BlueCollarWriter Labor News Update

Labor News

Starbucks workers' union takes month-long strike to more citiesHundreds of Starbucks' baristas walked off the job in 34 U.S. cities on Thursday, escalating a month-long strike as their union tries to push the coffee chain towards its first-ever labor contract.

Paducah Starbucks workers vote to unionizeWorkers at the Starbucks at 5015 Hinkleville Road in Paducah have voted to unionize, Starbucks Workers United announced Monday.

More than 250 ballots in dispute after UnityPoint nurses' union vote - Radio IowaThe results of this week’s vote to unionize by nearly 1,800 nurses at the four UnityPoint hospitals in metro Des Moines are still unclear. Over the past three days, 871 nurses voted for the union, while 666 voted against it, but the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which is leading unionization effort, is challenging the validity […]

Nurses Face Tough Opposition To Forming Their UnionSince the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses have experienced increasing short-staffing that can leave them caring for an unsustainable number of patients, compromising patient care and worker safety.

Union files labor charges against Ithaca hospital Nurses at Cayuga Medical Center are trying to unionize.

Salt Lake Tribune journalists win first-ever union contract | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWAUnionized journalists at The Salt Lake Tribune recently ratified their first-ever contract. 93% of bargaining unit members voted to ratify the contract.

‘We would like to make a home for ourselves:’ Nearly 90 percent of Columbus Dispatch staffers sign union cards – Matter NewsContract negotiations could include an AI clause following the 2023 sports debacle.

Independent Musicians Submit “We Need a Union” Petition to American Federation of MusiciansJoe Russo, John Medeski and Marc Ribot at the 2024 TeachRock benefit, photo by JMSArtandPhoto Artists are banding together in support of a campaign to

Penn State faculty file for a union - The River ReporterHARRISBURG, PA — Penn State faculty members have filed to form a union with the Penn State Faculty Alliance (PSFA) - SEIU Local 668. On Tuesday, December 9, members of the organizing committee …

Union support is still surging in local workplaces

Employees at the Dispatch newspaper have launched a unionization effort, the latest in another local wave from a wide variety of industries. MORE...

“Lay down our weapons”: Sheridan teachers union urges district to revive contract after months-long impasseThe high-poverty district is the latest battleground between union members and Colorado school district heads in contract negotiations

Real Alloy Teamsters Ratify First Contract(MORGANTOWN, Ky.) – Members of Teamsters Local 89 at Real Alloy in Morgantown, Ky., have unanimously ratified their first collective bargaining agreement. The

First Student Bus Drivers and Monitors in Missouri Join Teamsters Local 838(GRANDVIEW, Mo.) – More than 100 bus drivers and monitors at First Student in Missouri have voted to join Teamsters Local 838, securing strong representation

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BlueCollarWriter Commentary & Analysis

Power At Work: The Power Half-Hour Episode #15Episode #15 of the Power Half-Hour has arrived! The Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, fast-paced, bi-weekly roundtable with a rotating group of regular guests. Our guests discuss the biggest labor story of the preceding week and the labor story everyone should be talking about over the next two weeks. Joining Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris for this episode are:

Hell’s Not Far Off: Rediscovering A Forgotten Voice in Appalachia’s Labor Struggle Josh Howard’s Hell’s Not Far Off: Bruce Crawford and the Appalachian Left arrives at a moment when Appalachia’s labor movement is wrestling with new forms of old struggles. As organizers, rank-and-file workers, union leaders, scholars, and labor journalists confront corporate consolidation, political division, and the collapse of local news infrastructure, Howard’s biography of Bruce Crawford, an early 20th-century labor journalist and organizer, serves as both recovery and reminder. It restores a forgotten figure to the narrative and reinforces a truth many of us already know: the most honest history of this region is written by the people willing to stand up to its power structures.

The Unforgivable Failure: What Amber Czech’s Death Demands of Us - People's TribuneAmber’s death demands that we protect one another fiercely. Demands that we rebuild our workplaces into places where every worker—especially those newly entering the trades—can thrive without fear. Demands that we do better.

Black Friday: The Chaos That Should've Told Us Everything

A Tribute to a Lifetime of Service — Cecil E. Roberts

Union Busting Is Disgusting — and Fayette County’s Board Just Proved Why Collective Bargaining Matters More Than Ever

The Case for a General Strike in America

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Government & Politics

Republicans Begin Bucking Trump on Government Union RightsRank-and-file Republicans are rebuffing President Donald Trump’s push to abolish many federal sector unions, warning their leaders that pro-union conservatives helped the party take control of both chambers of Congress.

13 Republicans vote to nullify Donald Trump's executive orderThe bill seeks to restore union rights for employees at agencies central to national security, healthcare, and veterans' affairs.

The Latest: Senate rejects legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax creditsThe Senate has rejected two partisan health bills on expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the...

Major labor union warns new bill could put retirement savings at riskTeachers union pushes back on a new crypto bill as Wall Street tests ‘new stock tech’

‘The Map Is Frozen’: Red State Throws Big Wrench In Trump’s PlansRepublicans’ mid-decade gerrymander cannot be used in the midterm elections unless the secretary of state deems the 305,000 signatures a group gathered to be insufficient.

FBI Official's Antifa Hype Collapses When Congressman Asks 1 Simple Question“What does that mean?” asked a baffled Rep. Bennie Thompson.

Judge Orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Release From ICE DetentionThe judge said it was “troubling” that the Trump administration had kept Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in custody for nearly four months without following through on its pledge to re-expel him.

Trump Doesn’t Want to Talk About Affordability. Democrats Say That’s a Gift.The president continues to brush off an issue that he said he would solve in his first months in office. Some Democrats say he is making the same mistake as his predecessor.

Time for us Dems to come up with our own counter-vocabulary“Framing the narrative” is not just for Repubs

Judge Defers on Unions’ Bid to Block Trump’s CBA Executive OrderA district judge hedged on whether he planned to grant a request from two federal employee unions to block President Donald Trump’s executive order nullifying their collective bargaining agreements, saying the case was more complicated than other union lawsuits where he issued injunctions.

Two More Unions to Push District Court to Block Trump CBA OrderUnions for employees at two federal agencies are the next to attempt to convince a district judge to temporarily block President Donald Trump‘s cancellation of their collective bargaining agreements, despite previous union wins being quickly unwound on appeal.

Trump Presses on With Layoffs Despite Shutdown Deal, Union SaysFederal unions asked a judge to reinstate hundreds of workers at multiple agencies, who they say were fired by the Trump administration despite a ban on such firings included in the most recent law funding the government.

Golden pushes for vote on bill to restore federal union rights - Maine - The Black ChronicleGolden pushes for vote on bill to restore federal union rights - The Black Chronicle

IRS closes out ‘hardship’ requests for telework, citing return-to-office mandateEmployees can still submit hardship-based telework requests, but approvals must come from the agency’s leadership or its human capital office.

The White House says the midterms are all about Trump. Democrats aren’t so sureDemocrats Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico have kicked off their Texas Senate campaigns with contrasting strategies. Crockett takes direct aim at former President Donald Trump, using his insults to...

The Surprising (and Unintended) Expansion of “Mutual Aid and Protection” Under Trump ✦ OnLaborIn the past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have mounted a callous and unprecedented immigration crackdown. ICE’s tactics have violated the constitutional rights of undocumented and documented immigrants, as well as U.S. citizens. While ICE has deployed a range of enforcement strategies, raids on private businesses like hospitals, car washes, and agricultural facilities have become a mainstay. ICE’s actions have raised important […]

Stephen Miller: The Man Behind Trump’s Immigration Policies - People's TribuneThe most powerful White House staffer, Stephen Miller, has written or edited every executive order Trump has put into place. Many question his legal tactics and ability to continue spreading his white supremacist ideology. Many of his initiatives are in court.

How the Republican Party Slipped Its LeashA strong labor movement demanded unified elites. Organized business in turn kept the GOP’s madness contained to ensure a favorable business climate. Today the Republican Party’s descent into chaos is a product of capitalist fragmentation.

Millions of borrowers in Biden's SAVE plan would start paying under new settlementLegal challenges put SAVE borrowers in limbo for months, a time during which they were not required to make payments on their loans. That would change if the proposed settlement is approved.

Poll: Voters say billionaires pay too little in taxes, back action on inequalityEight in ten Americans view the wealth gap as a problem that is either “somewhat big” or “very big.”

Thomas Massie, facing Trump’s opposition, gets a hand from billionaire megadonorDueling PACs in the race for Massie’s congressional seat

Inside the Pentagon’s Scramble to Deal With Boat Strike SurvivorsOfficials initially weighed sending survivors of U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling to a notorious prison in El Salvador, to keep them away from American courts.

Trump once denied using this slur about Haiti and African nations. Now he boasts about itPresident Donald Trump admits he used the slur “shithole countries” during a private 2018 meeting with lawmakers to disparage Haiti and African nations. On Tuesday, he recalled the comment at a...

Trump criticises Democrat he pardoned over not switching political partiesTexas Representative Henry Cuellar is running for re-election as a Democrat after Trump pardoned him.

Democrats Press to Expand House Map, Targeting 5 New G.O.P. SeatsFour of the additions are for districts where President Trump won handily, but Democrats are feeling emboldened by election outcomes this fall.

Recent Governnent & Politics News

UC workers beat Trump in court — and provided a roadmap for countering his attacks on universities

AFGE urges Congress to vote against House rule for 2026 NDAA

200 DOJ employees who left under Trump say admin is making ‘coordinated effort’ to undermine career staff

Trump’s government management vision centers on elimination, accountability

State & Local

68 Cities, Counties, and States Will Increase Their Minimum Wage on January 1As Trump calls affordability a “con job,” state and local governments are taking the lead on raising wages.

Rikers corrections officers' union sues NYC over return of 12-hour shiftsThe pilot program requires eight hours plus four hours of forced overtime — a move the union calls heartless and unlawful

Utah Repeals Anti-Union Law - 700 Texas Nurses Unionize - 13 House GOP Push Back on Trump Anti-Union AttacksIn a sign of Republican fear of taking on unions even Republicans in Utah repealed an anti-union bill passed just earlier this year

States, unions sue Trump administration over loan forgiveness rule(The Center Square) – A coalition of states led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and another coalition of teacher unions filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, alleging it

Utility costs burden Kentuckians, as federal program faces uncertaintyBeshear asked to enact moratorium on utility shutoffs

State and Local Policymakers Can Raise Standards and Build Power for Workers

States and cities can advance these 21 ideas in 2026 to build worker power, support unionized workers, and uphold workforce stability and standards. MORE...