Posts tagged health care
Amazon labor organizers challenge union election loss, alleging employer coercion
May 14, 2025 // The union campaign at Garner’s RDU1 warehouse lost by a wide margin earlier this year. Organizers say they faced retaliation and a massive “union-busting” effort.
The AFL-CIO Doesn’t Need To Lobby — It Has Its Own Caucus Now
May 6, 2025 // It was billed as a press conference announcing a new legislative caucus — but the real headliners weren’t the lawmakers. When more than 30 Democratic legislators gathered on April 30 to unveil their “Blue Collar Caucus,” they quickly stepped aside and handed the microphone — and the spotlight — to Connecticut AFL-CIO President Ed Hawthorne and Building Trades President Joe Toner. The union bosses weren’t just there to show support — they were the main event, delivering lengthy remarks packed with labor talking points, many of which now appear in the caucus’s legislative agenda and are posted proudly on its website.
Salt Lake City librarians officially unionize, but likely referendum to determine next steps
May 5, 2025 // Ninety-two percent of Salt Lake City librarians voted to unionize, joining AFSCME Local 1004. A new state law, HB267, bans public sector collective bargaining agreements. A likely referendum on the bill will determine the future of public union negotiations in 2026.
Caregivers protest union effort to skim home helpers’ pay
April 30, 2025 // The SEIU quietly swept 60,000 home-based caregivers into its ranks in 2005, assisted by a mechanism established under Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Caregivers who did not consent to withdrawals saw the union take money from their paychecks in a practice the Mackinac Center for Public Policy dubbed a dues skim. Home caregivers enjoyed protection from the dues skim for 11 years after the state ended the practice. Last fall, lawmakers reestablished the legal mechanism by which the union could enroll caregivers as members and collect dues. It's not as easy for unions to take that money, however, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2016 Janus v. AFSCME ruling, which protects public sector employees from being required to join a union as a condition of employment.
Commentary: VA is selectively enforcing Trump’s order stripping workers of union rights
April 22, 2025 // But the same notice, without explanation, exempts eight small labor groups within the VA from Trump’s edict, effectively allowing them to retain their collective bargaining rights. Those unions include the Laborers International Union of North America, the Western Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, the Veterans Affairs Staff Nurse Council Local 5032 in Wisconsin, the International Association of Firefighters in Arkansas, the Teamsters Union Local 115 in Pennsylvania and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Hawaii. While Trump’s order exempts law enforcement and firefighter unions from losing their collective bargaining rights, that exception would apply only to the IAFF local.
Sanders introduces bill to raise minimum wage to $17 by 2030, benefits nearly 22 million Americans
April 10, 2025 // Joining Sanders on this legislation are Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). More than 85 organizations endorsed the Raise the Wage Act of 2025, including Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFL-CIO, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Equal Pay Today, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), National Education Association (NEA), National Employment Law Project (NELP), The National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), One Fair Wage, Oxfam America, Patriotic Millionaires, UNITE HERE, United Autoworkers (UAW), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United for Respect, and United Steelworkers (USW).
Workers at Bay Area UC campuses join statewide strike over wages, conditions
April 3, 2025 // Workers at Bay Area UC campuses join statewide strike over wages, conditions sanfrancisco By Tim Fang Updated on: April 1, 2025 / 11:33 AM PDT / CBS San Francisco Workers at University of California campuses and medical facilities in the Bay Area joined thousands of employees statewide Tuesday in a one-day strike, claiming unfair labor practices. About 20,000 employees represented by the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) and nearly 40,000 workers with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees began their strike around 7 a.m. UC Berkeley, UCSF, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were among the Bay Area locations where workers were striking.
Face The Nation UAW president Shawn Fain says “tariffs are a tool in the toolbox” in helping auto workers
April 1, 2025 // "Tariffs are a tool in the toolbox to get these companies to do the right thing, and the intent behind it is to bring jobs back here, and, you know, invest in the American workers," Fain told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview that aired Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." Mr. Trump announced the 25% tariffs last week, which he said will take effect on April 2, escalating his administration's effort to boost domestic manufacturers through aggressive trade measures. Fain, who leads the 400,000-member union that went on a 46-day strike in 2023, called the tariffs a "motivator,"
Providence and nurses at 8 Oregon hospitals reach tentative agreement after 26 days of strike
February 6, 2025 // Providence and nurses at its eight Oregon hospitals have reached a tentative agreement after 26 days of strike, in what the state's nurses union has described as the largest health care strike in state history.
Thousands of Denver-area King Soopers grocery store workers go on strike
February 6, 2025 // UFCW Local 7 members voted by 96% last week to authorize the unfair labor practices strike. King Soopers, a chain owned by Kroger, with 121 stores in Colorado and Wyoming, has been negotiating a new contract since October. The current contract expired in January.