Posts tagged health insurance
Faculty, staff union reaches agreement with City Colleges of Chicago, strike averted
October 20, 2026 // The Cook County College Teachers Union and the community college system reached a tentative agreement overnight Sunday into Monday. The new four-year contract was approved just before 4 a.m. Monday. The union said the agreement includes salaries that keep pace with inflation. The agreement also protects health insurance, and puts safeguards in place regarding artificial intelligence, according to the union.
Ken Girardin: To Deliver Public Excellence, Mamdani Must Challenge Public-Sector Privilege
October 8, 2026 // Meanwhile, the city pays more than $1 billion annually into union-managed “welfare funds” meant to provide dental, vision and other benefits for current workers and retirees. Former Comptroller Brad Lander all but stopped conducting oversight reviews of these funds, even after a trio of union officers became guests of the federal government for swiping money from one of the funds. Instead of turning over cash to dozens of union funds, the city could cut out the middlemen and administer benefits directly. That would allow it to achieve greater economies of scale and avoid further embezzlement and abuse—though it would trim the number of patronage jobs union executives can hand out.
Massachusetts: Brigham and Women’s nurses set date for potential open-ended strike
October 5, 2026 // Months after holding the largest health care worker strike in Massachusetts, nurses from Brigham and Women’s Hospital are set to go on an open-ended strike starting Oct. 14, their union announced Friday.
Alton public works employees begin strike at midnight after talks stall
September 24, 2026 // A Thursday afternoon press release from the City of Alton outlines plans to navigate the strike while keeping emergency services and "other work the City deems essential to public health and safety" on track. Beth Bear, the Alton City Council coordinator, sent the press release. Alton says emergency work outside the city's agreements, threats to public health or safety, and emergency declarations will be upheld. The city also says repairs to traffic signs and signals resulting from accidents, emergency-related street cleanups, and road repairs addressing public safety hazards will not stop.
Largest union of Marion County employees authorizes strike
September 13, 2026 // The most contentious issue in bargaining has been the county’s contribution to employees’ health insurance payments. The union had initially asked Marion County to contribute 95% toward its employees’ healthcare costs. The union said that three other unions that represent Marion County employees receive the 95% contribution.
Teamsters, Chisago County reach tentative deal that could end nearly 120-day strike
August 29, 2026 // The union said key issues in the new agreement include health insurance and a 20.5% wage increase over three years. Chisago County Administrator Chase Burnham said that 20.5% wage increase includes general raises of 3% in the first two years of the contract and a 4% raise in the third year. Eligible employees will also receive step increases of 3.5% each year of the contract. Burnham said the deal is “similar to what [the county] offered in June” but adds a third year to the contract.
Opinion: Gavin Newsom’s mind-boggling record of giveaways to unions
August 25, 2026 // Richer government contracts and expanded public employee benefits don’t come from nowhere. They land on taxpayers — the same taxpayers already staring down the nation’s highest gas prices, some of the steepest home insurance increases in the country and a cost of living that keeps pushing people out of the state entirely.
Marion County’s largest union declares impasse, prepares for potential strike
August 19, 2026 // The union has started circulating strike pledges, which gauge support within a union before taking a vote on whether to strike. At the end of July, organizers put up food donation boxes in anticipation of a strike. The extra food would help union members feed their families in the event of a labor dispute, but days later, they were gone.
Cargill meatpackers in Fort Morgan expected to take another vote on contract they rejected
August 14, 2026 // Workers have been locked out of the beef-processing plant for nearly 85 days but things got worse after union strike pay was reduced. After workers rejected a Cargill Meat Solutions contract last week, reality hit the more than 1,700 unemployed meatpackers who’ve been locked out of the Fort Morgan plant for nearly 85 days. Now, a worker-led effort to take another vote on a contract has received enough signatures for the union to consider it.
United Academic Workers
August 8, 2026 // On campus, the same bloc has changed what a strike is about. In May 2024, UAW Local 4811 called a strike against the University of California over the university’s handling of pro-Palestinian encampments, demanding divestment from weapons manufacturers, amnesty for arrested protesters, and a right for researchers to opt out of military-tied funding. UC warned that the precedent would expose every public employer in California to work stoppages “advancing political and/or social viewpoints.” The UC contract ratified this March carried politics into the agreement itself, featuring a $400,000 legal fund for international workers and a commitment to “non-collaboration with ICE.” The bargaining committee described the deal as having “compelled management to side with workers and not with Trump.”