This is a blog about building labor and community solidarity in Oregon's Mid-Willamette Valley and beyond. The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors only unless otherwise noted.
To date, the Oregon AFL-CIO has endorsed the following candidates for the 2024 Primary Election:
FEDERAL Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici for CD-1 Congresswoman Val Hoyle for CD-4 Congresswoman Andrea Salinas for CD-6
STATEWIDE House Speaker Dan Rayfield for Attorney General
STATE SENATE State Senator Kate Lieber for SD 14 State Senator Wlnsvey Campos for SD 18 State Senator Kathleen Taylor for SD 21 State Senator Khanh Pham for SD 23 State Senator Chris Gorsek for SD 25 Anthony Broadman for SD 27
STATE HOUSE State Rep. Pam Marsh for HD 5 Lisa Fragala for HD 8 State Rep. David Gomberg for HD 10 State Rep. Nancy Nathanson for HD 13 Lesley Munoz for HD 22 State Rep. Ben Bowman for HD 25 State Rep. Courtney Neron for HD 26 State Rep. Ken Helm for HD 27 State Rep. Dacia Grayber for HD 28 State Rep. Susan McLain for HD 29 State Rep. Nathan Sosa for HD 30 State Rep. Lisa Reynolds for HD 34 State Rep. Farrah Chaichi for HD 35 April Dobson for HD 39 State Rep. Tawna Sanchez for HD 43 State Rep. Travis Nelson for HD 44 State Rep. Thuy Tran for HD 45 Willy Chotzen for HD 46 State Rep. Zach Hudson for HD 49 State Rep. Ricki Ruiz for HD 50 State Rep. Emerson Levy for HD 53 State Rep. Jason Kropf for HD 54 State Rep. Greg Smith for HD 57
Here we go again with some links to news stories that will help catch you up with what's going on in the labor movement and unions. We encourage readers to liste to the KMUZ and KBOO radio labor shows advertised on the upper-righthand corner of this blog as well.
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From Portland Jobs with Justice:
Ethos Music Center is a nonprofit organization that has provided music lessons and performance opportunities to children across Portland for over 25 years. On Monday, March 18th, its teachers and staff filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election to certify their union.
This petition follows a March 15th request from the teachers to Ethos’ directors and board to voluntarily recognize the union. Ethos has not responded to that request and has declined to meet with the teachers to discuss it. Instead, the Board has hired Littler Mendelson as their lawyer.
Write to info@ethos.org to tell management that you support the union workers of Ethos Music Center! Workers deserve a union, not expensive union-busting lawyers!
If this union is recognized, Ethos Music Center will become the first nonprofit music school in Portland to organize. Teachers are seeking consensus-driven solutions to challenges such as organizational decision-making, financial transparency, and access to more teaching resources to create a positive learning environment for their students.
The beer giant behind Coors Light, Yuengling, Simply Spiked, Topo Chico, and other major brands forced the workers behind its successful beverages and record profits onto the picket line on Feb. 17 after offering as little as 99 cents an hour in new wages.
Until Molson Coors serves up a fair deal for hardworking Texas Teamsters in Fort Worth, we're putting them on ice. Let's show Molson Coors that we won't drink one drop of their beer until a fair deal is reached for Texas Teamsters.
In case you missed the incredible Starbucks Workers United update: after two years of workers’ relentless organizing, Starbucks has finally agreed to chart a new course and build a productive relationship with its unionized workers based on mutual respect.
Now is the time to celebrate the 10,000+ unionized baristas who have dedicated themselves to this campaign for the past 2 years and successfully unionized 400+ stores across the country.
A national effort to unionize pharmacists against worsening conditions inside chains like CVS and Walgreens has hit a milestone as workers at the first of what organizers say will be dozens of pharmacies files a federal petition seeking the right to join The Pharmacy Guild.
The petition, expected to become public Monday, puts CVS on notice that workers in its Omnicare pharmacy in Las Vegas intend to hold an election to determine whether the newly formed guild should represent them in labor negotiations with the Fortune 500 company.
Nearly 30 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians work at the Omnicare location, which fills prescriptions for nursing homes across Nevada and is not a public-facing pharmacy like most of the chain's more than 9,600 locations. A simple majority is needed to win and organizers told USA TODAY they are confident they have the numbers. READ MORE HERE.
(Mostly) Useful Government Numbers About Poverty, Jobs, and Unemployment, Including the Latest Employment Report for February 2024
Does the Federal Government regularly publish estimates of what a reasonably comfortable living standard would be for an average household? There must be something somewhere. A government agency does publish poverty lines--aka, poverty thresholds--and its experts tell us how many people fall below the lines. In spring, the Census Bureau gathers income and other information on the preceding year and publishes the results in September. The last report was Poverty in the United States: 2022.
According to this publication the proportion of the population that was poor in 2022 was 11.5%. That is the poverty rate. There are rates for many categories, including ethnic groups and households with no workers. Recently the Bureau created Supplementary Poverty Measures (SPM) which offer more information than the official poverty rate. But the SPM poverty rate was just 12.4%, so it does not change the basics, and it has not incentivized me to master the details of the SPM. The big picture for me is that each poverty measure is totally inadequate, especially in a country that is overflowing with riches. The poverty lines are given on page 18 of the 2022 report. The line for a family of four with two young children was $29,678. The line for singletons 65 or older was $14,036. Think about those numbers for half a minute. A family of four with $30,000 a year was not officially poor in 2022.
UNITE HERE Members Ratify New Contract with 34 Southern California Hotels
Top Cut: Thousands of Southern California hospitality workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 11 overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new contract containing historic wins after repeated rolling strikes since the summer of 2023.
Why It Matters: Workers at 34 hotels, who led the largest hotel strike in modern U.S. history, won higher pay, increased employer contributions to pensions, fair workload guarantees, health care protections and more. This includes room attendants, cooks and other nontipped workers at some of Los Angeles’ most high-end properties, such as the Beverly Hilton and the Waldorf Astoria. By the end of this contract, workers will see a 40%–50% increase in wages, with half of the rise being delivered in the first year of the agreement.
“We have won a life-changing contract that transforms hotel jobs from low-wage service work to middle-class professional positions,” Kurt Petersen, co-president of Local 11, told workers at a rally on Monday.
Machinists Seek Seat on Boeing’s Board in Contract Negotiations
Top Cut: Machinists (IAM) District 751, which represents 32,000 workers at factories in Washington state, began contract negotiations with Boeing this month and has proposed that the union have a seat on the board of directors in order to help restore the public’s faith in the company.
Why It Matters: Boeing has been struggling with recent quality control concerns from the public and aviation regulators after a door panel fell off one of its 737 Max planes during a flight in early January. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have been investigating the incident, with initial findings pointing toward Boeing’s failure to comply with manufacturing quality controls. All of this occurring around the beginning of contract renegotiation has motivated District 751 to push for a larger voice at Boeing in the form of a seat on the board of directors so that the union can contribute unique insight into the production system and safety protocols. IAM is the largest union for Boeing workers and has set out to improve not only work-life balance and wages for members in their next agreement but also quality assurance and manufacturing oversight that benefits their members’ communities and beyond.
“It’s very complex to build [airplanes],” District 751 President Jon Holden (pictured above) said. “And our members do that very well. But there’s always decisions that leaders at the top make to try and increase production rates that we want a say in. We want to ensure that it’s done with the proper risk management assessments. We want to make sure that we aren’t eliminating important redundancies.”
UAW President Shawn Fain Meets with Mercedes-Benz Alabama Plant Workers to Chart Path to Victory
Top Cut: International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) President Shawn Fain and UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith met with Mercedes-Benz workers at the UAW union hall in Coaling, Alabama, on Sunday to talk about their path to victory.
Why It Matters: UAW announced in late February that a majority of hourly workers at the Alabama plant had signed authorization cards, a significant milestone in the union’s campaign to organize factories in the South. Workers in Alabama voiced familiar concerns about their conditions that echo their peers in other states where similar drives are taking place. While Mercedes-Benz profits have soared, the company’s employees’ wages haven’t budged, and full-time roles have been slowly replaced with temporary staff. Although workers at the luxury automotive brand’s largest U.S. plant have been met with a barrage of anti-union rhetoric from public figures like Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and aggressive union-busting from management, they aren’t deterred in their fight for respect and dignity in the workplace.
“So, I came here not to win this thing for you. Not to tell you what to do. I came here to find out for myself the answer to one question. Are you ready to stand up?...If you’re ready, the time is now,” Fain said in his remarks to workers. “This is your defining moment. If we have public supporters in every department, on every line, on every shift, Mercedes workers will be guaranteed to win your election….Let’s finish the job that started so long ago. Let’s walk a new path for working-class people together in solidarity.”
On Thursday, March 14, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) convened the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to discuss new legislation he has introduced to establish a 32-hour work week with no loss in pay. UE has long supported shortening the work week, and UE policy includes the demand for just such legislation.
A 32-hour work week “is not a radical idea,” said Sanders. noting that “American workers are now over 400% more productive than they were in the 1940s.” However, Sanders continued, “Almost all of the economic gains of that technological transformation have gone straight to the top, while wages for workers have remained stagnant, or even worse. READ MORE HERE.
Video: SHHCS Nurses on Strike March 21, 2024 | Oregon Nurses Association “February 10-24 Sacred Heart Home Care Services nurses took to the curb to show their employer that they mean business. Today workers are back at the mediation table once again to fight for the contract they deserve! They need a deal that is fair to their patients, coworkers and community!”
Winning for Workers: 2024 Legislative Session Report March 18, 2024 | Oregon AFL-CIO “The Oregon Legislature gaveled out of the 2024 Legislative Session on Thursday, March 7 after five weeks of fast-paced action where many of Oregon Labor’s priority bills advanced and are on their way to become law. These victories are a result of the incredible advocacy done by Oregon’s unions and their members to ensure our shared priorities were successful.“
NABTU Statement Applauding Biden’s Historic EPA Asbestos Ban March 18, 2024 | North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) “NABTU applauds the Biden Administration’s issuance of the monumentally important rule banning the use of chrysotile asbestos. Construction unions have historically been the hardest hit by diseases caused by asbestos, and it is estimated hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their lives due to this toxin.”
AFL-CIO Applauds Biden Administration’s Rule to Protect Workers by Banning Use of Chrysotile Asbestos March 18, 2024 | AFL-CIO “This rule is a landmark protection for workers, banning and phasing out all current uses and imports of chrysotile asbestos, and eliminating these exposures in workplaces and throughout the supply chain. While a critical step forward, this does not eliminate all types of asbestos fibers and is only the first half of the EPA’s plans to address worker asbestos exposures, including the tens of thousands of workers—many firefighters, construction and manufacturing workers—exposed to “legacy” asbestos throughout our old buildings and infrastructure. We urge the EPA to move swiftly to address those risks as well.”
March 18, 2024 | People’s World “The United Auto Workers are unionizing at Harvard, or, to be precise, among the prestigious and influential university’s non-tenure-track research and teaching employees.”
New Wage Data Shows When Workers Organize and Fight 'It Pays Off—Literally' March 21, 2024 | Common Dreams A new analysis shows that unionized workers across the United States secured historic wage increases under contracts negotiated last year, further demonstrating the power of collective bargaining. According to Bloomberg Law, 2023 union contracts "gave workers an average first-year wage increase of 6.6%"—the highest raise since at least 1988.
From the United Mine Workers of America:
UMWA Announces Tentative Agreement with Crimson Oak Grove Resources, LLC in Alabama. (Adger, AL)
The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) announced today that it has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with Crimson Oak Grove Resources, LLC for its mine in Adger, Alabama.
UMWA members will hear a contract explanation at a meeting early next week, and then will hold a ratification vote two days later. Details of the tentative agreement will not be released until after the ratification vote.
The UMWA represents 418 workers at the mine and related facilities, which mines metallurgical grade coal used in steel making.
From Portland Democratic Socialists of America:
DSA May Day Mania -- On to the General Strike, 2028 Celebrate International Workers Day Wed. May 1, 5-9pm Double Mountain Brewery, Overlook Taproom 1700 N Killingsworth St. View a livestream of UAW's Shawn Fain calling for a General Strike, May Day 2028 for the 32 hour week (and the 8 hour day!). Get a reportback from Portland's delegation to the Labor Notes conference. Speakers from recent local labor struggles. Live music. No-host food & drinks. All ages. A fundraiser for DSA's Labor Solidarity Fund. RSVP https://actionnetwork.org/events/may-day-mania-on-to-the-general-strike-2028/
From IATSE:
* Following a caucus week, negotiations between IATSE and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) resumed Monday, with talks entering a new phase where each of IATSE’s 13 West Coast Studio Locals (WCSL) individually negotiate their Locals’ craft specific issues with the studios. This phase of the process is expected to last from March 18 to April 26.
In an effort to ensure each of these 13 local unions has sufficient time to negotiate with the AMPTP ahead of the resumption of the Hollywood Basic Agreement General Negotiations and the start of the IATSE-AMPTP Area Standards Agreement Negotiations, two locals will negotiate simultaneously at any given time.
On Monday March 18th, the International Cinematographer’s Guild (IATSE Local 600) and the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) each began their individual negotiations with the studios. The Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700) and IATSE Local 729 are expected to begin their negotiations with the AMPTP later in the week. Full release ➔
* After seven months of negotiations, ushers at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre have reached a tentative agreement on a first three-year labor contract with their employer.
The Nederlander Organization-owned theater and union IATSE Local B-192 agreed to the provisional pact affecting over 70 ushers on Monday, March 11. The new agreement improves wages — ushers will see a 25 percent increase in their rates over the course of the contract, to a minimum of $21.50 an hour by the end of the deal. It institutes bereavement pay and time and a half pay for ushers working holidays and provides ushers with additional income if they work seven consecutive days in a row or three shifts in a day. Full story ➔
* Workers at Pacific Backlot Services have ratified their first collective agreement after forming the union in the Fall of 2023. This becomes the first collective agreement at a rental shop to be ratified for IATSE in Canada.
Operating out of Vancouver, Pacific Backlot Services is a division of MBS, the largest equipment services company in the world, with facilities in BC, Alberta, and Ontario. Pacific Backlot provides production services to film productions throughout British Columbia. This new two-year collective agreement will provide twelve months of recall rights for workers laid off due to lack of work, as well as wage increases of 9% over the term of the agreement, retroactive to January 1, 2024. Full story ➔
HB 285 was an updated version of anti-union legislation AFSCME members defeated in Utah in 2023 and it featured even more severe restrictions on public service unions.
HB 285 would’ve limited the amount of time union members could spend on union matters, forced members to sign cards for dues collection every year, and required public service unions to hold regular recertification elections and win 51% of the vote from the entire bargaining unit — not just those voting — or shut down.
AFSCME and a coalition of unions came together to fight the bill, including those representing teachers, firefighters and police officers. The Utah Education Association, Teamsters, the American Federation of Teachers, and others were part of the coalition. READ MORE HERE
* DENVER – Workers at the Denver Art Museum are celebrating their new union.
They won their union election last week with a supermajority of 67% voting to join forces with AFSCME Council 18, making the Denver Art Museum the first unionized art museum in Colorado.
Workers announced their union campaign in January and since then have endured upper management’s intense anti-union campaign. Through Council 18, the workers filed more than a dozen unfair labor practice charges. Now, the more than 200 workers from every department at the museum will have a voice to advocate for a culture that prioritizes employee and visitor experience over revenue.
"We worked so hard to win our union,” said Trudy Lovato, a gallery host. “One of the best things about this process has been hearing from people in various departments, and learning about their expertise, skills and concerns. I look forward to working together to build a workplace that creates an environment of mutual respect, and every member feeling as valued as they deserve."READ MORE HERE.
From Portland Jobs with Justice:
Last Friday, more than a hundred janitors and community supporters including JWJ gathered at Whole Foods Market, and M Financial Group Plaza in Portland's Pearl District to protest the owner of the buildings— J.P. MorganChase—for hiring a nonunion janitorial company known for violating worker rights. SEIU Local 49 and the community raised concerns about the change in the fall, when local property manager Arke Management decided to outsource the union janitors who had long cleaned the buildings. After weeks of the union’s outreach to Arke Management and the buildings’ tenants, a representative from owner JP Morgan Chase doubled down on the decision to go non-union. Read more here.
Today our union proudly endorsed President Joe Biden for the 2024 presidential election.
We’ve seen the many wins President Biden has already achieved for working people and look forward to his administration’s continued progress on our core issues.
From the United Farm Workers:
From In These Times:
The Kroger-Albertsons merger is a threat to grocery workers everywhere. Let’s join the fight to stop it. READ MORE HERE.
From the Northwest Labor Press:
Oregon labor is all-in for Julie Su March 14, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press From Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor: “On Feb. 27, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee voted to approve the nomination of acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. This is now the second time the same committee has voted to advance her nomination as U.S. secretary of labor following last year’s resignation of Marty Walsh. In fact, the same committee voted in early 2021 to advance her nomination as deputy secretary of labor, which the full U.S. Senate then acted on and confirmed.”
Battle breaks out between labor and AGC March 14, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press “Scabby the Rat, the fearsome 10-foot-tall union inflatable, has lately been keeping vigil outside a surprising target — one of Oregon’s largest union employer associations. “Shame on Associated General Contractors,” says the banner next to the rat. Set up by Operating Engineers Local 701 outside the Wilsonville headquarters of the Oregon-Columbia chapter of Associated General Contractors (AGC), the banner responds to an effort by AGC to squash a new commitment by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to use union labor.”
A labor look at the 2024 Oregon Legislature March 14, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press “Organized labor notched several legislative wins in the five-week “short session” of the Oregon Legislature that ended March 7.”
Registration for the Labor Research Action Network Conference is now open! The conference will run from Thursday June 20th 8am to Friday June 21st 5pm PDT.
The 2024 LRAN conference is co-hosted by the University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) and will be held at Portland State University. The theme of this year’s conference is “How labor can confront a rapidly changing landscape," and plenary sessions will focus on exciting efforts at strengthening and co-enforcing worker protection laws in Oregon and the rise of independent union organizing. Workshops and trainings will be held on a range of issues, including AI, climate jobs, and worker co-ops. The agenda will be available in April.
The early bird rate for admission is $130. The rate will go up to $150 on May 1st. Register here.
If you need a hotel room, there is a room block at the University Place Hotel & Conference Center Portland (union hotel). The rate is $114/night and includes breakfast. To book a room, call the hotel directly at 503-221-0140 and mention the LRAN conference.
For the past couple of months, Tyler and the Portland Rising subcommittee have been working hard on a series of political education talks geared towards workers in the Portland area, and it's ready for public aFnnouncement! I hope that all of you will mark your calendars and help us spread the word.
Each talk focuses on a specific topic with the goal of continuing the labor militancy that we‘ve seen recently. Talks will feature a panel of speakers with experience related to the topic at hand and will be facilitated by Tyler. While panelists’ experiences will be a starting point for discussion, we aim to create a distinctly collaborative space where all participants are able to ask questions and share their experiences. These talks are geared towards all workers, union or not, and union staff and labor activists are also encouraged to attend!
Talks will be on the second Thursday from 7PM-8:30PM in the Augustana Church Fellowship Hall (2710 NE 14th Ave) and masks are required. The first talk is scheduled for 4/11 and will revolve around building campaigns that bring in the community, with E.D. Jill Pham joining the panel to talk about JWJ's own role in uplifting the labor struggle within the community.
kick off contract negotiations as they fight for improved staffing, safety and services.
Note: I am sorry that I did not keep better track of the sources for the photos above and the texts given. Most of the photos came from the AFL-CIO, I think. The photo of the women members of the World Federation of Trade Unions came from a digest sent out by the WFTU. The other photos either came from the unions mentioned, thhe metro Washington Labor Council, or from The Red Hot Worker, a great source of clips sent out by SEIU.
* Informational Picket at Providence St. Vincent March 20 starting at 5:00pm | Providence St. Vincent in Portland Nurses at Providence, Oregon's largest healthcare system, are advocating for improved standards, including better health benefits and wages, as their contract negotiations have stalled since December. In response, they plan to hold informational pickets across the state to show solidarity in their pursuit of fair contracts, culminating in a rally in May involving healthcare workers from newly organized units.
* Practice Picket, Strike Ready (PCCFCE) Living Wages, Healthcare, Job Security ! Thurs. Mar. 21, 4:30-9pm Sylvania Campus, 12000 SW 49th Ave. Portland 4:30-5:30 - picket with classified employees 5:30-7 - food 7-9 - present strike pledges to PCC Board of Trustees RSVP https://pccfce.org/march21
* Assertive Grievance Handling (a Labor Notes workshop) Thurs. Mar. 21, 5-6:30pm This workshop is for stewards and union leaders who work with stewards, not staff. Fighting grievances isn’t only about how well you argue your case. It’s also about organizing members to build pressure on management. This workshop will focus on how to win creatively without going to arbitration—or sometimes without even filing a grievance. REGISTER https://labornotes.org/events/2024/stewards-workshop-assertive-grievance-handling-march-2024
* A Discussion with Anne Broyles, Author of I’m Gonna Paint: Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People March 28 starting at 5:00pm | Oregon Labor Center in Portland Please join the Oregon AFL-CIO and the Oregon Labor Movement for an engaging discussion with Anne Broyles, the author of I’m Gonna Paint: Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People. Anne’s book is about the visionary folk artist and labor organizer Ralph Fasanella and is perfect for picture book readers because of its stunning illustrations. Click here to learn more & RSVP.
* Organizing for Power: Core Fundamentals (training by Jane McAlevey, author of "No Shortcuts" & "Rules to Win By") Thursdays, May 9 - June 13, 9-11am (PT) or 5-7PM (PT) Groups of ten or more (get your co-workers lined up now!) O4P's Core Fundamentals is a six-week intensive training program composed or weekly sessions divided into lectures and practice time, plus campaign assignments that organizing groups are expected to complete on their own time. Each session runs twice each Thursday to accommodate our global audience. The registration deadline is May Day, 2024, so begin assembling your group of 10+ now, because we're only going to win if we're in this together, disciplined and committed, and ready to build our skill sets to ORGANIZE FOR POWER. Please contact O4P Coordinator Ethan Earle (earle.ethan@gmail.com) with any questions. REGISTER: http://tinyurl.com/O4PCoreFundamental
AFSCME Local 2067, the union representing most City of Salem workers, has made the following endorsements in our Salem City Council races:
* Mayor - Chris Hoy * Ward 5 - Dr. Irvin Brown * Ward 7 - Vanessa Nordyke
Local 2067 focuses on the local elections that most impact their members: City Council and City Mayor. I believe that the Local conducted eleven candidate interviews before making their endorsements. These interviews and endorsements come as the Local is going into difficult contract negotiations. We urge everyone to support Local 2067 in their efforts to win a strong and fair contract.
An announcement from the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition says the following:
We tell our members that it is not possible to win a living wage for everyone in this country when corporations can cross an invisible line in the sand and pay workers $8 per day. That is why we are building support for workers in Mexico who are organizing unions of their own choosing, independent of corporate interest.
We are raising money to bring some of these Mexican labor activists to Chicago for the biennial April 19-21 Labor Notes Conference, which has emerged over the last 40 years as the biggest gathering of union activists in the United States—and one of the biggest in the world. The last conference brought together over 4,000 union members from across the United States, as well as union leaders and activists from two dozen countries, including Mexico. We expect similar attendance this year.
We are inviting activists from Mexico’s independent union movement because we want to promote cross-border solidarity among workers throughout North America. They work for many of the same employers and in the same supply chains. We think it is important to promote more awareness in the U.S. labor movement of the conditions of Mexican workers and their attempts to build genuine, democratic unions.
We are working with Labor Notes which is committed to helping facilitate the participation of Mexican union activists in the conference, and also provide for opportunities for addressing the conference, hold panel discussions and workshops. The size of the delegation from Mexico depends on our success working with Labor Notes to provide funding for accommodations and travel expenses.
We are holding a Zoom event on Thursday, March 21, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. PST, as an opportunity to hear the voices of Mexican labor activists. Register at https://bit.ly/March21livingwageevent.
Please donate at livingwage-sf.org/ online-donation-form/ or make out a check to San FranciscoLiving Wage Coalition and mail to SF Living Wage Coalition, 2973 - 16th Street Ste. 300, San Francisco, CA 94103.
The Working Families Party provided this short and interesting union news update in a fundraising appeal:
Check out some of the biggest labor updates of the past few weeks:
After years of union busting, Starbucks has finally agreed to work with Starbucks Workers United and move towards negotiating fair contracts! They have also agreed to provide credit card tipping options in union stores — a benefit they’d previously withheld from stores that had voted to unionize. While there’s still plenty of work to do before a contract is set, this change from the corporation is thanks to the determination and organizing work from union members who did not back down when faced with closing stores, firing union activists, and more.1
Animators with the Nickelodeon Animation Studio have ratified their first contract since unionizing in late 2022. Workers across 2D, 3D, and production specialties banded together and won a comprehensive contract that includes minimum staffing requirements to protect jobs, significant wage increases, and bereavement leave. Other members of The Animation Guild have recently joined entertainment crew members from IATSE (the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) in a negotiating committee to get the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to improve pension and health plans for industry workers.2 IATSE is in the middle of its own labor fight with AMPTP, with a potential strike coming later this year. This comes after last year's history-making joint strikes of union actors with SAG-AFTRA and writers with the WGA, which ended with major union wins and increased wages and job security from the AMPTP. Jimmy Kimmel shouted out union workers in the industry during this week's Academy Awards ceremony and assured union workers: "We will stand with you."3
In a historic vote, the Dartmouth men’s basketball team became the first college sports team in the United States to vote to unionize, with a landslide 13-2 vote. The labor of college athletes often brings huge revenue to their colleges, with Division 1 football and basketball teams producing $7.9 billion during the 2022-2023 school year alone. But these athletes have not been considered employees, and so they’ve received no monetary compensation, with many having to take additional jobs just to get by. In a union, these athletes can bargain for pay, better health care to pay for injuries sustained while playing on their team, and more. The fight continues as Dartmouth tries to overturn this election entirely, but we stand by these athletes as they continue building power together.4
Workers at Missouri Toyota and Alabama Mercedes auto plants started their own campaigns to unionize and join the United Auto Workers Union, which won its own major contracts with the Big Three auto companies following strikes last year. They’re joining a major union push, with public campaigns at other plants for Volkswagen and Hyundai and over 10,000 signed union cards for the UAW in recent months.5
More than 3000 Harvard non-tenure track faculty members filed for official union recognition,6 followed shortly after by the Harvard Union of Residential Advisors,7 which includes hundreds of the university’s tutors, proctors, and house-aids. These groups are fighting for job security, fair compensation, and workplace protections and equity.
In Washington, the legislature voted to allow the state's legislative staffers to collectively bargain, paving the way for these workers to negotiate a contract that meets their needs. This is a reminder that while we support the workers organizing on the ground, we also need to keep fighting to elect leaders at all levels of government who will have unions' backs.8
