Posts tagged Chicago
Union activity at Chicago Botanic Garden heats up
December 11, 2025 // She also wrote that the garden respects employees’ rights “to support, or not support” union representation, but the nonprofit organization disagrees with the suggestion for “card check neutrality” and issued support for a secret-ballot process. “Federal labor law establishes a process for employees to exercise their rights by making their choice for or against representation in a secret ballot election administered and supervised by the National Labor Relations Board,” Franczyk wrote. “Embracing ‘card check neutrality’ would eliminate the opportunity for employees to vote in a secret election.”
‘Fracture’ in Chicago’s labor world complicates Mayor Brandon Johnson’s third budget fight
November 25, 2025 // That’s the signature hue of the Service Employees International Union, whose local affiliates were Johnson’s second-biggest labor backer in his 2023 election. Instead, the self-styled “most pro-worker mayor” in Chicago’s history has only seen one union vociferously cheer his $16.6 billion proposal, despite his hard line against layoffs: the red-shirted Chicago Teachers Union. It’s a sign of the times after a “fissure” between the once-close SEIU and CTU has grown into a full-blown “fracture,” said Ald. Desmon Yancy, a freshman progressive who previously served in SEIU leadership.
Cook Board president, officials back efforts to unionize at Chicago Botanic Garden
November 20, 2025 // But Garden officials said in a statement following Preckwinkle’s press conference that they will not agree to card-check neutrality and instead want to engage in a more formal process. “Federal labor law establishes a process for employees to exercise their rights in this regard by making their choice for or against representation in a secret ballot election administered and supervised by the National Labor Relations Board,” the statement said. “Were the Garden to recognize a labor union based solely on ‘card check neutrality,’ — i.e., without giving our employees a chance to be informed and have the ability to hold a secret ballot election on the issue — we would, in our view, be depriving our workers of their rights on this important issue.”
Chicago Teachers Union lobby day costs taxpayers up to $19.3K
November 16, 2025 // Just 2-in-5 Chicago students read at grade level. They could have benefitted from a normal day of instruction. CTU chose a political agenda and personal gain above students. Each time it takes teachers out of the classroom to lobby, the costly burden impacts both students’ futures and taxpayers’ pockets.
Rivers Casino Portsmouth First Virginia Gaming Property to Unionize
November 5, 2025 // The Local 822 Teamsters chapter said workers at the Portsmouth casino backed unionizing with 95% support. The Norfolk-based union, which primarily represents freight and manufacturing employees in the region, says the Rivers Casino contract sets a precedent for fairness, wages, and workplace protections in Virginia’s rapidly emerging gaming industry. Local 822 represents workers at UPS, UPS Freight, ABF Freight, and Pepsi. Rivers has now been added to the list.
Chicago Teachers Union spent $173K on poolside recording studio, won’t show audit to members
October 29, 2025 // CTU’s filing shows it spent $173,000 on a “recording studio” in New Mexico with no helpful context on its purpose. But it did have a pool. If CTU released its annual audits to members, as required in its internal rules, spending on a “recording studio” in New Mexico might have an explanation. But since it hasn’t released those audits since September 2020, members can only guess.
Starbucks workers union planning pickets, rallies through Nov. 2. See in which states
October 27, 2025 // Starbucks, for its part, says it is willing to bargain with the union, which the company says represents about 9,500 of its "partners," or employees. "Workers United only represents around 4% of our partners but chose to walk away from the bargaining table. If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk," corporate spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners," Anderson said. "We’re investing over $500 million to put more partners in stores during busy times. The facts show people like working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year.”
Lessons from D.C.: Why “$30 by ‘30” Wage Plan Could Leave Servers with Less
October 26, 2025 // Mr. Mamdani’s plan is being aligned with a renewed push by progressive New York legislators to eliminate the tipped-wage system, which would require restaurant workers to be paid the same minimum wage as all other tipped-wage positions. Legislation has been percolating in Albany in recent years that would phase out the tipped wage by 2028, with a prominent “Living Wage for All Coalition” now launching to guide the effort to fruition. Behind the coalition is the group One Fair Wage, which has been spearheading a systematic effort to eliminate the tipped-wage system in progressive jurisdictions across America. One Fair Wage has seen success in large cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., but as these policies take hold, the economic reality is starting to bite.
Chicago Teachers Union bosses make a lot more than members. Little of members’ dues pay for representation. See who makes what, here.
October 23, 2025 // More than 50 CTU officers and employees made $100,000 or more in the 2025 fiscal year. To put that in context, the median salary in Chicago is $65,250. The average Chicago teacher made $86,439 during the 2023-2024 school year. Not even 18% of CTU’s spending in its 2025 fiscal year was on representing teachers – what is supposed to be its core focus. That’s according to the union’s own numbers.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Ups The Ante As He Calls For A General Strike
October 21, 2025 // Summoning people of all backgrounds to unite and take a stand against President Donald Trump’s “tyranny,” the “ultra-wealthy” and corporate greed, Johnson said, “We are going to make them pay their fair share in taxes to fund our school, to fund jobs, to fund healthcare, to fund transportation.”