Posts tagged wages
EdSource workers strike over unfair labor practices
May 16, 2026 // Unionized staff at EdSource, the largest education newsroom in California, are on strike today, May 14, 2026 to protest unilateral changes to healthcare benefits and management’s lack of progress toward a fair contract.
Seattle Art Museum Workers Are Unionizing
May 15, 2026 // Unbothered by grey skies, dribbling rain, and that stale-ass statement, SAMWU and its supporters held a rally and press conference outside the museum at 1st Ave and University. Before the press conference started, members chomped on pizza and cupcakes, handing out union t-shirts and buttons with the SAMWU logo—Jonathan Borofsky’s “Hammering Man” sculpture, mid-hammer, natch—and socialized. Representatives from SAM Visitor Service Officers (VSO) union, Tacoma Art Museum Workers United, and the Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO all commingled.
The Union Organizing Boom Has a Number They Don’t Want You to See
May 14, 2026 // The Faster Labor Contracts Act, championed by union-aligned legislators on Capitol Hill, would impose a 90-day bargaining deadline. If no deal is reached, a government-appointed arbitrator writes the contract — and workers do not get to vote on the result. Critics have pointed out that this structure actually incentivizes union negotiators to stall and run out the clock, betting an arbitrator delivers better terms than good-faith bargaining would. Workers get a contract faster. They just lose the right to approve it. The dues keep coming either way.
California’s War on Autonomous Trucking
May 14, 2026 // As structural economic factors push costs for the freight industry and consumers higher, the American public has three options. It can accept higher prices for all transportation services; it can enlarge the labor pool through immigration; or it can embrace new technology that improves transportation productivity and resolves the Baumol dilemma. Becerra, Steyer, and Khanna have followed the path prescribed by FreightWaves’ Fuller, promising to force higher freight costs onto the public. While the Golden State’s coalition politics might require genuflecting to the Teamsters, Californians are bound to notice before long that they’re paying higher prices than people in other states while also lagging behind them technologically.
U of R workers form new labor coalition ahead of contract talks
May 13, 2026 // Unionized and non-unionized employees at the University of Rochester are joining forces. University workers, graduate and undergraduate students gathered Monday to announce the formation of the UR Labor Coalition. The group, which includes members from three existing unions, will support staff members across the university system and work to demand fair contracts and union rights.
Detroit’s Michigan Science Center Workers win union victory under UAW
May 13, 2026 // Museum cultural workers achieved a victory on May 8 as Guest Relations and Education workers at Detroit’s own Michigan Science Center voted overwhelmingly to unionize under the UAW. The victory follows a two-year campaign for the right to collective bargaining and includes demands for better access to sick leave, health insurance, livable wages, and improved, safer working conditions on the museum floor.
Hersheypark May Not Open for Summer 2026 Season, New Report Reveals
May 11, 2026 // On Thursday, May 7, at 4:00 p.m., over 200 union maintenance employees at Hersheypark, The Hotel Hershey, and Giant Center rejected what Hershey Entertainment & Resorts called its “last, best, and final” contract offer. This was the third offer from the Pennsylvania theme park after negotiations that began earlier this year. In mid-March, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts and the union agreed to extend the former contract for 60 days to allow for continued negotiations. Over a three-day period this week, union maintenance employees will vote on whether to strike in response to the rejected final contract offer.
Federal lawsuit challenges New Jersey’s discriminatory hiring mandates and forced union speech requirements
May 3, 2026 // Contractors who do not meet the race- and sex-based hiring goals must either enter a referral agreement with a union—obtaining assurances that the union will supply the required minority workers—or complete 25 separate compliance actions. This structure pressures contractors to work through state-favored unions even though their employees chose Earle precisely because of its open-shop structure. The Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause explicitly forbids race- and sex-based classifications.
Brookfield Zoo staff vote to authorize strike beginning Friday
May 1, 2026 // More than 200 employees at Brookfield Zoo Chicago who are members of the Teamsters Local 727 union voted Tuesday night to authorize a labor strike beginning Friday, May 1, when the existing collective bargaining agreement is set to end at 11:59 a.m. The vote occurred after members of the union — which represents workers in the zoo’s animal care, custodial, grounds and police departments — agreed to reject the zoo’s last, best and final offer, given Monday, April 27.
Fearing instability at Boston-area school, faculty ask for job protections if the school closes
May 1, 2026 // She and other faculty in low-enrollment programs are being asked to teach outside their fields because enrollment is too low to sustain courses within their areas of expertise. While education programs are facing declines at many universities, she attributes the downfall to administrative issues. She said shared governance and the institutional mission of social justice are being abandoned.