Posts tagged health insurance
Commentary: From job lock to job choice: Congress rethinks worker power
September 12, 2025 // On the Hill, Senate HELP Committee Chair Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-La.) new Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers Act is gaining bipartisan attention, and similar efforts are moving forward in the House. Many Democrats and Republicans agree that it’s time to remove what are essentially old legal loopholes that deny access to affordable benefits to millions of self-employed Americans. But there’s something more to the idea: Portable benefits could help all workers to better leverage their own economic power.
Huntsville auto workers fail to unionize Navistar plant, UAW alleges illegal intimidation
August 14, 2025 // Two hundred sixteen out of 228 eligible workers cast ballots in last Thursday’s election at Navistar Big Bore Diesels in Huntsville, with 142 of those ballots cast in opposition to forming a union.
All major Las Vegas Strip casinos are now unionized in historic labor victory
August 5, 2025 // For 25 years, her employer, the Venetian, had resisted organizing efforts as one of the last holdouts on the Strip, locked in a prolonged standoff with the Culinary Workers Union. But a recent change in ownership opened the Venetian’s doors to union representation just as the Strip’s newest casino, the Fontainebleau, was also inking its first labor contract. The historic deals finalized late last year mark a major turning point: For the first time in the Culinary Union’s 90-year history, all major casinos on the Strip are unionized. Backed by 60,000 members, most of them in Las Vegas, it is the largest labor union in Nevada. Experts say the Culinary Union’s success is a notable exception in a national landscape where union membership overall is declining.
City security guards protest ‘unfair labor practices,’ ‘shoddy work conditions’
July 21, 2025 // Workers said they are prepared to strike as early as next week if the company isn't willing to negotiate. They laid out their demands in a rally on Tuesday, July 15, at city hall. "We think that a company that gets $45 million from the city since 2017 should be able to do better for the workers and the people of Baltimore who actually fill those contracts," said Jaime Contreres, the executive vice president of labor union 32BJ.
Chair Cassidy, Scott, Paul Release Legislative Package Empowering Independent Workers to Access Portable Benefits
July 7, 2025 // “We applaud Sen. Cassidy for striving to ensure independent contractors can be protected and receive benefits similar to employees without jeopardizing their entrepreneurship or independence. The Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers Act supports independent contractors and freelancers by allowing businesses to provide benefits without redefining worker status. In today’s evolving economy, flexible work shouldn’t come at the cost of healthcare or retirement security. This legislation helps ensure that all American workers – regardless of classification – can have access to benefits like health care and retirement plans,” said F. Vincent Vernuccio, J.D., President, Institute for the American Worker.
Editorial: Unionizing Uber and Lyft drivers may speed up their robotic replacement
July 2, 2025 // Here’s the issue for drivers. Labor talks are playing out as Uber and its competitors are investing heavily in driverless vehicles, just like Tesla. Uber isn’t hiding that future. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi even told The Wall Street Journal this year he expects AVs to gradually overtake human drivers.
Bill enabling unionization of ride-hail drivers takes big step
June 17, 2025 // Under the bill, the state would require Uber, Lyft and other such companies on a quarterly basis to give to the Public Employment Relations Board a list of all California ride-hail drivers who have provided at least 20 rides in the preceding six months. The board would use that data to determine the median number of rides given by that pool of drivers. Under AB 1340 as it’s currently written, any driver who gave at least the median number of rides would be considered an active driver. An organization seeking to form a drivers union could then start the process by getting at least 10% of active drivers to authorize it to act as their representative.
Hundreds of nurses take to the picket lines at Unity Point Health – Meriter Hospital
May 30, 2025 // The five-day strike started at 6:30 a.m. on Brooks Street outside of Unity Point Health - Meriter. During a 7:30 a.m. press conference, nurses listed the demands they want met from Meriter management. Those demands include staffing solutions that prioritize nurse and patient safety, compensation to attract and retain nurses, and improved security practices at the hospital.
Pratt & Whitney workers approve contract, ending strike; deal keeps work in Connecticut
May 27, 2025 // The union, representing nearly 3,000 members at two Pratt & Whitney sites in Connecticut, said the offer was approved by 74%. IAM members had rejected the company's first offer in early May. Under the contract, Pratt & Whitney pledged to continue to operate its two facilities in Connecticut, in East Hartford and Middletown, through 2029. Specifics of that commitment were not immediately available. Keeping work at the two Connecticut facilities was a top priority for the union, which had worried that work could be moved to non-union factories out of state.
As doormen and porters prepare for strike, NYC luxury condo labor dispute divides Cuomo backers
May 27, 2025 // Gutierrez and his colleagues said they may go on strike as early as Thursday if the board and developer Lightstone Real Estate Partners don’t agree to the new contract. It would be an unusual stoppage at a single building organized by the influential 32BJ union. There were two such strikes last year, a union spokesperson said. The dispute also reveals strange bedfellows in the race for New York City mayor. Campaign finance records show Lightstone contributed $100,000 to the SuperPAC backing Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid, just weeks before 32BJ formally endorsed the former governor in the Democratic primary. When asked for comment on the dispute between Cuomo’s two benefactors, his campaign referred questions to his SuperPAC, Fix the City.