Posts tagged living wage
Charlotte airport workers strike to protest low wages as U.S. enters busy Thanksgiving travel week
November 26, 2024 // Service workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport are on strike during a busy week of Thanksgiving travel to protest what they say are unlivable wages Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage in North Carolina beginning Monday at 5 a.m. The companies contract with American Airlines to provide services including cleaning airplane interiors, removing trash and escorting passengers in wheelchairs With airport officials saying this holiday travel season is expected to be the busiest on record, the companies have acknowledged the seriousness of a strike during the holiday travel season
Stanford grad students postpone strike timed to hobble grading and advising ahead of finals
November 13, 2024 // “A strike will cause massive disruption to the university’s teaching and research missions,” the Stanford Graduate Workers Union said in a statement, noting that many seminars taught by graduate students will be paused indefinitely, as will other essential functions. “Teaching assistants will cancel their review and discussion sessions, office hours and labs. Assignments will not be graded.” The graduate students unionized a year ago but have yet to sign a contract with the university.
Workers Unionize at NIAD, Richmond’s Progressive Art Studio
October 17, 2024 // After NIAD workers delivered a letter of intent to executive director Amanda Eicher Tuesday morning, the organization’s board executive committee voted unanimously to recognize NIAD Unidad.
UVM graduate students take initial steps to form union
September 19, 2024 // The GSU represents more than 600 graduate student workers at UVM. They are following in the footsteps of other groups unionizing on campus, including faculty and staff. The University of Vermont estimates that at least 1 in 5 graduate students are food insecure.
Strike On Time: Cornell UAW Workers Strike on Student Move-In Day
August 19, 2024 // As students and their families arrive at Cornell for the start of the academic year, the strike threatens to disrupt essential campus operations, including dining services, facilities maintenance, and other critical functions. The decision to strike follows a strike authorization vote that passed with 94% approval from the union's approximately 1,200 members, including custodians, groundskeepers, cooks, food service workers, greenhouse workers, gardeners, and mechanics. The last time UAW workers at Cornell went on strike was 43 years ago in 1981, when the union and the university ratified their first contract.
Seattle’s new minimum wage rule undermining delivery drivers
April 25, 2024 // It’s not just restaurant owners who are being squeezed. So are drivers. Drive Forward Seattle, an app-based driver advocacy group, recently surveyed its members on the impact of the rule. A DoorDash driver identified as Marvin said, “I went from making $300 a day during the weekends to making $80 a day and that’s on a good day. It takes over 2hr to even get one order.” A driver named Sally told the advocacy group, “90 percent of the customers don’t tip since the app changed. So, they have to go back onto the app after the delivery, if they even remember to do so, in order to tip. That’s a big thumbs down.” The pushback has been so strong that the Seattle City Council has mulled repealing the rule altogether. Unions, who have struggled to organize the delivery drivers, have pushed back against the potential repeal, arguing that the wage system is working as intended.
600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes
March 13, 2024 // “Now under Microsoft with the neutrality agreement they signed with CWA, it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “We don’t have to be concerned about any form of union-busting tactics. Microsoft made sure all managers were trained on neutrality. We knew that if we encountered union busting, we could bring it up so it’s addressed.” The other positive is that neither Activision’s QA workers nor Microsoft management have to go through the union election process with the National Labor Relations Board, which can sometimes take a while. Instead, Activision QA workers have been voting since Feb. 22 with either a union authorization card (a document, physical or digital, indicating approval of the union) or a confidential vote through an online portal.
URMC workers union approves contract, avoiding strike
December 29, 2023 //
Cornell grad students overwhelmingly vote to unionize
November 13, 2023 // Union organizers have advocated that collectively bargaining with Cornell will be a path for graduate student to address issues ranging from improving the university’s services for foreign students studying on a visa, to assisting grad students with the cost of transportation, such as Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit’s bus services or parking on campus. In addition to improved wages and compensation, CGSU has also promised to advocate that Cornell provide dental and vision insurance to graduate students “at no extra cost.”
Virginia Tech graduate students and staff are launching labor unions
September 7, 2023 // It’s an effort that has been in the works for three years, as the groups have quietly recruited members while, across the country, campus labor unions have gained attention. On Tuesday, members of the United Campus Workers of Virginia Tech (UCW-VT) and the Virginia Tech Graduate Labor Union (VT GLU) will team up in a rally on the Blacksburg campus. They hope going public will attract new members and draw attention to their efforts to press university administrators for improvements for campus workers at all levels. Together, the unions have a potential membership of about 20,000 people affiliated with Tech.