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In the News
Iron Workers Union President Kyle Chasse Pleads Guilty to All 13 Criminal Counts
August 22, 2025
Lying and stealing—Iron Workers Local 745’s former leader pleads guilty to a string of federal offenses. "Kyle Chasse, former President of Iron Workers Local 745 (located in Kittery, Maine), pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343 and 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(3), respectively. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Boston-Buffalo District Office."
Plan Sponsors Get Go-Ahead on Alternatives as DOL Shifts Stance
August 22, 2025 // Fred Barstein for 401ktv
For plan sponsors, this regulatory shift provides much-needed clarity and removes a significant deterrent that had been hanging over alternative investment discussions. The DOL has essentially returned to a neutral, principles-based approach that allows fiduciaries to evaluate all investment options based on their merits rather than facing special scrutiny for considering alternatives.
Most L.A. city employee layoffs averted by deals with unions
August 22, 2025 // David Zahniser, Noah Goldberg for LA Times
The layoffs would have affected 222 civilian LAPD employees, such as clerks and administrative support workers. No sworn LAPD officers were slated to be laid off, but some would have had to do the work of the civilians who departed. "We are continuing to do everything we can to bring layoff numbers down and I want everyone to know that we are still working and anticipate this number to get even lower," Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. "These numbers are not final." Meanwhile, the Engineers and Architects Assn. authorized a deal for its 6,000 members to take as many as five unpaid vacation days — effectively furloughs — between Jan. 1 and June 30 next year, which could amount to about a 2% pay cut. The deal saved the jobs of 63 Engineers and Architects Assn. members who do not work for the LAPD, in roles such as city planner, analyst and civilian investigator.
BlueOval SK begins production one week out from pivotal union vote. Here’s what that means
August 21, 2025 // Connor Giffin, Olivia Evans for Loisville Courrier Journal
Production is beginning just one week ahead of a major crossroads for workers. Plant staff will vote on whether or not to unionize with the United Auto Workers on Aug. 26 and 27.
Steelworkers President Michael Evanovich Faces Indictments
August 21, 2025 // author for National Institute for Labor Relations
Michael Evanovich, President of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1219, faces indictments for embezzlement and false reporting. From the Department of Labor:
SAG-AFTRA Confronts a Fran-less Future
August 21, 2025 // Kate Kilkinney for Hollywood Reporter
But now, with another tough contract negotiation on the horizon, SAG-AFTRA is going to have to push forward without its erstwhile leader from Queens. This time around, Drescher has decided against running for president. In her place, another celebrity, Lord of the Rings and Rudy star Sean Astin, and a rank-and-file performer, New England Local board member Chuck Slavin, are battling it out for the job. The stakes are high, given that the candidates face a darker and more foreboding landscape than the one that even Drescher confronted when she entered office in 2021 during the pandemic.
Protect Worker Freedom to Best Help Black Women, All Workers
August 21, 2025 // Patrice Onwuka for Independent Women's Forum
The removal of DEI positions and programming under the second Trump Administration is also credited with having a disparate impact on Black women. This argument might sound reasonable to regular people, but data doesn’t prove it. Black women are overrepresented in federal jobs compared to private sector employment. They comprise 6.6% of the civilian workforce but 12.1% of the federal workforce, the largest differential among racial demographics.
Labor Day 2025: More protests than parades and picnics
August 20, 2025 // Mark Gruenberg for People’s World
But the biggest blowout, organizers hope, is going to be on Labor Day itself. Local events can be found at MayDayStrong.org. There is also a toolkit for event hosts and organizers to coordinate their actions. The organizers hope to exceed the estimated five million people who hit the streets on No Kings Day back in April. The key demands at all the protests will be: “stop the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration, protect and defend Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs for working people,” plus “fully funded schools, and healthcare and housing for all.” Marchers will also demand the Trump regime “stop the attacks on immigrants, Black, indigenous, trans people, and all our communities and invest in people, not wars.”
Unions ‘Wait and See’ on Elections as Trump Upends Labor Arena
August 20, 2025 // Parker Purifoy for Bloomberg Law
That political uncertainty, coupled with a volatile economy and labor market, could have workers second-guessing whether they’re ready to stick their necks out for collective action, the data show. College athlete employment, protections for political protests, and higher penalties for labor law violations are just some of the issues that worker advocates may want to steer away from a Republican board. The average number of newly certified unions per month dropped 22.3% between January and July this year, compared to the last six months of the Biden administration, according to data from the NLRB’s monthly election reports.
DOL once again set to tackle joint employer, independent contractor regulations
August 20, 2025 // Ryan Golden for HR Dive
Meanwhile, DOL in May told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it would no longer defend the last administration’s rule allowing retirement plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and governance, or ESG, factors when making investment decisions from a lawsuit filed by several Republican-led states. In another shift, DOL in June said it would begin issuing opinion letters through five of its subagencies. The agency’s new regime published the first such letter in May on the subject of the independent contractor classification status for virtual marketplace company workers. The letter reinstated a stance DOL previously articulated in a 2019 letter that had been rescinded during the Biden administration.
Alltech Grows Operations in Right to Work Kentucky
August 20, 2025 // author for National Institute for Labor Relations Research
Empowering Flexible Work in Alabama: Shipt to Launch First Portable Benefits Program In Our Home State
August 20, 2025 // author for Shipt
Now, eligible Alabama shoppers earning with Shipt can qualify to receive contributions from Shipt equivalent to 4% of their pre-tip earnings. They can then use these tax-deductible contributions to purchase benefits that matter most to them, without jeopardizing their ability to earn on their own terms.3 “We hear it from shoppers and drivers all the time: nothing beats a flexible work schedule,” said Mindy Reher, vice president of experiential operations at Shipt. “As a people-centric company, we take pride in finding innovative solutions to offer workers on our platform greater access, choice, and security in how they work. Alabama shoppers can now further build toward their financial goals without compromising on the flexibility they get from earning on the Shipt platform.”
Teamsters Doles Out Cash to GOP Candidates as Union Boss Argues Dems Have Abandoned Working People
August 19, 2025 // Adam Pack for Daily Signal
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education (DRIVE) PAC has doled out nearly $70,000 to Republicans this year. The donations mark the second cycle in a row that the Teamsters’ political arm has donated to Republican candidates after contributing to Democrats exclusively for roughly two decades. The Teamsters’ political arm contributed $5,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm, and a combined $62,000 to 22 House Republicans, including Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota, and Mike Lawler, all R-N.Y., as well as Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith, both R-N.J., during 2025’s second fundraising quarter.
The Importance of Protecting Portable Benefits
August 19, 2025 // Emmet Bowling for American Action Forum
The modern gig economy employs about 75 million workers. The provision of benefits is, of course, a positive for these freelance workers – so if businesses wish to provide them, they should be able to do so without fear of misclassification lawsuits. In short, Congress should consider these bills as a positive for both the millions of gig workers and the businesses that wish to provide them competitive benefits packages.
‘Harder for All of Us’: Confusion Reigns After Harvard Excludes 900 Grad Students From Union
August 19, 2025 // Amann S. Mahajan for Harvard Crimson
Lindsey E. Adams, a Ph.D. student in Harvard’s virology program, opened her pay stub on July 1 to a strange sight: Her research stipend was no longer listed as a union stipend, and no union dues were deducted from her pay. But nothing about Adams’ job was different — not her hours, not her supervisor, not the lab where she works or the tasks she completes every day. “My work day-to-day has not changed at all,” she said. Adams was one of the more than 900 students on research-based stipends removed from Harvard’s graduate student union’s bargaining unit in July shortly after the union’s second contract with the University expired.
It’s been 1,805 days since Chicago Teachers Union’s last “annual audit”
August 19, 2025 // Mailee Smith
The Chicago Teachers Union is required by its own internal rules to provide an audit of its finances every year. But it hasn’t done so since September 9, 2020. That means it’s been 1,805 days since the union released an “annual” audit. After unsuccessfully seeking the required audits from the union, a group of CTU members filed suit on Oct. 8, 2024. CTU tried to get the lawsuit tossed out, but the judge rejected its request. The court noted the union didn’t even dispute failing to provide the required audits.
Pritzker signs union protection bills amid Trump war on federal unions
August 19, 2025 // Tina Sfondeles for IPM
The signing comes after the Federal Emergency Management Agency joined at least three other federal agencies in canceling contracts with unions to comply with President Trump’s March executive order that stripped many federal workers of union protections.
Union concerned as prisons report increased violence
August 19, 2025 // Elyse Apel for The Center Square
The St. Louis Correctional Facility is in the central part of Michigan and can house more than 1,100 inmates. Operated by the Michigan Department of Corrections, the facility is currently designated a level IV facility. In the MDOC system, prisons are categorized by security levels I through V, with level V being maximum security. A level IV facility typically houses prisoners considered high risk for violence, escape, or disruptive behavior, with many serving long sentences. MCO is calling for action to protect the facility’s correction officers.
Layoffs, frustrated public among concerns for union president ahead of SEPTA cuts
August 19, 2025 // Leland Pinder for ABC 6
"What I'm going to do is send a letter to Chief Bethel and the Chief of Transit Police and ask them, on the 24th, that they man our lines. It's going to be a frustrating time, and I'm worried that the backlash is going to come on my operators - and I'm not going to accept that," he said. Pollitt added that some union members are also concerned about potential layoffs. While workers with more than a year on the job are contractually protected, those with less than a year are not - a group he estimates includes more than 700 employees. However, SEPTA says there are no immediate plans for layoffs. "As we get started, there's no immediate plans for layoffs," said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.
Union workers protest at Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center
August 19, 2025 // Nikki McGee for WKRN
Terminating contracts for VA unions – which have repeatedly opposed significant, bipartisan VA reforms and rewarded bad employees for misconduct – is a huge win for Veterans. Because of this decision, VA staff will spend more time with Veterans, VA facilities can focus on treating Veterans instead of catering to union bosses, and VA can manage its staff according to Veterans’ needs, not union demands. As a result of this move, nearly 1,900 union representatives, who had been collecting government salaries to do union work, have returned to full-time VA work on behalf of Veterans.
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