Last Week in Southern Labor: 11/28 – 12/5

Jacob Morrison

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from Friday, November 28, to Friday, December 5

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.

New Campaigns

  • 55 workers at PalmTran public transit system in Delray Beach, FL have filed a petition to hold a union election with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1577
  • 141 workers at the city of Titusville’s public works and utilities departments in Titusville, FL have filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 606
  • 11 workers at Third Street Stuff – looks like a coffee shop – in Lexington, KY filed a petition to hold a union election with the presumably independent Third Street Staff Union
  • 128 workers at Pew Research Center in Washington, DC filed a petition to hold a union election with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU-IFPTE) Local 70
  • 42 workers at Midwestern Car Carrier in Kansas City, MO filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 41 
  • 7 workers at Amentum Services in Laredo, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Machinists (IAM)
  • 500 (really? That’s a lot)workers at the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, DC filed a petition to hold a union election with the Washington Baltimore NewsGuild Local 32035
  • 4 workers at EMCOR Government Services in Winchester, VA filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99

Election Results

  • 4,123 instructional workers at Osceola County Public Schools in Kissimmee, FL voted 1,205 to 15 in favor of recertifying the Osceola County Education Association as their union
  • 1,594 white-collar workers employed by Osceola County Public Schools in Kissimmee, FL voted 336 to 12 in favor of recertifying the Osceola County Education Association as their union
  • 1,305 non-instructional workers at Volusia County Schools in Deland, FL voted 267 to 12 in favor of recertifying Volusia United Educators as their union
  • 200 workers at Lufthansa Technik in Puerto Rico voted in favor of maintaining their unionization with the IAM, defeating a decertification attempt pushed by the National Right to Work Foundation. This comes three years after they initially unionized, with the IAM saying the company is stalling in contract negotiations. 
  • 15 workers at Spec’s Family Partners in Temple, TX voted 3 to 9 against unionization with the Teamsters Local 657. 
  • 206 non-instructional workers at Hardee County Schools in Wauchula, FL voted 47 to 1 in favor of recertifying the Hardee Education Association as their union
  • 112 supervisory workers at the city of Fort Lauderdale, FL voted 27 to 1 in favor of recertifying the Federation of Public Employees as their union, out of 112 eligible voters.
  • For the rest of Florida’s public sector organizing updates, subscribe to caringclassrevolt.substack.com

Strikes & Bargaining

  • Starbucks Workers United has expanded their strike against Starbucks – now to more than 120 stores 
  • Workers for Chatham Area Transit in Savannah, GA – unionized with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1324 – are accusing the agency of misusing funds, stranding riders, and failing to address concerns of the workers and the public. 
  • Workers at the Louisville Metro Housing Authority – members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the agency. The new contract contains 100% employer paid individual healthcare, stronger job protections, and clearer opportunities for training and advancement.
  • Construction workers in Oak Ridge, TN are holding informational pickets to put pressure on Kairos to sign a project labor agreement for the construction of a new reactor. Project Labor Agreements ensure opportunities for local workers and level the playing field between union and nonunion contractors
  • SkyHop drivers at airports nationwide — including JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark— have been on strike since November 2024, after the company illegally cut hours and fired pro-union workers. In August 2025, the National Labor Relations Board issued a sweeping complaint against SkyHop for a pattern of unlawful conduct and repeated violations of workers’ rights. SkyHop has also faced criticism for misrepresenting itself as a certified woman-owned business to secure contracts with Delta Air Lines and for refusing to comply with Los Angeles living-wage requirements, even while collecting over $3.2 million in federal pandemic loans. Additionally, court filings and forensic accounting reports indicate that Scotto diverted company assets for personal use, including luxury cars, over $100,000 in Robbins’ retreats, and other lavish expenses. Skyhop drivers and members of Teamsters Local 210 handbilled outside the Palm Beach County Convention Center to inform the public of ongoing issues with the company and its CEO Kristine Scotto.
  • 36 workers at four Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits in El Paso, Longview, Lubbock, and Amarillo – unionized with Teamsters Locals 745 and 577 – ratified their first union contract with the company. The union says “the new contract include higher wages, Teamsters health care and pension, additional paid leave, and strong union protections.”
  • The MLBPA is beginning in earnest preparations for the next round of collective bargaining with the MLB, according to their union. The current contract expires on December 1, 2026, and the AP is gesturing at the possibility of a lockout. They report that a large issue likely to be at stake is owners pushing for a salary cap, with the union being opposed. 
  • Following the release of the Alabama Solution, which in part covered the Alabama prison workers strike a few years back, prisoners are once again organizing for a strike they say will begin on February 8th.

Political & Legislative

  • Donald Trump has touted his support for apprenticeship programs. In April, he issued an executive order directing the Department of Labor to deliver a plan to reach and surpass one million new active apprentices within 12 0 days. No such plan has thus far materialized. Instead, tens of millions of appropriate funds for expanding apprenticeships have gone undelivered and expired, the Office of Apprenticeships is 30% smaller than it was before, and the growth rate for apprentices has decreased this year. 
  • Another one of Donald Trump’s nominees to the TVA – a car salesman who inherited his business from his dad – faced questioning before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Workers last week. He said he believes the TVA is “more appropriate” as a public entity, said he no longer believes Joe Biden stole the 2020 election, and said that sexual assault allegations made against him were to “harass” him. He also expressed strong support for nuclear energy
  • Black lung is killing more coal miners than it has in decades, so when Biden was in office the Mine Safety and Health Administration announced a new rule to curb the culprit – silica dust. Silica dust is 20 times more toxic than coal dust, and miners are running into more of it as the coal seams get thinner and they have to go through more layers of rock to get to the coal. A decade ago, only 1 in 30 coal miners who had been mining for 20 to 24 years got black lung. Now that number is 1 in 8. Now, the Trump administration announced that its MSHA would “reconsider” the new rule with the intention of making changes. Estimates of the implementation cost of this new regulation are on the order of $0.57 per ton of coal. 
  • 14 workers at FEMA who publicly signed a letter warning Congress of the incompetence of the Trump administration in the area of emergency management were placed on administrative leave in August. Last week, CNN reported that they were reinstated, but within hours of the story breaking the employees were re-suspended. 
  • The AFLCIO has come out against the SCORE Act, in no small part because it would bar college players from being able to unionize
  • The Economic Policy Institute opposes a rider to the DHS appropriations bill which, if enacted, would both cut wages for immigrant agricultural workers and increase their number
  • Alabama Power proposed, and now the Public Service Commission has approved, a two year rate freeze. Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth is very upset about Energy Alabama pointing out the potential problems with this, and that Alabamians deserve rate cuts, not just freezes, but instead of explaining why Alabamians don’t deserve rate cuts, he resorts to ad hominem attacks against the group. 
  • The head of the Retirement Systems of Alabama David Bronner said that the incoming cuts to the education budget that will be caused by the siphoning of public education dollars to private schools will “bring tears” to people’s eyes.

Internal Union Affairs

  • The International Association of Machinists (IAM) chartered a new local in Houston, TX – Local 96 – representing skilled locomotive engineers with their Rail Division
  • Leonard Aguilar and Lorraine Montemayor have been sworn in as President and Secretary Treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO respectively, after the former President Rick Levy retired