The past two weeks in US unions, July 2nd-16th, 2022

STRIKES & NEGOTIATIONS

What’s old is new again, and Joe Biden has awoken from his slumber to stop a 120,000-worker rail strike that otherwise could have begun as soon as Monday morning. That this was basically totally expected by everyone involved, and that it isn’t a final injunction against the strike or anything but part of the unbelievably convoluted bureaucratic process that covers rail (and airline) union negotiations in this country (partly because rail strike activity was so frequent and militant in the late 19th and early 20th century that it forced federal action before private sector unions as a whole were legalized), doesn’t make it any less true that Biden is denying over 100,000 workers their human right to withhold their labor, and we shouldn’t forget that. What happens next is Biden’s presidential emergency board has 30 days to make recommendations, which will then initiate another 30 day cooling-off period for the unions and freight rail carriers to consider the recommendations, at which point (a maximum of 60 days from Friday, as I understand it), a strike could be back on the table (though most likely won’t be, but I am trying to get out of the predictions game). This time around, the BLET formally authorized a strike and at least some BMWE members rallied, but there wasn’t a serious strike mobilization (since everyone knew what Biden was going to do, if nothing else); we’ll see if over the next two months the other dozen unions make formal moves, which could be an indicator of whether or not there could actually be a work stoppage.

Everyone, including the Biden administration, continues to emphasize how not-worried they are about west coast port negotiations covering 22,000 ILWU longshoremen, who are now a couple weeks into an expired contract (but, again, nobody is worried). Well I guess not everyone, not the port truck drivers who are protesting their misclassification as non-employees despite being, you know, port truck drivers. As of Tuesday, protests have apparently morphed into actual strikes, at least in Oakland, CA, which is a big development.

The CNH strike in Burlington, IA and Racine, WI is now in its eleventh week. John Deere strikers in Iowa showed up to support their fellow UAW agricultural implements workers, but otherwise not much news to report, as far as I’ve seen. What was expected to be a long strike is indeed firmly a long strike. Another long strike is a small one, of Teamsters Local 983 in Pocatello, ID at Pocatello Ready Mix; the company is trying to kill the union healthcare plan, and apparently won’t come back with new proposals, despite verbal commitments.

It sure seems like more and more Starbucks Workers United members are going on strike. In just the past couple weeks I’ve seen strikes in Independence, MO, Boston, Brookline, MA, Atlanta, Augusta, GA, Clinton, MI, Cottonwood Heights, UT, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and at the Seattle roastery.

Over 270 workers for military contractor General Dynamics in Marion, VA have been on strike with UAW Local 2850 for two and a half weeks. Maybe they can find a few pennies in the $839 billion dollar defense bill Congress just passed. Meanwhile, a similar number of workers with Steelworkers Local 1449 at Collins Aerospace, another military contractor, have been locked out for over two months.

Lots of strike activity in the healthcare sector, with 300 workers at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA on strike with AFSCME Local 829. Several nursing homes and rehab facilities saw strikes or protests in the past weeks, from several 1199 SEIU shops in Western New York, to Menorah Park nursing home in Beachwood, OH, to workers at SKLD nursing home in Bloomfield Hills, MI, who struck and are now formally unionizing with SEIU Healthcare Michigan. I’m just gonna go ahead and call it: the pre-recognition strike is back, baby.

But the employer counter-offensive is back, too. Just this week, a Mercedes-Benz dealership in San Diego has outright fired 20 striking workers with Machinists Local 1484, while Chipotle has announced intentions to close the Augusta, ME store that recently filed for an election with an independent union, and Starbucks seems bent on closing as many stores as it takes to kill the Workers United drive. Janitors in Miami with SEIU 32BJ say they have been retaliated against for having gone on strike as well.

Other notable new organizing-ish strikes include Amazon workers walking off on “Prime Day” Doraville, GA with the fantastic slogan “Pay us or chaos,” as they pushed for a $3/hour raise; Dollar General workers with Fight for $15 in Holly Hill, SC; and IWW movie theater workers at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX who are pushing for recognition and walked off after the company fired one of the activists.

Beyond the actual strike activity of the past couple weeks, there have been a very healthy number of strike threats, among AT&T workers with Teamsters Local 959 in Alaska; editorial workers at Harper Collins (UAW Local 2110) and WIRED (whose strike threat yielded a contract, with the New York NewsGuild); transit workers in DC (ATU Local 689) and Santa Barbara, CA (Teamsters Local 186) authorized, while St. Louis drivers apparently organized a mass sick-out while ATU Local 788 tries to settle a contract, and Fresno, CA transit workers with ATU Local 1027 authorized but averted a strike; UNITE HERE Local 11 almost struck Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles for the All-Star Game, UNITE HERE Local 30 may yet strike San Diego’s Comic-Con Hilton hotel, UNITE HERE Local 54, having resolved the bigger strike threat in Atlantic City, NJ, has put another strike back on the table at AC’s Golden Nugget, and UNITE HERE Local 23 in DC is still fighting for the jobs of the Senate dining workers, who were just hit with another round of layoffs despite Congressional intervention, and are now planning to start disrupting shit; 200 sanitation workers with Teamsters Local 396 for Waste Management in the Inland Empire, CA have authorized a strike, as have UAW Local 2270 auto parts workers for Ventra in Evart, MI.

There have also been some big contract ratifications: As expected (but not by a massive margin), Teamster carhaulers ratified their national deal, as did Red Cross Teamsters, by a much bigger margin (as far as I can tell, only one local, Teamsters Local 554 in Omaha, voted it down). In the UAW, General Motors Subsystems (a wholly-owned subsidiary that goes beyond two-tier to just have a separate shittier contract for 700 GM workers, because the company can get away with it) workers across Michigan overwhelmingly ratified their new contract, which had gotten within 15 minutes of a strike. Housekeepers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia with Teamsters Local 115 organized with Teamsters for a Democratic Union to undo a two-tier contract.

Other negotiations that could be interesting are among 3,000 Steelworkers on Minnesota’s Iron Range working for Cleveland-Cliffs; hospital workers in Burlington, VT and Portland, OR (AFT and AFSCME, respectively); workers at the INEOS pigment factory in Ashtabula, OH who are pushing for a first contract with Teamsters Local 377 and International Chemical Workers Union Council Local 1033C (UFCW); municipal workers in Youngstown, OH and Champaign County, IL; museum workers organizing with AFSCME in Philadelphia and Baltimore; and the language is a little fuzzy, but it sure sounds like ALPA pilots at United Airlines voted down their most recent contract, sending the union and the company back to the negotiating table. Treasury Department workers with NTEU are fighting over the role remote work will play.

A sampling of K-12 union updates is enough to expect a pretty tumultuous year for K-12 unions, between massive staffing shortages and, of course, skyrocketing inflation. Things appear rocky indeed in Brevard County, FL; Paterson, NJ; and Columbus, OH. But, to be fair, in Boston, Dublin, CA, and Couer d’Alene, ID, bargaining seems to be more or less smooth.

Finally, because I think it’s really the thread running through all of this, Samir Sonti wrote a useful piece for Labor Notes on inflation, and how it impacts bargaining. The latest numbers show a 3% drop in purchasing power over the past year, on average.

POLITICS & LEGISLATION

Some members of the US Congress, the largely ceremonial legislative wing of the Armed Forces, are hoping to squeeze in some pro-worker amendments to the repugnantly huge military budget bill. Amazing that this is the only way to pass pro-worker legislation, and that you have to, like, build fighter jets to get paid leave in this country (but, as noted above, you’ll still be locked out or on strike for months if you organize). Oh and employers have instantly seized on these attempts and are throwing a fit, because the gaping maw can by definition never be satisfied.

INTERNAL UNION POLITICS

The UAW convention starts next week, and I wrote a rundown for Labor Notes about the state of play, who’s running, and what happens next. Next week will be mostly about resolution fights, though with the nomination threshold so low (just the support of one delegate is required to get on the ballot, as I understand it), it’s possible there could be some surprise candidates. The real fun begins post-convention, when candidates will have about two months to campaign before voting starts, and the whole thing theoretically will be wrapped up by the end of November. The stakes are extremely high, as the Big Three contract expires in September 2023, and the UAW desperately needs to pull out of its tailspin (of both membership numbers and just basic morale).

AFGE and its Council 118, the ICE union, are parting ways. For the “drop the cops” activists in the labor movement, this is a win, though on its face it seems to have less to do with activist agitation than internal turmoil, plus AFGE still reps plenty of discipliners and punishers.

The past couple weeks also saw the AFSCME and AFT conventions, and for the two biggest AFL affiliates having their national convenings, you’d think there’d be more headlines and punchlines. Most of the coverage is about which Democratic Party officials addressed the room (AFT got Jill Biden, AFSCME got Marty Walsh and Stacy Abrams). Anyway, if you were there and there’s something interesting I missed, let me know.

The Times had an interesting story on Latino representation in MLBPA leadership, and whether and how that’s affected baseball negotiations.

For Labor Notes, Al Bradbury profiled the new vice president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, focusing on direct action to refuse forced overtime. And speaking of labor leader profiles, this New York Magazine profile by Wes Enzinna of the Amazon Labor Union’s Chris Smalls, is seriously worth a read.

NEW ORGANIZING

Overall, NLRB petition filings are up by almost 60%, according to a release from the Board itself. Unsurprisingly, a lot of that is driven by Starbucks, but per this Matt Bruenig chart, not all of it.

New election filings at the NLRB: 600 nurses at the Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, TX are organizing with NNU, which would be the biggest win in the Fort Worth region of the NLRB since I think 2014. 210 Starbucks workers at nine stores in San Antonio, Burbank, CA, Albany and Clifton Park, NY, Albuquerque, Easton and McMurray, PA, Lafayette, LA, and Springfield, OR have formally joined the Starbucks Workers United drive. 175 workers who make cosmetic ingredients for Swiss manufacturer Givaudin in East Hanover, NJ are organizing with Teamsters Local 210. 80 home health workers for John Muir Health in Concord, CA are organizing with SEIU UHW. 60 nursing home workers at SKLD in Bloomfield Hills, MI are unionizing with SEIU Healthcare Michigan. 51 workers who make animal food for Land O’ Lakes in Madera, CA are organizing with Teamsters Local 517. 47 workers for online discount clothes retailer Proozy in Eagan, MN are organizing with Teamsters Local 120. 45 transit workers for MV Transportation in Ypsilanti, MI are organizing with the ATU, as are six more in Glendale, CA, with Teamsters Local 848. 

Tiny shops: 27 A/V workers for the Minnesota United Football Club in Golden Valley, MN are unionizing with IATSE. 26 cement masons for contractor Leroy Newton Construction based in Washington are joining OPCMIA Local 528. 22 television workers for KXTV in Sacramento are joining NABET-CWA. 21 freight workers for Semper Fi Express out of Bloomington, IL are unionizing with Teamsters Local 26. 21 workers at another Chipotle location, this time in Lansing, MI, are also organizing, this time with the Teamsters. 20 school bus workers for M&J Bus in Mansfield, CT are joining Teamsters Local 671. 19 Verizon wireless workers in Flint and Fenton, MI are organizing with CWA, as are nine more in Portland, OR. 18 workers for stone products company OldCastle in Lilesville, NC are unionizing with Teamsters Local 71. 17 workers for Japanese luxury products supplier Jalux Americas in San Jose, CA are joining UFCW Local 5. 17 drivers for construction materials supplier Elston Materials in Chicago are organizing with Teamsters Local 786. 17 workers for Maytag Aircraft at Fort Hood, TX are unionizing with the Machinists. 16 gravel and ready-mix suppliers for Cadman in Bellingham and Ferndale, WA are unionizing with Teamsters Local 231. 15 workers at smoke shop 20 Past 4 (get it?) in Indianapolis are joining UFCW Local 700. 14 workers for Sixt Rent A Car in Fort Lauderdale, FL are unionizing with Teamsters Local 769. 14 building restoration workers with LSR Refinishing in Clinton, MD are unionizing with Painters Local 890. 11 electricians with contractor Horvath Electric based in Toledo, OH are joining IBEW Local 8. Ten workers at Real Change, a newspaper in Seattle, are unionizing with IBEW Local 89. Ten bus drivers with Battle Transportation in Philadelphia (I believe a charter bus company contracted with the Philly public schools) are unionizing with the esteemed “United Independent Union” which I’m sure is some pseudo-sweetheart “union” but at least it’s united and independent. Eight chefs on Warner Brothers TV sets in New Mexico are joining Teamsters Local 492. Seven lab workers for Roanoke Cement Company in Troutville, VA are organizing with Boilermakers Local D-314. Six baristas at Canary Coffee in Milwaukee are joining Teamsters Local 344. Six workers at industrial paint company Regal in Pekin, IL are unionizing with the Ironworkers St. Louis District Council. Five building services workers at a luxury condo building in Tribeca, NYC are joining 32BJ SEIU, as are seven more in Brooklyn. Five workers for Alpha in Tempe, AZ, which makes power supplies for telecom companies and others, are joining IBEW Local 640. Three First Student school bus mechanics in Pittsburgh are unionizing with ATU Local 1743, as are two more in Atlanta, with Teamsters Local 728. Two workers at Alta Equipment in Batavia, NY are joining Operating Engineers Local 158. 

NLRB election wins…: Starbucks Workers United went six and six over the past two weeks, with 272 workers at 12 stores voting a cumulative 92-58 for the union, forming new union shops in Vernon, CT, South Burlington, VT, East Amherst, NY, Happy Valley, OR, Bellingham, WA, and Tucson, AZ; losses in “strongholds” (I mean the whole thing is so new so “stronghold” is an overstatement, but best I got) Philadelphia, Boston, and Cheektowaga, NY are a little concerning, but the win rate remains extremely high. 155 janitors in Toa Baja, PR joined SEIU Local 1996 in a 67-21 vote. 130 workers at Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts won their union with 1199 SEIU in an absolute blowout, 92-1. 76 early childhood education workers at Joyful Noise Child Development Centers in Portland, OR voted 38-12 to join ILWU Local 5. 73 nursing home support staff at Stafford Healthcare at Ridgemont in Port Orchard, WA squeaked out a narrow win with SEIU Local 775, 23-22. 68 staffers at abortion rights non-profit the Guttmacher Institute have voted an impressive 61-2 to join OPEIU Local 153 after a grueling anti-union campaign, which continued with management firing one of the activists hours after the vote count. 31 workers for Marin County Transit (but actually for mega subcontractor Transdev) in San Rafael, CA voted 21-0 to join Teamsters Local 665. 43 knights and squires at Medieval Knights in Lyndhurst, NJ voted 26-11 to join the American Guild of Variety Artists, to much fanfare, so to speak. 28 nurses at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Methuen, MA voted 20-3 to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association. 20 therapists at Brighton Rehab in Beaver, PA voted 16-1 to join SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. 19 workers at meal kit producer Acme Farms and Kitchen in Bellingham, WA voted 14-0 to join UFCW Local 3000. 15 software engineers for HCL (Hindustan Computers Limited) in Cleveland voted 8-4 to join the Steelworkers. 12 cashiers at nine New Jersey locations of Wonderland Smoke Shop voted 8-2 to join UFCW Local 360. Nine sanitation workers at Recology in Auburn, CA voted 7-2 to join Teamsters Local 150. All nine building services workers at a condo building in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC, voted to join 32BJ SEIU. Eight more tree-trimmers for Asplundh in Cortez, CO voted 5-1 to join IBEW Local 111. Six building engineers at the Thompson Hotel in DC voted 5-1 to join Operating Engineers Local 99. Seven more workers at Badger Daylighting, this time in Kent, WA, voted 5-0 to join Operating Engineers Local 302. Five firefighters for a federal contractor in Las Cruces, NM voted unanimously to join IAFF Local 10099. Four building engineers at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City, OR voted 3-1 to join Operating Engineers Local 701. All four truck mechanics at Franz Family Bakeries in Spokane Valley, WA voted to join Teamsters Local 690. Both pharmacists at a CVS in San Pedro, CA voted to join UFCW Local 770, and both supervisors at Matson Terminals in Honolulu voted to join ILWU Local 142. 

…and losses: 149 workers who make concrete and other similar materials for American Rock Products in Washington and Oregon voted 22-89 not to join the Teamsters. 17 welders at Ironwood Fabrication in La Habra, CA voted against joining the Iron Workers. 13 dancers at the Boulder (CO) Ballet voted 5-8 against joining AGMA. Nine workers at Hickman’s Egg Ranch in Riverside, CA voted against joining Teamsters Local 63, 1-7.

Decertifications and raids: The company unions are continuing to eviscerate the former-company union United Production Workers Union Local 17-18 (which was taken over by some of its members a couple years back, kicking out the longtime corrupt “leadership” of the fake union, and is now a UFCW affiliate, I believe), with “International Brotherhood of Trade Unions Local 713” raiding 375 workers at ALUF Plastics in Orangeburg, NY. 56 workers at Japanese food wholesaler JFC International in Linden, NJ handily defeated a decert filing, voting 27-2 to keep UFCW Local 2013. 28 workers at Gary Merlino Construction, the concrete supplier in Seattle that was ground zero for the months-long concrete strike that shut down a huge number of projects, beat a decertification attempt, 22-4, and will remain with Teamsters Local 174. 18 workers for Penske voted to remain with Teamsters Local 856 in the Bay Area in a 8-1 vote. 16 workers at Twin City Chromium Plating Company in Minneapolis left Teamsters Local 970 after a 1-12 vote. 16 workers at Menasco Aerospace in Everett, WA are still with Machinists District Lodge 751 after a decertification failed, 8-5. 15 dump truck drivers for Tripi Transportation in Lancaster, NY are still with Teamsters Local 449 after a 8-3 vote. Ten mechanics for Truck Fleet Management Services in Oak Creek, WI dropped Machinists Local 510 in a 4-6 vote. Nine scrap metal drivers and mechanics for OmniSource in Toledo, OH voted 5-4 to stick with Teamsters Local 20. Five maintenance workers for fuel company Puma Energy in Bayamon, PR voted 1-4 to decertify Congreso de Uniones Industriales de Puerto Rico. Somehow this dispute I wrote about in November over five workers at LaGuardia Airport in NYC is still not resolved and is being re-filed with 22 additional workers involved, so here’s what I wrote back then: “There is some kind of jostling going on between GCC-IBT Local 2N and the “Barclay’s Center Conversion Union” which appears to be a breakaway from 32BJ that apparently raided an IUJAT unit of workers (or maybe just beat IUJAT in an election) for contractor ABM Aviation at LaGuardia Airport last year, and is now being raided by Local 2N but was maybe at one point with Teamsters Local 808 a few years ago? I don’t know. I’m sure they’re all busy building a lot of worker power.”

Security guards: 79 guards at federal buildings across Ohio voted 33-1 to join SPFPA. 42 security guards at the Whitney Museum in NYC have (again? I swear this is like the third vote in a year and a half) voted to unionize, 23-0, with the “Local One Security Officers Union.” The SPFPA and Protective Service Officers United are fighting over 73 guards at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville, MD. 60 guards at the National Gallery of Arts in Washington, DC are joining Protective Service Officers United.

AFSCME Local 36 won voluntary recognition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

Finally, in the world of Amazon, new shops are organizing with the Amazon Labor Union in Campbellsville, Kentucky and Albany, NY, which kind of makes the business press’s claim that the “momentum” has “faded” sound silly. Outside of ALU, Alex Press has a useful profile on the Garner, NC union effort.