Some scenes and tidbits from the front lines of union organizing and victories!

The vote for union representaqtion at the Chattanooga VW plant was a key test of whether
the UAW could springboard the Stand-Up Strike gains into new organizing. The union narrowly
lost previous drives here in 2014 and 2019. It was also a body blow to the anti-union, pro-Trump

and racist forces in the South and an example of global labor solidarity. Central Labor Council of Tennessee. Read more here.

From the AFL-CIO:

Top Cut:
In a historic victory, Volkswagen (VW) workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted to join the UAW on Friday, making it the first auto factory in the South to vote to organize since the 1940s.

Why It Matters:
An overwhelming majority of the 3,613 workers voted yes in a three-day election that drew high turnout. Against the backdrop of last summer’s intense Hollywood strikes, a recent sharp spike in National Labor Relations Board petition filings, coordinated health care worker walkouts and multiple other groundbreaking organizing victories, this win for VW workers is not only the biggest organizing success in years for the UAW—it’s also yet another piece of evidence that workers across industries and regions are fed up with not getting our fair share of corporate profits. Now that the election is over, the fight for a fair contract is next. Members are aiming for an agreement that secures more paid time off, more predictable scheduling, improved health care, retirement benefits and more.

“This election is big,” said Kelcey Smith, a worker in the paint department at Volkswagen, in a UAW press release. “People in high places told us good things can’t happen here in Chattanooga. They told us this isn’t the time to stand up, this isn’t the place. But we did stand up and we won. This is the time; this is the place. Southern workers are ready to stand up and win a better life.”

Peoplepowerunited 

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and a community coalition worked together to defeat a proposed baseball stadium from being built on Oakland's waterfront. "In the face of overwhelming political odds, the ILWU stood firm and fought for its members. We also became a founding member of an unprecedented coalition of every major waterfront group that had a stake in the future of the Port of Oakland. This group was made up of a whole swath of maritime labor, including ILWU locals, the Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU), Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P), Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, Marine Firemen, and more. We began meeting first at the IBU hall in San Francisco and then at MM&P in Oakland. Joining us were maritime, trucking, and railroad groups, including the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, Harbor Trucking Association, California Trucking Association, and the Union Pacific Railroad, plus individual local Oakland companies like Schnitzer Steel and GSC Logistics, Cool Fresh, and BNSF Railroad." Read more here.

Bill Mckibben started Third Act three years ago so retired citizens would have a place where they could fight on the two existential issues of our day – the struggles to save our planet and our democracy, and the relationship between them. We started Third Act Union for retired union members to join in this struggle. Please read our latest newsletter and go to our website at thirdact.org/union and sign up to join Third Act Union and find out how you can join our struggle. You can also follow us on Facebook (https://m.facebook.com/3AUnion/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/thirdactunion/).
--Bob Muehlenkamp

ZERO PERCENT CANNOT STAND Postdoctoral research workers, members of Oregon AFSCME, picketed April 16 outside Oregon Health and Science University ‘s Knight Cancer Center in the South Waterfront neighborhood — to support their union bargaining team inside. | Photo by Don McIntosh Read more here.

"Transportation accidents and falls caused more than half of the on-the-job deaths reported in the United States in 2022, the most recent year data is available. And those hazards are more common for the occupations considered the most dangerous. Here are the jobs with the highest rates of fatal injuries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics." Read more here.

Why Is It So Hard To Unionize a Bar? It’s Complicated. "When workers at Death & Co.’s New York City location announced they were unionizing last fall, the organizers expected a quick, if not entirely painless, process. “With 100% of workers signing union authorization cards, we’re confident that we will soon be able to build a workplace that works for EVERYONE,” the aspiring union wrote in an announcement on Instagram. But Gin & Luck, the parent company that runs the cocktail bar, didn’t voluntarily recognize the union, triggering an election with the National Labor Relations Board. Still, the bartenders leading the effort were undeterred. “You’re just gonna see 100% of us voting yes,” Marc Rizzuto, a bartender at Death & Co., told Fingers last November.

But when the time came for the NLRB election in mid-December, the votes weren’t there. Ten of Death & Co.’s 18 workers voted against the union. “I still don’t know what happened,” says Rizzuto. “People haven’t been completely open to speaking about it. But from my perspective, people just got scared.”

Read more here.

Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 728, reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on their craft-specific issues. Read more here.

From the AFL-CIO:

Top Cut:
Workers at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium announced on Thursday that they are forming their union, Shedd Workers United (SWU), with AFSCME Council 31.

Why It Matters:
When certified, SWU will represent around 300 staff working in animal care, community education, guest relations, facilities and other departments. Workers at the aquarium are in good company as they join the ranks of their peers at other local public institutions like the Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry and the Chicago Public Library who all have recently organized with AFSCME Cultural Workers United. In a public letter signed by 60 workers, Shedd Workers United members said that through forming a union they can advocate not just for their own working conditions and rights, but also the welfare of the animals that are so beloved by their community. Core concerns for workers include the need for better work-life balance, improved compensation and solutions to high turnover rates.

“We believe that through our union, we can use our voice to advocate for a sustainable, transparent, and equitable workplace for everyone at Shedd Aquarium, at every level,” workers said in their public statement. “We can further strengthen our role in the [diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion] initiatives. We can democratize the decision-making process that affects us, our families, and the animals we care for, leading to better collective decisions made inclusively with everyone and every animal’s best interest at heart.”

Nurses, represented by National Nurses United (NNU), at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, held a rally as they began negotiations on a new contract with HCA Healthcare, the facility’s owner and largest health system in the United States.