Posts tagged union organizer
She made history as Chicago mayor. Reelection may be harder
January 24, 2023 // Elected as a reform-minded outsider who would rid the city of pay-to-play politics, Lightfoot was criticized when a campaign staffer sent out an email to public school teachers seeking students to volunteer for the campaign in exchange for class credit. Lightfoot apologized, calling it a mistake. Inspectors general are reviewing for possible policy violations. Some of Lightfoot’s biggest battles have been with the Chicago Teachers Union, which backed her opponent in Lightfoot's first run for mayor. The two sides butted heads during an 11-day teachers strike in 2019 and bickered over returning to in-school instruction during the pandemic. This year, the teachers union has endorsed Lightfoot rival Brandon Johnson, a Cook County commissioner and former Chicago teacher and union organizer.
St. Paul Starbucks union organizer on the fight to organize in Minnesota — and across the country
July 7, 2022 // I've been thinking a lot about this question, too. I was reading some research through the Pew Research Center that was talking about how millennials and Gen Z, I consider myself a millennial at work, I'm one of the oldest people my store just turned 26 and I work with a lot of people who are still in college, there's a lot of natural generational agreement on social issues. with a lot of non-white workers and queer workers. I think we're living in a moment where we can see our rights and the past wins that past generations have made eroding in real time. Roe v. Wade is one. I know there was a ruling in Alabama that allowed for separation to disenfranchise Black voters and we're really seeing what can happen if we don't stick our necks out and you know, bargain for our rights. I think there's a very urgent and existential need to bargain with our employers for protections that we might not have legally otherwise Eden Prairie, Mall of America, Gracie Nira, millennials, Gen Z, social issues, non-white workers, queer workers, East Side freedom library,

Judge sentences former Illinois state lawmaker Thomas Cullerton to a year in prison for embezzlement
June 22, 2022 // Prosecutors said that within weeks of being sworn in as a state senator, Cullerton was added to the payroll of the Teamsters union as an organizer. As a union organizer, Cullerton was expected to work 40 hours a week to attract new members, support union picket lines and attend union events. During his three years with the union, Cullerton collected $248,828 in payments and benefits. "Indeed, he was a ghost payroller who invariably did little to nothing over this three-year period," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. "The defendant’s immediate supervisors tried to get Cullerton to work, but he was, in the words of one supervisor, 'never available.' ... So rare was the defendant present for work that the union did not even bother to keep track of his use of vacation time – because he was effectively on a permanent vacation." Brett Rowland, Judge Robert Gettleman, John Lausch Jr., Amarjeet Bhachu, Erika Csicsila,
Amazon, Starbucks, and beyond? Young workers fuel union drives.
May 19, 2022 // Much of the energy behind these moves is coming from the newest entrants to the labor force: workers in their late 20s at the tail end of the millennial generation, such as Ms. Ross and Ms. Hyatt, and their successors, Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, who are beginning to land their first jobs. Many exude an organizing zeal not seen in decades.
Workers Start Union Push at Trader Joe’s in Massachusetts
May 18, 2022 // Even though unionization by Trader Joe’s workers at the start of the pandemic failed, labor conditions have changed under the Biden administration and National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abbruzzo, said O’Brien, the Boston College professor. “She's much more pro-union and that's going to work in favor of the Trader Joe's workers," she said.
The year workers said ‘no’
May 16, 2022 // Signs of "waking up" don't always involve unionizing. Some workers are purposefully decreasing their productivity, known as a "slow up" in pursuit of better work-life balance.
Column: Why Starbucks has become a huge unionization target — and why the company is in a panic
April 25, 2022 // Many American consumer companies, including Amazon and McDonalds, have been dealing with a surging interest in unionization by their employees, spurred in part by the pandemic-driven recognition that their employers have consistently undervalued their contributions to business success.
Bernie Sanders, AOC support Staten Island Amazon factory ahead of union vote
April 24, 2022 // New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders showed up to encourage workers to continue their fight against the tech company.
How to Start a Union at Your Company
April 8, 2022 //
Former Illinois state Sen. Tom Cullerton pleads guilty to 1 count of embezzlement
March 15, 2022 // The indictment also alleged that Cullerton “repeatedly failed to respond to efforts by his supervisors at Teamsters Joint Council 25 to contact him and routinely ignored their requests that he perform the job functions of an organizer, as was required of other organizers employed by Teamsters Joint Council 25.”