The week in US unions, August 19-26

Some personal news: this was my first week working full-time at Labor Notes! It's a dream job. Most people know Labor Notes as a newsletter & website, and for forty years it’s been the paper of record for rank-and-file union members fighting for more democratic, more militant unions. I’ll be working on stories and covering things that the mainstream press misses, from the perspective of working union members themselves. If that’s you, send me your tips, leads, story ideas, and just what’s going on in your workplace/union to jonah@labornotes.org. But I’ll also be helping build for the 2022 Labor Notes conference (which you should attend!), where thousands of union members will gather from across the world (whether in person, virtually, or some of both) to share notes and build the movement, member to member. If you’re a union member, let me know what’s going on in your union! I’ll still be publishing these weekly roundups (Labor Notes goes deep; this newsletter tries, obviously, to go super broad) but encourage you all to get involved with and subscribe to Labor Notes.

NEW ORGANIZING

New filings at the NLRB: 162 workers at Viskase, a massive sausage-casing food processing company, are organizing with the Machinists; if successful, it’ll be the first NLRB win in Arkansas in nearly two years, and the biggest NLRB win in the state since 2007. 88 soccer referees for the Professional Referee Organization, which refs games for MLS and other soccer leagues, are unionizing with the independent Professional Soccer Referees Association. 65 tour guides and student fellows (which sounds to me like undergraduate workers, but I haven’t seen anything else about it) are unionizing with UFCW Local 1 at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. 56 workers at rock climbing gym Earth Treks in Crystal City, VA are unionizing with the Mid Atlantic Regional Joint Board of Workers United. 45 workers who make cleaning products for Earth Friendly Products in Addison, IL are unionizing with GCC-IBT Local 458M, and 18 workers for property manager ELH MGMT in Brooklyn are joining GCC-IBT Local 2N, both of which seem like odd pairings for GCC. 45 editorial employees at two more Gannett-owned papers in New Jersey, the Asbury Park Press and Courier News, are organizing with the New York NewsGuild. 

Healthcare: 134 workers at the Sutter Center for Psychiatry in Sacramento are organizing with NUHW. 96 paramedics and EMTs at San Luis Ambulance in San Luis Obispo, CA are organizing with the Steelworkers. 90 workers at Symphony nursing home in Buffalo Grove, IL are unionizing with SEIU HCII. 22 LPNs at rehab AristaCare in Linden, NJ are unionizing with 1199 SEIU, as are 10 workers at Northwell North Shore Radiation Therapy in Greenlawn, NY.

Tiny shops: 19 workers at Verilife Cannabis Dispensary in Arlington Heights, IL are organizing with Teamsters Local 777. 16 retail workers at Bob’s Discount Furniture in Poughkeepsie, NY are unionizing with UFCW Local 888. 15 security guards in Austin, TX are joining SPFPA. 10 maintenance workers at Crestwood Village housing co-op in Manchester Township, NJ are joining Teamsters Local 125. Five workers at Stoneway Concrete in Seattle are joining Teamsters Local 174. Four air traffic controllers are joining PATCO, yes, PATCO, which uses the original PATCO logo but is actually an entirely new union formed in 2003, and is affiliated with OPEIU (which is different from the other PATCO, which is affiliated with AFSCME, both of which are different from NATCA, which seems to be the actually largest union of air traffic controllers… Reagan’s long shadow extending into the 21st century). Four lab workers for chemical manufacturer Chemours in Belle, WV, where workers recently sued over their firings related to whistleblowing about environmental and workplace safety, are joining the Mine Workers. Three aircraft mechanics for Invictus and three more at Amentum, both in Nashville, are joining Machinists Local SC711, as are two flight instructors in Miami.

NLRB election wins…: The Board finally counted the impounded ballots in the Colectivo Coffee union vote from April, and, by a margin of 7 votes, IBEW Local 494 now represents 328 cafe, bakery, and warehouse workers in Chicago, Madison, and Milwaukee. 322 editorial employees at MSNBC voted 141-58 to join the WGAE, hopefully the incoming union president isn’t too mad about them diluting existing members’ voices. The 22 editorial employees at Washingtonian, the DC publication that gained notoriety after its CEO wrote an op-ed suggesting she’d fire employees who didn’t return to in-person work fast enough, and to which the employees responded with a one-day work stoppage, voted 15-2 to join the Washington-Baltimore News Guild. 21 sanitation workers for Hometown Disposal in Selinsgrove, PA unionized with Teamsters Local 764 in a 12-6 vote. 17 drivers and service techs for AmeriGas Propane in Ocala, FL voted 9-3 to join Teamsters Local 79. 12 workers for freight company CCS Trucking in Chicago voted to join Teamsters Local 727, 3-0. Nine workers for utility Aurora Energy in Fairbanks, AK voted 3-2 to join Laborers Local 942. 8 mechanics at Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse and Elk Mound, WI voted unanimously to join IBEW Local 953. Seven language teachers at the Newark, NJ branch of Harvest English Language Institute voted 4-0 to join Teamsters Local 177. Seven art handlers for Bourlet Art Logistics in Queens voted 6-1 to join Teamsters Local 814. Seven mechanics for Intermodal Mexico in Miami Springs and Port Everglades, FL voted 5-0 to join Teamsters Local 769. Four workers who process limestone for Carmeuse in Macon, GA voted 3-1 to join the Steelworkers.

...and losses: 111 workers who make electronic sensors for Functional Devices in Sharpsville, IN, voted 37-60 against joining the UAW. 37 workers for glazing contractor Hall Aluminum Products based in Kiowa, CO voted 5-10 not to join IUPAT Local 930. 29 workers at fancy LA donut shop Donut Friend voted 4-5 against forming an independent union; the NLRB allowed supervisors to vote, and organizers say there was a rash of hiring before the vote. 25 workers for commercial laundry service Wash Cycle Laundry in Chelsea, MA deadlocked at 12-12, thus not joining UFCW Local 1445. 22 drivers for chemical maker Univar in Houston voted 10-12 not to join Teamsters Local 988. Ten workers at I Am Detroit clothing store in Plymouth, MI mostly didn’t vote, but the two who did couldn’t agree, with a 1-1 deadlock going against Teamsters Local 337. 

Decertifications and raids: 97 healthcare workers at a number of clinics for Auburn Memorial Medical in Auburn, NY narrowly decertified 1199 SEIU in a 30-32 vote. It looks like infamous B&H Photo management at their Ninth Avenue warehouse in NYC successfully initiated an “RM” petition (basically, in certain cases the employer can ask the board to verify that the union still has worker support), and the 50 workers voted to drop Steelworkers Local 9543, 13-20. The Illinois Council of Police successfully raided 39 FAA security guards from “The Committee for Fair and Equal Representation” in a 15-0 vote in Chicago. 42 hospital workers at Carris Health in Benson, MN stuck with AFSCME Local 2053 against a decertification vote, 29-12. The Steelworkers narrowly survived a decert vote, 12-10, at Anderson Custom Processing in Little Falls, MN, which does dairy and food “spray drying” which I guess is how they make liquids into powders. The National Association of Special Police and Security Officersis raiding a unit of 105 SPFPA security guards in Arlington and Alexandria, VA. NABET (CWA) unanimously defeated a decert among technicians at public TV station WMHT in Troy, NY.

Outside the NLRB: The Association of Legal Employees, an independent union of nearly 400 legislative staffers for New York City Council, was certified, officially becoming the largest legislative union in the country (though I think their only competition is the Oregon state legislature?). 28 staffers for GPS Impact, a political media firm based in the Midwest and DC, won voluntary recognition through Kansas-based Teamsters Local 696. Starbucks workers in Western New Yorkare organizing. The staff of the Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters are pushing for voluntary recognition through CWA Local 7800. Management at nonprofit Code for America seemed to be ready to voluntarily recognize OPEIU Local 1010 as the union of their 75 or so employees, but now look to be stalling.

STRIKES & BARGAINING

Remember last week when I said every Nabisco production facility in the country was out on strike? Well now a Nabisco distribution center, run by members BCTGM Local 42 in Norcross, GA, has joined the strike. The nationwide strike is now well over 1,000 workers, and is getting the attention of the mainstream press.

WBUR spoke to a striking Massachusetts Nurses Association leader about St Vincent Hospital’s insistence that nurses won’t be getting their jobs back when the strike eventually ends; when that end may be still appears unclear.

Non-union workers at Redstone 8 Cinema, a movie theater in Park City, UT, are on strike for a $15 wage.

High-rise window washers with SEIU Local 26 in the Twin Cities have ended their strike after 10 days and appear to have won pretty big, with a 12% raise and employer funding for an apprenticeship program; one of the core demands of the strike was to be recognized as skilled trades, a funded apprenticeship is an important part of that.

The Harvard Graduate Student Union (UAW Local 5118) is taking a strike authorization vote in a couple weeks. They’ve been quite clear about their intentions here, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t see a Harvard strike this school year.

SEIU United Service Workers West members have authorized a strike covering 20,000 janitors across the state of California. The contracts in question expire at the end of the month, so a strike could come as early as next week, or not.

600 East Bay Regional Park workers (rangers, lifeguards, scientists, maintenance workers, and others in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, CA) with AFSCME Local 2428 are taking a strike vote, primarily over pay. If they strike, it’ll be the first time in 40 years.

Workers at the Two Harbors, MN liquor store (which I guess is owned and operated by the city) with AFSCME Local 1123 are picketing against the city’s threats to raise health insurance costs; I’m not sure if this also includes municipal workers beyond the liquor store (public works, police department, golf course workers, others), but I would guess it does.

Uprise RI spoke with Teamsters Local 251’s Matt Maini about the Johnson Brothers wine distributors strike that’s been running in North Kingstown, RI since late May.

After authorizing a strike, 700 nurses with SEIU Healthcare PA at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh have a first contract.

Contracts for 2500 workers with CWA Locals 1133 and 1168 at Catholic Health in Western New York are set to expire September 30th, and it doesn’t sound like negotiations are going very well. It seems plausible that we are getting to the point of the pandemic-plus-nurse-shortage where things could really start popping off when big contracts like this one expire.

The 2,350 members of ATU Local 1005 in the Twin Cities ratified a contract after previously authorizing a strike and rejecting a “final” offer from management. Final offers have a way of becoming less final in the face of a credible strike threat.

The Southwest Airline Pilots Association (an independent union of about 10,000 pilots) and TWU Local 556, who represent flight attendants at the airline, are talking about informational pickets around the holidays to protest -- what else, in this economy? -- understaffing, as well as “operational failures” like lack of hotels and food for workers. There have been similar issues at American Airlines, plus the rampant abuse flight attendants are taking from passengers.

AAUP faculty at Western Michigan University are rallying for a contract settlement with higher wages, before the Labor Day expiration date. The lowest-paid among them make $36,500, which indeed seems ridiculously low for a university professor. Their contract actually expired a year ago, but they agreed to a one-year extension that included a temporary pay cut of 2.25%. Elsewhere in faculty organizing, UUP members at SUNY New Paltz are rallying for better COVID safety protocols.

The Texas Observer has a useful assessment of how contract bargaining is going at the three big unionized Texas papers.

The Painters are now the first building trades union to embrace vaccine mandates. 

Saurav Sarkar at Labor Notes took a look at how the hotel industry has capitalized on the pandemic’s disruption and how workers, primarily with UNITE HERE, have fought back and occasionally won recall rights and more.

POLITICS & LEGISLATION

Lots of union leaders participated in last weekend’s (and will participate in this upcoming weekend’s) marches and mobilizations in support of the voting rights bills in Congress. On the PRO Act front, there are rumors that two more Democratic holdouts have come on board, meaning it has 49 votes in the Senate, one short of being enough to pass if the Democrats weren’t afraid of governing -- I mean killing the filibuster.

A California judge ruled Prop 22, the bill ensconcing into law the gig-ification of workers across the state, unconstitutional.

INTERNAL UNION POLITICS

Liz Shuler, who started out as a staffer for IBEW Local 125 in Portland, OR, is now officially the first woman to serve as president of the AFL-CIO, after an executive board vote on Friday. Fred Redmond, who rose from the ranks as a Steelworker at Reynolds Metals outside Chicago in the 70s, is filling Shuler’s former position as Secretary-Treasurer. They’ll serve until June 2022, when the Federation will hold elections for four-year terms for the top spots.

The SAG-AFTRA election will be over next week (ballots to be counted on September 2nd), and it’s just been a wild ride. The WGAE election is also upon us, and, as I glancingly mentioned above, it has been perhaps equally contentious, with one section of the union wanting to do new organizing beyond its legacy core of TV writers, and one section (including the incoming president) not. Part of organizing media workers means fights quickly find their way into the media; beef like this can be found all over the union world, but Teamsters et al tweet less and know fewer reporters who care to pick up the story.

Both Strikewave and The Sacramento Bee have more on SEIU Local 1000, and the internal struggles in that union, as their new President Richard Louis Brown attempts to steer the union in a very different direction, in particular ending political spending and sharply breaking with the Democratic leadership of the state. This whole episode serves as a very interesting case study of the relative autonomy of union elected officials, what is and is not possible in an abrupt change in leadership. It’s a pretty odd situation, in that Brown cuts against progressive politics (Brown, who is black, has spoken against the union supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, for example, and his victory is being championed by right-wing anti-union groups like the Freedom Foundation), includes what most would say are destructive policy proposals (like halving union dues), and also includes pretty aggressive bread-and-butter demands (like ending the closure of a correctional facility to save jobs and a 21% raise across the board). But for those interested in challenging the union status quo, well Brown is certainly challenging it, and both his surprise victory and immediate struggles in office might contain some useful insights.