Posts tagged wages
Size Matters: Workers at Smaller Museums Are Happier, New Survey Finds
October 31, 2025 // “Fifty-five percent of unions at art museums were formed in the last five years.” Non-union staff, the report found, earn about 78 percent of what their unionized counterparts make, though unionized workers tend to report higher levels of dissatisfaction overall.
COLORADO: Casa Bonita actors, cliff divers launch strike during Halloween
October 31, 2025 // Casa Bonita workers voted to unionize in November 2024 as they sought better pay and to establish workplace protections. The restaurant and entertainment venue is a beloved historic landmark and in 2023, reopened under the ownership of locally raised celebrities Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The creators of the “South Park” TV show reportedly spent $40 million reviving the restaurant after purchasing it out of bankruptcy.
Commentary: Massachusetts Voters Support Unions for Uber Drivers
October 31, 2025 // The numbers needed to unionize the rideshare drivers are shockingly low. According to Axios, just 5% of all drivers need to sign on, and then 25% of so-called “active drivers” must support forming a bargaining unit, i.e., a group of employees who negotiate with management. After that threshold is met, the state recognizes a union that will represent all drivers—whether they supported it or not. In other words, if you’re an independent rideshare driver in Massachusetts, you don’t get a choice. The union chooses for you. Moreover, if 5% of workers want to form a union, every rideshare company must provide every driver’s contact information to union officials. Nationwide, the threshold for forming a bargaining unit is a majority vote. Massachusetts is now proposing to impose compulsory unionization with far less support—and with sectoral bargaining that extends far beyond one workplace and into the cars of rideshare drivers across the Bay State.
Op-ed: The Bad Teamsters Bargain With UPS
October 30, 2025 // Businesses that lose money and are uncompetitive won’t survive. See trucking company Yellow Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in 2023 in part owing to Mr. O’Brien’s labor militancy. Mr. O’Brien refused concessions and tweeted an image of a tombstone “Yellow: 1924-2023.” UPS doesn’t want to be Mr. O’Brien’s next victim. The Teamsters boss has insisted that its contract requires UPS to create 30,000 jobs. He hasn’t read the fine print—or is misleading his members. UPS merely committed to giving part-time employees a chance to apply for some full-time job openings. If UPS reduces job openings, workers don’t have an opportunity to fill them.
Penn security guards’ union prepares strike authorization if new ‘fair’ contract is not reached
October 28, 2025 // On Monday, members of SEIU 32BJ plan to rally across Philadelphia — including at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center — culminating in a 3:30 p.m. press conference on Temple University’s main campus. The union wrote in an Oct. 26 press release that it was prepared to "authorize a strike” if a contract with “livable wages” is not negotiated “immediately.” Allied Universal — the world’s largest security contractor and the third largest private employer in North America — reported more than $20 billion in annual revenue last year.
Minneapolis teachers union members vote to authorize strike
October 28, 2025 // The Minneapolis Federation of Educators (MFE) announced Monday night that union members voted 92% to authorize a strike. MFE must give Minneapolis Public Schools at least 10 days notice before any strike begins.
America Doesn’t Have Enough Weapons for a Major Conflict. These Workers Know Why.
October 28, 2025 // Historically, in the fight against their bosses, unions have had only one real weapon to wield: their numbers. The primary goal of a labor strike is to blockade production and inflict pain on the company so that it will negotiate better terms. But in Orlando, it was hard for the union to enlist enough workers for the fight. Florida is a “right to work” state, meaning that union membership is optional. Workers in an organized factory are free to return to their stations and get back to work, leaving everyone else on the picket line to fight for a contract that would eventually apply to everyone.
Chicago Teachers Union bosses make a lot more than members. Little of members’ dues pay for representation. See who makes what, here.
October 23, 2025 // More than 50 CTU officers and employees made $100,000 or more in the 2025 fiscal year. To put that in context, the median salary in Chicago is $65,250. The average Chicago teacher made $86,439 during the 2023-2024 school year. Not even 18% of CTU’s spending in its 2025 fiscal year was on representing teachers – what is supposed to be its core focus. That’s according to the union’s own numbers.
Opinion: A Teachers Union Candidate Took My Money and Ran for Office
October 22, 2025 // in a lawsuit filed Sept. 30 in New Jersey Superior Court, that it was also an illegal breach of contract and a violation of the union’s fiduciary duty to its members. On paper, the union tells teachers that giving to its political organizations is voluntary. The membership forms we signed, which function as a contract between a member and the union, have a separate box to check for voluntary donations to the union’s political action committee. I didn’t check that box and therefore believed my money wouldn’t be used by a PAC. That wasn’t true. In 2013 union officials created an obscure political group called Garden State Forward and funded it with more than $100 million in teachers’ dues.
Minneapolis teachers to vote on strike
October 22, 2025 // Tuesday’s meeting marked the seventh bargaining session since April. A strike authorization vote begins tomorrow(Thursday). If approved by union members, a walkout could begin as early as November.