Last Week in Southern Labor: 10/17 – 10/31

Jacob Morrison

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from Friday, October 17 to Friday, October 31

All information on Florida’s public sector union elections comes from McKenna Schueler’s monthly round up of Florida union news. You can check it out on her website, caringclassrevolt.substack.com, where you can get more information about Florida labor as well as exclusive details about union elections referenced here.

Union Elections

  • The National Labor Relations Board continues to be shut down, but workers are still organizing. 300 workers at four of Washington DC’s most popular music venues are calling for a card check unionization, seeking to improve safety on the job and increase wages. The workers are organizing with three unions: UNITE HERE Local 25, and IATSE Locals 22 and 868. Additionally, there are several new elections coming out of Florida’s public sector. I pulled a few representative ones, but if you’d like to see all of them, then definitely check out McKenna’s newsletter!  
  • Workers at Volusia County Schools in DeLand, FL voted 364 to 79 in favor of unionizing with Volusia United Educators. They were previously represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) before their union was decertified
  • 3 Fire department district chiefs at the Apopka Fire Department in Apopka, FL voted 2 to 0 in favor of joining an existing bargaining unit unionized with the Apopka Professional Firefighters Association, an IAFF affiliate
  • 157 office workers at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando, FL voted 35 to 12 in favor of unionizing with the Orange County Sheriff’s Lodge #93, a chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police
  • 135 workers at the city of Sarasota, FL voted 123 to 2 in favor of recertifying the Citrus, Cannery, Food Processing & Allied Workers, Drivers, Warehousemen and Helpers Local 173 as their union
  • 587 workers at Columbia County Public Schools in Lake City, FL voted 224 to 9 in favor of recertifying the Columbia Teachers Association as their union
  • 630 workers at Putnam County Public Schools in Palatka, FL voted 80 to 4 in favor of recertifying the Putnam Federation of Teachers/United as their union
  • 1,141 workers at Okaloosa County Public Schools in Walton Beach, FL voted 404 to 25 in favor of recertifying the Okaloosa Education Staff Professionals as their union
  • 3,491 workers at Palm Beach County Public Schools in West Palm Beach, FL voted 340 to 26 in favor of recertifying the Service Employees International Union-Florida Public Sector Union (SEIU-FPSU) as their union
  • 108 workers at Glades County Schools in Moore Haven, FL voted 34 to 0 in favor of recertifying the Glades County Teachers Association as their union
  • 142 workers at Columbia County Public Schools in Lake City, FL voted 44 to 1 in favor of recertifying the Columbia County Educational Support Personnel Association as their union
  • 27 workers at the town of Orange Park, FL voted 5 to 0 in favor of recertifying the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 630 as their union
  • 117 workers at Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, FL voted 25 to 4 in favor of recertifying the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 630 as their union
  • 88 workers at the city of Sweetwater, FL voted 10 to 0 in favor of recertifying the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 1010 as their union
  • 477 workers at Hernando County School District in Brooksville, FL voted 103 to 3 in favor of recertifying the Hernando United School Workers as their union
  • 37 workers at the city of Cocoa Beach, FL voted 28 to 1 in favor of recertifying the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 630 as their union

Grievances, Unfair Labor Practices, & Court Cases

  • The Texas Observer has a report out about how Texas’ labor law enforcement system is falling apart and failing workers. Workers who report wage theft typically have to wait 9 months for a resolution – and that number came from a prior internal audit before last year saw the highest number of wage theft complaints in the last 9 years, and double the number of complaints since 2021. 
  • The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) which represents thousands of workers at NASA nationwide, filed a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order designating the work of NASA as primarily national security in function, pointing out in part that the law that created NASA specifically intended for it NOT to be involved with national security operations
  • Michael Sainato has a round up of the lawsuits against the Trump administration on behalf of federal workers that is really good for the Guardian.

Strikes & Bargaining

  • Workers at Lockheed Martin in Ocala, FL – unionized with the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1821 – are voting on a tentative agreement that raises wages by 19.3% over the 5 year life of the contract, plus a $4,000 ratification bonus. A listener wrote in saying that they like the financials, but are concerned about some work rule changes. We’ll see how the members vote. 
  • The Teamsters have been fighting UPS on their slow walking AC in package cars, and UPS appears to be moving – now committing to retrofit 5,000 package cars in the hottest delivery zone by June 1, 2027. The 5,000 retrofitted vehicles will count towards the company’s obligation to provide 28,000 package cars with AC. 
  • 3,000 workers at Boeing in St Louis, MO – unionized with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District Lodge 837 – are still on strike. They voted down Boeing’s contract offer for a 4th time. On the quarterly earnings call last week, the company boasted of $23B in revenue (just for the quarter!!) and a positive cashflow for the first time since 2023, despite the fact that they have a $76B defense backlog. The company acknowledges the strike is causing delays, and the union is calling on the company to negotiate in good faith for a fair contract for its members. 
  • A supermajority of workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, TN – unionized with the UAW – voted to authorize a strike last week. The union says this comes after “months of unfair labor practices committed by the company, including bad faith negotiations, unlawful intimidation, and the unilateral cutting of jobs at Volkswagen’s only U.S. assembly plant.” They note that “Volkswagen made $20.6 billion in profits in 2024, and generates a full 20 percent of its profits in North America. The company can afford to provide a union contract that honors the hardworking autoworkers of Chattanooga.” In particular dispute between the two parts are provisions of the contract dealing with job security, with the UAW saying “Volkswagen’s most recent proposal does not include the job security language needed to protect workers from plant closures, outsourcing, or the sale of the Chattanooga facility.”
  • Nurses at New Orleans University Medical Center – unionized with National Nurses United (NNU) – delivered a notice that they would be striking again in November to protest the hospital’s refusal to address nurses’ concerns about staff retention in on-going first contract bargaining.
  • 200 members of five unions representing Memphis City workers protested in front of the mayor’s office, demanding he negotiate and sign a memorandum of understanding with the unions. 
  • As Starbucks workers continue to try to secure a first contract, they are planned pickets in dozens of cities nationwide – including in Scottsboro, AL. 
  • Workers at Rivers Casino in Portsmouth, VA – unionized with Teamsters Local 822 – voted by 95 percent to ratify their first collective bargaining agreement. According to the Teamsters, “they are the first casino workers in Virginia to ever secure a union contract — setting a precedent for fairness, wages, and workplace protections in the state’s growing gaming industry.” The union says the contract includes “raises of 15.95 percent over the life of the contract.” Additionally, they “locked in employer-paid health care coverage, protections from at-will employment, and additional paid time off.”
  • 160 workers for Breakthru Beverage in Florida – unionized with the Teamsters – ended a months-long strike by ratifying their first union contract. The Teamsters say the 3 year contract includes “major wage increases, improved paid leave, and key union protections, including seniority protections and a guaranteed 40-hour work week.”
  • 200 workers at US Foods in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia — unionized with Teamsters Locals 61, 71, and 391 — ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement. The Teamsters say the contract “delivers significant wage increases, lowers health care costs, and strengthens language on discipline and route bidding.” They also say this comes after a credible strike threat. 
  • Bus drivers in Raleigh, North Carolina – unionized with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1328 – are speaking out against unsafe working conditions
  • Workers at Meow Wolf, an arts and entertainment company in Grapevine, TX, went on a 3 day strike Halloween weekend coinciding with the company’s busiest time of the year. The workers are unionized with Meow Wolf Workers Collective-Communications Workers of America Local 7055 (MWWC-CWA). They went on strike to protest union busting and bad faith bargaining by the company

Political & Legislative

  • The shutdown is now over a month long, and more government services are being halted. The Federal Railroad Administration said it would no longer be investigating new health and safety complaints. Rail unions are sounding the alarm on the issue, saying this is a “gross disservice to rail safety and the American people.” The administration attempted to not fund SNAP before the money ran out to increase pressure on Democrats to cave, but a federal court forced them to distribute the funds, at least so far. Also adding pressure to Democrats now are an array of unions calling for the passage of a clean CR. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) – the largest federal employee union which represents some 800,000 workers, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) – which represents another tens of thousands of federal workers, the National Air Traffic Controllers Union (NATCA), several unions which represent some 100,000 pilots, the Teamsters, and more have called on Democrats to pass a clean CR. Some are more diplomatic than others, with IFPTE President Matt Biggs saying that while a clean CR is what is needed immediately, “we recognize that the numbers in the CR, and any funding bill at this point, are meaningless unless Congress reestablishes its power of the purse. We can pass any CR or any funding bill we want, but if [Office of Management and Budget Director] Russ Vought is allowed to impound funds and spend them in any way he chooses, that language is meaningless.”
  • In bad news for federal workers in the Department of Defense, a new memo is instructing management to fire people more quickly and with less due process. In potentially good news for federal workers in the DOD, sixteen House Republicans have sent a letter Senate and House Armed Services Committees requesting that the leaders of those committees retain language in the final NDAA to restore collective bargaining rights for DOD civilian workers. 
  • After a Loudon County, VA firefighters death – the state is expanding the number of cancers covered by the state, thanks to the advocacy of the firefighters union
  • The Trump FCC voted to allow telecommunications companies to nearly double the rate that they charge prisoners to talk to their families last week
  • AJ McCarron, a former Alabama football quarterback and also minor league football player who opposed unionization of the USFL and XFL, is now running for lieutenant governor for Alabama despite the fact that he appears never to have voted, ever. 
  • Millions of folks came out and took to the streets last week – protesting the administration in another round of No Kings protests. 
  • A furloughed Department of Labor employer and AFGE Local president went on ABC News to talk about how having OSHA shut down is bad for workers
  • Trump’s EEOC is cutting back on protections against discrimination, rolling back the “disparate impact” rule, which workers have used in the past to get employers to eliminate discriminatory hiring practices
  • The US Senate held hearings for Trump nominees to the TVA’s board. At the hearing, all the nominees said they would oppose privatization, but most of them left open the possibility of selling off assets of the TVA (privatization in more words). 
  • The UAW is celebrating actions taken by the Trump administration to impose a 25% tariff on heavy trucks, stating that this will significantly benefit their members at Mack.

Internal Union Affairs

  • The International President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Cecil Roberts retired last week, Brian Sanson – who was previously the Secretary Treasurer – now takes the reigns of the union
  • LaborNotes has an excellent series of articles by union leaders and activists on the topic of how unions can defend worker power under Trump 2.0. You should check it out.