Posts tagged Kentucky
Amazon says it will not recognize workers’ unionization push at Merrillville warehouse
October 27, 2026 // Amazon does not plan to voluntarily recognize drivers who filed union authorization cards to join the Teamsters Local 142, setting up an election through the National Labor Relations Board. Transportation Operations Management, or TOM, Team drivers out of the 1 million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center just off Interstate 65 in Merrillville rallied there Thursday to demand the company negotiate a union contract. The department employs about 21 workers out of the hundreds who work at the hulking Amazon warehouse, union leaders said.
Electrician Prevails in Case Against IBEW Local 2100 Bosses Blocking Him From Cutting Off Union Dues
October 23, 2026 // Brandyn Marion, an electrician at Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), has prevailed in his dispute with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2100, after union bosses backed down and settled Marion’s case against them. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) began investigating when Marion filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against Local 2100 officials for violating his rights by refusing to provide him with the information he needed to revoke his dues checkoff authorization. Marion’s charge was filed with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Shawn Fain Claims Victory in UAW Election Rout
October 13, 2026 // UAW Vice President Mike Booth, who ran on a ticket opposing Fain, told The Wall Street Journal that there is no doubt about the outcome. Fain faced five challengers, including a UAW vice president with whom he had feuded. Fain’s allies defeated top UAW officials whom Fain viewed as impediments to his agenda for vice-presidential slots and other key roles.
Kentucky Students Struggle to Read and Do Math as Teachers’ Unions Sit on More Than $22 Million
October 8, 2026 // Since 2018: KEA’s workforce fell 40 percent Direct member benefits fell 32 percent Net assets climbed 198 percent, reaching $12.3 million At the same time, KEA spent 53 percent of its FY2025 budget on staff compensation and benefits. Executive Director Mary Ruble received $254,498, roughly 4.6 times the approximately $55,000 average Kentucky public-school teacher salary used in the report. KEA’s political operation tells another striking story. 96.1 percent of KEPAC political spending went to liberal issue committees or Democratic candidates and party committees. KEA lobbying disclosures also show $150,000 allocated to receptions and events for legislators in 2026 alone.
Report: The Battle for Worker Freedom: Grading State Public Sector Labor Laws
September 10, 2026 // Union executives are prioritizing recruitment. The fastest-growing category of public sector labor legislation expands collective bargaining into new workplaces. On the strength of these new laws, union executives are slowly replacing their membership losses since 2018. From 2018 to 2025, the country’s four largest government unions report a net decline in membership of 87,919, or 1.3 percent. However, they also report a collective gain of 232,502 members, or 3.5 percent since 2024. This report awards full letter-grade increases to Idaho (now A) and Louisiana (now B) due to their adoption of pro-worker labor reforms this past legislative session. However, the drops in grades—Nebraska (D), Nevada (D), and Rhode Island (F)—are the result of these states prioritizing union executives over workers and enacting laws helping unions recruit, politick, organize, and strike. Thirteen states now have an “A” or “A+” grade—up from twelve in the previous edition of this report—while six states earned an “F”—up from five over the same time period. Overall, the research finds 25 states fall below a “C.”
With or Without UAW Momentum, Southern Autoworker Activists Determined to Fight On
June 22, 2026 // Still, despite the waning of organizing momentum, workers say that poor treatment has created ripe conditions for organizing. Ballooning health insurance costs have also been eating into Southern auto workers’ paychecks, even as coverage deteriorates. “Up until this year, our health care was free,” says Murphy. “Now we have to pay for it.
A Federal Court Limits the NLRB’s Power to Force Union Bargaining: What Hospitality Employers Should Know
May 5, 2026 // On March 6, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a significant decision in Brown-Forman Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board. The case addresses how the National Labor Relations Board (Board) may impose bargaining orders when employers interfere with union organizing campaigns
Commentary: Unions make slight gains in South, mirroring national trends
April 29, 2026 // Southern states continue to lag significantly behind the rest of the country in union membership. Close to 4.9 percent of workers in the South belong to a union, and 5.9 percent of workers are employed in a workplace that enjoys union representation. That compares to 12.7 percent union density in the rest of the country, and 14 percent of non-Southern workers having union representation at their workplace. Labor’s modest gains come amidst a wide-ranging assault on worker protections under the Trump administration. Since coming into office, Trump has sought to strip collective bargaining rights for more than 1 million federal workers and eviscerated worker health and safety protections.
How a $15 minimum wage will regionally affect a diverse and unequal Virginia
April 28, 2026 // The age-old economic debate over minimum wage has been a sticking point between Republicans and Democrats in the Old Dominion, as Youngkin called the $15 minimum wage proposal a "one-size-fits-all mandate" that "ignores the vast economic and geographic differences," in his veto memo last year. "Implementing an arbitrary $15-per-hour wage mandate may not impact Northern Virginia, where economic conditions lead to historically higher wages, but this approach is detrimental for small businesses across the rest of Virginia, especially in Southwest and Southside," Youngkin wrote.
Ninth Circuit Affirms Bargaining Order in Cemex Without Opining on NLRB’s Cemex Framework
April 25, 2026 // The Ninth Circuit could have joined the Sixth Circuit in rejecting the Cemex Framework outright, or it could have affirmed the Cemex Framework, which would have established a circuit split and set the stage for Supreme Court review. By choosing to do neither, the Ninth Circuit’s decision means the Board’s authority to issue bargaining orders under the Cemex Framework will remain unsettled. In the meantime, employers outside of the Sixth Circuit (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee) should be aware that the Board will likely continue to enforce the union-friendly Cemex Framework (as it did after Brown-Forman). Dinsmore’s labor and employment attorneys will continue tracking these developments closely and provide updates as courts weigh in on the future of the Cemex Framework.