Posts tagged Pennsylvania
Union membership dipped in Pa. and NJ amid Trump’s anti-labor push, data suggests
February 24, 2026 // In New Jersey, 14.7% of workers were unionized last year, and in Pennsylvania, it was 10.9%. In both states, that was a decline of around one percentage point from 2024, but BLS noted that state-level data “should be interpreted with caution,” due to the shutdown-related incomplete data.
WATCH: I4AW’s Jonathan Wolfson Testifies Again: Portable Benefits Bill Considered in Kansas House of Representatives
February 11, 2026 // Visiting Fellow Jonathan Wolfson testified before the Kansas House of Representatives to offer expert analysis on HB 2602, a state bill that would allow businesses that hire independent workers to pay for benefits like retirement accounts or insurance without risking being punished by the government for "misclassifying" the freelancer as an independent worker instead of an employee.
Commentary: In the Glass Hive of Art News: Dark Clouds at the Met, Boston’s MFA
February 5, 2026 // Two weeks ago, unions grabbed the pot of gold at the end of the phony-baloney rainbow when the Metropolitan Museum of Art staff voted 542–172 to join the United Auto Workers. Counterintuitive, I know, but the UAW has a portfolio of bargaining units that includes boutique left-wing, white-collar culture workers such as the curators, conservators, librarians, archivists, designers, marketeers, visitor-services coordinators, and fundraisers at the Met. Along with bread-and-butter issues, these workers can be mobilized to wail over false values like open borders, which suppress working-class wages, the climate change hoax, Black Lives Matter, Celebrate Your Abortion, Me Too, No Kings, From the River to the Sea, any or all while wearing “pussy hats,” which, ladies and real wannabe ladies, don’t flatter. So, a juicy, fresh plum is now added to the UAW stash.
Hearst Magazines Union stages walkout after WGA East contract expires
February 3, 2026 // Members of the Writers Guild of America East at Hearst Magazines staged a half-day walkout Tuesday after negotiations with management failed to produce a second collective bargaining agreement before their contract expired. The action affects roughly 400 union members whose first contract expired Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. Workers held walkouts and rallies at Hearst Tower in Manhattan as well as at Hearst offices in Los Angeles; Easton, Pennsylvania; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Birmingham, Alabama.
Union workers launch initiative to research options for soon-to-be-shuttered Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
February 1, 2026 // The organization, called Pittsburgh Alliance for People Empowered Reporting, or PAPER for short, seeks to look into possible models to continue reporting after the Block family, which owns the Post-Gazette, ceases publication.
Should RAs be included in the Penn State graduate student union? University files appeal
January 27, 2026 // The Coalition of Graduate Employees at Penn State worked for years for the roughly 5,000 graduate students to vote in a union election. Graduate students previously tried to unionize in 2017-18 but were unsuccessful. Other unionization efforts have also been in the works at Penn State, including for faculty. In December the Penn State Faculty Alliance filed a petition to hold a union election for Penn State faculty. Teamsters Local 8, a labor union representing technical service workers at every Penn State campus, is also seeking to significantly expand its membership by organizing some university workers who currently fall outside of its scope.
Some Post-Gazette workers call for new union leadership
January 25, 2026 // The division comes roughly three weeks after the paper’s publisher, Block Communications Inc., announced the decision to shutter the paper in May. It followed failed attempts to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a lower court order that required the company to make changes to its health insurance coverage for union workers.
Penn graduate student workers could strike next month
January 14, 2026 // Penn, the largest employer in Philadelphia, has seen a wave of student-worker organizing in recent years, including resident assistants, graduate students, postdocs and research associates, as well as training physicians in the University of Pennsylvania Health System. The region has also seen a couple other university strikes in recent years. In 2023 graduate workers at Temple University walked off the job for 42 days amid contract negotiations, and in a separate action at Rutgers University, educators, researchers, and clinicians went on strike for a week.
Pittsburgh-Area ABARTA Coca-Cola Driver Triumphs in Federal Case Challenging Forced Teamsters Union Membership Demands
January 13, 2026 // Federal labor board orders employer to post notice properly informing employees of their rights and will soon prosecute Teamsters Local 585 union
Commentary: Right-to-Work States Dominate U-Haul Growth Index
January 12, 2026 // Among the top ten growth states in the U-Haul index, nine have a Right-to-Work law that protects workers from being forced to pay dues to union bosses as a condition of employment. -Among the bottom ten states in the U-Haul index, NONE has a Right-to-Work law. All are forced unionism states. -Of the 25 top ranked cities in the U-Haul Growth Index, 24 are located in Right-to-Work states. The 10 best ranked states in the U-Haul Growth Index are Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Alabama and Georgia. All are Right-to-Work except Washington.