Posts tagged collective bargaining
Op-ed: Can Zohran Make NYC a Union Town Again?
September 9, 2025 // The new mayor could host big online unionization trainings with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have already done. If this led even a small fraction of Zohran’s 60,000-plus volunteers and over 6 million social media followers to start organizing their own workplaces—or to take a strategic job to unionize it—this could potentially generate thousands of new unionization campaigns. And were Mamdani to act upon our proposal to launch a broad Movement for an Affordable New York (MANY), then the pool of new potential workplace organizers would grow significantly.
Op-ed: Trump Is Right to Take On the Federal-Worker Unions
September 4, 2025 // Today, only 6 percent of private sector workers are union members. Virtually the only unions that are growing are public sector unions — such as the teachers’ unions. Today, more than one in three government workers in the U.S. belongs to a union. But over 85 percent of those work at the state and local level — not in the federal government. That makes it vital for states to follow President Trump’s lead — along with that of states like Wisconsin — and end collective bargaining for their public employees.
Trump Ends Union Protections for NASA Employees, Citing ‘National Security’
September 4, 2025 // Although NASA is defined as “America’s civil space program,” the new order argues that the agency’s activities fall under national security. “NASA develops and operates advanced air and space technologies, like satellite, communications, and propulsion systems, that are critical for U.S. national security,” the executive order reads. The order affects the approximately 53% of NASA employees in a bargaining unit represented by two labor unions, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and the American Federation of Government Employees, according to the agency.
A fresh executive order aims to ban unions at more federal agencies
September 3, 2025 // The targeting of additional agencies and their respective unions comes as the Trump administration has begun formally terminating collective bargaining agreements at more than half a dozen agencies, despite assuring federal judges that such a step wouldn’t be taken until the conclusion of litigation surrounding the executive order. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week signaled that it will consider reversing a prior decision to allow the edict to go into effect.
Uber and Lyft drivers in California win a path to unionization
September 2, 2025 // In exchange, California regulators say they’ll support legislation to reduce expensive insurance coverage mandates that ride-hailing companies have to pay. Uber and Lyft have attributed those insurance payments to higher ride fares in California and lower driver pay. “With Sacramento now aligned on the need to make rideshare more affordable in California, we’re happy to see these two important pieces of legislation moving forward together,” Ramona Prieto, Uber’s head of public policy for California, said in a statement. The deal comes years after Uber, Lyft, and other app-based gig companies spent more than $200 million to convince California voters to pass Prop 22, which classifies gig workers as independent contractors while granting them limited benefits.
Podcast: Championing Worker Freedom Across The States: Alan Jernigan and Vincent Vernuccio on ALEC TV
August 23, 2025 // As debates over worker rights ripple across the country, one message continues to echo from state to state: workers deserve the freedom to choose the work arrangements that fit their lives best. But how should lawmakers turn that principle into policy?
Unions ‘Wait and See’ on Elections as Trump Upends Labor Arena
August 20, 2025 // That political uncertainty, coupled with a volatile economy and labor market, could have workers second-guessing whether they’re ready to stick their necks out for collective action, the data show. College athlete employment, protections for political protests, and higher penalties for labor law violations are just some of the issues that worker advocates may want to steer away from a Republican board. The average number of newly certified unions per month dropped 22.3% between January and July this year, compared to the last six months of the Biden administration, according to data from the NLRB’s monthly election reports.
USDA moves to end employee union contracts, documents show
August 17, 2025 // The U.S. Department of Agriculture moved to terminate union contracts with thousands of employees of its animal health and food safety inspection agencies, according to documents seen by Reuters, as one union on Wednesday challenged the firings in court. The notices sent to union leaders at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Food Safety and Inspection Service on Tuesday evening said the action was aligned with President Donald Trump's March executive order to exclude some federal workers from collective bargaining because their agencies have national security missions, the documents show.
Trump Is Making Major Concessions To Union Bosses. Is It Worth It?
August 15, 2025 // The Institute for the American Worker noted that union members who had funds embezzled by their leaders in recent years would now have less insight into how their dues were being spent. For example, in 2024, the Secretary-Treasurer of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 2198 pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $63,000; under the proposed rule, the group would no longer have to file an LM-2.
How Federal Workers ‘Without A Union Can Still Act Like A Union’
August 13, 2025 // In fact, this was the state of organizing in the Federal Sector before 1962. Whether its well-established local Unions or newly formed Organizing Committees, many Workers are asking: “What’s the point in a Union?” or “What can our Union do at this point?”