Posts tagged working conditions
Commentary– Kenyon: DHMC nurses mourn failed attempt at unionization
June 9, 2025 // The group of 50 or so registered nurses who led the effort at DHMC had outside help from the Northeast Nurses Association, which assists health care workers in four states in forming unions. Nela Hadzic, the group’s regional organizing director, spent enough time with DHMC nurses to see what they were up against.
County workers vote to unionize (Fairfax County, Virginia)
June 4, 2025 // First, however, the county must recognize the vote’s result. Thousands of workers can negotiate their pay, work benefits, and conditions through the union if recognized. “This historic victory is the result of nearly two decades of tireless organizing,” LaNoral Thomas, president of SEIU Virginia 512, told the Fairfax County Times. “Our union, alongside allies in the labor movement, played a leading role in overturning a 45-year ban on collective bargaining in Virginia.” “The journey began in 2006 when the founding president of our Fairfax Chapter began organizing, following a tragic workplace fatality. Her leadership and the unwavering dedication of workers across the county have led us to this pivotal moment,” Thomas continued.
BUFFALO: Nursing home workers begin strike at 5 facilities
May 21, 2025 // Late Monday night, 1199SEIU announced that it had reached two three-year agreements for nursing home workers at Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Nursing Center at Williamsville and Schofield Residence in Tonawanda. The union also withdrew strike notices at four more facilities: Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Center, Buffalo Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, Ellicott Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, and The Grand at Delaware Park. Among the remaining facilities set to strike, several are owned by The McGuire Group, which released a statement assuring residents and families that care would continue uninterrupted.
Jennifer Abruzzo Wants Workers to Fight Back
May 14, 2025 // On May 5, Workday Magazine interviewed Abruzzo, who has since returned to the Communications Workers of America, as a senior advisor to the president. We talked about how protected concerted activity can include Gaza protests, why it’s a shame that domestic workers and farm workers are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, and what workers can do to fight back in the Trump era. “It’s up to the people to actually use their power and flex their muscles in order to get the changes that they deem are appropriate,” she says, “so that they can live the lives that they deserve with dignity and respect.
LETTER: Congress must reject proposed job-killing labor legislation
April 20, 2025 // However, a new threat to Kansas business owners has emerged in the form of a legislative framework that the Institute for the American Worker has dubbed the “PRO Act Lite,” modeled after the failed policies of Senator Bernie Sanders and other progressive lawmakers. While it may come with a new label, the substance remains the same. This proposal would drive up labor costs, stifle economic opportunity, and make it significantly harder for employers to create jobs.
‘Trump and Musk are setting the example’: how companies are becoming emboldened to be more anti-union
April 10, 2025 // That tougher behavior under former president Ronald Reagan sped the decline of private sector unions. Today, just 6% of private sector workers are in unions, while 32% of public sector workers are. Anti-union ideologues are increasingly targeting public sector unions, which often support Democrats. “Because almost half of the labor movement is now in the public sector, the assault that we’re seeing now is really focused on the public sector,” McCartin said. “That really threatens to break the spine of the labor movement.”
Farmworkers call for changes to improve their lives
April 7, 2025 // If all legislators are genuinely interested in supporting people living and working in Washington state, then these interviews should serve as a gut check. All six of the men interviewed indicated a desire to see a significant change in how their workweeks are measured and compensated. Not from their employers but from lawmakers. Guillermo, 62, perhaps summed up the words of his colleagues best: “I think people would be surprised to know that I’ve dedicated my life to working and trying to do good deeds,” he said. “We come here with the mentality that we want to work 50 plus hours per week.”
Workers at Bay Area UC campuses join statewide strike over wages, conditions
April 3, 2025 // Workers at Bay Area UC campuses join statewide strike over wages, conditions sanfrancisco By Tim Fang Updated on: April 1, 2025 / 11:33 AM PDT / CBS San Francisco Workers at University of California campuses and medical facilities in the Bay Area joined thousands of employees statewide Tuesday in a one-day strike, claiming unfair labor practices. About 20,000 employees represented by the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) and nearly 40,000 workers with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees began their strike around 7 a.m. UC Berkeley, UCSF, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were among the Bay Area locations where workers were striking.
MD bill may give faculty the right to unionize
March 11, 2025 // The bill includes full-time or part-time faculty, and those who are either on tenure or non-tenure tracks. Foley added faculty at Maryland community colleges are already able to organize unions. Since 2012, the number of unionized faculty across the country has grown more than 7%, with more than a quarter of all faculty belonging to a union. More than 80% of unionized college faculty members are nontenured. Foley, a former vice president of the Communications Workers of America, said despite perceptions, unions are not just for blue collar workers.
Act 10, Scourge of Wisconsin Teachers, Faces Uncertain Future in Court
March 4, 2025 // According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the proportion of union members in Wisconsin’s workforce fell by nearly half, from 14.2% to 7.4%, between 2010 and 2023 (since that figure includes workers from all sectors, the drop for government employees is likely much steeper). A report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a right-leaning think tank, showed that the total number of unions holding annual recertification votes across the state declined from 540 in 2014 to 369 in 2018. The largest teachers’ union in the state, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, experienced a dizzying loss of manpower and organizing heft. A 2019 study conducted by a pair of researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that WEAC was forced to restructure and cut its staffing by about two-thirds. The retrenchment was made necessary by a freefall in the collection of dues, the payment of which was made voluntary by Act 10. The loss of paid organizers could be offset, in part, by the efforts of teacher volunteers. But the union had no ready replacement for the millions of dollars in government relations funds that had suddenly evaporated; WEAC went from being one of the biggest lobbying forces in Madison to a second-tier player virtually overnight.