Posts tagged benefits
Educator urges Illinois teachers to reject union pressure, politics and coercion
August 7, 2025 // Sarah Fletcher, a former charter school educator and now the Head of School at White Horse Academy, a private school, said her own teaching career trajectory was shaped by a desire to avoid union involvement altogether. “When we moved here to Illinois from Arizona, I had very little interest in teaching at the public school,” Fletcher said. “Part of that was because I didn’t want to be pressured into or have to be mandated to pay dues. The IEA and IFT, which are part of larger organizations like the NEA, use the majority of their funds not to represent teachers, but for political advocacy.”
VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts
August 7, 2025 // Veterans Affairs leaders on Wednesday announced plans to terminate nearly all of its collective bargaining contracts with federal unions, upending employment agreements for hundreds of thousands of department workers. The move affects members of the American Federation of Government Employees, the AFL-CIO (AFGE), the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Minnesota Teamsters unanimously vote to authorize a strike
August 5, 2025 // “Teamsters Local 120 represents hundreds of Sysco workers who deliver across the state of Minnesota, and a work stoppage at the company’s Mounds View facility would have a direct impact on the company’s operations in Duluth,” explained a representative from Local 120. The union further stated that Sysco is one of the largest and most profitable food service companies in the United States. They say, in 2024, it reported $1.95 billion in net profits, which is up more than 10 percent from the year prior.
Rhode Island’s New Workplace Laws: Menopause Protections, “Captive Audience” Meeting Ban, Minimum Wage Hikes, and More
August 5, 2025 // Under the new law, employers in the state with at least four or more employees: must, upon request, make reasonable accommodations for a current or prospective employee’s condition related to menopause or a related medical condition (including, but not limited to, vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats), unless the accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the employer; are prohibited from denying employment opportunities based on a woman’s need for such accommodations;
United Airlines Flight Attendants Make Big Decision on Contract
August 2, 2025 // 92% of eligible voters cast ballots in this vote, and 71% voted against the proposal sent to them by United. In response to the vote, United says that it will continue to work with the union to create a more mutually beneficial outcome.
Safeway agrees to tentative agreement to prevent worker strike
July 27, 2025 //
AFL-CIO rallies Atlanta workers to unionize ahead of Labor Day
July 24, 2025 // AFL-CIO, brought its “It’s Better in a Union” national bus tour to Atlanta, rallying workers across industries to organize and demand better pay, benefits, and working conditions. The event, held in partnership with the Atlanta chapter of the AFL-CIO, drew workers from restaurants, healthcare, sanitation, and logistics, many of whom say they’re fed up with corporations profiting while employees struggle to make ends meet. “We’re doing everything, but we’re not rewarded for what we’re doing,” said Teresa Kennard, a Waffle House employee who spoke during the rally. “We all know there is power in numbers.”
Opinion: Democrats Attack Gig-Worker Benefits
July 23, 2025 // In a committee hearing on the bill last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders sidestepped the issue of worker benefits to address his party’s real concern—giving unions more power over individual workers. “These bills are about giving corporations the freedom to deny workers the right to form a union,” he said. Independent contractors can’t unionize under the National Labor Relations Act, so unions and the Democrats they support want to outlaw contract work, or at least deprive it of benefits that could attract workers. Democrats on the committee were united in opposition. This political opposition has deterred several gig companies from offering benefits. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has pledged more than $650 million a year to fund health insurance and paid time off if lawmakers would withdraw the threat of reclassifying the company’s drivers.
Op-ed: She looked like a pro-worker Trump cabinet appointee. But now she’s gutting the Labor Department
July 17, 2025 // The standards on the chopping block include those issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a unit of the Labor Department, that were developed after years of effort. OSHA standards, Reindel told me, take an average of seven years — and as long as 20 years — to draft. “This is an onslaught on people’s basic protections at work.”
Gig Drivers Unionize Without Employee Status Under State Plans
July 17, 2025 // Unlike in California, Lyft and Uber remained publicly neutral on the Massachusetts ballot measure and Uber recently vowed to do the same in Illinois. For the companies, the bargaining schemes have the benefit of keeping drivers classified as independent contractors. “As we’ve said for years, we’re willing to work with state legislators on benefit and protection legislation that prioritizes preserving drivers’ independence and flexibility,” said Uber spokesperson Josh Gold.