Posts tagged unionizing
Focus organizing drives on workers without college degrees, US unions told
May 8, 2023 // n contrast, unionization hasn’t taken off nearly as rapidly at many blue-collar, lower-paid workplaces. No other Chipotle restaurant has unionized since workers in Lansing, Michigan, voted last August to make theirs the nation’s first unionized Chipotle. Only one Amazon warehouse is unionized in the US, just two Apple stores and four Trader Joe’s. Those companies have mounted fierce anti-union counterattacks to slow and they hope stop the spread. Chris Rosell, the Teamsters’ organizing director, says one reason unionization of blue-collar workers often doesn’t catch fire is that it’s frequently easier for anti-union consultants to scare and deter those workers. “Blue-collar workers often aren’t as educated about this union-busting stuff,” he said. “They could be more susceptible to these kinds of tactics.” Rosell said the Teamsters often run elaborate campaigns that seek to inoculate workers from the pressures and propaganda from anti-union consultants. He said the Teamsters’ president, Sean O’Brien, hopes to double the union’s membership and focus organizing on such area trucking, warehouses and sanitation work. Erica Smiley, executive director of Jobs with Justice, a labor rights group, says it’s often harder to unionize blue-collar workers because they tend to have less economic security than educated workers and have greater fear of what will happen to them if they’re retaliated against, perhaps getting fired, for seeking to unionize.
Street Chaos and Long Hours Push Farmers’ Market Workers to Unionize
April 28, 2023 // Most of the workers at the city’s farmers’ markets are hourly employees who make between $19 and $26 an hour. Some work year-round, but many are part time or work erratic schedules. Few receive benefits or have job security. Now, hoping to improve their wages and benefits and persuade GrowNYC to focus more on their safety, they are forming a union. In interviews, several said they were driven to organize after an especially turbulent period last summer, when market patrons or passers-by spat on them, called them racial slurs or otherwise lashed out.
Syracuse University grad students want to unionize to improve wages, working conditions
January 20, 2023 // SU plans to increase minimum stipends from $16,980 to $20,000 for master’s student workers and from $16,980 to $22,000 for doctoral students. The pay raises will begin in the 2023-2024 academic year. SU said it is also improving health insurance and child care subsidies for graduate student workers. SEIU already represents about 900 SU workers including custodians, housekeepers, maintenance and good service workers and library technicians.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram strike marks a major moment for Texas newsroom unions
December 6, 2022 // When 21 reporters from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram announced their intention to walk out Monday, it made headlines. But as the first open-ended newsroom strike in Texas history, it was also a big step for the state’s fledgling newsroom unionizing efforts. In addition to the Star-Telegram newsroom, reporters at the Dallas Morning News and Al Dia; and the Austin American-Statesman unionized as news guilds in the past two years. The Star-Telegram is owned by McClatchy, the Statesman by Gannett, and the Dallas Morning News and Al Dia are owned by DallasNews Corp. All three unions are in the process of negotiating contracts and all of them have cited pay issues as a major driver.
Teacher group says communication with APS broke down after School Board allowed unionizing
November 1, 2022 // Arlington Public Schools became the second school district in Virginia to do so, after the General Assembly in 2020 repealed a ban on school employees bargaining collectively. Before that, AEA advocated for public school employees but could not guarantee benefits through legally binding contracts. This month, organization members told the School Board that its approval of the collective bargaining resolution shut out staff, and since then, communication has worsened between employees and APS’s top leaders.
Commercial Producers Ink Neutrality Agreement With IATSE Over Unionizing Workers
October 17, 2022 // The grassroots group Stand With Production, which has collaborated with IATSE on the organizing campaign, announced the deal to its supporters in an email on Friday, and IATSE confirmed the news. A neutrality agreement essentially means that the employer (in this case, the AICP) agrees not to resist a union drive being spearheaded by Stand With Production and IATSE. production assistants, assistant production supervisors, production supervisors, line producers, rest periods, safety training, higher minimum wage rates, union health and pension plans and diversity and mentorship initiatives.
Strike by Philadelphia Museum of Art workers shows woes of ‘prestige’ jobs
October 10, 2022 // Organizing one workplace can serve as an example for other similar workplaces to do the same. Adam Rizzo, art museum educator and one of the union’s leaders, says when it formed, it also created a new chapter, Local 397, which employees at other museums could join.
Minor league baseball players officially join MLBPA in ‘historic’ move
September 15, 2022 // In a statement, the league said: "Major League Baseball has a long history of bargaining in good faith with unions, including those representing minor and major league umpires, and major league players. We respect the right of workers to decide for themselves whether to unionize. Based on the authorization cards gathered, MLB has voluntarily and promptly recognized the MLBPA as the representatives of minor league players. We are hopeful that a timely and fair collective bargaining agreement will be reached that is good for the game, minor league players and our fans." Martin Scheinman, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark, Arbitrator Martin Scheinman,
We need better unions
September 5, 2022 // They need to leave behind the model where they treat all members as oppressed cogs and move to a model where they provide valuable services to their members and find ways to make union membership valuable for companies. It would be better to shift to an approach where unions serve as professional organizations, advocating for their members’ interests and providing tools for members to collaborate. Unions could train their members, award voluntary certifications, offer insurance, and provide assistance to employees negotiating their own terms and conditions of employment. In short, unions need to step forward into the 21st century.