Posts tagged layoffs
Fearing instability at Boston-area school, faculty ask for job protections if the school closes
May 1, 2026 // She and other faculty in low-enrollment programs are being asked to teach outside their fields because enrollment is too low to sustain courses within their areas of expertise. While education programs are facing declines at many universities, she attributes the downfall to administrative issues. She said shared governance and the institutional mission of social justice are being abandoned.
Republicans must not help Democrats gut workplace democracy
April 29, 2026 // If they can’t reach an agreement in time, the federal bureaucrats would force the creation of an arbitration panel, which would then unilaterally impose a collective bargaining agreement. But workers wouldn’t be allowed to vote for the contract, even though it dictates the terms of their employment. Voting on a contract is standard practice precisely because it lets workers make their voice heard and control their future. Before Cassidy named the bill, he described what it would do. The shop steward replied that taking away the contract vote would mean “removing democracy from the workplace.” He then said that democracy “is the whole point of the union.” The shop steward may not have known then that the senator was describing a proposal that his own union supports. But he was absolutely right: Forcing a contract on workers without a vote is the opposite of workplace democracy.
A quiet filing could decide what happens next inside one of gaming’s biggest studios
April 28, 2026 // From layoffs and return-to-office mandates to challenges around AI and creativity, it’s not all fun and games for video game workers. And now, some are seeking to unionize. On April 27, a group of game developers behind the digital collectible card game Magic: The Gathering Arena announced the intent to form a union in affiliation with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The group is a part of the gaming studio Wizards of the Coast (WOTC), a division of Hasbro.
The Baltimore Banner’s parent nonprofit acquires the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
April 15, 2026 // The Post-Gazette is a beleaguered, historic metro daily whose union completed a divisive 1,133-day strike over health benefits last November. The NewsGuild technically won in court, but in January, Block Communications announced the newspaper’s financial losses were untenable and that it would print its final edition May 3. RELATED ARTICLE Nonprofit news site The Banner expands beyond Baltimore September 15, 2025 The Banner, meanwhile, is a national poster child for nonprofit news success. Since its founding in 2022, when Maryland businessman and Venetoulis chairman and founder Stewart Bainum pledged $50 million over about five years to the news outlet, it has won a Pulitzer, grown into the state’s largest newsroom, and rebranded from The Baltimore Banner to The Banner, even expanding coverage into D.C.’s suburbs after Washington Post layoffs. (The Banner has not yet broken even.)
LAUSD strike averted after tentative deal reached with 3rd union; schools to open Tuesday
April 14, 2026 // - A 24% wage increase that will make a significant difference in workers' livelihoods; - Increased work hours that will ensure health care benefits for thousands of workers and their families and increase services and support for students; - Rescinding layoffs of hundreds of IT technicians; - Expansion of health care benefits for teacher assistants, after-school workers, community representatives and others; - No subcontracting of work to outside vendors with a pathway to bring more work into the district.
LA hotels face financial strain exacerbated by city policy shifts: report
April 13, 2026 // Increasing labor expenses are a major concern for hoteliers nationwide, as total salaries, wages and benefits paid by U.S. hotels are projected to increase approximately 3% year over year in 2026 amid a weakened performance cycle. In Los Angeles, however, local legislation is exacerbating this challenge, hoteliers reported. Last year’s passage of the Citywide Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance, in particular, has forced local hoteliers “to make serious changes to maintain business operations,” according to the report. For example, 88% of hotel stakeholders said they have reduced staffing or hours in the past year as a result of LA city council policies, per the report.
Commentary: Congress is about to undo DOGE’s biggest win
April 13, 2026 // That corrupt flow of campaign cash into Congress’s coffers is ultimately why, instead of being eliminated by DOGE, the FMCS is on track to be given a whole new set of powers. New Jersey Democrat Donald Norcross recently filed a discharge petition on the Faster Labor Contracts Act. The petition will force the House to vote on the bill once it reaches 218 signatures. The bill can easily hit that target if all 214 House Democrats sign the petition, along with any four of the bill’s 17 Republican cosponsors. Understanding a politician’s real priorities often requires zooming into these quiet battles over little-known agencies.
Commentary: A teacher strike would hurt kids, but LAUSD can’t afford to give in to the union’s demands
April 13, 2026 // The bottom line is that LAUSD can’t afford the union’s demands. A lengthy teachers’ strike would harm students, but giving in to UTLA risks weakening the district’s ability to serve those students for years to come. For their part, teachers and other union employees could come to regret whatever concessions UTLA manages to squeeze out of the district. LAUSD has already approved a plan to lay off 3,200 employees, and they’ll need to cut more if UTLA gets its way.
The Looming Legislative And Labor Push Against Artificial Intelligence
April 10, 2026 // Meanwhile, the Minnesota legislature is presently considering legislation that would, if passed, impose new limits on all employer use of AI. Senate File 4689 seeks to regulate the use of what it calls “Automated Decision Systems” (ADS). It would essentially cover all employment-related decisions relating to the implementation of AI. It would require advance notice of, and employee consent to, the use of ADS, would impose significant recordkeeping obligations, and employees would have the right to know when and how ADS influenced “adverse” employment decisions.
Unionized ProPublica staff are on strike over AI, layoffs, and wages
April 9, 2026 // Unionized staff at ProPublica, one of the country’s leading nonprofit newsrooms, are walking off the job for 24 hours beginning Wednesday and asking the public to honor a digital picket line. The roughly 150 members of the ProPublica Guild are in the midst of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement after unionizing in 2023. The union says key issues are still in contention, including protections around the use of AI, “just cause” provisions around disciplining or firing an employee, layoff protections, and wages.