Posts tagged benefits
U of R workers form new labor coalition ahead of contract talks
May 13, 2026 // Unionized and non-unionized employees at the University of Rochester are joining forces. University workers, graduate and undergraduate students gathered Monday to announce the formation of the UR Labor Coalition. The group, which includes members from three existing unions, will support staff members across the university system and work to demand fair contracts and union rights.
Detroit’s Michigan Science Center Workers win union victory under UAW
May 13, 2026 // Museum cultural workers achieved a victory on May 8 as Guest Relations and Education workers at Detroit’s own Michigan Science Center voted overwhelmingly to unionize under the UAW. The victory follows a two-year campaign for the right to collective bargaining and includes demands for better access to sick leave, health insurance, livable wages, and improved, safer working conditions on the museum floor.
Grad Students Rally Outside Garber’s Home as Strike Enters Third Week
May 11, 2026 // A small group of striking graduate student workers rallied outside Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76’s private residence early Friday morning, marking a new escalation in the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers’ ongoing strike as contract negotiations with the University remain stalled. Roughly 10 demonstrators gathered outside Garber’s home from about 6 to 6:30 a.m., chanting and writing “CONTRACT NOW” in pink chalk on the sidewalk. The group represented a small fraction of HGSU-UAW, which represents roughly 5,000 graduate student workers.
A Federal Court Limits the NLRB’s Power to Force Union Bargaining: What Hospitality Employers Should Know
May 5, 2026 // On March 6, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a significant decision in Brown-Forman Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board. The case addresses how the National Labor Relations Board (Board) may impose bargaining orders when employers interfere with union organizing campaigns
Watchdog report exposes teachers union ‘political machine’ funneling more than $1 billion to liberal causes
April 27, 2026 // According to research from Defending Education, national teachers unions alone have directed roughly $669 million toward left-wing political groups, advocacy organizations and campaigns since 2015. When state and local affiliates are included, that figure balloons to more than $1 billion in total political spending. The reports track spending from the two largest unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), as well as their state-level affiliates, using federal filings and campaign finance records.
Local orchestra members one step closer to unionizing
April 25, 2026 // The group decided to unionize under the American Federation of Musicians in the spring of 2024. However, their status has not been formally recognized by TCVO’s board of directors.
Opinion GOP’s fatal attraction to unions is the start of a bad romance
April 21, 2026 // Instead of offering flowers and chocolates, they aim to impress labor by slicing up the PRO Act and feeding it piecemeal to the rest of the GOP. The Faster Labor Contracts Act, sponsored by Hawley and Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), is the first portion. It would allow federal mediators to essentially write union contracts for newly organized workplaces, if businesses and unions can’t agree on terms within four months of a union’s workplace-election win.
Department of Defense ends union agreements at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
April 20, 2026 // The U.S. Department of Defense is terminating collective bargaining agreements for two unions representing workers at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. It's a move union leaders said could have significant impacts on employees. Workers with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and the American Federation of Government Employees said they were notified Friday of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Union presidents said these agreements have long played a critical role in ensuring safe working conditions, fair wages, benefits, and time off for their members. With those protections now ending, many workers are raising concerns about what comes next.
New York unions say fixing Tier 6 will drive hiring. Data suggests otherwise.
April 19, 2026 // The situation in Albany, where retirement costs account for about 9% of the city's budget, underscores a reality for many cash-strapped local governments across New York. And the dire financial outlooks are in place as state lawmakers weigh whether to address changes to the Tier 6 state pension system. Rochester, for example, is facing a budget gap of $131 million, the largest in the city's history. Rochester's largest expenditure is its increasing pension and health care costs. Those projected pension costs for the next fiscal year are $74 million. Health care costs for active and retired employees have escalated to $108 million. "This budgetary framework is simply not sustainable," Mayor Malik D. Evans told a state legislative panel last month. "And it threatens the incredible momentum we're making toward violence reduction, job creation, workforce development, affordable housing, home ownership, economic
Unleash Prosperity Hotline: Unions Are SOOO Yesterday
April 14, 2026 // We all want higher wages for workers, but we wince when the Bernie Sanders Dems and the NatCons say the way to reach that goal is to expand union power. That can’t work today because, as Rachel Greszler of Advancing American Freedom notes in her latest policy brief, only one in 16 private workers is in a union. And that percentage keeps drifting down.