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
US labor board withdraws claims Apple CEO violated employee rights, Bloomberg News reports
October 2, 2025 // author for Reuters
The U.S. labor board has withdrawn its allegations that Apple CEO Tim Cook violated federal labor law and several other claims, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The office of the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board said it was withdrawing many of the claims in a complaint it had issued against Apple in January, the report said, citing a letter.
UFCW Hit with Class Action Over Data Breach
October 2, 2025 // Chris Moore for Meating Place
In the complaint, plaintiff GeriSue Hancock said the breach affected about 55,747 people and was detected by the union on Dec. 11, after “certain data may have been accessed or acquired” the day prior. According to the filing, UFCW Local 7R began notifying affected individuals this week — more than nine months later — allegedly hindering victims’ ability to mitigate identity-theft risks. Hancock, suing on behalf of a putative class, claimed the Denver-based local, which represents roughly 23,000 workers across supermarkets, packing houses and food processing plants, among others in Colorado and Wyoming, stored unencrypted, unredacted PII and failed to implement basic safeguards. The suit cited alleged deficiencies including inadequate employee training, lack of phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication, insufficient logging and monitoring, and retention of sensitive data longer than necessary.
A crackdown on political violence that quietly worked
October 1, 2025 // Michael Watson for Capital Research Center
First, various arms of the federal government have conflicting interpretations over whether employers have the obligation to protect workers from union-related harassment in the workplace or are prohibited from protecting workers from union-related harassment in the workplace. The Institute for the American Worker (I4AW), a labor-policy think tank aligned with the Taft-Hartley Consensus, calls this paradox the “Battle of the 7s” after the relevant, conflicting portions of law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) and Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces the CRA, requires employers to prevent workplace harassment, and I4AW reports that its guidance has held that “insults and slurs could trigger liability under Title VII.” Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) under the Biden administration ruled that the NLRA protected certain “blatantly discriminatory or harassing language in the workplace, so long as the comments are made in the context of labor union activity.” In addition to creating an apparently unresolvable legal paradox for an employer, this dichotomy seems to tell Big Labor that its misconduct does not matter to public policy and is a wink-and-nod tolerance of it.
GATRA strike suspended, drivers to return to work
October 1, 2025 // KENNEDY BUCK for NBC 10 NEWS
On day two of the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority strike outside of its headquarters in Taunton, a worker was allegedly hit by one of the busses. He was seen in a video with other workers yelling at one of the drivers when a bus pulled up.
White House withdraws Antoni’s nomination to lead BLS
October 1, 2025 // Jasper Ward, Jarrett Renshaw, Bo Erickson for Reuters
“Dr. EJ Antoni is a brilliant economist and an American patriot that will continue to do good work on behalf of our great country," a White House official said in a statement, promising the president will announce a new nominee "very soon." The Senate committee overseeing the Labor Department never scheduled a confirmation hearing, and on Tuesday, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she remained concerned about Antoni's nomination. A person familiar with the nomination said several other Republicans expressed similar hesitation.
Temple University Hospital union pushes back planned strike
October 1, 2025 // Jack Tomczuk for Metro Philidelphia
Under the provision, members would have had to pay double their current costs for treatment provided outside the Temple Health system, according to PASNAP. Some employees do not live near a Temple facility or have longstanding relationships with other doctors, union officials said. Putting off the strike deadline will allow Temple to hold onto a $4.5 million payment that was scheduled to go out Monday to an agency providing fill-in nurses, PASNAP said.
Strike at Sutphen Corporation sparks call for boycott
October 1, 2025 // Saima Khan for Bay 9 News Tampa
Teamsters say the NLRB has found merit in unfair labor practice charges; unions are urging a U.S. and Canada-wide boycott of Sutphen Sutphen says it is negotiating in good faith and will continue manufacturing fire apparatus Next bargaining sessions are scheduled for Oct. 9 and Oct. 16, according to the union
IBEW Local 16 Folds in Case Concerning Illegal $1.29 Million Retaliatory ‘Fine’ Threat Against Local Electrician
October 1, 2025 // author for National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
The settlement requires union officials to rescind all fines against Head, expunge all records of them, and refrain from interfering with workers who exercise their right to resign their union membership in the future. The union is also required to notify other workers of their legal right to resign their union membership without restriction, and be free of any attempt to impose internal union fines post-resignation.
Anonymous graduate student worker group files unfair labor practice charge against SWC-UAW
October 1, 2025 // Max Halberstam, Spencer Davis for Columbia Spectator
Graduate Researchers Against Discrimination and Suppression, a new group, alleges that the union is halting bargaining for issues unrelated to employment.The group filed the charge amid stalled negotiations between the University and the union for a new contract after its first contract expired on June 30. The negotiations have halted over the University’s refusal to let the union broadcast bargaining sessions over Zoom for its members or let its president Grant Miner, who the University expelled in March, attend negotiations. The parties have not met since March. The union’s bylaws state that bargaining sessions must be “made accessible to the entire membership via Zoom or an equivalent platform.” The union conducted negotiations for its first contract in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic over Zoom and argues that its members who have fled the country fearing deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, such as Ranjani Srinivasan, a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, deserve to witness bargaining.
Trump administration moving to end federal prison workers’ union protections
October 1, 2025 // Ashleigh Fields for The Hill
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director William K. Marshall III wrote a letter to nearly 35,000 employees outlining plans to dismantle their contract negotiated by the Council of Prison Locals (CPL) labor union. “The current contract has too often slowed or prevented changes that would have made your jobs safer and your workdays better,” Marshall said in the memo to workers. “This is not about questioning the value of representation; it’s about ensuring representation moves us forward, not holds us back.”
Union workers react to federal mediator joining talks with Boeing
September 30, 2025 // Jordyn Burrell for First Alert 4
“The last offer we had from the union, they had a federal mediator and we seemed to get a worse offer,” Martin said. “If they can point Boeing in the right direction, aside from last time, it still didn’t seem to do a good thing for the union.” Union members say contracts at other Boeing plants — especially in places like Seattle — come with better pay and stronger benefits. “No one cares about this ratification bonus that they’re pushing so hard on everyone. We want better pay for all of our members. The ratification bonus is a right now solution and I think most of us are thinking about our futures,” said another Boeing worker on strike.
Hundreds of Connecticut group home workers strike over pension contributions
September 30, 2025 // Amanda Pitts for NBC Connecticut
The workers, represented by the New England Health Care Employees Union, SEIU 1199NE, are demanding a 0.2% increase in monthly pension contributions to prevent deep cuts to their retirement income. The strike impacts employees at three agencies operating group homes and day programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Network Inc., Caring Community, and Alternative Services Inc.
Unions rally around new plan to boost clean energy jobs
September 30, 2025 // Colin A. Young for WWLP
Massachusetts AFL-CIO, the Climate Jobs Massachusetts Action coalition and a handful of individual locals were among those who voiced support for a bill (H 3476 / S 2275) that would require energy and air quality audits for public schools, universities and colleges. The assessments would estimate the costs of energy improvements as well as greenhouse gas reductions that would result if improvements were made, and it would establish a new Healthy and Sustainable Schools Office within the Department of Energy Resources that could implement the recommended changes.
Judge tosses challenge by Boston-area plumbing concerns to state law requiring health-insurance coverage for workers on certain leaves
September 30, 2025 // adamg for Universal Hub
In his ruling, US District Court Judge George O'Toole said the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Association was unable to show that any of its 60 members had actually been penalized under the law, or that any state action was immediate, which means they had no "standing," or legal reason to continue their suit, since federal law requires proof of actual or impending harm. The association charged the requirement violated their federal right to negotiate a contract with unions, because their collective bargaining agreement includes a section under which workers "bank funds to pay for health insurance if they take leave from work, based on the number of hours they work. Workers who exhaust their banked amount have to pick up the remaining costs of their health insurance, such as through COBRA, on their leaves.
Editorial: The MTA needs to end insane union privileges at the commuter railroads
September 30, 2025 // Post Editorial Board for New York Post
In the latest sign of how badly the MTA’s labor contracts serve the public as a whole, last week brought a fresh Metro-North Railroad scandal: Two now-suspended fraudsters allegedly faked commuter station safety and equipment checks — with one “worker” dining out while on the clock. Managers discovered the scam after noticing that forms claiming the work got done at a particular time didn’t jibe with GPS records showing the inspectors’ vehicles were elsewhere.
Federal workers unions call on Schumer, Jeffries to hold the line even if it means a shutdown
September 30, 2025 // Cheyanne M. Daniels for The Hill
In a letter to minority leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Federal Unionists Network and 35 local, council and national unions urged the Democrats to reject any proposal that cuts health care, social security, Veterans’ Affairs and scientific agencies. “We are directly impacted when the government shuts down: our members would no longer be able to work, get paid, or fulfill their mission of serving the American public,” the letter states. “But we believe the most important thing is fighting against the centralization of executive power and for the long-term survival of the critical services the federal government provides, even if that means allowing the government to temporarily shut down.” The American Federation of Government Employees — the largest federal union representing 820,000 federal workers — is not a signatory on the letter.
UAW says it has received ‘overwhelming’ response to strike pledge cards in Chattanooga
September 30, 2025 // David Floyd for Times Free Press
The United Auto Workers has received an "overwhelming" response from workers to pledge cards it circulated to gauge interest in a strike at Volkswagen Chattanooga, according to the union.
Owner of iconic Salt Lake City LGBTQ+ bar says it’s ‘too small’ to unionize as workers announce intent
September 30, 2025 // Kolbie Peterson for Salt Lake City Tribune
Workers delivered a letter to SunTrapp management Friday that stated a majority of the staff have signed union authorization cards to be represented by Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7765, which also represents workers at the University of Utah and Utah State University, the release said.
Former central Pa. postal union official sentenced for embezzling $74K
September 30, 2025 // DaniRae Renno for pennlive.com
Miller is barred from union office or employment for 13 years. Miller pled guilty this year to one count of embezzling labor union assets, one count of falsifying a labor union annual report, and one count of falsifying labor union financial records. While serving as the treasurer of American Postal Workers Union Local 95 of Lancaster, Miller signed and cashed at least 137 unauthorized checks worth $68,818 between December 2019 and December 2022. She also made at least 128 credit card purchases for personal use totaling $5,441 on her union credit card.
Federal Bureau of Prisons Ends Union Protections for Workers
September 29, 2025 // John Yoon for New York Times
President Trump’s executive orders since March have stripped nearly half a million federal workers of union rights. He issued an executive order in March instructing a broad swath of government agencies to end collective bargaining with federal unions. That order targets agreements covering nearly a million federal workers at agencies including the Justice Department, of which the prisons bureau is a part. The president has cast his instructions as necessary for national security. The unions targeted in the orders have repeatedly sued the administration, calling them acts of retaliation against unions. A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of Mr. Trump.