Posts tagged Seattle
Efforts to unionize agricultural workers in WA face long-standing hurdles
May 9, 2023 // With Ostrom — and, now, Windmill Farms — workers, labor organizers and community members have held rallies outside the mushroom farm and at several locations where the mushrooms are sold. UFW has asked people to look for the mushrooms in their local grocery stores and help track their distribution. “We have also reached out directly to retailers that carry Ostrom products, asking them to also put pressure on Ostrom to recognize the union,” De Loera said in an email in February. “Consumers can help us do this work by helping to identify Ostrom products in their local stores.” Workers from Sunnyside, community members and UFW staff rallied outside an upscale Seattle grocery store in December 2022 to raise awareness among consumers. Students at the University of Washington successfully lobbied that the school stop using mushrooms from Windmill Farms. The students organized into a group called Students for Farmworkers (SFFW) at UW.
Sysco Picketing Lawsuit Hinges on Standard for Secondary Strikes
April 18, 2023 // The conflict arose earlier this month after Sysco workers in Indiana and Kentucky went on strike over wages and retirement benefits. Sysco workers belonging to Teamsters Local 117 in Washington state followed suit, exercising a clause of their contract that allows them to refuse to cross a “lawful, primary picket line,” according to court records. In a complaint filed in US District Court for the Western District of Washington, Sysco Seattle argued that the workers there couldn’t join the picket because its operation is a separate entity from Sysco Louisville and Sysco Indianapolis.
Why Teachers Are Going on Strike This Fall—and What Could Come Next
September 21, 2022 //
Union drives are spiking, but it’s still a ‘drop in the bucket,’ annual report finds
September 6, 2022 // New union drives are spiking, but the overall number of workers represented by unions hasn’t budged in New York City or nationwide, according to an annual report released by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies ahead of Labor Day. New union elections surged nationwide during the second quarter of 2022, up to 685 drives, a 49% increase from the previous quarter, and nearly three times as many as the second quarter of 2020 — the depths of COVID-19 when union elections unsurprisingly came to a grinding halt. The number of recent drives, however, was on par with levels seen in 2016 and lower than many years before that. Ruth Milkman,
Starbucks to close 5 Seattle-based stores, including 2 unionized shops
July 14, 2022 // “Today, we find ourselves in a position where we must modernize and transform the Starbucks experience in our stores and recreate an environment that is relevant, welcoming and safe and where we uplift one another with dignity, respect and kindness,” Schultz said. Seventeen Starbucks stores are closing throughout the U.S. on July 31 as part of the initiative to boost security. The company has said that employees at the closing stores can choose to be reassigned to an alternative store nearby.
Microsoft’s union pledge, and the new era of organized labor in tech
June 8, 2022 // Courtney said he sees a direct connection between Microsoft’s announcement, the pending Activision-Blizzard acquisition, and President Joe Biden’s promise to run the most pro-union administration in U.S. history. TODD BISHOP, Marcus Courtney, software tester, principles for employee organizing and engagement with labor organizations, Margaret O’Mara, University of Washington, regulatory approval, video-game testers,
UNIONS MAKE NEW INROADS INTO CHAINS
June 2, 2022 // Workers at more than 100 Starbucks units have now voted to organize, and employees of other coffee chains have taken steps to do likewise.
Boeing Technician Files Federal Lawsuit Against Machinists Union Over Illegal Forced Dues Demands
May 25, 2022 // Instead of reducing nonmember worker’s payments in accordance with Supreme Court precedent, union bosses charged him arbitrary higher amount
Who’s the Real Author Behind Seattle’s “PayUp” Legislation?
May 19, 2022 // One illuminating display of Wilson’s influence was an October 2021 letter sent by Councilmember Herbold to several gig companies. In the letter, she scolded the representatives for their concerns with the PayUp legislation: “I’m disappointed that you’ve not expressed the depth of, nor raised all your issues during our weekly calls.”
Biden in Portland: ‘Union workers are the best’
May 6, 2022 // After the hangar event, Biden attended a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the Portland Yacht Club, where he spoke for about 30 minutes before returning to the airport to depart for Seattle.