Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from June 12th to July 19th:
New Campaigns
- A majority of housekeeping workers at a Hyatt Hotels location in Arlington, VA have signed union cards with Unite Here and are asking the company to recognize their union. Community supporters and union members with the Northern Virginia Labor Federation are supporting the workers and demanding management stop union busting with a solidarity picket on Saturday, July 27.
- Efforts are underway at Ultium Cells in Spring Hill, TN to collect union authorization cards with the United Auto Workers
- Metropolitan District 1199DC is attempting to raid a unit of 100 workers at Unity Health Care in Washington, DC who are currently represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists
- 35 workers at Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA filed a petition to hold a union election with UNITE HERE Local 25
- 5 workers at IKEA in Ponce, PR filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW)
- 33 workers at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center in Athens, GA filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 926
- 31 workers at Kentucky Power in Pikeville, KY filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 978
- 22 workers at Appalachian Power in Charleston, WV filed a petition to hold a union election with IBEW Local 978
Campaign Updates
- Teamsters Local 41 rallied in Smithville, MO to demand that the Local Cannabis Dispensary drop its claim that its employees, who have petitioned for an election from the NLRB, are agricultural workers and thus ineligible for NLRA protections
Elecion Results
- 27 workers at Corporacion Sanos in Caguas, PR voted across all 4 bargaining units against unionization with the ULEES
- 22 workers at Division 5 LLC in Hickory, NC withdrew their petition for a union election with the Ironworkers
- 89 workers at Sibelco in Bakersville, NC withdrew their petition for unionization with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)
- 57 workers at Triple S Salud in San Juan, PR voted in favor of unionization with the Unidos Trabajando por la Salud (United Working for Health)
- 10 workers at AT&T Mobility in Tampa, FL withdrew their petition for unionization with the Communication Workers of America (CWA)
Settlements, Grievances, & Unfair Labor Practices
- Friend of the show McKenna Shueler has a detailed report in the Orlando Weekly about heat illness among workers at Disney World in Orlando, centering an incident where one worker fainted, couldn’t work the rest of his shift, with Disney refusing to pay fo the rest of that shift
- According to a new academic study evaluating a decade’s worth of federal data, one-hundred-car trains are 11 percent more likely to derail than two fifty-car trains, and two-hundred-car trains are 24 percent more likely than four fifty-car trains.
Strikes & Bargaining
- The International Longshoremen’s Association (which represents longshore workers on the Gulf and East Costs), said they are prepared to strike in October when their contract expires in October if nothing changes. The International President said they will “not entertain” discussions of contract extensions, nor are they “interested in any help from outside agencies,” including “the Biden administration.”
- Costco Teamsters in Norfolk, VA are taking a strike vote. Pensions are a major striking point in contract negotiations
- National Staff Organization (NSO) sanctioned the National Education Association (NEA) for locking out its union staff
- United Steel Workers members at Blue Bird in Georgia were joined by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and Georgia AFLCIO President Yvonne Brooks to celebrate their contract win
- The UAW sent a notice to its Stellantis members about some of the controversies at the center of the new probe by the Federal Monitor, making it seem more and more likely the probe is BS
- Kansas City nurses, unionized with National Nurses United, held two informational pickets at an HCA hospital, protesting the hospital’s refusal to meet demands in negotiations
- Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) employed by Universal Cable Holdings, LLC, part of Altice USA, Inc., reached a tentative agreement that includes a 7.69% wage increase over the three year term of the contract
Politics & Legislation
- The Middle Tennessee Democratic Socialists of America eliminated $1M of medical debt for Tennesseeans from their successful “Burn Debt Not Books” fundraiser
- WPLN – Nashville’s NPR affiliate – had a construction worker safety feature including an interview with an organizer from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT)
- Congressional Democrats in the House have asked that the they have a hearing on child labor, but Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, has refused
- Railroad Workers United, a cross craft caucus of rail workers, published a white paper on public rail ownership. We’ll be talking to the author of the paper on the show
- The Brotherhood of Maintenance and Rail Employees, one of the Teamsters rail affiliates, blasted Congressional Republicans who want to cut the budget of the Railroad Retirement Board by 21%
- Officials broke ground last week in Raleigh, North Carolina, on construction of a new passenger rail line along an existing freight rail corridor between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia. The construction is being funded by a $1.1B grant from the federal government, plus 20% matching funds from Amtrak and the NC DOT. I believe this should be over the $35M threshold mandating PLAs, so would be interested in reading about that, but can’t find anything on it
- Alabama public employee health insurance boards are sounding the alarm about coming deficits and trying to lay the groundwork to increase costs for state workers – no mention of trying to defray the costs without placing extra burdens on workers
- Madison County BOE approved over $43M for the construction of a new school. Alabama does not have a Davis Bacon law or PLA mandates, so workers on the site will not have those wage and safety protections
- St Pete city council in FL are considering a vote on repealing city ordinances requiring contractors on public projects to employ apprentices, disadvantaged workers, and pay responsible wages
- 7 of 10 states with the lowest quality of life are in the South, according to CNBC
- Birmingham City Council passed a resolution endorsing a ceasefire in Gaza
- The Missouri Worker Center criticized Teamster President Sean O’Brien’s praise of Josh Hawley, noting Hawley does not support the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, and opposed raising Missouri’s minimum wage
- In response the signs on the RNC convention floor calling for “Mass Deportation Now” (only one day after O’Brien’s appearance and praise for the ephemeral “Pro-Labor Conservatism”), the AFL-CIO noted that 1 in 5 American workers are immigrants. They have also released a project analyzing the impacts of Project 2025 on workers.
- National Nurses United endorsed Cori Bush for re-election
- After a terrible report on worker safety at Amazon on Prime Day which showed that something like 1 in 2 workers sustain some injury, the Teamsters redouble their calls to pass the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (Josh Hawley, Sean O’Brien’s buddy, has not endorsed it)
Internal Union Affairs
- At Large Teamsters Vice President John Palmer, formerly the Southern Region VP, a member of the International Executive Board, and former member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, announced he is running for President against Sean O’Brien in 2026, excoriating both O’Brien and the TDU for its failure to speak out