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In the News
Hollywood stars, unions and fans erupt with outrage after ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel off air
September 21, 2025 // Patrick Smith, Rebecca Cohen, Rebecca Keegan for ABC News
The outrage over ABC’s decision spilled over into the streets on Thursday, as members of WGA rallied outside Disney Studios in Burbank, California, as part of a protest co-organized with the group Burbank Against ICE. The protesters carried signs that read “Defend Free Speech” and “ABC Bends the Knee to Fascism” as they walked the sidewalks to the sound of approving car horns on Alameda Boulevard. WGA President Meredith Steihm said she was at a members meeting Wednesday night when news of Disney’s decision to pull the show began to spread. “This felt like a siren last night,” Steihm said. “We put a statement out, but the question was ‘What are we going to do?’ The first thing we did was gather here.”
National Right to Work Foundation Files Appeals Court Brief in Support of Trump Order Cutting Federal Union Bosses’ Coercive Power
September 20, 2025 // author for National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
Brief emphasizes President’s authority under both Constitution and federal law to reduce scope of union monopoly bargaining control
St. Louis unions rally alongside striking Boeing workers
September 19, 2025 // Olivia Mizelle for St. Louis Public Radio
On Friday morning, the union is set to vote on a contract proposed by its own negotiating committee. It includes an updated 401(k) plan, higher wage increases for employees at the top of the pay scale and a $10,000 signing bonus, up from the $4,000 bonus in the previous contract. If union members approve the contract, it will be submitted to Boeing as a pre-approved agreement. If Boeing declines the proposal, the union said it will continue to strike and be ready to return to the negotiation table with the company.
Does federal marijuana prohibition mean cannabis workers can’t unionize?
September 19, 2025 // Chris Roberts for MJBizCon
That’s what so-called “trigger laws” in California, New York and Massachusetts call for: allowing workers to petition state labor-relations entities if the NLRB cannot function. That could work against cannabis companies in such blue states. In contrast, it would be a boon for anti-unionization efforts in states with weak labor laws such as Missouri, where the cannabis industry is doing comparatively well compared to other states. It’s not clear what might happen next in Michigan, where Democratic lawmakers repealed anti-union “right-to-work” laws in 2024.
US senators demand Wells Fargo welcome employee unions
September 18, 2025 // Jonathan Stempel for Reuters
A group of Democratic senators called on Wells Fargo (WFC.N), opens new tab to end its alleged campaign against employee unions, saying a more constructive approach could address a toxic workplace culture and help the bank recover from scandals that prevented it from growing.
1,900 Kaiser Permanente hospital workers in Hawaiʻi voting on union strike authorization
September 18, 2025 // author
Local bargaining started in April, and national bargaining with Kaiser Permanente, the country’s largest not-for-profit healthcare system, began in May. Union leaders point out that some Hawai‘i workers are paid up to 30% less than their counterparts on the mainland and face growing concerns over burnout and patient care. If approved, the vote would give union leadership the authority to call a strike once current contracts expire on Sept. 30. The online vote began at 6 a.m. on Sept. 15, with results expected by the end of the week or early next week. Meanwhile, rallies are scheduled to take place on Friday across the state.
Bill to nullify Trump’s union executive orders introduced by 48 senators
September 18, 2025 // Erich Wagner for Government Executive
All Senate Democrats and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have signed on as sponsors of the Protect America’s Workforce Act, while the measure is just two signatures away from guaranteed floor debate in the House.
Harvard Police Union Accuses University of Withholding Information
September 18, 2025 // Megan L. Blonigen, Amann S. Mahajan, Laurel M. Shugart for Harvard Crimson
The Harvard University Police Association’s complaint stems from a dispute last April between HUPD Captain John F. Fulkerson and former detective Kelsey L. Whelihan over the handling of a reported sexual assault between a Harvard undergraduate and non-student. After she said that Fulkerson mishandled the sexual assault case, Whelihan left the department this March. The University launched an investigation into the procedural handling of the response after the officers’ dispute — contracting investigators from the Ed Davis Company, a Boston-based private security firm, to compile the report. But when the HUPA requested a copy of the report in October, the University refused.
Louisiana Poultry Employee Submits Second Petition Seeking Vote to Oust UFCW Union
September 18, 2025 // author for National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
Coty Hally, an employee of Wayne Sanderson Farms’ Hammond processing facility, has just filed a second petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking a union “decertification” election to remove United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 455 union officials from the workplace. Hally’s earlier petition in June of this year was dismissed by an NLRB Regional Director, which ruled that under its non-statutory “contract bar” policy no employee-requested decertification votes may occur for up to three years after a union contract is imposed. This occurred despite Hally having never seen the contract extension agreement that barred his petition.
Volkswagen Breaks Off Talks With UAW Local in Tennessee
September 18, 2025 // Christopher Otts for Wall Street Journal
Volkswagen VOW -1.85%decrease; red down pointing triangle made its “last, best” offer Wednesday to hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers at its Tennessee assembly plant, and it is up to the union whether to put the proposed contract to a vote, the German automaker said. Volkswagen is offering an immediate pay hike of 5% and subsequent annual increases of 3% to 6% over four years, according to a company official. VW says a worker at its top hourly wage would earn nearly $80,000 in 2026, including an attendance bonus, before overtime and profit-sharing. Over four years, wages would rise by 20%, the company estimated.
Why a big bank and a big tech company are raising wages
September 18, 2025 // Samantha Fields for Marketplace
Everyone who works at Bank of America will soon make at least $25 an hour, the company announced Wednesday. Amazon is also raising pay for people who work in its fulfillment centers and in transportation to more than $23 an hour, on average, and paying for more of their health care costs. That adds up to around $50,000 a year for full-time employees.
WA state workers OK new contract with retroactive pay hikes
September 18, 2025 // Jerry Cornfield for Washington State Standard
Those affected work at 14 community colleges and in nine state agencies. Among them are the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Revenue, the Liquor and Cannabis Board and Department of Agriculture. By law, public sector unions in Washington must approve a new contract by Oct. 1 to be considered by the governor for funding in the ensuing two-year budget. The spending plan Ferguson signed in May funds multiple public employee union contracts with pay hikes of 3% on July 1 and 2% next July. These agreements contain other salary-related changes, including raising the starting wage for state workers to $18 an hour. But last fall, Washington Public Employee Association members voted down their tentative agreement in pursuit of larger wage hikes. They didn’t get them, eventually ratifying an accord on April 3 with pay provisions mirroring those they’d rejected earlier.
COMMENTARY Justin Owens: First Principles Series: Worker Freedom
September 17, 2025 // JUSTIN OWEN for Beacon Center
At the end of the day, it’s not government mandates to pay union dues or receive a certain wage that protect workers. It’s the negotiation that takes place between individual workers and employers that empowers workers to get paid what they earn and choose whether to keep those earnings or join a union to negotiate on their behalf. That’s why more and more people are relocating to Tennessee to live and work and fleeing states that refuse to protect their freedoms, like California, Illinois, and New York. If you really want to know which states protect workers, look no further than where they are voluntarily choosing to go.
Union floats offer to end six-week Boeing Defense strike
September 17, 2025 // Dan Catchpole for Reuters
IAM proposes contract with better bonuses, retirement contributions Boeing calls proposal a 'waste of time' that will prolong strike Boeing says it plans to replace striking machinists with new hires
Labor unions, faculty associations sue Trump administration over demands to UCLA
September 17, 2025 // Josephine Murphy for Daily Bruin
UCLA would also be expected to make a statement that it no longer recognizes the identities of transgender individuals, end gender-affirming care for minors at its medical facilities, offer female-only housing and “make clear through the statement and on its website that it does not welcome transgender people on sports teams,” as part of the deal, according to the LA Times. Diego Emilio Bollo, the president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said he believes the federal government is withholding the funds in an attempt to coerce the university to compromise its values – including those of academic freedom, free speech and equity. He added that USAC is “incredibly thankful and in support” of the lawsuit.
COLUMBUS: Several suburban libraries began unionizing after COVID. Are they better off 4 years later?
September 17, 2025 // Dean Narciso for Columbus Dispatch
According to the State Employment Relations Board’s 2025 Annual Report, there have been 203 unfair labor practice charges filed statewide. "Out of those 203 charges, the board found probable cause in eight matters," said Mona Reed, the board's executive director.
AHN closing primary care office in New Kensington as workers vote to unionize
September 17, 2025 // Tawnya Panizzi for Triblive
Allegheny Health Network officials said a decision to shutter a longtime primary care office in New Kensington is unrelated to its office staff voting to unionize. United Physicians at 305 Seventh St. is expected to close by the end of the year, said Sarafina James, AHN senior public relations analyst. “That office has only one physician in it, and that physician has informed us he is leaving the organization,” James said. “As a result, that primary care office will close.”
AFGE President Demetrius Baldwin Charged with Four Counts of Wire Fraud
September 17, 2025 // author for National Institute for Labor Relations Research
Department of Labor: On August 11, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Demetrius Baldwin, former President of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2053 (located in Gulfport, Miss.) was charged in an information with four counts of wire fraud, in excess of $50,000, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Dallas-New Orleans District Office.
Trump’s mass probationary firings were illegal, judge concludes, but he won’t order re-hirings
September 17, 2025 // Eric Katz for Government Executive
Normally, Alsup said, his findings would require the Trump administration to return all probationers to their jobs. He noted the Supreme Court has specifically rejected such relief, however, and “too much water has now passed under the bridge.” Some employees have found new jobs, while some agencies have engaged in reorganizations that have eliminated the roles altogether. “The terminated probationary employees have moved on with their lives and found new jobs,” Alsup said. “Many would no longer be willing or able to return to their posts.” Instead, the judge once again ordered agencies to, by Nov. 14, send letters to all fired probationary employees that state “you were not terminated on the basis of your personal performance.”
No LIRR strike for at least 4 months as Trump steps in on labor dispute
September 17, 2025 // Brandon Cruz, Josh Christenson and Haley Brown for New York Post
The emergency board will probe the contract fight and prevent and mediate negotiations under the Railway Labor Act, which triggers a 120-day “cooling off period.” That means neither the MTA nor the unions can change wages, hours or working conditions — and workers cannot legally strike — for roughly four months unless both sides agree to a deal.
Blog Research ● Labor Unions
author
A ‘Copy And Paste’ Campaign? – Opponents ‘Flood The U.S. Department Of Labor With Identical Comments Against Proposed Union Rule