Posts tagged Democrat
Striking workers will need to seek jobs to qualify for WA unemployment benefits
August 24, 2026 // Workers on strike can receive up to six weeks of benefits. Unemployment is available following the second Sunday after a strike begins, plus a one-week waiting period. Typical unemployment insurance is offered for up to 26 weeks. The six weeks for striking workers was the result of negotiations between House and Senate Democrats. A person seeking unemployment benefits must show they are available and actively seeking suitable work. For each week they submit a claim, the person must complete three job search activities and keep a record of their efforts. They also must be signed up with a WorkSource employment center in the state, or an equivalent if they live in another state.
NLRB confirmations secure Republican majority
August 11, 2026 // The Associated Builders and Contractors in a Friday statement commended the confirmation of Macy and Prouty, noting that losing a quorum would have left NLRB "unable to issue decisions, creating additional uncertainty for the construction industry and the broader employer community." "A fully functioning NLRB is essential to reducing the growing case backlog and ensuring labor disputes are resolved in a timely and predictable manner," Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs, said. In addition to the NLRB confirmations, the Senate also confirmed economist Brett Matsumoto to a four-year term as DOL's Commissioner of Labor Statistics.
Op-Ed: The Teamsters betrayed their own workers — and Republicans fell for it again
July 31, 2026 // Brown is a Democrat running in a state that President Donald Trump has won three times. With this endorsement, the Ohio Conference of Teamsters did not weigh which candidate could best deliver for their members in a closely divided Senate. They chose the Democrat. That choice should be considered against the image the broader Teamsters organization has carefully cultivated to appeal to Republicans.
Opinion: California’s public sector unions are trying to undo pension reform
July 22, 2026 // In 2012, Democratic then-Gov. Jerry Brown made real progress by championing and signing the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA). It was a significant reform that adjusted benefits for new hires. By reducing abuses like “pension spiking” (by which some employees juiced payouts), raising the retirement age for many, and requiring the new hires to pay a larger share of their own pension costs, the reform sought to save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
Whole Foods unionization upheld by U.S. Labor Board
June 16, 2026 // n a brief, unanimous order Monday, the members of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Whole Foods had raised “no substantial issues warranting review.” The order was issued by a pair of Republican board members appointed by President Donald Trump, as well as a Democrat appointed by his predecessor Joe Biden. Employees at the Philadelphia location voted 130 to 100 in January 2025 to unionize with the United Food & Commercial Workers union.
The Texas Case That Could Bring Down the NLRB
June 13, 2026 // That’s the reality of a May decision by a U.S. district court in Fort Worth in the case Aunt Bertha v. National Labor Relations Board. The court ruled that the NLRB – the main government agency overseeing union organizing and collective bargaining in the private sector – is unconstitutional on multiple counts. This case seems destined to head to the Supreme Court, and if it does, Congress may have to rewrite federal labor law to meet workers’ needs in the 21st century.
The House Just Passed a ‘Pro-Worker’ Bill That Takes Power Away From Workers
June 11, 2026 // "Supporters of this bill assure businesses and workers that it is about worker empowerment and efficiency," Walberg said. "I may be misremembering the definition of empowerment, but I can guarantee it does not mean taking away a worker's right to vote on his or her own contract and giving that power to a Washington bureaucrat with no stake in the outcome."
Why Are Republicans Looking To Pass Obama-Era Forced Unionization Bill?
May 20, 2026 // Instead of contract bargaining, there would be “binding arbitration.” For 90 days, unions and employers would come to the table as normal and work toward an agreement. After that, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service could be called in to “mediate” the talks for an additional 30 days. If no agreement was reached, the agency gained the power to convene an arbitration panel that would write up a contract that bound both the union and the employer for two years. EFCA made unionization faster, but only by taking away checks that workers and employers had on union bosses. Today, unions are still pushing for the “binding arbitration” half of EFCA. It’s on the smorgasbord of provisions in the so-called PRO Act, a union-backed bill supported by all but a few congressional Democrats, and it’s central to the Faster Labor Contracts Act.
Exclusive: Major transportation union poured millions into Dem politics, casinos as workers got sold out, report finds
May 20, 2026 // The American Accountability Foundation report alleges SMART-TD poured money into Democratic candidates and liberal groups while spending heavily on entertainment, travel, casinos and resorts. The report also argues the spending shows union leadership is out of step with the purportedly “MAGA” blue-collar workers it represents.
Labor leaders call collective bargaining veto a ‘betrayal’ by Virginia governor
May 19, 2026 // “I remain committed to continuing to work with the General Assembly, unions, localities and public servants across the Commonwealth to develop a public sector collective bargaining system that works for Virginia,” Spanberger said in a statement. “However, I believe additional amendments are needed to the enrolled bill currently before me.” During the Jim Crow era, Virginia banned public sector collective bargaining in 1948 in response to a group of Black workers organizing a union at the University of Virginia hospital. Before Virginia passed a law that permits local governments to enact their own collective bargaining system in 2021, the state was one of only three that have blanket bans on collective bargaining for public sector workers. Even after the law passed, collective bargaining for state government workers remains illegal.