The past two weeks in US unions, February 5-19, 2022

Thanks again for your patience on this delayed edition. Since its a two-weeker, it’s quite long — lots going on! But as always, I’m sure lots I missed, so drop me a line. Also check out this video I did with More Perfect Union on the potentially big-deal Joy Silk doctrine being considered by the NLRB.

STRIKES & NEGOTIATIONS

Active strikes:

The UMWA strikers at Warrior Met went to Washington this week, with a Senate Budget Committee hearing highlighting how private equity has played a role in the nearly year-long strike of over a thousand metallurgical coal miners in Brookwood, AL.

Around 350 manufacturing workers for aerospace defense contractor Eaton (formerly Cobham, but they were bought last year) in Davenport, IA are on strike with Machinists Local 388 as of midnight on Thursday, when their contract expired, having authorized a strike in the fall.

The Teamsters Local 174 concrete truck drivers strike in the greater Seattle area rolls on, continuing to shut down construction projects across the Puget Sound. I strongly recommend this More Perfect Union video on the fight, which features some amazing quotes and some amazing beards. The latest is that the six recalcitrant concrete contractors have gone to court to get an injunction against the picketers, which the judge of course granted. 

100 staff at the California College of the Arts with SEIU Local 1021 struck for a first contract for four days in San Francisco and Oakland; they’ve been in bargaining with the college since October 2019. In higher ed more broadly, Higher Ed Labor United, a new coalition, is hosting an organizing summit next week.

A few dozen baristas at Great Lakes Coffee in Detroit are on a rare recognition strike, as they seek to unionize with UNITE HERE Local 24. But maybe these strikes are getting less rare among food service workers? Union Kitchen workers in DC last weekend also struck (see last newsletter), and workers at Prep & Pastry in Tucson, AZ struck for one day this week over unfair labor practices during their NLRB election with UFCW Local 99.

55 workers for Sherwin Williams in Bedford Heights, OH are on strike with Steelworkers Local 14919, after working under an expired contract for three months.

50 Sysco warehouse workers with Teamsters Local 120 in St. Cloud, MN struck for just over a day, hoping to win a first contract; they didn’t win it, but they headed back to work to fight another day. The workers are pushing for a 49% pay raise, to match Sysco pay among unionized workers in the Twin Cities.

30 workers with Machinists Local 447 who make engine parts for Cummins in Dedham, MA, Scarborough, ME, and Concord, NH are on strike as of February 15th; roughly the same number of Cummins workers struck in California last year.

A couple dozen barbers on military bases in Virginia apparently won their strike (which started in July) against the military haircut contractor, which raised prices but lowered the barbers’ cut (I’m sorry). The barbers are members of the Laborers.

K-12: 60 school bus drivers in St. Tammany Parish, LA joined the ongoing rolling strike wave in that industry, with a sickout, hoping to win a raise. Teachers in Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak, CO also called in sick, canceling classes, over changes to their job descriptions, which one report I saw said was about removing a prep period and adding to the teaching load. Pajaro Valley, CA teachers won raises across the board after organizing rallies last week. Teachers in Eugene, OR have a tentative agreement. Teachers in Brookline, MA have been working without a contract since 2019, as the student newspaper reports. In nearby Cambridge, MA, it’s “only” been eight months since the contract expired. The teachers union in Mountain View, CA says negotiations have hit an impasse, and are rallying for public support.

Strike threats:

Educators in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN have authorized strikes, which could mean upwards of seven thousand workers on strike as soon as they give their ten-day notice and then, duh, ten days pass. I associate the St. Paul strike of March 2020 with the beginning of the pandemic, so something about this feels cathartic to me.

The Steelworkers rallied outside Marathon’s corporate headquarters in Findlay, OH this week, as national negotiations covering 30,000 oil workers across the largest oil companies continue on a rolling 24-hour contract extension, having expired February 1st, and not much noise coming from the national table (except the union rejecting an insulting 1% annual raise in late January, and then the companies countering with 9% over three years, which presumably was also rejected). The six hundred workers in Beaumont, TX at one of the companies at the table (though their refinery is not, as I understand it, part of the national negotiations), Exxon, are voting on Monday on a new agreement to end the company’s lockout that started on May 1st of 2021. Technically the two issues are separate but the long Exxon lockout, plus the six-month lockout at Marathon in Minnesota last year must be looming large for the union.

Grocery: Grocery workers for Stop & Shop, at least the 30,000+ in New England (that’s UFCW Locals 328, 371, 919, 1445, and 1459) will be holding “contract ratification or strike authorization” votes on February 27th, the day after the contract expires. Elsewhere in grocery, UFCW Local 7 in Colorado reached a tentative agreement with Safeway (who presumably saw how the union smoked Kroger in the 8,000-member King Soopers strike and didn’t want that heat), while UFCW Locals 5, 8, and 648 in the Bay Area have apparently had to push just to get Safeway back to the bargaining table.

2,000 telecom workers for Frontier in California voted down the latest tentative agreement, re-authorizing a strike. The CWA District 9 members held two one-day ULP strikes in the fall, which I wrote up briefly for Labor Notes at the time.

The Orange County, CA Transit Authority narrowly averted a bus drivers strike by Teamsters Local 952 with a last-minute tentative agreement. TWU Local 1 bus drivers in Akron, OH also ratified a contract, after their international union trusteed the local before they could go ahead with a planned strike; if members are upset about that, the ratification vote doesn’t really show it, having passed 186-25.

The day before 1100 Portland, OR city workers across six local unions (who bargain together as the District Council of Trade Unions) were set to strike, the members voted narrowly to ratify an offer from the city, calling off the strike. Jamie Partridge wrote it up for Labor Notes.

Contract updates:

475 workers with Steelworkers Local 9 at the Sappi paper mill in Skowhegan, ME voted by 96% to reject the company’s latest offer.

NNU, representing nearly 600 nurses at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Reno, NV, organized an informational picket at the hospital, as they enter their fourth month of negotiations for a new contract. AFGE Local 131 rallied with veterans outside of the Tuscaloosa, AL VA Medical Center in protest of poor conditions. 250 NYSNA nurses have a first contract at the Hudson Valley Hospital. 

400 Southwest Airlines dispatchers with TWU Local 550 have a tentative agreement. 2500 Machinists who work for Hawaiian Airlines have ratified a new contract.

The ongoing MLB lockout looks increasingly likely to delay the start of the season, and has already delayed the start of Spring Training games.

AFSCME Local 1110 is starting to make noise about not having had a contract since July for their workers at Illinois State University. I’m sure the grad student workers who nearly struck last year will play a role in this if it escalates. Unions across the University of California system are strategizing around incorporating “green” demands in their contracts.

Louisville, KY screwed up its bonus pay to city workers from the American Rescue Plan funds and now has to claw back around $200 from workers making $14 an hour; the unions are pissed. Police, corrections, and transportation employees in Woodbury County, IA are asking the county officials to reopen their contracts to negotiate higher raises, but the county supervisors are refusing. 130 municipal workers in Lancaster, OH with AFSCME Local 3427 have a contract, with a 4% raise, after their last one expired in December 2020. The Fairfield, CT firefighters (IAFF Local 1426) are filing for arbitration after nearly a year without a contract.

Members of ILWU Local 10 and the Oakland Education Association, among others, rallied against the privatization of part of the Port of Oakland and the closure of a number of public schools.

POLITICS & LEGISLATION

This could’ve gone in the “strikes” section, but over 100 Washington state legislative staffers called in sick after the legislature failed to pass a bill that would allow formal unionization for the staff. Last year, Oregon legislative staffers made history by becoming the first to unionize.

The Oregon state senate passed a bill intended to curb mandatory overtime specifically for bakery workers; which is to say, Nabisco. It’s pretty interesting to see, as it’s rare for contract demands

In California, a just transition bill for oil workers is getting some pushback, as would be expected, but is also getting some support from some of the unions in the industry.

The city of Fort Wayne, IN is considering a collective bargaining ordinance which would restore bargaining rights to city workers that were stripped in 2014 (except for cops and firefighters, who retained those rights, which is often the case when the GOP goes after public unions).

INTERNAL UNION POLITICS

With the new Teamsters leadership set to take office on March 22nd after winning in a landslide against the incumbent-backed successor to longtime President James P. Hoffa, new leadership appointments are being announced. Of note is that incoming President Sean O’Brien and incoming Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, both vocal proponents of a more aggressive stance towards the union’s largest employer, UPS, will be co-leading the 2023 UPS contract negotiations. Also of interest is the appointment of two members of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union steering committee to top posts in the union. A new organizing director, as well as heads of the warehouse, carhaul, and freight division directors were named.

UFCW Locals 21 and 1439 in Washington (and some members in Idaho) have voted to merge, forming the new UFCW Local 3000, which will be the largest local in the entire UFCW, at a whopping 50,000 members.

I thought this LA Times piece on IATSE Local 705’s attempt to do internal organizing around racial justice issues was a useful case study in how the broader social reckoning over racism manifests in the union movement.

NEW ORGANIZING

New election filings at the NLRB: For our weekly Animaniacs-style roundup of Starbucks shops where workers have filed for NLRB elections with Workers United (as opposed to having just publicly announced their intention to do so), 968 more workers across 33 Starbucks shops (including roasteries in NYC and Seattle) in… Mililani, HI, Pittsburgh, NYC (x3), Brooklyn, Great Neck, NY, Massapequa, NY, San Antonio, TX, Lansing, MI, Ann Arbor (x4!), Boston, Cambridge, MA, Newtonville, MA, Seattle, Jacksonville and Tallahassee (x2), Richmond (x3), Roanoke, VA, and Midlothian, VA, St. Paul, MN, Peoria and Cary, IL, Oak Creek, WI, Raleigh, NC, Roseville, CA, and Atlanta are taking the plunge; this brings our count to over 100 stores across the country, which is to say over 1% of all Starbucks corporate-run (as opposed to those inside of grocery stores, rest stops, etc., which are run by franchisees or subcontractors or whatever) locations. 

Teamsters: 147 graduate student workers at Clark University in Worcester, MA are joining the grad student organizing wave with the Teamsters, in what I think is the Teamsters first foray into grad student workers per se (though Teamsters Local 743, representing workers at University of Chicago, has the student workers at the library). 82 carhaulers for Carvana based in Blue Mound, TX are organizing with Teamsters Local 745. 80 workers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas are organizing with Teamsters Local 631. 54 drivers for US Foods out of Charlotte, NC are organizing with Teamsters Local 71. 47 sanitation workers for Waste Management in Erie, PA are unionizing with Teamsters Local 397. 47 alcohol distribution workers at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits in Aurora, CO are organizing with Teamsters Local 455; attentive newsletter readers will recall the Teamsters organized a Southern Glazer’s shop in San Antonio last summer. 26 support staffers at Continental Care nursing home in Butte, MT, where at least ten patients died of COVID in 2020, are unionizing with Teamsters Local 2. 24 LPNs at Carneys Point Care Center in Carneys Point, NJ are joining Teamsters Local 830. Nine mechanics for Clean Street Sweeping in Sacramento are joining Teamsters Local 150. Three forklift operators for Alaska Consolidation Transportation in Fife, WA are joining Teamsters Local 313.

Others: 60 ironworkers at Black Iron Reinforcing in Las Vegas are organizing with the Ironworkers. 52 RNs and techs for Sutter Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice in San Francisco are unionizing with NUHW. 50 ski patrollers for Mountain Capital Partners in Durango, CO are organizing with CWA Local 7781 (United Professional Ski Patrollers of America). 46 wine distribution workers for Winebow in the greater NYC area are organizing with UFCW Local 2D. 37 RNs at Barrett Hospital in Dillon, MT are organizing with the Montana Nurses Association (NEA/AFT). 36 food service workers at McLaren Hospital in Lansing, MI are unionizing with OPEIU Local 459. 34 educators at Maui Preparatory Academy in Lahaina, HI are organizing with IBEW Local 1186. 31 dispensary workers at a dispensary – or, if I must, 31 “budtenders” at “Nug Wellness” – in San Leandro, CA, are unionizing with UFCW Local 5. 30 more – sigh – “budtenders” at Starbuds (inspired by Starbucks?) in Baltimore are organizing with UFCW Local 27, as are another 30 at MedMen in Oak Park, IL, with UFCW Local 881.  30 techs for Spectrum in North Windham, CT are joining IBEW Local 2323. 27 HVAC workers for Trane in Rocky Hill, CT are unionizing with Plumbers Local 777. 21 utility workers at Vicinity Energy in Kansas City are unionizing with IBEW Local 412. 16 workers at BMR Janitorial in Austin, TX are organizing with ATU Local 1091. 15 baristas and bakers for Storyville Coffee in Seattle are organizing with UFCW Local 21. Ten workers for O’Donnell Crane in Cortland, IL are joining Operating Engineers Local 150, as are four mechanics at Vacuum Truck Rentals in Merrillville, IN. Ten drivers for Koppers Recovery wood waste processors in L’Anse, MI are joining Operating Engineers Local 324. Ten suicide prevention hotline workers in Ithaca, NY are joining CWA Local 1111. Ten workers for Asplundh in Washington are joining IBEW Local 483. Eight teachers and counselors at Amber Charter School in NYC are joining the UFT (AFT). Eight staffers at immigration services firm El Rescate in Santa Monica, CA are joining SEIU Local 721. Five traffic signal techs for Pennsylvania PERCS (I don’t know what that is) in Mechanicsburg, PA are joining IBEW Local 126. Four building engineers at a Westfield mall in San Diego are joining Operating Engineers Local 501. Three workers at Ware Crane and Rigging in Belvidere, IL are joining Operating Engineers Local 150. 

NLRB election wins…: 155 healthcare workers at Country Doctor Community Health Centers in Seattle voted 75-23 to join SEIU 1199NW. 112 therapists at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis voted 81-16 to join SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. 74 Duke University Press staff narrowly won their union with the Washington Baltimore News Guild in a 38-36 vote; that’s one flipped vote away from a loss, with 100% turnout. 61 custodians at RISD in Providence voted in a landslide 52-4 to join Teamsters Local 251. 54 drivers for Sysco in Fresno and Tulare, CA voted 31-15 to join Teamsters Local 431. 37 school bus drivers at Trinity in Pontiac, MI voted 16-4 to join Teamsters Local 614. 31 cannabis dispensary workers for Revolution Global Staffing in Schaumburg, IL voted 13-1 to join Teamsters Local 777. 24 casino cashiers at Caesars Southern Indiana in Elizabeth, IN voted 13-8 to join Teamsters Local 89. 24 cannabis dispensary workers for Zen Leaf in Highland Park, IL voted 13-1 to join UFCW Local 881. 20 more cannabis workers at Sunnyside dispensary in Cincinnati voted 10-4 to join UFCW Local 75. 20 workers for Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar, CA voted 19-0 in favor of joining OPEIU Local 30. 19 workers at VHS Children’s Hospital in Detroit voted 7-0 to join AFSCME Local 140. 19 nursing home workers at the Golden Living Center in La Porte, IN voted 17-2 to join Teamsters Local 135. 13 workers at Alta Construction Equipment in Gary, IN voted 8-4 to join Operating Engineers Local 150. 11 sanitation workers for Service Sanitation in Pewaukee, WI voted 6-4 to join Teamsters Local 695. Nine maintenance workers at a Shoprite grocery store in Livingston, NJ voted 5-0 to join UFCW Local 1262. Seven F-35 flight instructors for Lockheed Martin in San Diego voted 6-1 to join Machinists District Lodge 725. All seven “electronic warfare instructors” at the Jacksonville and Mayport, FL naval stations voted to join the apparently independent “AAAT Contract Instructors of Florida”. Six workers for construction contractor Brandywine Stormwater in West Chester, PA voted 3-2 to join the Laborers. Five skilled trades workers for C&W Facility Services in Marlborough, MA voted 3-1 to join Operating Engineers Local 877. Both workers in the costume department at Hoosier Park racetrack and casino in Anderson, IN voted to join IBEW Local 481. 

…and losses: 69 (nice) warehouse workers for medical device supplier B. Braun Medical in Breinigsville, PA voted against joining Teamsters Local 773, 16-42 (not nice). 39 workers at Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery in Nashville voted against becoming the first unionized whiskey makers in Tennessee, going 9-21 against joining UFCW Local 1995. 16 nursing home workers at Ecumen in Owatonna, MN deadlocked 5-5 on joining UFCW Local 663. Six AV techs at the JCC in East Palo Alto, CA voted 2-3 not to join IATSE Local 134. 

Security guard unions: 235 guards at the ICE detention center in Florence, AZ voted 72-14-1 to join UGSO Local 381 over SPFPA. SPFPA is also being raided by LEOS-PBA for 54 guards at IRS headquarters in DC and 50 more guards in Lanham, MD. 20 guards at a UPS customer center in Honolulu are joining SPFPA.

Decertifications and raids: 1199 SEIU beat a decertification attempt, 42-13, among 82 nurses at Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich, NY. 14 mechanics at National and Alamo car rentals in San Jose, Oakland, and Burlingame, CA decertified Machinists Local 1414, 5-9. 12 optometrists at Visionmakers in Dayton, OH and Pittsburgh decertified IUE-CWA Local 84775 in a 0-6 vote. 

On Starbucks more broadly, my co-worker Saurav Sarkar wrote up a great overview for Labor Notes of how the campaign came to be, and why it’s caught fire. Since then, More Perfect Union looked at how the company is trying to force out leaders of the drive in Buffalo, after firing the “Memphis seven,” which sparked protests in that city and at locations across the country. Aside from just straight up firing people, Starbucks is also delaying union vote counts, intervening at the last minute to stop the count in Mesa, AZ, which was set to take place this week.

5,000 Amazon warehouse workers organizing with the independent Amazon Labor Union on Staten Island have an election date set for March 25th-30th, with voting to be conducted on-site. Elsewhere in the Amazon universe, workers at an Amazon Fresh store in Seattle are organizing, in what sounds like another independent effort.

And in other big name corporations seeing new union efforts, at least eight Apple stores backed by national unions (though I haven’t seen which ones) are organizing, with filings expected at the NLRB this week.

More Perfect Union reported on the BCTGM’s efforts to organize over 1,000 workers at a Hersheys plant in Stuarts Draft, VA, who, like other food production workers who’ve organized or struck over the past several months, face grueling overtime and a disappearing weekend.

Workers at the Alamo Drafthouse flagship location in Austin, TX are organizing with the IWW. In very different Texas union organizing, active duty national guardsmen are organizing with the Texas State Employees Union (CWA Local 6186); they’re the first to organize after the Department of Justice said active duty national guardsmen can indeed unionize, responding to organizing efforts launched in Connecticut from last year.

Alaska Airlines mechanics will be joining the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association after a decision from the National Mediation Board (it’s a Railway Labor Act thing).

The Activision Blizzard union drive by CWA among video game workers is going through the NLRB hearing process, with the company being rightly accused of trying to union-bust; NPR looked at how the Microsoft buyout could complicate the drive.

Staffers at digital comms firm New Blue Initiative are seeking voluntary union recognition with the Campaign Workers Guild.