Posts tagged service sector
Don’t Panic: A Skeptic’s Guide to the AI Jobs Doomsday
July 16, 2026 // Overall, US unemployment was 5.9 percent in mid-1979 and 5.3 percent by mid-1989.[25] During this same period the working-age population swelled by 21.5 million, or about 13 percent.[26] So, while some manufacturing jobs were lost, overall unemployment actually declined slightly over that period despite an increase in job seekers. New jobs in new fields were created by automation. Somebody had to operate the machines, build and maintain them, and transport them to foreign countries. This is the nature of automation: It focuses on eliminating the more tedious tasks, freeing up time, labor, and resources for other pursuits.
Union racked up massive tab on swank DC hotel stay to battle Trump — and still lost
April 30, 2026 // Social media posts show SEIU members from around the country converged in Washington, D.C., between June 23 and June 29, 2025, to confront lawmakers and stage protests against the tax and spending cuts under consideration in Congress. Department of Labor disclosures logged on June 30, 2025, reveal that the union spent $1.2 million of members’ dues at the Salamander Hotel to cover a series of expenses labeled as "support for political activities." The One Big Beautiful Bill Act served as the cornerstone of Trump's second-term economic agenda. While supporters touted tax breaks for service workers and small business owners, critics argued cuts to health and food subsidies would harm less affluent Americans. This disagreement sparked fierce opposition, including the SEIU's seven-figure protest campaign, though Trump ultimately signed the bill into law on 4th of July weekend 2025.
New group of Alexandria City workers vote to unionize
March 25, 2026 // As new negotiations gear up in Alexandria, public workers and unions around the state are waiting to see what Spanberger does with the public-sector collective bargaining bill that the General Assembly passed. The bill would remove the collective bargaining ban on local government, school board, and state employees. Currently, local government and school board employees only have the right to collective bargaining if their employers pass resolutions allowing them to do so. The bill would also extend collective bargaining rights to home care providers and service workers at public universities. The bill excludes university full-time professors, adjuncts, and librarians. These workers are waiting to see if Spanberger adds them back to the bill or makes other changes.
The share of Californians in unions holds steady as nationwide numbers continue decline
August 28, 2025 // The report, which analyzed data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that the percentage of Californians covered by a union has hovered between 16% and 18% in the last two decades. In 2024, the most recent year analyzed by researchers, the Golden State’s 2.67 million union-represented workers amounted to 16.3% of its labor force. Unions have only been able to sustain those numbers through consistent new organizing, said Enrique Lopezlira, director of the Low-Wage Work Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center and a co-author of the report.
MINNESOTA: Union representing U of M service workers files strike notice
August 10, 2025 // "The University is not immune to those challenges. The University has plans in place should a strike occur and is fully committed to minimizing any disruption this action might cause for our students, faculty, staff, and community." If workers walk off the job, enhanced strike benefits were approved by the union, including $1,000 a week, which reportedly exceeds the weekly pay of some workers across the university system.
NYC’s Only Unionized Pizzeria Is Closing Due to ‘Rising Costs and Diminished Sales’
February 13, 2025 // Shapell and Walton purchased Barboncino in Fall 2022. As the summer of 2023 approached, workers at the popular wood-fired Neapolitan pizza shop filed for a union election through the National Labor Relations Board with the support of Workers United, a national labor union. In May 2023, Barboncino Workers United asked the restaurant’s owners to recognize the union, which would have prevented the need for an NLRB election. When the deadline for recognition passed, the employees moved forward and voted unanimously to unionize in July 2023.
Today’s hospitality union battle is over wages. The next one might be about tech.
December 5, 2024 // The following year, the Culinary Union added language around technology adoption to its contract. In its contracts negotiated in 2023, the union “protected and expanded” that clause, Bethany Khan, a union spokesperson, told Hotel Dive. For members of the Culinary Union, their technology-related worries go beyond robot replacements — encompassing everything from workflow-optimizing apps to artificial intelligence. And while the union’s contract language offers protections around how technology is used at hotels, it does not prevent companies from deploying new technologies in the first place.
Labor official: Logan Regional Medical Center joining USW will bring wanted change for employees
December 2, 2024 // USW represents over 850,000 workers who are employed in many different occupations, ranging from metals to pulp and paper and have now been growing their numbers in health care, higher education, public sector, tech and the service industries.
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
Thousands of UC patient care, service workers to strike Wednesday, Thursday
November 21, 2024 // "The University's proposals include $700 million in economic increases for AFSCME members and a direct response to what AFSCME had asked for — the greater of a $25 an hour minimum wage or a 5% across-the-board raise," according to the UC. "Our proposals would increase AFSCME members' pay by an average 26% over the five-year contract. We have also proposed $75 or $100 monthly credits for AFSCME members to offset employee premium increases." University officials said the union in May stopped responding to or acknowledging the university's proposals and declared an impasse