Posts tagged Union
Commentary: Workers Need More Transparency from Unions
June 5, 2025 // We’re not labor experts or lawyers. We’re too busy doing our day jobs. Unions should be required to disclose a lot more information. Things such as who funds unionization drives, which other unions or groups they’re affiliated with, and whether they’re paying workers to push unionization. This information could have changed the outcome at my old Trader Joe’s store. The best system would equip workers with the facts well before they’re expected to vote. If workers unionize, unions should be required to more regularly provide some of this timely information. Additionally, the Department of Labor should publish the data more often and in a more user-friendly format. For instance, at my old store, we didn’t know that the union officers would be taking salaries from the union — we only found out 18 months later, and we had never agreed to them, which upset many of my co-workers who had supported unionization.
Unionized doctors picket outside Allina clinics in first for Minnesota
June 4, 2025 // Braving rain and willdfire-induced bad air, the physicians at times seemed unfamiliar with picket line practices: A SEIU staff member shouted out instructions on picketing — where to start walking and where to pivot back — before they started. More than once the group seemed to forget to keep moving and came to a standstill, while two people led competing chants at different paces, muddying what’s typically a clear call-and-response. But nevertheless, they got their point across. Physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are sure to become more practiced in blue collar labor demonstrations in the years to come as unionization increases. Just this year, resident physicians at Hennepin Healthcare and the University of Minnesota unionized with SEIU’s Committee of Interns and Residents, one of the fastest growing health care unions in the country.
Union hit with fine for failing to report $430K in WA campaign contributions on time
June 3, 2025 // A powerful statewide labor union was fined $6,000 on Thursday for failing to report more than $430,000 in contributions to candidates and political committees days ahead of the 2024 election. The state Public Disclosure Commission levied the civil penalty on Service Employees International Union Healthcare 1199NW following a short hearing in which the union did not contest the punishment. SEIU represents more than 30,000 nurses, health care workers, and behavioral health workers in Washington. Under a stipulated agreement, SEIU 1199NW will pay $3,000 within 30 days of the signing of the final order. The remaining amount is suspended if the union complies with campaign finance laws without significant violations for four years.
Ex-union president for Homeland Security workers in Vermont avoids prison in embezzling case
June 3, 2025 // Leticia Russi-Shareno had earlier pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge stemming from her theft that led to a $36,000 “out-of-pocket” loss to the union, according to court filings.
Queens immigration nonprofit lays off staff, angering new union
June 1, 2025 // On March 27, Mendoza and other employees on the New York branch of the nonprofit received an email that there would be layoffs and cuts to working hours. Last week, following two months of deliberations, the nonprofit said they would be moving forward with the layoffs, effective at the end of May. The unionized workers, who belong to a local chapter of the United Auto Workers, are fighting the layoffs, believing they are a direct result of their unionizing efforts and subsequent contract.
United Auto Workers union to hold meeting in light of GM layoffs
May 29, 2025 // Meanwhile, GM is planning a massive expansion at its plant in Tonawanda, a suburb north of Buffalo, which is expected to be done in 2027. The Governor’s office says the $888 million investment will equip the plant to make V8 gas powered engines. It says 177 jobs at that plant were at risk before this investment. Employees who have been impacted by layoffs worked at the plant on Lexington Avenue producing parts for electric cars.
Youngkin administration moves to protect public employees and taxpayers from union excesses
May 27, 2025 // First, the regulations would expressly extend to public employees the right to select a union pursuant to a secret-ballot election. In so doing, the proposed rules would protect public employees from being pressured or coerced into unionization via the infamous “card check” process, by which union organizers approach employees directly about publicly signing union petition cards. In its brief comment on the proposed regulations, the Virginia Education Association (VEA) claimed that, “All collective bargaining resolutions adopted by Virginia school boards, to date, provide for free and fair secret ballot elections…” But, as the Freedom Foundation documented in its comment, this is simply incorrect:
Safeway, Albertsons union workers to vote next weekend on possible strike
May 27, 2025 // According to UFCW Local 7, which represents the union workers of Safeway and Albertsons, the company and union have been negotiating for eight months, most recently meeting on Friday, May 23. The union stated in an update posted to Facebook that Safeway agreed to “important language items” sought by the bargaining committee, “including a new drug and alcohol rehabilitation policy and protection of Drive Up and Go shopper work.”
US Steelworkers union urges Trump to block Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel
May 26, 2025 // In a statement published a day after a powerful national security panel submitted a fresh recommendation on the deal to Trump, the union accused Nippon Steel of dumping steel on American markets for decades and argued its merger bid poses a threat to U.S. national security.
The Cost Of Misguided Labor Policies: Winchester’s Cautionary Tale
May 23, 2025 // The bill to provide unemployment benefits for striking workers risks repeating the errors that drove Winchester away. A 2022 Stop & Shop worker testified that similar legislation would have extended their 2019 strike by boosting employee “leverage.” This isn’t about fairness — it’s about manipulating the system to prolong labor disputes at the expense of businesses, taxpayers, and consumers.