Posts tagged AFSCME
Unionization Wave Hits Nonprofit Sector
December 17, 2025 // ASeveral key economic factors are driving this current union organizing trend, including inflation and job security. In this environment, employees are motivated to seek the protections that higher pay and increased benefits offer. However, about one-third of nonprofit museums and cultural institutions are also struggling to confront the loss of government grants or contracts. More than half of museums reported fewer 2025 visitors than in 2019, according to a Novemberreport by the American Alliance of Museums. In spite of these conflicting economic difficulties, employees are continuing to push back, feeling that they have been taken for granted for many years. Bottom line: unions continue to seek out new groups of workers to organize as their traditional targets, such as manufacturing and production jobs, wane or move overseas. Nonprofit employers would be well advised to stay engaged with their employees, keep an eye on employee morale, and look for ways to reward employees' hard work even when funds are scarce.
Report: Government unions spent $915 million on politics in 2024
December 17, 2025 // The Commonwealth Foundation’s most recent report found the top four public sector unions: the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees spent over $915 million on politics during the 2023-2024 cycle. The unions spent $755 million on federal elections and policies while their state affiliates spent $160 million on state races and policies.
NIHD and AFSCME Reach Agreement, Averting Strike and Ending Labor Dispute
December 15, 2025 // Northern Inyo Healthcare District and AFSCME Local 315 have released details regarding a labor agreement made, following a lengthy state-mediated bargaining session held December 9. Union members voted Thursday to ratify the proposal, formally averting a threatened Unfair Labor Practice strike and resolving the union’s related charge before the Public Employment Relations Board. The vote alleviates tension between the healthcare district and frontline staff, who had authorized a ULP strike leading into the holiday season. Following ratification, the union withdrew its strike notice and the associated unfair practice filing.
‘Finally delivered for them’: Mayor signs union contract, marking historic moment for Baltimore
December 3, 2025 // Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott signed off on three American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees councils' union contracts Tuesday in a historic moment for city labor. The deal provides double-digit pay increases and puts employees onto wage steps. Advertisement The union went through a tense leadership controversy, and a runoff election for president of Local 44 will be held next month.
Union representing 25,000 nurses reaches deal with UC, averts planned strike
November 19, 2025 // Originally, AFSCME had planned to go on strike with University Professional and Technical Employees CWA Local 9119, or UPTE-CWA 9119, a union representing about 21,000 professional and technical UC employees, in an attempt to secure higher wages. CNA planned to participate in a sympathy strike to show solidarity with other unions and increase pressure on the UC system. However, UPTE also recently reached a tentative agreement with the UC, leaving AFSCME to strike alone. The UC system also released a statement praising the agreement, claiming that it yields “meaningful pay and benefit increases for more than 24,000 UC nurses.”
David Osborne: Unions spend big on politics — often at the expense of their members
November 17, 2025 // NJEA funneled general funds through Garden State Forward, Working New Jersey, and Protecting Our Democracy—all election-focused organizations that not only backed Spiller but also were headed by the NJEA president. These questionable activities landed NJEA in court with a lawsuit alleging that the union misled its members, including Dupont, who is a lead plaintiff.
Frederick County Public Libraries employees seek to unionize
November 12, 2025 // The push to unionize stems from employees’ desire to participate in the FCPL decision-making process, according to a press release from AFSCME, which is the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees.
LACMA Declines to Voluntarily Recognize Union Formed by Hundreds of Workers
November 8, 2025 // The AFSCME Cultural Workers United District Council 36, a division of the national AFSCME Cultural Workers United, has helped workers unionize at other leading LA museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Foundation, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and La Brea Tar Pits. At the national level, AFSCME Cultural Workers United represents employees at museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Art Museum, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Earlier this week, employees at the Detroit Institute of Arts announced plans to join AFSCME Michigan. In its new statement, LACMA United said that the museum’s status as a county museum makes management’s position “particularly troubling,” noting that, unlike mutual-benefit nonprofits, LACMA was established by Los Angeles County as a public-benefit corporation and receives more than $30 million in public funding each year.
‘UC workers are going to end up homeless’: 86,000 University of California employees plan massive strike
November 7, 2025 // The University of California, which has been negotiating separately with the three unions, condemned the planned strike as "an attempt to pressure the university into accepting unreasonable wage and benefit demands that would put UC in a financially precarious position and jeopardize its mission of teaching, research and public service."
Unions sue over Trump administration’s political ‘loyalty’ hiring plan
November 7, 2025 // Unions representing federal workers filed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging a decision by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to include what they said is a partisan "loyalty question" in more than 1,700 job posts since October's start.