Posts tagged Rhode Island
Graduate fellows seek to unionize in unprecedented move
March 31, 2026 // The move appears to be the first of its kind at a private U.S. institution of higher education, something union organizers argue is made possible by a novel Rhode Island law passed in August that explicitly codifies the right of graduate student employees — including fellows not working as teaching or research assistants — to unionize. Graduate fellows are students who receive stipend funding unrelated to whether or not they officially work as research or teaching assistants. The University’s current contract with GLO includes only graduate student employees recognized by the National Labor Relations Board, many of whom are teaching or research assistants
VA re-terminates AFGE contract for 300K employees, despite court order to restore it
March 30, 2026 // The Office of Personnel Management initially told agencies to hold off on terminating labor contracts with unions while legal challenges were still pending. But OPM reversed course last month, when it advised agencies to proceed with either amending or fully canceling their collective bargaining agreements. In granting her preliminary injunction, DuBose wrote that she did not determine whether the Trump administration exceeded its legal authority when it issued its executive orders rolling back collective bargaining rights. The legality of the executive order is still under review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
NBC 10 I-Team: State pays union dues for thousands of employees after paycheck mistake
March 30, 2026 // The state of Rhode Island paid $220,000 in union dues for thousands of workers as the result of a paycheck problem last month. The Department of Administration confirmed to NBC 10 News that union dues were not withheld from the Feb. 27 paychecks of approximately 9,000 state employees.
Union Cronies Wanted: Goldwater Fights University of Rhode Island’s Illegal Hiring Preferences
November 25, 2025 // The University of Rhode Island has a policy of giving “preferential consideration” to National Education Association Rhode Island union members in its hiring process. Under the policy, nonunion applicants are only considered for jobs if a position cannot be filled by a union member. That’s unconstitutional—conditioning public employment on union membership violates prospective employees’ First Amendment rights. On Thursday, the Goldwater Institute and its American Freedom Network attorney Kevin McCaffrey filed a lawsuit against the university to vindicate Nicole’s First Amendment rights.
RHODE ISLAND: BCSC student worker labor union dissolves, citing ‘systemically poor turnout’
November 20, 2025 // Third World Labor Organization leaders wrote that some recent meetings failed to garner attendance from at least 10 members. In early November, organizers told union members that at least 10 members needed to attend the next two union meetings, but this request similarly went unmet, union leaders noted in their email. The lack of attendance “makes this union not member-led and thus not sustainable,” organizers wrote. “The union only runs if we make it run.”
Starbucks workers union planning pickets, rallies through Nov. 2. See in which states
October 27, 2025 // Starbucks, for its part, says it is willing to bargain with the union, which the company says represents about 9,500 of its "partners," or employees. "Workers United only represents around 4% of our partners but chose to walk away from the bargaining table. If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk," corporate spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners," Anderson said. "We’re investing over $500 million to put more partners in stores during busy times. The facts show people like working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year.”
The 15 Most Unionized Places in America
October 16, 2025 // To determine the most unionized locations in the U.S., researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed data from UnionStats.com and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The researchers ranked metropolitan statistical areas according to total union members as a percentage of total employment. In addition to union membership, the researchers also included statistics on union representation, which is the share of workers whose terms of work are collectively negotiated (whether or not they are union members). Only metropolitan statistical areas with available data were included in the analysis.
Rhode Island Employer-Sponsored Meetings Ban Law Now in Effect
August 25, 2025 // The new law prohibits employers from holding mandatory worker meetings to explain what unionizing will mean for the business from an employer’s perspective. This also means labor organizers will have an unchallenged narrative on unionization. Identical laws in Connecticut, Minnesota, and other states face legal challenges citing the law is superseded by the National Labor Relations Act as well as federal labor law precedent. Rhode Island’s new law is likely to face a similar challenge, something NFIB and other organizations warned when lawmakers considered these bills
With GLO push, RI becomes first state to explicitly codify student unionization rights in state law
August 11, 2025 // McKee signed House Bill 5187 on July 2, capping off a monthslong effort by Brown’s Graduate Labor Organization to codify federal labor organizing protections in state law. GLO leaders had worked with the Rhode Island AFL-CIO and state legislators to advocate for the bill’s passage since its introduction in January.
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.