weekends to making $80 a day and that’s on a good day. It takes over 2hr to even get one order.” A driver named Sally told the advocacy group, “90 percent of the customers don’t tip since the app changed. So, they have to go back onto the app after the delivery, if they even remember to do so, in order to tip. That’s a big thumbs down.” The pushback has been so strong that the Seattle City Council has mulled repealing the rule altogether. Unions, who have struggled to organize the delivery drivers, have pushed back against the potential repeal, arguing that the wage system is working as intended.
UAW working to help Vanderbilt grad students unionize
April 24, 2024 // Michael Warrick for WSMV
“Our graduate students are students first and foremost. We are committed to investing in our graduate students and we provide several enhancements to support them during their academic journey. They receive a comprehensive package of financial aid that includes tuition remission, stipends, funds to support graduate students’ professional development, and other financial support. We do not consider graduate students to be employees and do not believe that they meet the definition of employee under the National Labor Relations Act. As a result, we do not believe unionizing is appropriate for our graduate students."
US bans worker ‘noncompete’ agreements as business groups vow to sue
April 24, 2024 // Daniel Wiessner for Reuters
But the agency's two Republican commissioners, Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson, said federal law does not allow the commission to adopt broad rules prohibiting conduct that it deems anticompetitive. “We are not a legislature,” Ferguson said. “I do not believe we have the power to nullify tens of millions of existing contracts."
Parity in Labor Transparency
April 24, 2024 // Michael Watson for American Institute for Economic Research
The institutional left has sought to reward Big Labor by making union organizing campaigns shorter, or bypassing them with “card check.” Big Labor knows that the dynamics of union organizing rely on labor unions being able to make their pitches to workers from trusted positions without skeptical responses from other workers or employer representatives. And they only need to win the vote once to start collecting dues and engaging in compulsory bargaining. As long as government-recognized and government-empowered compulsory union bargaining exists, the government require workers be given all the information before deciding whether to form a union and bargain collectively. The SALT Act would accomplish this needed reform.
Commentary: Congress Should Close This Labor Union Loophole
April 24, 2024 // Vinnie Vernuccio for Washington Examiner
Workers themselves have made clear that salting is manipulative. In Buffalo, New York, many Starbucks employees became upset after learning that their supposedly neutral coworkers were union salts. One employee called salts “very scheme-y,” saying they were “unsettling” because “some of these people I thought were my friends.” Another Starbucks employee lamented that salts were more interested in their job with the union than their fellow baristas. At least 25 Starbucks stores have begun the process of decertifying their unions, potentially reflecting employee anger at having been tricked by salts. Since unions won’t make these disclosures on their own, Congress must intervene. The SALT Act would require unions to do exactly what businesses do, filing detailed public reports within 30 days of hiring or otherwise entering into an agreement with a salt. Labor unions say they respect workers, but their continued use of undisclosed salts shows profound disrespect for the men and women who make our economy run. Workers deserve better than union manipulation. They deserve the transparency, accountability, and honesty that help them make a fully informed decision about whether unionization is right for them.
Supreme Court to hear Starbucks case about fired pro-union employees
April 24, 2024 // Stetson Miller for WSFA
After investigating, an NLRB regional director issued an unfair labor practice complaint. The agency then sought an injunction to get the company to rehire the employees, under section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act. A U.S. district court judge granted the injunction and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision. Starbucks said the workers were fired for violating company policy when they invited local journalists into a closed store and appealed the case to the high court.
Opinion: PRO Act Just Gives Unions More Power
April 24, 2024 // Michael Watson for Capitol Research Center
Big Labor bosses who desire more resources and power (often in order to steal them or direct them to radical political agendas) hope the PRO Act will complete an 80-year campaign to make America more like Europe, with the strikes, economic sclerosis, and socialist planning for which that continent is known. With the PRO Act having powerful allies in the White House and Congress, it’s time for opponents of Big Labor to take note.
How Big Government and Big Labor Colluded to Get VW to Unionize
April 24, 2024 // Henry Payne for National Review
Failure to meet government sales mandates will be met with massive fines that increase by leaps and bounds after 2026. California, the nation’s biggest auto market, will, for example, require that 35 percent of automaker sales be of battery-powered vehicles by 2026. Failure to meet that number will cost them $20,000 per vehicle for every vehicle below the threshold. The percentage jumps to 43 percent in 2027, 51 percent in 2028, 59 percent in 2029, and 68 percent in 2030 on the way to outlawing the sales of gasoline cars in 2035. Federal penalties are similarly harsh. Tesla aside (as an EV-only seller, it is not only exempt from penalties, but also receives generous subsidies), just 5 percent of sales today are electric, with 50 percent of EV buyers returning to a gas car when they go back to market.
Delta Air Lines, facing another attempt to unionize flight attendants, raises pay
April 24, 2024 // Associated Press for Associated Press
Nelson believes that unions are in a stronger place now, even in the largely nonunion South, where the United Auto Workers won an election last week at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. Nelson’s union is seeking an industry-leading contract at United Airlines, which could bolster its case at Delta.
OPINION: L.A. Teacher’s Fight With Union Appealed To Supreme Court
April 23, 2024 // Timothy Snowball for Daily Wire
Laird refused to dismiss his lawsuit, and with good reason. Because his case is about more than the return of his money. In fact, Laird is donating the entire amount he received from UTLA to a nonprofit group that helps disadvantaged students in the Los Angeles area. When judges at both the lower court level and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the union, the Freedom Foundation filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in. Glenn Laird’s case is about a judicial acknowledgment and vindication of his First Amendment rights by a federal judge. As long as unions can cut checks using their members’ dues dollars to make lawsuits disappear, judges will never have the opportunity to rule on the actual constitutional issues, rendering the First Amendment and Janus decision meaningless. “Hopefully the Supreme Court will find my case worthy of making a ruling,” concluded Laird. “Janus set the stage, but now we need to build on that precedent so unions and lower court judges don’t continue to ignore the Supremes.”