Posts tagged layoffs
Big labor torching World Cup tourism with sky-high hotel prices and looming layoffs
June 30, 2026 // HTC’s president may get the credit for negotiating this latest contract, but his nearly $1 million compensation package is largely insulated from these economic setbacks. Meanwhile, the workers whose dues pay his salary will bear the long-term consequences of the deal. World Cup visitors may be the first to feel the pain of higher room rates, but hotel workers could end up being hit the hardest by seeing their shifts reduced, or worse, having their jobs disappear.
Editorial: Why are some Republicans pushing price-hiking, pro-union bills in Congress?
June 15, 2026 // Democrats have long pushed pro-union measures sure to boost prices, even as they pretend to care about “affordability.” But why are Republicans now joining them? On Tuesday, a full 20 GOPers crossed the aisle to pass the Faster Labor Contracts Act, 230-193. The bill, lifted from Dems’ PRO Act, aims to boost unionization by forcing employers to agree to labor contracts within 90 days after a newly formed labor group calls for talks.
Editorial Board: Unions held Massachusetts schools hostage. Now the bill has come due.
June 3, 2026 // Sometimes even an override isn’t enough. In Brookline, which had a one-day teacher strike in 2022 that ended with a pay raise, voters overwhelmingly approved a tax increase last month that will bring in an extra $23 million, including $18 million for the schools. The vote helped stave off hundreds of teacher layoffs and cuts to the fire department. Even still, the district will still be forced to cut some school jobs. “Not only did these unlawful strikes add to the already historic student learning loss after the pandemic,” said Jim Stergios, the executive director of the Pioneer Institute, “but over the long term jeopardized the jobs of rank-and-file teachers and local municipal budgets.”
Op-ed: When Labor Policy Leaves Its Workers Behind
June 2, 2026 // The Faster Labor Contracts Act empowers unions at workers’ expense. Some Republicans failed to see this charade in the House, but hopefully the Senate will have more common sense.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act Is a Backdoor for Union Leadership’s Political Agenda
May 28, 2026 // Here's what the FLCA's backers won't say out loud: mandatory arbitration doesn't just remove workers from the ratification process, it removes union leadership from the obligation to bargain in good faith. Why negotiate seriously when running out the clock gets you a government arbitrator who is far more likely to deliver the political contract provisions your members would have voted down? The FLCA doesn't just create a shortcut. It creates an incentive to stall.
University of California IT Staff Unionize Amid AI Fears
May 27, 2026 // About 2,100 IT and technical employees across the University of California system voted to join the labor union over concerns about mass layoffs in the tech sector, as well as growing workloads without any added pay.
After AI layoffs, Newsom orders state government to find ways to ease the pain
May 23, 2026 // In February, AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, members of the California Labor Federation and labor leaders in Democratic primary states pledged to pull support for a Newsom 2028 presidential campaign if he didn’t take steps to protect workers from artificial intelligence. Newsom’s veto of the predecessor of the No Robo Bosses Act was named as a reason for that pledge. In a statement shared with CalMatters, California Labor Federation president Lorena Gonzalez said the executive order is welcome but not enough
The Union Organizing Boom Has a Number They Don’t Want You to See
May 14, 2026 // The Faster Labor Contracts Act, championed by union-aligned legislators on Capitol Hill, would impose a 90-day bargaining deadline. If no deal is reached, a government-appointed arbitrator writes the contract — and workers do not get to vote on the result. Critics have pointed out that this structure actually incentivizes union negotiators to stall and run out the clock, betting an arbitrator delivers better terms than good-faith bargaining would. Workers get a contract faster. They just lose the right to approve it. The dues keep coming either way.
Kennedy Center Ticketing Union Files Labor Charge Over Layoffs
May 8, 2026 // Richard Grenell, the former president of the center appointed under Mr. Trump, had blamed the center’s 19 unions for helping to make it “incredibly expensive” to put on performances. Under Mr. Grenell’s leadership, dozens of staff members were terminated, and a unionization effort was started among administrative employees. Mr. Grenell left the center this spring. Matt Floca, a facilities management professional, stepped into the role of executive director. The center’s most recent publicly available tax documents say that the institution employed more than 2,000 people — many of them part time — in 2023. But that number has been reduced by layoffs and attrition since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second term.
Unions Attack AI for Menacing Human Jobs
May 1, 2026 // Last week, the leaders of some of the largest trade unions in the US came together for a conference with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Axios reports. Together, they presented a united opposition against tech companies pushing AI and robotics into labor, renewing Sanders’ call for a pause on AI development until there are ample safety nets in place to catch workers whom labor leaders fear will be displaced. “We are here to sound the alarms on AI,” president of stories AFL-CIO Liz Shuler said at the press conference. “This race that everybody seems to think we’re in to advance AI at all costs — with no guardrails or protections for people — is reckless and dangerous.”