Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from January 17 to 24:
New Campaigns
500 workers at five popular restaurants owned by two famous restaurateurs (Le Diplomate, St. Anselm, and Pastis from Stephen Starr and Rasika Penn Quarter and Modena from Ashok Bajaj) in Washington DC announced their intent to unionize with UNITE HERE Local 25 and sought voluntary recognition. So far, it appears that at least St Anselm and Pastis have declined, because 95 workers at St Anselm and 104 workers at Pastis have filed petitions to hold union elections with UNITE HERE Local 25 with the NLRB. Additionally, the union has filed a complaint with the James Beard Foundation Awards’ ethics committee calling for an investigation into Rasiki, alleging “inhumane, exploitative, or unlawful workplace practices”; “retaliation against workers who raise legitimate concerns”; “stealing of wages or tips”; and “bullying through conduct,” as well as starting an “aggressive anti-union campaign.” According to the Washington DC Eater, JBF’s code of ethics state that a “credible allegation may result in the disqualification of an entrant, nominee, or (semi)finalist, as well as prohibit them from “using the seal, logo, or image” tied to its 35-year-old awards program.” This complaint also coincided with the union filing a ULP alleging similar actions by the company.
410 workers at Credence Management Solutions in Washington DC filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1900
15 workers at Wayne Farms in Enterprise, AL filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW)
61 workers at FSCX in Ft Rucker, AL filed a petition to hold a union election with the IAMAW
12 workers at Starbucks in Palm Beach Gardens, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with Starbucks Workers United
16 security guards at South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company in Bay City, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Union of Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA)
20 workers at Reconsidered Goods in Greensboro, NC filed a petition to hold a union election with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU)
10 workers at Southeastern Service Corporation (a Compass Group Company) in Tampa, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE)
19 workers at the American Red Cross in Tulsa, OK filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1000
225 security guards at MVM in El Paso, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Government Security Officers of America (UGSOA) Local 332
Election Results
28 workers at the Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration (NCA)’s Memorial Products Service (MPS) at three remote processing facilities in Illinois, Kansas, and Tennessee voted 14 to 0 in favor of unionization with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 17
3 workers at Tucker Castleberry Printing in Atlanta, GA filed a petition for a union election with the Printing, Packaging, and Production Workers Union Local 527-M but withdrew in the same week
14 workers at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in Washington DC withdrew their petition for a union election with the Pacific Media Workers Guild ( a NewsGuild – CWA affiliate) Local 39521. I’m hoping this is because they secured voluntary recognition – they asked for it and every single worker was a public signor on the petition, so that would be my guess
25 workers at the North Carolina Association of Educators in Raleigh, NC withdrew their petition for a union election with the North Carolina Staff Organization
202 workers at Phoenix Paper Wickliffe in Wickliffe, KY withdrew their petition for a union election with the IAMAW
1350 principals, supervisors, and administrators in Fairfax County, VA voted 96% in favor of unionization with the Fairfax County Federation of Principals, Supervisors, and Administrators (FCFPSA). This follows the massive union win among school staff and their recent contract ratification
Workers at Wilmington Terminal Railroad, a subsidiary of Gennesse and Wyoming, in Wilmington, NC voted unanimously in favor of unionization with SMART
Low-wage workers, bus riders, and zTrip IRIS drivers with Stand Up KC joined Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1287 members and community allies to rally against cuts to bus routes and union driver and maintenance jobs in the Kansas City Area Transit Authority’s (KCATA) budget
Costco Teamsters nationwide have voted by an overwhelming 85 percent margin to authorize a strike. The vote is a direct result of the company’s continued failure to bargain constructively and refusal to present a fair contract offer that reflects the company’s record-breaking profits. The Costco Teamsters National Master Agreement, covering more than 18,000 Costco workers, expires on January 31. Costco recently reported $254 billion in annual revenue and $7.4 billion in net profits — a 135 percent increase since 2018
Reports continue to trickle out about the state of bargaining between the UAW and Volkswagon regarding the Chattanooga facility. So far, highlights are an offer of a 14% raise over 4 years plus cost of living adjustments, but the UAW said that won’t cut it, in no small part because the COLA would be capped at $0.25/hr
The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA, an IFPTE affiliate), is investigating Boeing (where the union represents 17,000 engineers in Seattle), over allegations that it is sending union work to nonunion locations
Hays County EMS workers, unionized with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 6115 ratified their first union contract after winning their union in September of 2023, the union says the contract includes raises, additional pay for bilingual workers, and an expanded retirement plan
45 workers for Hertz at the Dallas Ft Worth airport, unionized with the Teamsters Local 745, went on strike last week after the company refused to agree to a fair contract. Workers voted down a subpar offer on January 17 and have been on strike since the 18th. The strike is an indefinite one
Nurses at University Medical Center in New Orleans, LA, unionized with the National Nurses Union (NNU) voted to authorize a second strike as the hospital continues to stonewall. The two day strike will take place on February 5 and 6
Amtrak dining car stewards, unionized with the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers Union (SMART) ratified a contract that secured a 40% raise over the 7 year life of the contract, along with 10 weeks of parental leave, a new holiday, and more
As Starbucks workers continue to fight for a new contract, the new CEO Brian Niccol was paid $96M for just 4 months of work last year
MarketWatch estimates that Trump and CEOs who want workers in the office full time are handing workers a pay cut of anywhere between $305 and $2,357 per year
The International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 87 in Richmond, VA ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with ASM Global, the union didn’t release details of the deal
After 5 decades, Bridgestone’s first US factory will shutter. The closure of the La Vergne, TN tire plant, will kill some 700 jobs. According to the Tennessean, “this is Tennessee’s third major layoff of the year thus far, following 65 cuts at Dollar General’s corporate headquarters in Goodlettsville two weeks ago and Perdue Farms announcing the closure of its Monterey facility this week. Nissan also announced 9,000 global layoffs in November but has not yet said how many Tennessee workers will lose jobs.” Bridgestone reported more than $3B in profits last year. The Nashville Labor Council said many of these jobs were union jobs – United Steel Workers (USW) Local 1055L
Political & Legislative
Trump has only been in office for one (1) week and it already feels like it’s been years. Trump’s flurry of executive orders have particularly attacked federal workers, instituting a hiring freeze (despite the fact that the federal workforce has only grown 6% despite a 57% population growth in 50 years), trying to severely cut back telework (even though telework has not been tied to a loss in productivity), and attempting to politicize the federal service by doing away with merit based hiring for who knows how many thousands of positions
AFGE, along with others, is suing “DOGE,” saying that it is not complying with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) because DOGE’s members do not have a fair balance of viewpoints, meetings are held in secret and without public notice, and records and work product are not available to the public. AFGE says they previously sent a letter to Trump transition co-chairs Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon regarding their concerns about the failure to comply with FACA and requesting representation on the advisory group to ensure that it met FACA requirements. A Trump transition spokesperson rejected SDDF’s request, stating that “we have no room in our administration for Democrats.” Public Citizen and AFGE have yet to receive responses
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), saying that Biden’s executive order mandating Project Labor Agreements (PLAs – which are agreements with the area building trade unions setting wage, safety, and training standards) on federal construction over $35M is illegal. Biden’s PLA executive order so far has not been among those rescinded by Trump
The US Postal Service released its review of mail in balloting from the last election, with some impressive results:
The Postal Service processed 99.22 million ballots in the 2024 General Election
99.88 percent of ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within seven days
97.73 percent of ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within three days
Less than two days on average for ballots to deliver from election officials to voters
One day on average to deliver ballots from voters to election officials.
Surprisingly, Rohit Chopra, Biden’s head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is still at post at the end of Trump’s first week in office. Peter Navarro, who is currently serving as a senior counselor to the president, has expressed support for him in the past, saying “The MAGA folks… should embrace him.” David Dayen reports for the American Prospect that businesses being regulated by the CFPB are mad. You’ll remember, Elon Musk expressed explicit interest in “deleting” the CFPB.
While Chopra is still fighting for consumers (only last week announcing a new settlement with Argus Information and Advisory Services, a serial violator of financial and data privacy laws, and issued a new request for information on the consumer credit market) after having made corporate criminals return $6B to consumers and pay $3B in civil penalties, Lina Khan’s replacement at the FTC – Andrew Ferguson – announced all the work he is doing eliminating DEI at the FTC (time he could’ve spent protecting consumers)
North Carolina Republican Congressperson Greg Murphy, also a doctor, is calling for United Healthcare to be broken up
UAW President Shawn Fain wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post that the union is ready to work with Trump on trade policy
Congress passed the Laken Riley Act, which would require mandatory detention of undocumented immigrants simply accused of a crime, a move that even ICE said is simply not possible, and that will line the profits of the private prison industrial complex
The UAW is condemning the freezes, saying this is grinding research work at the National Institute of Health (NIH) where it represents some 5,000 workers
Another of Trump’s executive orders was the reversal of Biden orders for the Medicare and Medicaid agencies to lower prescription drug prices. APR’s Josh Moon called it the “Make Drug Prices High Again” executive order
Senate Democrats number one priority for blocking confirmation in the Senate is reportedly Russ Vought for Chair of Office of Management and Budget, due to his explicit hatred of federal workers, who he would be charged with leading at OMB if confirmed
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced that it will be working with Bechtel and Sargent & Lundy along with GE Hitachi (GEH) to support initial planning and evaluation for the first small modular reactor (SMR) at TVA’s Clinch River Nuclear site in Oak Ridge, TN
The City of Huntsville apparently pays Breeze airlines $10k per month to operate out of Huntsville airport – their contract is coming up for renewal
The EEOC in FY 2024 secured nearly $700M for victims of discrimination, substantially more than its $455M budget. They have more details in their annual report
An Alabama State House Representative has bipartisan support for a bill to presumptively approve Medicaid coverage for women so that they can have access to crucial early prenatal care, pointing to Alabama’s abysmal maternal healthcare stats as a reason for needing the change
Internal Union Affairs
The Fedez Master Executive Council, an Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) affiliate, re-elected their incumbent officers to continue leading the 5,000 pilots at FedEx
Listener Submissions
A couple weeks back, we reported on a raid by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) against an affiliate of the International Union of Journeymen and Allied Trades (IUJAT), saying that even though we are typically against raids, this is probably fine because we were pretty sure that IUJAT is a sort of sketchy organization. One reader wrote to endorse my memory, alleging that the IUJAT is an “unholy alliance” of three “unions” that are the remnants of the Italian, Irish, and Jewish mobs. The reader also cautioned us that they are very litigious, so these are of course only allegations!
Another story we reported on from back in December was an apparent attempt by the “National Employees International Union” to organize workers at UNFI in Atlanta (a company that the Teamsters have been targeting and winning elections at in significant numbers). The National Employees International Union is obviously a bizarre name, and these sorts of bizarre and generic names are a sort of hallmark of fishy “unions” (see above). A reader responded, informing us that he had done a little digging (he also had a suspicion about this name) and found no trace of this union online. No organization by this name has filed the required documentation for unions with Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) or the Department of Labor (DOL). Fishy indeed!
