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
WATCH: Clash over union-backed mailers in Washington Supreme Court races
October 21, 2026 // Carleen Johnson for The Center Square
One of the candidates for Washington State Supreme Court is raising concerns about a political action committee that is targeting five candidates for the state's high court. The homepage for the organization, Beware the Attack on Our Courts, says, “Conservative Forces Organizing to Take Over Our Top Court…with five of our nine state Supreme Court seats on the ballot this year, the danger presented by this right-wing effort to pack our court has never been greater.”
Report: Obama Allies at His Foundation Get Six-Figure Pay While ‘Overworked’ Rank-and-File Seek to Unionize
October 21, 2026
The Obama Foundation appears to have an income inequality problem, with the former president’s political allies enjoying six-figure salaries while low-paid workers are fighting for union representation. That’s the conclusion of an exclusive report by Fox News Digital, which tracked the top salary of CEO Valerie Jarrett at $771,000, a number of others in the half-a-million-dollars-a-year range and nearly 200 more pulling in six-figure salaries.
Member Apathy and College Students Give Fain a Second Term as UAW President
October 21, 2026 // author for Labor Pains
While the results from the election are currently waiting for certification, Fain appears to have been reelected with about 68 percent of the vote in an election with an abysmally-low turnout rate of nine percent. Notably, Fain performed strongest in regions that have a lower number of union members working in actual auto plants. Fain’s strongest areas were UAW Region 9A, which generally represents university students and lawyers in the northeast, and UAW Region 6, which generally represents students at the University of California. Fain took 76.65 percent of the vote in Region 9A and 75.23 percent of the vote in Region 6.
Kamala Harris to Rally Las Vegas Casino Union Members Ahead of Nevada Gubernatorial Election
October 21, 2026 // Devin O'Connor for Casino.org
Nevada’s Culinary Union is enlisting former Vice President Kamala Harris to rally casino workers ahead of next month’s election, boosting Democratic gubernatorial nominee Aaron Ford in his bid to unseat Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
Freelance Busting: “They All Had A Different Answer”
October 20, 2026 // Kim Kavin for Freelance Busting
Senator after senator described statewide confusion about the rule among business owners, attorneys, accountants and constituents. Senators said people are constantly asking them about the legality of continuing to hire every conceivable kind of working person, from financial advisers to babysitters. One senator described what’s happening in some industries as “panic mode.” Another said he convened accountants in his district to ask about the independent-contractor rule, and “they all had a different answer.” Yet another asked, “Who’s the guru of the determining if you pass or fail the ABC Test?” and wondered aloud if there was going to be a Division of ABC Test Clarification within the state’s Labor Department.
Huge N.J. refinery locks out 400 union workers amid contract talks, negotiators say
October 20, 2026 // Steve Strunsky for NJ.com
Negotiators for Houston-based Phillips 66, which owns Bayway, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union Local 877, which represents 400 workers at the refinery, had reached a tentative agreement on a new contact. However, a narrow majority of rank-and-file union members declined to ratify the deal in a vote on Friday, prompting the company to block union workers from entering its gate on Park Avenue in Linden on Monday at 4 p.m. Phillips issued a statement Tuesday saying it was “disappointed” by the situation, but that the refinery would continue operating without disruption using, “properly trained and qualified personnel to meet all customer requirements.”
Lefty NYC labor bill would kill Amazon, UPS jobs, warns dire letter
October 20, 2026 // Hannah Fierick for New York Post
Business groups are demanding the City Council block a controversial labor bill backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his progressive comrades — arguing it will slap crippling mandates on crucial job providers. The coalition, including the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and the American Consumer Institute, fired off a letter to the Democratic-led council and Speaker Julie Menin on Tuesday warning that the proposed Delivery Protection Act would come at “substantial cost’’ to companies such as Amazon and UPS — and thus consumers.
EEOC Chair Signals Scrutiny of Labor Unions Over Discrimination
October 20, 2026 // Rachel Zheliabovskii for SHRM
The EEOC has pursued high-profile investigations involving companies such as Nike and Northwestern Mutual and filed a discrimination lawsuit against The New York Times over allegations that its hiring and promotion practices disadvantaged a white male employee.
US Supreme Court will not review Trump’s firing of labor board member
October 20, 2026 // author for Reuters
The justices turned away former NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox's appeal of a lower court's ruling that said the Republican president's January 2025 firing of her was a valid exercise of executive authority.
Commentary: Is Gov. Lamont Really Considering Defying Teacher Unions for Once?
October 20, 2026 // Chris Powell for Connecticut Insider
But the program would create competition with Connecticut’s “public schools,” the euphemism for schools controlled by teacher unions. That is, the schools subject to the state law requiring binding arbitration for teacher union contracts, the state law prohibiting municipalities from reducing school budgets, and the state law prohibiting disclosure of teacher evaluations. So Connecticut’s teacher unions, part of the Democratic Party’s army, are hysterically opposed to the program, and the governor, a Democrat, is broadcasting campaign commercials boasting of the “record funding” he has arranged for “education,” which in Connecticut is itself a euphemism for teacher unions.
Ketchikan Shipyard workers rejoin union after new operator said old contract didn’t apply
October 20, 2026 // Cale Green for AlaskaNews ·
Then the state changed operators. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which owns the shipyard, declined to extend Vigor's agreement in February 2025, and JAG took over on Sept. 19, 2025, as Alaska News reported. As Vigor wound down, its workforce fell from about 97 to about 18, according to the authority's project page. Local 23 argued that JAG, as Vigor's successor, had to recognize the union and honor the contract. JAG said it wasn't a successor employer and wasn't bound by Vigor's agreement, according to the union's account.
Faculty, staff union reaches agreement with City Colleges of Chicago, strike averted
October 20, 2026 // Natalie McMillan for CBS News
The Cook County College Teachers Union and the community college system reached a tentative agreement overnight Sunday into Monday. The new four-year contract was approved just before 4 a.m. Monday. The union said the agreement includes salaries that keep pace with inflation. The agreement also protects health insurance, and puts safeguards in place regarding artificial intelligence, according to the union.
Henry Ford Genesys nurses approve contract after 411-day strike
October 19, 2026 // Max Reinhart for Detroit News
The hospital said it has already begun implementing elements of a revamped staffing model, including giving frontline nurses greater say in decisions involving patient care, nursing practices, safety and their work environment. The contract ratification comes just days after the nurses submitted a petition to the National Labor Relations Board, seeking an election on removing Teamsters Local 332 as their bargaining representative.
VA allows union contract to expire for most employees
October 19, 2026 // Erich Wagner for Government Executive
Individuals hired as departmental police officers, firefighters and security guards, exempted from Trump’s anti-union orders, remain covered under the expired collective bargaining agreement, albeit only for “mandatory” conditions of employment.
Dattner Architects workers launch union drive
October 19, 2026 // Daniel Jonas Roche for Architecture,
Dattner Architects employees have requested a card-check neutrality agreement from office leadership for union recognition. This is to bypass an election by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Why more Pittsburgh-area librarians are becoming ‘steelworkers’
October 19, 2026 // Octavia Liku for Pittsburgh’s Public Source
A lack of administrative transparency, paired with over a year of grappling with short-staffing, wages as low as $13.22 per hour, changing leadership and expanding responsibilities, pushed workers to unionize, by a 13-3 vote, with the United Steelworkers (USW) in late July. The Cooper-Siegel staff enters the bargaining phase of their first contract amid rising tensions and concerns across the broader library workforce. They join more than 750 library workers across the country — including in Ohio, Illinois and New York — who have organized over the last 12 months as library wages lag way below other sectors and the soaring cost of living.
Commentary: What happens when environmental justice nonprofit workers unionize?
October 19, 2026 // Jason Collins for Nonprofit Quarterly
OVECU filed an unfair labor practice claim with the NLRB, which ruled that OVEC had unlawfully suspended and discharged one employee and discharged another because of their unionizing efforts, which was a protected concerted activity. In July 2021, workers voted in an NLRB-supervised election to certify the union. Four months later, in November, OVEC’s board voted 10-1 to dissolve the 34-year-old organization
Opinion: Mitch Carmichael: The 120-day clock that could rewrite your job
October 19, 2026 // Mitch Carmichael for Charleston Gazette Mail
The FLCA would set a timetable for negotiating a first contract after a union is newly certified or recognized. The parties would meet and begin bargaining within 10 days after the employer receives a written request. If they have no agreement after 90 days of bargaining, either party could request federal mediation. If mediation fails after another 30 days, the dispute will go to a three-person, federal-government arbitration panel. The panel’s decision would bind both sides for two years unless they agree in writing to amend it. That means a government panel, potentially unfamiliar with a particular West Virginia workplace, could decide matters as consequential as schedules, time off, health benefits and work rules. Unions and employers would have opportunities to present their positions, but neither would have the final say over terms imposed through arbitration. Nor would workers have an opportunity to ratify the final contract
State Health Dept. Sued Over Forced Unionizing of Michigan Home Caregivers
October 19, 2026 // AnnMarie Pariseau for Mackinac Center for Public Policy
The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit challenging Michigan’s effort to classify home caregivers as state employees for union representation. The lawsuit seeks to enforce the Michigan Constitution’s rules governing state employment and invalidate the election that certified SEIU Healthcare Michigan as the bargaining representative for home caregivers. The foundation represents James “Jase” Bolger, a former member of the Michigan Civil Service Commission. Bolger brings the lawsuit as a citizen, as the Michigan Constitution allows any citizen to sue to enforce its civil service provisions.
Minneapolis Worker Files Federal Charges Against Union for Unlawful Dues Demands, ‘Pay Up or Be Fired’ Threats
October 18, 2026 // Author for National Right to Work Foundation
William Kocke, an employee of CenterPoint Energy, has filed unfair labor practice charges against Office and Professional Employees International (OPEIU) Local 12. The charges state that OPEIU union officials ignored and obstructed Kocke when he attempted to exercise his right to refrain from union membership and his right to pay less than full union dues under the National Right to Work Foundation-won Communication Workers v. Beck U.S. Supreme Court decision. Kocke filed the charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.