Posts tagged Transparency
Chicago teachers reach contract deal for the first time in more than a decade without a strike
April 15, 2025 // For the first time in over a decade, Chicago’s public school teachers have a new contract without a strike or threat of a walkout. The four-year agreement includes pay hikes, hiring more teachers and class size limits.
UAW Local 2110 Requests Abrams Unionization Vote
April 10, 2025 // UAW Local 2110, which bills itself as a union for “technical, office, and professional workers,” also represents employees at HarperCollins (the sole Big Five publisher to have a union), the New Press, and the Asian American Writers Workshop, as well as workers at the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and Columbia University.
U of Washington Research Coordinators, Consultants Unionize
April 4, 2025 // “They are responsible for running clinical trials, liaising with patients and scientists, and ensuring that research results are grounded in rigorous science,” the release said. “Despite the critical role they play at the university, many report job insecurity, a lack of transparency around career advancement and workload, low compensation relative to cost of living, and more as their reasons for forming a union.”
Los Angeles museum workers pushing to unionize
March 27, 2025 // Workers at Los Angeles County's Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits Tuesday announced efforts to unionize, citing what they call a need for better wages, safer working conditions and increased diversity. The Natural History Museum & Tar Pits Workers Union would represent almost 300 workers and include performers, engineers, educators, guest relations associates and more, according to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 36.
Trump gives taxpayers union collective bargaining transparency
March 24, 2025 // Taxpayers are spending money negotiating with unions over a supposed right to wear spandex in federal offices. Unions are also negotiating with the federal government over the height of cubicle desk panels—how far they reach the floor. And negotiations even focus on things like carving out smoking zones on federal properties that are supposed to be smoke-free. While government unions can’t legally bargain over wages and benefits set by federal law, they’re left negotiating over these types of picayune demands, making the bargaining process incredibly costly. Taxpayers are getting hit over and over. The public pays for the salaries of the federal negotiators and, in many cases, even for the union officials on the other side of the bargaining table. Taxpayers also pay for travel and other expenses. Negotiating often requires hiring costly outside experts, factfinders, mediators, and arbitrators. Even the pens and paper negotiators use are on the taxpayer’s dime. The bargaining process can take months, if not years, and taxpayers spend more money daily.
Commentary: Taxpayer-Funded Union Work Deserves Transparency, Limits
March 21, 2025 // The Office of Personnel Management estimated federal employees spent at least 2.6 million hours on official time in fiscal year 2019, at a cost to taxpayers of $135 million. This was after President Trump sharply curbed taxpayer-funded union time via a 2018 executive order. Because unions have a right to unspecified quantities of official time under federal statute, the most the president can do without congressional action is implement parameters around its use or, in the case of the Biden administration, crank it to 11. In his drive to become “the most pro-union president in history,” Biden rescinded Trump’s executive order limiting official time and directed federal agencies to grant unions more taxpayer-funded union time.
Commentary Rachel Greszler: What Trump Memo on Taxpayer-Funded Union Time Means for Federal Employee Unions
March 18, 2025 // In addition to tracking the number of employees and their time, agencies also have to report on other taxpayer-provided subsidies to unions. That would include, for example, “a single Veterans Affairs facility allocate[ing] half of a hospital wing—over 5,000 square feet—largely for the use of the union president and officials” as exposed in a report from the Institute for the American Worker. The irony of federal employees’ excessive use of official time is that they can’t even bargain for the biggest things most unions bargain over—pay and benefits. And working predominantly in offices (or, prior to Trump’s executive order requiring federal employees to return to the office, in their homes) hardly poses a need for lengthy worker safety negotiations. That leaves official time to be predominantly spent defending poor performers and bad actors that agencies have disciplined or dismissed, and negotiating over tedious things like the height of cubicle panels; designated smoking areas on otherwise smoke-free campuses; and the right to wear spandex at work.
SAG-AFTRA Strike Continues: Union Sounds Alarm on AI Exploitation
March 17, 2025 // One key concern is that companies could use past recordings to generate AI performances without consent. Actors also fear losing control over their digital likenesses and demand fair pay across multiple projects. Without stricter regulations, performers risk being replaced by AI entirely. The industry's proposal includes wage increases and AI usage terms, but SAG-AFTRA argues they don't go far enough. If accepted as is, the deal could allow studios to replicate an actor's voice indefinitely – without further payment. Worse still, companies may not even be required to inform performers when their AI-generated voice is being used. This could lead to a future where human performances are sidelined, making traditional acting careers unsustainable.
Some Penn State faculty want to unionize as the university considers campus closures
March 11, 2025 // Unrest has been growing among some faculty as the university makes cuts to close a deficit by this summer. An attempt to hold a vote of no confidence in Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi was tabled at a faculty senate meeting last week. Also at that meeting. Bendapudi laid out plans to close some of the Commonwealth campuses. Just how many campuses is uncertain, but none will close before the end of the 2026-27 year. Twelve of the 20 campuses ― Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Shenango, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and York ― are under consideration for closure. They will be evaluated by a team led by several top administrators appointed by Bendapudi; she expects to make a decision before commencement in May.
Op-ed: Priorities for Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer
March 11, 2025 // These reforms align with President Trump’s bold vision, exemplified by the reinstatement of Schedule F, to enhance accountability and performance in the federal workforce. They are not just about efficiency-they are about empowering federal employees to thrive while delivering exceptional service to Americans. Secretary Chavez-DeRemer has a chance to lead with principle, prioritizing worker autonomy over union influence. The time to act is now. On behalf of Americans for Fair Treatment, I stand ready to support her in unleashing the full potential of our federal workforce.