Posts tagged Labor Day
Thousands of Chicago hotel workers threaten to strike
September 9, 2026 // The union represents 15,000 workers at more than 40 Chicago hotels, meaning a widespread strike could disrupt hotel operations during a key time for tourism and conventions. Catch up quick: By Aug. 31, contracts covering about 7,000 workers at Chicago hotels had officially expired, according to Unite Here Local 1.
Defend worker freedom this Labor Day
September 9, 2026 // “States with right-to-work laws enjoy lower unemployment rates, higher job growth, and higher wage and income growth compared with forced union states.” That’s according to a 2022 John Locke Foundation report from F. Vincent Vernuccio, former US Department of Labor official and current president of the Institute for the American Worker. Specifically, the report notes that between 2000 and 2019, personal income in right-to-work states grew by 56.4%, compared with just 40.6% in states without such laws. Also during that time, private-sector jobs in right-to-work states grew by 23.1%, which was almost double the 12.1% of growth in non–right-to-work states. The report also cites lower unemployment rates in right-to-work states. In states with the highest unemployment rates, the majority of them lacked such protections. Based on these superior worker outcomes, Vernuccio declares, “Right-to-work laws are decidedly pro-worker.” He concludes by saying, “In the end, right-to-work is about one thing: freedom. It protects workers by taking away a union’s ability to get them fired for not paying union dues.”
Opinion This Labor Day, Respect the Right to Join (or Not) a Union
September 8, 2026 // In that scenario, regulators should consider holding a new vote on whether current workers want a union. While it would be legal for the earlier group’s vote to bind the new hires, it may not be fair because the new workers may have a different opinion. This needs to be resolved before the union is established. Federal law has long been stacked against workers who seek to decertify unions that don’t represent their interests because that decertification has to be done through the union itself. Unsurprisingly, many unions will oppose their own members in these situations. If the workers are truly united in favor of a union, they will get one eventually. And if they aren’t united in favor of one, that wish should be respected, too. It should be the workers’ choice, after all.
Guest Column: Virginians should celebrate Right to Work law
September 3, 2026 // According to a recent analysis from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research, from 2015 to 2025 private sector employment grew by 15% in Right to Work states compared to a stunted 5.8% growth in forced-unionism states. Over the same 10-year period, Right to Work states’ manufacturing jobs grew a steady 7.7%, while states without Right to Work lost 2.9% of existing manufacturing jobs. Right to Work laws consistently rank as one of the most important factors business leaders consider when deciding where to relocate or expand, creating new jobs. Consequently, from 2012 to 2023, workers and residents in 23 forced-unionism states have migrated to Right to Work states, resulting in an accumulative $2.05 trillion loss in adjusted gross income for forced-unionism states.
Newsmakers 2025: Barista who helped unionize Verve says the experience changed how she saw herself
January 5, 2026 // In the weeks that followed, Pavy’s coworkers elected her to represent employees of the downtown Santa Cruz coffeehouse in negotiations with Barr and O’Donovan, alongside representatives from the Fair Avenue and San Francisco cafés, and UFCW. So far, the bargaining committee has met once to discuss non-economic parts of the contract, like workplace rules and job security. The process is expected to last through 2026.
National Labor Relations Board sues to block New York labor law
September 22, 2025 // The suit claims that S8034A/A8590A creates a regulatory system in conflict with the National Labor Relations Act, alleging that it usurps the NLRB’s authority to regulate the private sector. It wants the court to declare the law invalid because it’s preempted by the NLRA under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The complaint also asks the court for an injunction to stop the state from enforcing the law. S8034A/A8590A, signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) at the New York City Labor Day Parade, amends the State Labor Relations Act to allow the PERB to enforce collective bargaining agreements and certify bargaining representatives. It took effect immediately upon being signed.
Op-ed: Trump Is Right to Take On the Federal-Worker Unions
September 4, 2025 // Today, only 6 percent of private sector workers are union members. Virtually the only unions that are growing are public sector unions — such as the teachers’ unions. Today, more than one in three government workers in the U.S. belongs to a union. But over 85 percent of those work at the state and local level — not in the federal government. That makes it vital for states to follow President Trump’s lead — along with that of states like Wisconsin — and end collective bargaining for their public employees.
A fresh executive order aims to ban unions at more federal agencies
September 3, 2025 // The targeting of additional agencies and their respective unions comes as the Trump administration has begun formally terminating collective bargaining agreements at more than half a dozen agencies, despite assuring federal judges that such a step wouldn’t be taken until the conclusion of litigation surrounding the executive order. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week signaled that it will consider reversing a prior decision to allow the edict to go into effect.
Op-ed: Does Big Labor Truly Represent the American Worker?
September 3, 2025 // But recent Bureau of Labor Statistics reports indicate that less than one in ten workers, and less than one in 16 workers in the private sector, are union members. Meanwhile, almost half of union members work for state, local, and federal governments, even as less than 15 percent of all workers in the U.S. work for government. Perhaps unsurprisingly given that career path, the Union Membership and Coverage Database estimates that union members are more likely to be college-educated than the workforce as a whole.
Op-ed: Celebrating the Decline of Big Labor
September 2, 2025 // New York and California have 17 percent of U.S. workers, but almost 30 percent of U.S. union members. The states with the lowest rates include the Carolinas, which do not allow collective bargaining in the public sector. More states should look to abolish public-sector collective bargaining, as Utah did this year. And more states should pick up where Republicans left off in the early-to-mid 2010s by passing right-to-work laws. The first order of business should be restoring Michigan’s law that Democrats repealed. In 24 states, private-sector workers can still be coerced to join or financially support a union.