Posts tagged working conditions
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.
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.
Sundance Institute Staff Unionize, Management Voluntarily Recognizes CWA
October 29, 2025 // The Sundance Institute, the major 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by actor Robert Redford in the early 1980s, the one most people know from its popular film festival that brings upcoming films to a wide audience of consumers and distributors, now employs a union for a handful of event organizers on their staff.
Temple Union of Resident Assistants becomes first undergraduate, public university union in state
October 27, 2025 // The organization, comprised of 126 resident assistants and peer mentors from University Housing and Residential Life, has been pushing for union membership since Fall 2024. RAs and peer mentors began distributing union cards in August 2024. TURA was created to improve working conditions for RAs and peer mentors through fair compensation and consistent worker treatment. In previous years, RAs would receive 1,000 diamond dollars, free housing, an unlimited meal plan and a $200 tuition stipend. Diamond dollars became a defunct campus currency several years ago, and Temple never replaced the compensation. Returning RAs and PMs can only work 15 or 20 hours outside of their UHRL duties, while first years can only work 10 to 15 hours.
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.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Ups The Ante As He Calls For A General Strike
October 21, 2025 // Summoning people of all backgrounds to unite and take a stand against President Donald Trump’s “tyranny,” the “ultra-wealthy” and corporate greed, Johnson said, “We are going to make them pay their fair share in taxes to fund our school, to fund jobs, to fund healthcare, to fund transportation.”
Breaking News Strike Update – Tentative Deal Reached Between Equity and the Broadway League
October 21, 2025 // No one has called for a strike quite yet. Actors' Equity Association, representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers, has argued for new a Broadway contract that ensures safe staffing, humane scheduling, sustainable working conditions, and paying fair share of benefits. Local 802, representing thousands of highly skilled musicians in New York City, is bringing similar issues to the table: fair wages that reflect Broadway’s success; stable health coverage; and employment and income security.
Dollar store workers fight to improve jobs, even without a union
October 17, 2025 // In 2022, Williams joined an organization that seemed, to him, like his best shot: Step Up Louisiana. Like several successful campaigns before it, Step Up organizes workers to improve their jobs, but stops short of calling for a union under the National Labor Relations Board. The approach, sometimes referred to as “premajority unionism,” is a natural fit for places like the South, with histories of public hostility to unions. Today, suggest experts, it may also be workers’ best bet for building power amid the hostility of the Trump administration.
Kaiser Permanente workers strike in Oregon and Washington, join nationwide picket lines
October 16, 2025 // According to Kaiser's officials, the alliance wants a 25% payroll increase, but Kaiser has instead put a 21.5% increase on the table. Officials say they've been planning for the strike for months and told KATU all of their facilities will remain open, and adjustments are being made accordingly. Kaiser says it's bringing on up to 7,600 nurses, clinicians, and other staff to work during the strike and says more than 1,000 of their employees have volunteered to be reassigned to work in locations impacted by the strike.
Pa. House approves bill opening unemployment benefits to striking workers
October 13, 2025 // New York and New Jersey have similar laws concerning unemployment compensation, and workers in nine other states are eligible for the benefits while on strike under certain circumstances, such as an employer breaking a contract, according to the state representatives. The legislation, which passed in the House 106-97, now moves to the state Senate for consideration. A similar bill sponsored by state Reps. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, and Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, passed through the House in 2023 but died in the Senate.