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In the News
Starbucks worker goes ballistic on union after brutal holiday strike ‘evaporated’ hours
September 10, 2026 // Titus Wu for New York Post
A San Diego Starbucks supervisor is trying to boot the union from his store after claiming workers were shut out of key decisions — including an open-ended Christmas strike leaving employees scrambling for hours. Joe Emmenegger, 29, a shift supervisor, told the California Post that he had gathered signatures from roughly 64% of the approximately 16 to 18 employees at his Starbucks to force a vote on whether to disband the union.
Michigan earns ‘D’ in government union, worker freedom report
September 10, 2026 // Elyse S. Apel for The Center Square
The report called many of these actions taken by states and unions “anti-freedom” proposals which leave workers confused on their rights and obligations. “Union executives are spending tens of millions of dollars to rewrite the rules of the game and bolster their political machine in every state, at the expense of freedom for government employees,” Osborne said. “State lawmakers across the country must stand up against anti-freedom labor proposals to ensure that every American worker has the right to choose whether or not to associate with a union, without coercion or fear, and that their hard-earned dollars don’t fund a political agenda they don’t support.”
Op-ed: Right-to-Work States Attract Family Breadwinners
September 10, 2026 // Stan Greer for DC Journal
The disconnect between rank-and-file workers and pro-union Republicans such as Josh Hawley of Missouri and Bernie Moreno of Ohio is especially disturbing. Such politicians’ avowed goal is to reconstitute the Republican Party, which is today overwhelmingly supportive of Right to Work, into a party that largely agrees with Democratic politicians’ support for labor special privileges over the individual freedom of the employee. If Hawley, Moreno and Co. get their way, pro-Right to Work citizens will routinely be denied a meaningful choice at the ballot box. The reality is, when they have a choice, working-age people prefer not to live in forced-unionism states. Census data make that very clear.
Tucson arts workers ratify first union contracts
September 10, 2026 // Topacio "Topaz" Servellon for Tucson Spotlight
Workers at The Loft Cinema and Arizona Theatre Company ratified their first union contracts, while True Concord musicians await bargaining talks.
Report: The Battle for Worker Freedom: Grading State Public Sector Labor Laws
September 10, 2026 // David R. Osborne for Commonwealth Foundation
Union executives are prioritizing recruitment. The fastest-growing category of public sector labor legislation expands collective bargaining into new workplaces. On the strength of these new laws, union executives are slowly replacing their membership losses since 2018. From 2018 to 2025, the country’s four largest government unions report a net decline in membership of 87,919, or 1.3 percent. However, they also report a collective gain of 232,502 members, or 3.5 percent since 2024. This report awards full letter-grade increases to Idaho (now A) and Louisiana (now B) due to their adoption of pro-worker labor reforms this past legislative session. However, the drops in grades—Nebraska (D), Nevada (D), and Rhode Island (F)—are the result of these states prioritizing union executives over workers and enacting laws helping unions recruit, politick, organize, and strike. Thirteen states now have an “A” or “A+” grade—up from twelve in the previous edition of this report—while six states earned an “F”—up from five over the same time period. Overall, the research finds 25 states fall below a “C.”
SEIU Local 1000 members to vote on possible strike against state
September 10, 2026 // Ireland Lehner for KRCR
An unfair practice strike is a work stoppage a union may call when it says an employer has broken rules during labor negotiations. SEIU Local 1000 alleges the state did not bargain fairly over workers’ pay, benefits and working conditions. Members can vote through October 7, according to the union. If members approve the measure, union leaders would have permission to call a strike at a later date.
Thousands of Chicago hotel workers threaten to strike
September 9, 2026 // Carrie Shepherd for Axios
The union represents 15,000 workers at more than 40 Chicago hotels, meaning a widespread strike could disrupt hotel operations during a key time for tourism and conventions. Catch up quick: By Aug. 31, contracts covering about 7,000 workers at Chicago hotels had officially expired, according to Unite Here Local 1.
Nurses throughout Jefferson Health System announce plan to unionize
September 9, 2026 // NBC Philadelphia Staff for NBC Philadelphia
During an event held outside Jefferson Bucks Hospital, in Langhorne, on Tuesday, organizers behind the effort said more than 200 nurses -- including those at the Bucks County hospital as well as from Einstein Center One and Jefferson Health WIllowcrest -- have filed for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board in order to form a union.
Editorial Board: $10,000 bonuses teach Mamdani a lesson about the teachers union
September 9, 2026 // editorial board for Washington Post Opinion
Compensation changes for unionized city employees are usually negotiated through collective bargaining between the city and organized labor, but the United Federation of Teachers instead pushed the measure through the City Council. UFT President Michael Mulgrew threatened “all-out war” against Mamdani if he opposed the payouts to school paraprofessionals.
Court Victory Vindicates Union Members and Exposes Years of Government Neglect
September 9, 2026 // Frank Ricci for Yankee Institute
Union leaders routinely demand transparency from employers, corporations, government agencies, and taxpayers. They should be held to the same standard themselves. Transparency is not anti-union. It is pro-worker. This outcome demonstrates an important lesson for policymakers. Too often, government responds to problems by creating new laws, regulations, and mandates. But many of Connecticut’s challenges stem not from insufficient laws, but from the failure to enforce existing ones. The courts have now confirmed what Yankee Institute, union members, and transparency advocates have argued from the beginning: Connecticut’s financial disclosure requirements are real, they are enforceable, and union officials must comply with them.
Mamdani creates new DSA-inspired office to help NYC workers unionize: ‘Concerning for small business’
September 9, 2026 // Matthew Fischetti, Vaughn Golden for New York Post
The office will hold hearings on “worker issues” and develop policy proposals based on testimony from employees. It will also give out information about workers’ rights and help connect employees interested in starting unions with organizations that can help them, City Hall said. Tony Perlstein, a former dockworker, union organizer and deputy director of communications for the national lefty organizing group Center for Popular Democracy, will run the office. It’s not clear if anyone else will be hired to staff the office, or how much its budget will be. Perlstein will report to Mamdani’s Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su, previously a cabinet official under President Joe Biden.
A Durham-based union worker ends 40-day hunger strike protesting Amazon work conditions
September 9, 2026 // Leoneda Inge for WUNC News
Medelius ended his 40-day hunger strike, Sept. 2, 2026, during noon Mass at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Durham. Medelius is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 113 pounds at the end of his hunger strike, down from 150 pounds. "Eating a wafer and drinking watered-down wine lit up all my senses," said Medelius. "It was an incredible experience." Family, friends and Amazon workers attended mass with Medelius, a show of support. Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams was also present. Members of the Durham City Council have also supported Medelius, including Matt Kopac and Javiera Caballero.
NJ remains one of nation’s most unionized states, Rutgers report finds
September 9, 2026 // Derek Callahan for News 12
The researchers estimate New Jersey has about 22,000 more union members than in a previous Rutgers study. But the share of workers belonging to unions slipped slightly because nonunion employment grew faster. New Jersey's average unionization rate was 15.47% from 2023 through 2025, ranking sixth-highest among the 50 states and well above the national rate of about 10%.
Starbucks anti-unionization case brought by NLRB narrowed by US appeals court
September 9, 2026 // author for Reuters
Circuit Judge Stephen Higginson said statements about the hiring portal and store hours were not "threats of reprisal" because a hiring pause didn't appear to imperil employees' job security, while understaffing might have justified shorter hours. He also said store manager Carmella Neri's statements that she knew about unionization discussions and that employees should keep in mind the impact of a successful vote were not coercive, saying the statements were not "out of the ordinary."
Local Teamsters and the union’s Massachusetts-based chief at odds in crucial N.H. Senate race
September 9, 2026
Brown began by talking about his own longtime membership in performing arts and media union SAG-AFTRA, which he leaned on to burnish his worker credentials when running against Warren. “There’s still people who are contributing dues, which I did for decades,” said Brown. “Chris Pappas has never done that. … What has he done for the unions? Like, what has he actually sponsored and passed that helps unions?” O’Brien noted Pappas’s co-sponsorship of the Faster Labor Contracts Act, a key legislative priority of labor unions. Brown and O’Brien both agreed it was “easy” for Pappas to do so, but when O’Brien asked him whether he would support the legislation, the Republican didn’t give a definitive answer, saying he would “learn more about that particular issue.”
Opinion: The Teamsters Return to Ugly Type
September 9, 2026 // author for Wall Street Journal
Video footage we’ve seen shows Teamsters blocking a motorcyclist who worked for an Amazon contractor from entering the facility. The worker circled around and tried to bypass their blockade, but in the process knocked down two protesters and crashed on his bike. Teamsters then beat him up as he lay on the ground. The motorcyclist and the two protesters who were knocked down were hospitalized. It may have been imprudent for the worker to try to circumvent the protesters, but he was trying to make a living by showing up for his job.
CTA-backed group vies to force election to unionize Clovis educators
September 9, 2026 // Lasherica Thornton for Ed Source
The Association of Clovis Educators (ACE), which is backed by the California Teachers Association, last week filed an intervention petition with the state labor board in hopes of forcing an election among Clovis Unified School District educators. The unaffiliated Independent Clovis Unified Educators, or ICUE, filed its petition in July to become the exclusive representative for full-time teachers in the district, which is California’s largest without a teachers union. ACE has challenged ICUE’s petition, calling into question who, among educators, might be represented and eligible to vote, according to The Fresno Bee, which first reported the development.
Defend worker freedom this Labor Day
September 9, 2026 // Brian Balfour for Carolina Journal
“States with right-to-work laws enjoy lower unemployment rates, higher job growth, and higher wage and income growth compared with forced union states.” That’s according to a 2022 John Locke Foundation report from F. Vincent Vernuccio, former US Department of Labor official and current president of the Institute for the American Worker. Specifically, the report notes that between 2000 and 2019, personal income in right-to-work states grew by 56.4%, compared with just 40.6% in states without such laws. Also during that time, private-sector jobs in right-to-work states grew by 23.1%, which was almost double the 12.1% of growth in non–right-to-work states. The report also cites lower unemployment rates in right-to-work states. In states with the highest unemployment rates, the majority of them lacked such protections. Based on these superior worker outcomes, Vernuccio declares, “Right-to-work laws are decidedly pro-worker.” He concludes by saying, “In the end, right-to-work is about one thing: freedom. It protects workers by taking away a union’s ability to get them fired for not paying union dues.”
Editorial Board: Americans approve of unions. They just don’t want to join one.
September 9, 2026 // Editorial Board for Washington Post Opinion
Gallup says 71 percent of Americans approve of labor unions, near a record high. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 10 percent of American workers are in labor unions, near a record low. What gives? The first issue is that Gallup wasn’t asking whether respondents wanted to join a union themselves. In 2022, Gallup found that unions had the same approval rating as they do this year, but it also asked nonunion workers how interested they were in joining.
Union endorsements cross party lines in Mont. federal races
September 8, 2026 // Dan Astin for Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Democratic candidate Sam Forstag and Republican Aaron Flint — both competing for the 1st Congressional District — signaled they support collective bargaining rights for public and private workers. This position is similar to Montana U.S. Senate candidates independent Seth Bodnar, Democratic candidate Alani Bankhead and Republican Kurt Alme. Forstag, Flint, Bodnar and Alme have union endorsements.