Posts tagged labor organizers
Under Trump, Student Labor Organizers Face New Challenges
August 7, 2025 // Anticipating a rollback of recent NLRB precedent, some unions have withdrawn petitions for recognition, looking for other paths to continue their work.
Amazon labor organizers challenge union election loss, alleging employer coercion
May 14, 2025 // The union campaign at Garner’s RDU1 warehouse lost by a wide margin earlier this year. Organizers say they faced retaliation and a massive “union-busting” effort.
‘Union Joe’ left labor movement weaker than it was
February 25, 2025 // As Dominic Pino pointed out last month in National Review, the overwhelming majority of workers in such fields as manufacturing, construction, mining, transportation and warehousing are not union members. Efforts to unionize employees attract disproportionate media cheerleading, especially when the unions target iconic American companies like Starbucks and Amazon. But there isn’t nearly as much coverage when workers in high-profile workplaces vote against joining a union — as they have recently at a Mercedes factory in Alabama, an Amazon warehouse in North Carolina and even Princeton University — or when scores of unions each year are decertified in workplace elections.
Massachusetts Ballot Measure Would Shove Rideshare Workers Into the Arms of Unions
October 12, 2024 // Even as independent contractors, however, unions still threaten drivers’ flexibility. Unions might negotiate standardized rates, mandatory breaks, or limits on working hours, which, while beneficial in some industries, could restrict a driver’s ability to capitalize on peak demand periods or adjust their work hours to fit personal schedule. The risk of such changes only magnifies when one considers that the Ballot Measure only requires a 25% vote from drivers to form a union that would represent them as a whole. This means that the 30% of drivers working full-time, who would benefit most from being treated like employees, might be able to dictate policy for all rideshare drivers.
‘Make It A Union Town’: Harvard Labor Organizers Discuss Push to Unionize at HLS Event
April 4, 2024 // Last month, HAW-UAW and Harvard reached an agreement allowing the group to hold a unionization election in early April, bypassing a lengthy union recognition hearing process with the National Labor Relations Board. If the vote to unionize succeeds, HAW-UAW will begin preparing to bargain with the University. Given said the renewed push to unionize Harvard has been a “long time coming.” In response to all of the frustrations expressed, Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that “Harvard is committed to the democratic process, respects the individuals’ right to choose whether or not to be represented by a union, and strongly believes that voters should make the choice that is right for them.”
Game makers seek unions as digital entertainment booms
September 12, 2023 // Interest in union protection among video game workers has heightened as studios curtail remote work, meaning employees are being pressured to live near offices in cities that tend to be expensive, according to Fellmeth. The ongoing strike by film actors and writers has also been a factor, spotlighting the power of workers uniting. Writers walked off the job in May, followed by actors in July. Both unions are asking for better pay, and guarantees that AI will not steal their jobs and income, among other demands. The strikes have halted production on many studio films and television series.
Senate Democrats offer resolution to let staff organize
June 26, 2023 // Sen. Sherrod Brown and 19 of his Senate colleagues introduced a resolution Thursday that would extend legal protections to staffers who unionize. The group of pro-labor Democrats, plus Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, comes a year after the House adopted a resolution allowing its employees to organize. “Every worker should have a right to organize and have a voice in their workplace — and that is why I have spent my career fighting for the dignity of work,” Brown said in a statement. “With this resolution, we can finally secure the fundamental legal right of U.S. Senate staff to join together as union members to advocate for themselves and have a voice on the job.”
Labor organizers reflect on a new era of unionization at Dartmouth
June 13, 2023 // Over the past three years, Dartmouth students and faculty members have made large strides in labor organizing through three unions: the Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth, the Graduate Organized Laborers of Dartmouth and the Dartmouth College Library Workers Union. The Dartmouth College Library Worker Collective is the only union which has not been recognized by the College as of press time.which has not been recognized by the College as of press time. The Dartmouth spoke with various members of these unions to understand the motives, goals and challenges that they have faced.
Efforts to unionize agricultural workers in WA face long-standing hurdles
May 9, 2023 // With Ostrom — and, now, Windmill Farms — workers, labor organizers and community members have held rallies outside the mushroom farm and at several locations where the mushrooms are sold. UFW has asked people to look for the mushrooms in their local grocery stores and help track their distribution. “We have also reached out directly to retailers that carry Ostrom products, asking them to also put pressure on Ostrom to recognize the union,” De Loera said in an email in February. “Consumers can help us do this work by helping to identify Ostrom products in their local stores.” Workers from Sunnyside, community members and UFW staff rallied outside an upscale Seattle grocery store in December 2022 to raise awareness among consumers. Students at the University of Washington successfully lobbied that the school stop using mushrooms from Windmill Farms. The students organized into a group called Students for Farmworkers (SFFW) at UW.