Posts tagged Congress
MLB, players’ union meet to begin labor talks, sources say
May 14, 2026 // MLB intends to pursue a salary cap system, a financial structure that players staunchly oppose. The current deal, which came after a 99-day lockout by the league that threatened the beginning of the 2022 season, expires Dec. 1. If there is no agreement by the time the deal lapses, MLB is expected to again lock out the players, causing a work stoppage that could jeopardize games in the 2027 season. During the opening presentations, sources said, the sides outlined their views on the game, noting challenges they see and opportunities to use labor negotiations as a tool to move it forward.
Workers at Planned Parenthood’s largest affiliate are unionizing, citing Trump cuts
May 13, 2026 // Sotoa said union representation would secure workers' voices in decisions over staffing and resources under threat by the cuts. Planned Parenthood workers at affiliates in Oregon, Maine, Minnesota, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other parts of California, have already formed unions in response to the Trump administration and the changes they have prompted in their clinics' staffing, pay and workplace conditions.
Three-quarters of USDA researchers tapped to relocate tell union they’re not going
May 11, 2026 // USDA relocated hundreds of ERS and NIFA positions to Kansas City in 2019, but about 85% of impacted employees quit their jobs or retired, rather than relocate. The American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, which represents USDA researchers, expects to see similar results this year. An internal survey conducted by the union found that 76% of its members have indicated they are not planning to relocate. AFGE Local 3403 said in a statement that these relocations, which are expected to go into effect by the end of the summer, will trigger a “brain drain” within the department.
Shrinking unions grasp hold of power through ESG activism
May 11, 2026 // Under the ESG pretense, unions are pushing shareholder resolutions that would ditch secret-ballot elections at companies. That’s a key labor demand because it enables unions to harass and intimidate workers into publicly signing cards in favor of unionization. Unions also push shareholder resolutions ordering companies to adopt “non-interference policies,” ensuring a business can’t talk to its employees about the downsides of unionization. Practically, unions promote these policies in two significant ways. The simplest approach is to use their own pension funds, which invest hundreds of billions of dollars, to demand that the businesses they invest in adopt pro-union policies. Union officials are also appointed to pension boards, where they directly support activist investment strategies based on ESG. Public pension plans have great clout thanks to the trillions of dollars at their disposal, enough to take significant ownership stakes in banks or investment funds. Either approach lets organized labor push shareholder proposals that tilt the scales in unions’ favor.
How the Faster Labor Contracts Act could hurt workers
May 7, 2026 // Contracts can take a long time to negotiate because one or both sides are new to the process, have unreasonable demands, and are negotiating complex terms that will affect all future contracts. It’s not uncommon for collective bargaining agreements to address dozens of workplace provisions (well beyond just pay and benefits) and to span hundreds of pages. A Bloomberg Law analysis of first contracts reached between 2004 and 2021 found an average length of 409 days between election certification and contract ratification. The Faster Labor Contracts Act would provide a maximum bargaining period of 120 days — 90 days of bargaining followed by 30 days of mediation — before either party could invoke mandatory arbitration.
Building trades unions emerge as a key ally of tech giants in push for AI data centers
May 4, 2026 // Unions have aggressively answered complaints about data centers in ways that executives at tech giants and the development firms rarely do, unafraid to bluntly confront concerns about energy and water shortages, rising electric and water bills, or noise and quality-of-life objections. “When people say, you know, ‘data centers are the root of all evil,’ we’re just saying, ‘look, they do create a hell of a lot of construction jobs, which we live and work in your communities,'” said Rob Bair, president of the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council.
DAVIS: An Example Of A Big Government Overreach We Seriously Do Not Need
May 1, 2026 // A Mercatus Center analysis of 147 studies over three decades found that when union contracts are driven by outside pressure rather than mutual agreement, the result is slower job growth, reduced business investment, and a higher likelihood of layoffs down the road. Big wins at the bargaining table, secured by outsized union leverage rather than cooperation, have a way of costing workers more than they gained. The FLCA also isn’t a new proposal. It is a single provision pulled from the PRO Act, the Democrats’ broad rewriting of labor law. That legislation has failed to make it into law for good reason—it would hurt the very workers it claims to protect.
Unions Attack AI for Menacing Human Jobs
May 1, 2026 // Last week, the leaders of some of the largest trade unions in the US came together for a conference with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Axios reports. Together, they presented a united opposition against tech companies pushing AI and robotics into labor, renewing Sanders’ call for a pause on AI development until there are ample safety nets in place to catch workers whom labor leaders fear will be displaced. “We are here to sound the alarms on AI,” president of stories AFL-CIO Liz Shuler said at the press conference. “This race that everybody seems to think we’re in to advance AI at all costs — with no guardrails or protections for people — is reckless and dangerous.”
AFP Urges Members of Congress to Oppose the Faster Labor Contracts Act and Discharge Petition
May 1, 2026 // Touted as a pro-worker solution, in reality, this legislation is lifted from the harmful PRO Act and would undermine worker choice and democratic representation. It would strip workers of a fundamental choice: the ability to decide whether the terms of a labor contract actually serve their interests. If negotiations over a first bargaining contract fail to yield a contract amidst a high pressure, highly shortened negotiation timeline, the Faster Labor Contracts Act would force the use of government-mandated arbitrators who would unilaterally impose binding contract terms. Workers, and their businesses, would be locked into a contract without workers ever having the opportunity to approve or reject the agreement.
Union racked up massive tab on swank DC hotel stay to battle Trump — and still lost
April 30, 2026 // Social media posts show SEIU members from around the country converged in Washington, D.C., between June 23 and June 29, 2025, to confront lawmakers and stage protests against the tax and spending cuts under consideration in Congress. Department of Labor disclosures logged on June 30, 2025, reveal that the union spent $1.2 million of members’ dues at the Salamander Hotel to cover a series of expenses labeled as "support for political activities." The One Big Beautiful Bill Act served as the cornerstone of Trump's second-term economic agenda. While supporters touted tax breaks for service workers and small business owners, critics argued cuts to health and food subsidies would harm less affluent Americans. This disagreement sparked fierce opposition, including the SEIU's seven-figure protest campaign, though Trump ultimately signed the bill into law on 4th of July weekend 2025.