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In the News
Foundation Notice Offers Free Legal Aid to New York In-Home Medicaid Caregivers Targeted for Forced Unionization by SEIU
October 2, 2026 // Author for National Right To Work Foundation
The Foundation’s legal notice informs CDPAP personal assistants of their legal rights, which include the right to challenge an effort by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) officials to impose unionization on every assistant currently providing care, often to family members, through the program. The notice encourages caregivers to reach out to the Foundation for additional information about their legal rights and for free legal assistance. “If certified, SEIU would become the exclusive representative of all personal assistants, irrespective of whether they support the union,”
Union members reject tentative contract agreement with Cahokia schools
October 2, 2026 // Teri Maddox for Belleville News-Democrat
Nearly 400 teachers, service workers and secretaries in Cahokia have been working without a contract for about 15 months. Union President Wendy Lochman and Ray Roskos, field service director with Illinois Federation of Teachers, held a news conference on Sept. 23, warning that members were prepared to strike at 7 a.m. Sept. 25 if contract negotiations failed that evening. Roskos filmed a selfie news conference with union negotiators at 11:41 p.m. in a parking lot to announce that an agreement had been reached “in concept,” but it would require “language items” to be worked out with the district’s attorney and a vote by membership.
New Jersey: Kim Kavin: Carveout Chaos Ahead
October 2, 2026 // Kim Kavin for Freelance Busting
Anderson is the founder of Freelancers Against AB5, the leading advocacy group in California that is still trying to figure out how to get that state’s ABC Test law repealed. She is currently a Future of Work Fellow with the Institute for the American Worker in Washington, D.C., an excellent program about labor and employment policy that I completed earlier this year. And, Anderson and I both testified before Congress on this issue in 2023, when her testimony included the following passage, some three years after California’s ABC Test law and a cleanup bill that followed it had gone into effect:
San Juan Unified School District faces unfair labor practice charge over layoffs
October 2, 2026 // Chaewon Chung for Sacremento Bee
The California School Employees Association filed an unfair practice charge last month, alleging that San Juan Unified School District refused to negotiate how the recent layoffs and related staffing changes would affect employees and failed to provide information needed to represent them.
Jim Jordan Hints He May Address College Athlete Unionization with Amendment to Save College Sports Act | Don’t @ Me w/ Dan Dakich
October 1, 2026 // Dan Dakich for fOX nEWS
"I think that's a concern. I think most, college, you know, most college athletes don't really want to unionize. I think most coaches don't want to have to deal with that. I think most universities and athletic departments don't want to have to deal with just one more issue, and it creates a whole new dynamic. And then it then if they're player, then there's tax issues. There's a whole host of things that just aren't necessarily there when we think about college athletics. And so that's a concern that I think some have with the bill. And we're going to take a look at all that when, when we get a chance to deal with the bill in the lame duck session after the election."
EPA union sues Trump administration to restore collective bargaining contract
October 1, 2026 // Michael Sainato for The Guardian
Federal workers’ union alleges EPA illegally terminated agreement with the goal of repressing political dissent
California superintendent candidate calls out teachers union, says she’s a ‘real threat’ to ‘socialist agenda’
October 1, 2026 // CJ Womack for Fox News
Conservative California superintendent candidate Sonja Shaw told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that she would not back down from confronting the United Teachers Los Angeles union (UTLA), after a circulated video allegedly showed a union leader calling Shaw a "real threat" and warning that her election "would cause a huge problem for us." Shaw, the president of the Chino Valley Unified School District board, pointed to Los Angeles student achievement scores as she accused UTLA of protecting the education establishment rather than focusing on academic outcomes.
Seattle minimum wage set to increase to $22 in 2027
October 1, 2026 // Aydian Ahmad for FOX 13 Seattle
Seattle's minimum wage is slated for an increase at the beginning of next year, according to an announcement from the city's Office of Labor Standards. On Jan. 1, 2027, the minimum wage for Washington's largest city will take an 84-cent climb, reaching $22.14. Washington state has the highest minimum wage of any other state in the country, which is currently $17.13.
Two UAW union members hit by truck while on strike outside Bradford White
October 1, 2026 // Michah Cho for ABC 13
For two weeks, UAW members at Bradford White have been striking for better wages and continued family health care coverage. Dan Snowden has been the bargaining chair for the union over the summer. "I don't think it was right that the semi driver did that," Snowden said. "Whether he's impatient to get out or not, it's a strike line. I mean, it's going to happen. They got to know. As I'm sure, it's not the first one. Maybe it is the first one that truck driver ever crossed. But I mean, a strike line's a strike line. You're going to get out."
Local drivers officially on strike, disrupting transportation for thousands of students
October 1, 2026 // Johnathon O'Halloran for WKRC
The district’s transportation contractor, First Student, is in a contract dispute with the local bus drivers union. If the two sides do not reach a deal by midnight Wednesday, more than 5,000 students could be without bus service Thursday morning, affecting students at 11 schools, including eight elementary schools.
Senate confirms Keith Sonderling, a business ally, as labor secretary
October 1, 2026 // Lauren Kaori Gurley for CBS News
As Sonderling officially takes over at the agency, labor and business groups expect its focus on Trump’s priorities to continue, including deregulation, expanding apprenticeships, reshoring manufacturing jobs and readying the workforce for the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. Sonderling, who is popular in Republican policy circles in Washington, previously served as a top Labor official during Trump’s first term before an appointment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Austin Ballot Initiative Mandating City Audits Faces Union Opposition
October 1, 2026 // Holly Hansen for The Texan
In February, Austin’s city council approved a labor consultation agreement with the local AFSCME chapter, making it the first city in Texas to do so. Earlier this month, a political action committee named “Don’t DOGE Our Austin” filed a campaign treasurer appointment with the city clerk listing AFSCME Local 1624 business manager Carol Guthrie as the treasurer.
Editorial: Against the Hollywood bailout
October 1, 2026 // Editors for National Review
The greatest job decline after Covid was in 2023, before Hollywood’s chief competitor, the U.K., expanded its film subsidies. That was the year of the industry’s “double strike,” when actors and writers simultaneously walked off studio lots for months. Hundreds of projects were delayed or outright canceled as filming rolled to a halt, costing the entertainment industry billions of dollars. When studios finally signed contracts to end the strikes, they had to accept unions’ core demands, ballooning their compensation in perpetuity. Is it any wonder they have looked to film elsewhere? The proposed federal tax credit would bail out the union workers who bargained for more than they were worth. It would subsidize almost all labor costs — for employees and contractors, both pre-production and post-production — of film crews, animators, special-effects artists, writers, actors, and even producers and directors. There are no limits on eligible compensation, so taxpayers would pick up a good chunk of the salaries of Christopher Nolan and Tom Cruise.
Solvang Workers Strike Enters Third Week
September 30, 2026 // Tracy Lehr for News 12
The union has been keeping many afloat by sustaining them with some funds, but it isn't enough to cover all their expenses.
Vinnie Vernuccio: Labor reform finally has congressional momentum
September 30, 2026 // Vinnie Vernuccio for Washington Times
Those reforms will take time to pass, whereas ending racist or sexually harassing language in unionization campaigns should be easy to get across the finish line soon. Clearly, Congress is capable of rallying behind pro-worker labor reforms. The House’s bipartisan passage of the Ending Predator Access to Union Power Act proves it, and hopefully it will clear the Senate soon.
California approves labor-backed force majeure updates and other laws
September 30, 2026 // Megan Quinn for Waste Dive
Union-backed SB 1371, signed by Newsom on Monday, makes changes to solid waste labor strike rules and force majeure provisions. The bill was unpopular with major waste companies. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the law will prohibit a city or county from entering into or updating a solid waste hauling agreement if a labor dispute would excuse the hauler from carrying out its duties. The law will also void any existing force majeure provisions from such contracts if that provision is meant to be used due to a work stoppage from a labor strike.
86-Year-Old Veteran Files Federal Charges Against UFCW Union for Causing his Illegal Firing from Part-Time Grocery Job
September 30, 2026 // Author for National Right To Work Foundation
With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, an 86-year-old veteran who worked part-time at Village Market in Oakland has filed federal charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 (UFCW) union. The charge says UFCW 5 union officials illegally had Phil Holland fired in early September claiming he owed thousands of dollars in back dues and fees. Holland, a Navy veteran with 30 years’ of experience in law enforcement, who also works part-time as a YMCA fitness instructor, was hired by the Village Market grocery store that he shopped at for 30 years in February of 2022 after he noticed a “help wanted” sign in the window. During his first four years of employment, UFCW Local 5 union officials never contacted him, never asked him to pay union dues or fees, and never notified him of his legal rights under the 1988 Foundation-won CWA v. Beck Supreme Court decision, which protects employees from being required to pay full union dues for activities unrelated to union bargaining like union-boss political activism.
Boeing (BA) Reaches Tentative Four Year Union Deal Covering 17,000 Engineers
September 30, 2026 // Bailey Pemberton for Simply Wall St i
Boeing (NYSE:BA) reached a tentative four year labor deal with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace covering about 17,000 workers. The proposed agreement includes guaranteed wage increases over the contract term, according to union communications released alongside the announcement.
Keeping Workers in the Dark: The Push for Employer Neutrality in Union Campaigns
September 30, 2026 // Sean P. Redmond for U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Whether or not one supports unionization in a particular workplace, elected officials should not pressure one party in a labor dispute to relinquish rights recognized to balance competing interests. The law recognizes rights and responsibilities for employees, unions, and employers alike. Yet calls for neutrality almost always run in one direction: in favor of organized labor. There is rarely a corresponding demand that unions remain neutral. Instead, neutrality initiatives frequently seek to silence only one side of the debate. The answer to competing claims should be more information, not less. Collective bargaining can involve difficult or protracted negotiations and may affect workplace flexibility, labor costs, wages, benefits, and business operations.
Opinion: The Postal Service is Drowning the NLRB
September 30, 2026 // Matt Bruenig for NLRB Edge
Around 15 percent of all ULP charges brought against employers are brought against the USPS. Around 23 percent of all ULP charges brought against unions are brought against the postal unions. The charges brought against the postal unions are generally individuals alleging that their union violated the duty of fair representation (DFR). Most of these charges appear to be without merit, as less than 15 percent of them result in some kind of remedy, whether a formal remedy from the Board or an adjusted dismissal/withdrawal. This is pretty typical of DFR charges across the country. What usually happens is an individual worker tries to pursue a grievance, the union decides the grievance is no good and opts not to pursue it, and the individual worker files a meritless DFR charge against the union.