Posts tagged unionize
Indianapolis Zoo workers unionize as zoo works to restore accreditation, replace CEO
October 31, 2026 // Workers at the Indianapolis Zoo have voted to unionize as one of the city's marquee attractions searches for a CEO and pushes to restore its lost national accreditation. The Indianapolis workers joined the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees' Indiana-Kentucky Council 962, the union announced in an Oct. 29 social media post. The union covers 100 employees, including all full-time staff, veterinary staff and regular part-time workers in the keepers/collections unit, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
Workers at Joplin, Missouri Dispensary Vote to Join Union
October 29, 2026 // Last month, a dozen employees at a Greenlight Dispensary in Springfield claimed they were fired for meeting to discuss unionization. Greenlight representatives alleged that the employees were actually fired for consuming cannabis while on the job.
Letters: About Unionizing
October 26, 2026 // It is easy to get people excited by telling them you are going to get them a raise, but it is a bit more difficult to say where the money is going to come from. Most of the time, it comes from cutting other departments or ancillary staff. When cutting staff isn’t an option, the extras are cut instead. Housing, mortgage assistance, scholarships, daycare, the gym, etc.: Some of it will most certainly be cut to cover the increase in pay for nurses. The article lists the amount executives made as a means to cause Us vs Them mentality. I am uncertain what the author thinks executives make at most companies. I find it highly unlikely you could find a business with as many employees as Cottage where the executives aren’t making that amount or more. I am not saying I would say no to a raise, but to insinuate executives at union hospitals make less so they can pay their nurses more is simply not factually accurate.
Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders unionize, will begin collective bargaining
October 26, 2026 // During the second season of the Netflix series "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders," which aired last year, one of the cheerleaders said the members were getting a 400% boost in pay. The Cowboys settled a lawsuit with a former cheerleader in 2019 that led to the squad doubling the per-game pay for members to $400. The first cheerleading squad to unionize was the Buffalo Jills, the squad for the Buffalo Bills.
Catapult to Be Sold, End Operations
October 23, 2026 // The statement did not name the buyer but said the union was notified that “continued employment with the prospective buyer is not an option.” The Catapult website currently lists 25 employees, including Koch, who is CEO, and publisher Alyson Forbes. The union includes around 20 employees in editorial, design, marketing, publicity, production, operations, and rights, PW reported in April. News of a sale comes six months after they petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a vote on unionization, citing a need for “job security, wages, and a need for greater transparency from company leadership.” An “overwhelming majority” voted to join UAW Local 2110 via an election, the union announced in June. It said Wednesday it is negotiating a separation agreement with the company.
Op-ed: Other states should copy NC’s model labor policy
October 21, 2026 // In both the public and private sectors, North Carolina protects employees’ right to choose. It gives private employees a right to opt out of union dues. And it protects public employees from having a union contract foisted on them. In effect, it respects choice by preventing coercion. But elsewhere, public policy is moving in a different direction — a direction that sacrifices choice in favor of more union membership. The prime example is a recent proposal by academics at Harvard University, which would create a statewide system of “sectoral bargaining.” Sectoral bargaining is the opposite of choice: It funnels every employee in an industry into a single union, whether an employee voted for the union or not. The proposal’s premise is that unions are automatically good for workers, so workers should automatically be put into unions. Choice is beside the point.
Penn State research assistants can unionize too, state labor board rules
October 21, 2026 // The Coalition of Graduate Employees is affiliated with the United Auto Workers. Negotiations between CGE-UAW and the university began in 2026. While the vote to unionize included research assistants, the bargaining has focused only on teaching and administrative assistants.
Report: Obama Allies at His Foundation Get Six-Figure Pay While ‘Overworked’ Rank-and-File Seek to Unionize
October 21, 2026 // The Obama Foundation appears to have an income inequality problem, with the former president’s political allies enjoying six-figure salaries while low-paid workers are fighting for union representation. That’s the conclusion of an exclusive report by Fox News Digital, which tracked the top salary of CEO Valerie Jarrett at $771,000, a number of others in the half-a-million-dollars-a-year range and nearly 200 more pulling in six-figure salaries.
Why more Pittsburgh-area librarians are becoming ‘steelworkers’
October 19, 2026 // A lack of administrative transparency, paired with over a year of grappling with short-staffing, wages as low as $13.22 per hour, changing leadership and expanding responsibilities, pushed workers to unionize, by a 13-3 vote, with the United Steelworkers (USW) in late July. The Cooper-Siegel staff enters the bargaining phase of their first contract amid rising tensions and concerns across the broader library workforce. They join more than 750 library workers across the country — including in Ohio, Illinois and New York — who have organized over the last 12 months as library wages lag way below other sectors and the soaring cost of living.
Commentary: What happens when environmental justice nonprofit workers unionize?
October 19, 2026 // OVECU filed an unfair labor practice claim with the NLRB, which ruled that OVEC had unlawfully suspended and discharged one employee and discharged another because of their unionizing efforts, which was a protected concerted activity. In July 2021, workers voted in an NLRB-supervised election to certify the union. Four months later, in November, OVEC’s board voted 10-1 to dissolve the 34-year-old organization