A Short Union News Update From The Working Families Party

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

Sources:

1. The Starbucks Workers’ Union Has Finally Broken Through, Jacobin, February 29, 2024

2. TAG-Unionized Nickelodeon Animation Workers Overwhelmingly Ratify New Contract, Animation Magazine, March 5, 2024

3. Jimmy Kimmel Says “We Will Stand With You” to IATSE Members Amid Strike Threat at Oscars 2024, The Hollywood Reporter, March 10, 2024

4. Dartmouth basketball team votes to join the first college athletics union, CNN, March 5, 2024

5. “We keep Toyota running”: Workers at critical Toyota plant launch campaign to join the UAW, United Auto Workers, March 6, 2024

6. Group of More Than 3,000 Harvard Faculty Files for Union Recognition, The Harvard Crimson, March 5, 2024

7. Harvard Resident Tutors, Proctors File for Union Recognition, The Harvard Crimson, March 7, 2024

8. WA lawmakers approve union bargaining rules for legislative staff, CrossCut, March 8, 2024