Posts tagged hot labor summer
Union members aren’t just voting on labor this year
August 27, 2024 // She believes Harris can deliver for her and fellow union members, calling the Democratic nominee a “breath of fresh air” for whom she’s canvassing alongside UNITE HERE colleagues. Gangwer, meanwhile, said he has struggled to grapple with recent inflation. He pushed off “must-do’s” on his home, like a partial roof replacement, because it’s too expensive. His co-workers have become more willing to vote for Republicans in recent years, he said, citing the party’s commitments to cut taxes and an emphasis on law and order.
‘Louisville is a union town’: A look back at the 2023 labor movement in the metro area
December 19, 2023 // This year, Kentucky saw 16 labor actions, including strikes and protests, which is more than the combined total of labor events in 2021 and 2022, according to Cornell ILR’s Labor Action Tracker as of Dec. 7. Each of these labor actions, from union giants such as Teamsters Local 89 at UPS and United Auto Workers Local 862 at Ford to the smaller labor actions at places including Heine Brothers Coffee, Sunergos Coffee and Rainbow Blossom, have resulted in victories for Louisville workers. “People are realizing, those that work for a living in places like Ford, in places like GE [Appliances], UPS and other large employers as well as the smaller employers, the baristas in these coffee shops ... that their only real option to progress themselves at their jobs and in their lives is to come together in solidarity as union members,” Londrigan said.
As L.A. City Hall staffers consider unionizing, competing unions seek to woo them
September 12, 2023 // The city work force, like the vast majority of the public sector work force across California, is heavily unionized. Staffers for elected officials, however, have long been at-will employees — they can be hired without dealing with civil service requirements, but also lack the protections that a civil service job confers. That’s the norm for staffers to elected officials across the country. But the City Hall effort is far from an outlier.
First Faculty Unions Form at Two Maryland Community Colleges
September 7, 2023 // Before passage of the 2021 collective bargaining law, some employee groups were already organized at the Community College of Baltimore County, Montgomery College, and Prince George’s Community College. There are additional faculty organizing efforts by AFT-Maryland underway now at the Community College of Baltimore County and Prince George’s Community College.
When California’s public workers go on strike
August 11, 2023 // On Tuesday, thousands of city workers across Los Angeles, including staff at LAX and Van Nuys airport, City Hall, animal shelters, public swimming pools and other facilities, walked off the job for a 24-hour strike, reports the Los Angeles Times. There have been some efforts in the Legislature to expand strike rights for public workers. State Sen. Tom Umberg, a Democrat from Santa Ana, has proposed a constitutional amendment that would enshrine every worker’s right, including public sector employees, to join a union and negotiate with their employers “to protect their economic well-being and safety at work.” Another measure, authored by Democratic Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes of San Bernardino, would protect public employees from disciplinary action if they join a sympathy strike, refuse to cross a picket line or refuse cover work for striking co-workers.