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In the News
Op-ed: Whitmer Lobbies Germany for the UAW
October 8, 2026 // editorial board for Wall Street Journal Opinion
By “incredible resources,” does she mean the taxpayer funds she has used to subsidize manufacturers that promise to retain or create jobs in Michigan? Is she suggesting a quid pro quo with her German counterpart? Help her UAW friends, and she’ll reward Mercedes and other companies based in Michigan? That seems to be her implication.
Workers at a SoCal Sephora revolt against union attempts after already rejecting it
October 8, 2026 // Titus Wu for California Post
Employees at the sprawling 6,750-square-foot beauty store on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade told The California Post they’ve been harassed and bullied by officials with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 after rejecting the union — with workers claiming the bitter standoff has fueled a staff exodus and cost employees hours and benefits. “They’re just stuck waiting and have this union that again purports to represent workers, but is doing the opposite of it here,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which is providing informal legal help to the frustrated workers.
UAW rank-and-file vote to pick union leadership
October 8, 2026 // Kalea Hall for Reuters
Fain, who became one of the labor movement's most recognizable figures after leading strikes against Ford Motor (F.N), opens new tab, General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab and Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab in 2023, faces multiple opponents. Union members are also electing three vice presidents, a secretary-treasurer and regional directors.
AFT Dues Funded Left-Wing Infrastructure, From the Center for American Progress to the Clinton Foundation
October 8, 2026 // Tyler O’Neil for Daily Signal
According to its annual filing with the Department of Labor, the AFT gave $250,000 to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning public policy organization. It gave $100,000 each to: Emily’s List, a political advocacy group backing women who support abortion; the National Action Network, the Rev. Al Sharpton’s advocacy group; and the American Prospect, a news outlet co-founded by Clinton-era Labor Secretary Robert Reich. The AFT gave $75,000 to the Bill, Hillary, & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and $10,000 to the Human Rights Campaign. “It is political advocacy by another name,” Michael Watson, research director at the Capital Research Center, told the Daily Signal in an interview Tuesday.
Commentary: Strike by 23 staffers leaves blue-state commuters stranded – too bad state fired 120 staffers for vax refusal
October 7, 2026 // C. Douglas Golden for Western Journal
According to local NPR affiliate KUOW, "[t]housands of ferry riders in the Puget Sound region were left in the lurch Monday morning as major routes and dozens of sailings were canceled. "Nearly two dozen engine room employees called out sick, according to the state, and backup crew declined to fill in. The union representing the workers said Monday’s shutdown highlighted Washington State Ferries’ failure to hire more staff." The outlet said that "dozens of sailings were upended Monday" due to the sick-out, with only a few boats in operation. Washington State Ferries said on X that not only had the employees called out, but all employees qualified to keep the boats running declined to help out. "All of the employees calling in sick, and declining to fill those vacancies, are represented by the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA) who represent engine room employees," WSF said. As a result, all but five of the ships were out of service. If only there was something they could have done to avoid this. Oh, wait: Expand article logo Continue reading Fact check: Accurate. From a 2022 Washington State Ferries workforce planning report: First, the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing labor shortages in the maritime labor market. An estimated 3.2 million workers nationwide left the labor market between 2019 and 2021, impacting every sector of the economy. Second, WSF was particularly hard hit by employees not complying with the state vaccine mandates. It lost 120 crew members or approximately 6% of its operational workforce. Not only is this nearly double the state employees' rate of 3.2%, but the losses were also concentrated in critical occupations: 20 oilers and 40 temporary assistant engineers left their positions.
Hundreds of Nurses at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital File Petition Demanding Election to Oust Teamsters
October 7, 2026 // author for National Right To Work Foundation
Genesys Hospital nurse Kristen Cox, who is spearheading the nurses’ effort, submitted a “decertification” petition with the NLRB, with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, backed by the signatures of 264 nurses, which amounts to nearly 70% of the 385 nurses currently working at the hospital. Teamsters Local 332 officials launched a strike at Genesys Hospital on Labor Day 2025, and more than a year later, the strike remains unresolved. What is certain, however, is that the overwhelming number of nurses working at the hospital no longer want to be represented by Teamsters Local 332.
It took 4 years, but a Capitol Hill office finally has a union contract
October 7, 2026
Khanna’s chief of staff, Marie Baldassarre, said in an interview the process for her office took years because “we realized like this is going to actually impact people’s lives, and it’s a binding contract, and so we have to get it right.” “It’s just never been done before, and none of us were experts,” she added. Staffers on Capitol Hill often face a grueling office cultures that can hamstring efforts to advance worker protections. Staffers for pro-labor Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), for example, voted to unionize in 2023 but then faced internal retaliation, according to the Nevada Independent.
Op-ed: Hospital Strikes Should Be Illegal
October 7, 2026 // Thomas Beck for National Review
Hospital workers should not be legally permitted to withhold their critical labor from the patients who need them just because their union has a disagreement with management. If railroad workers can’t do it and public employees can’t do it, hospital workers should not be able to do it either. Congress should amend the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit strikes by hospital employees.
Opinion: The United Academic Workers of America
October 6, 2026 // Editorial Board for Wall Street Journal Opinion
Yet while union workers lose their jobs, the UAW is expanding its administrative ranks. In 2014 the UAW raised dues to pad its strike fund, though much of the money has gone to adding overhead. Mr. Boyer, who is challenging Mr. Fain for president, pledges to “cut overspending,” reduce union dues, and “end the hiring of non-UAW members at excess salaries.” He says the union has added 23 “administrative assistants” and 12 “public relations specialists” since 2020, many of whom make two to three times as much as auto workers. The election is a test of whether the UAW exists to help workers, or the interests of union bosses and the priorities of the university left.
Solvang city workers go on strike, repeatedly clash with officials over wages
October 6, 2026 // Marina Peña for California Post
A California town know as the “Danish capital of America” has broken out in civil war over how much city workers should get paid. Unionized workers in Solvang have been on strike for three weeks and have refused repeated offers from officials for a negotiated pay rise.
Hospice East Bay workers begin 7-day strike amid contract dispute
October 6, 2026 // author for NBC Bay Area
Workers also say Hospice East Bay has already laid off some employees and plans to lay off more. The union says the cuts would leave just two bereavement counselors for roughly 1,200 patients and their immediate family members.
Unionized Workers at 4 NYC Museums Ratify Contracts, Quelling Strike Fears
October 6, 2026 // author for Art Forum
Unionized staff at the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM), the Brooklyn Museum, the Jewish Museum, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, all in New York, have ratified four-year contracts with their respective managements, Artnews reports. AFAM’s union reached an agreement on its first contract, while those at the Brooklyn Museum, the Guggenheim, and the Jewish Museum gained satisfaction with their second contracts.
Lewis Ginter ends employer-paid health coverage for strikers
October 6, 2026 // SEAN JONES for Richmond Times-Dispatch
Striking workers at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden have lost their employer-paid health insurance this week, as the monthlong labor dispute between the Garden and its unionized employees continues. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM, the union representing Lewis Ginter workers, issued a statement Thursday afternoon accusing the Garden of “ripping” health insurance away from employees with four days’ notice.
Op-ed: The 120-day clock that could rewrite your job
October 6, 2026 // Mitch Carmichael for WV News
Workers and employers must remain free and able to bargain for the terms each desire. No free country should dictate to a worker or an employer the terms of a private labor contract The Faster Labor Contracts Act 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.
Alamo Drafthouse workers vote to unionize at the City Foundry in St. Louis
October 6, 2026 // Hannah Wyman for Post-Dispatch
They are asking for more advance scheduling, tip transparency, changes to the new QR code ordering system, more consistent communication from the company and a seat at the table in decisions made by ownership.
Why Do TSA Employees Spend so Much Time on Union Business?
October 6, 2026 // Chip Rogers for Daily Caller
That is why Americans should pay attention to a newly filed Transportation Security Administration record detailing the operational burden of the agency’s 2024 collective bargaining agreement. The federal government is now appealing a court injunction keeping that agreement in force. Americans for Fair Treatment, of which I am CEO, has been fighting this battle for years. Congress never expressly granted collective bargaining rights to TSA screeners. The current union system began with a 2011 decision by Obama-era TSA Administrator John Pistole.
Port Worker Files Brief at U.S. Court of Appeals Defending Labor Board Victory Over Years-Long Union Boss Discrimination
October 5, 2026 // author for National Right to Work Foundation
The case started when Fowler, who worked at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware, filed an unfair labor practice charge at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in August, 2021. Fowler argued that he had been illegally blacklisted by International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) Local 1694 union officials after voicing concerns to the ILA International about work assignment practices after a merger of several ILA locals.
Massachusetts: Brigham and Women’s nurses set date for potential open-ended strike
October 5, 2026 // Marc Fortier, Kaitlin McKinley Becker, Kimberly Bookman
Months after holding the largest health care worker strike in Massachusetts, nurses from Brigham and Women’s Hospital are set to go on an open-ended strike starting Oct. 14, their union announced Friday.
Union members at UVM Health vote to authorize a strike
October 5, 2026 // Pat Bradley for WAMC Northeast Public Radio
More than 3,000 healthcare workers at the University of Vermont Medical Center have authorized a strike.
Ex-Boilermakers union executive sentenced to 16 months in federal racketeering case
October 5, 2026 // Judy L. Thomas for Kansas City Star
Brown pleaded guilty on May 23, 2024, to one count of racketeering conspiracy. In August 2024, seven more former union executives and employees — including Jones, his wife and son — were indicted for conspiracy to commit offenses under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as other felonies. They were accused of scheming to steal $20 million in union funds for personal gain. The money went toward salary and benefits for jobs they didn’t show up for, tuition, rent, luxury international travel, meals, vacation payouts and unauthorized loans, the Justice Department said.