Last TWO Weeks in Southern Labor: 2/20 – 3/6

Jacob Morrison

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to during the weeks between Friday, February 20, and Friday, March 6

Every week in the south, workers organize new unions, they bargain for new contracts, they fight for good legislation and against bad legislation, and they put the boss in their place. Here are all the stories we could find from February 20th to March 6th:

New Campaigns

288 workers in 10 bargaining units have gone public with their union campaigns, and 31 workers in 2 bargaining units are trying to decertify their union

  • The Employer filed a petition to hold a union election after a majority of the 30 workers at Zenith Logistics in Louisville, KY demonstrated support for unionization with the Teamsters Local 89
  • Workers likely pushed by their employer filed a petition to decertify the Wells Fargo Workers United (WFWU-CWA) as the union representing 8 workers at WellsFargo Bank N.A. in Apex, NC
    • As far as I can tell, this is the first decertification petition filed in this campaign, which has so far organized 29 locations and now represents over 900 workers. While they still haven’t won a first contract – an issue that many union campaigns face and for which Jacobin columnist Chris Brooks offers innovative solutions in his recent piece – banking workers who are unionized with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) in California just ratified their second collective bargaining agreement with Beneficial State Bank, securing a 9% general wage increase in 2026. CWA says these workers two collective bargaining agreements (with the one prior having been ratified in 2021) with Beneficial State Bank are the first new union contracts in the entire industry in the last 40 years. 
  • 25 workers at Starbucks Corporation in San Antonio, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the Starbucks Workers United 
  • In an unusual move, workers at Alabama’s largest water utility – Central Alabama Water (CAW) – have begun publicly musing about whether or not they’d like to form a union. It is typically discouraged to be public about a potential union campaign before you have a strong committee in place, because the employer can take advantage of the heads up and immediately begin subjecting all employees to anti-union captive audience meetings before pro-union workers are able to speak to all their coworkers. In a press conference and public statements, workers say morale is low due to poor management, racism towards workers, and more
  • 4 workers at Southwestern Electric Power Co. in Shreveport, LA filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 329
  • 15 workers at IMI CONCRETE in Elizabethtown, KY filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 89
  • 4 workers at Cushman & Wakefield in Arlington, VA filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99
  • Workers likely pushed by their employer filed a petition to decertify the IUOE Local 30 as the union representing 23 workers at Veolia in Tampa, FL
  • 4 workers at Delaware Resource Group of Oklahoma LLC in Randolph AFB, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW)
  • 10 workers at Oklahoma Natural Gas in Tulsa, OK filed a petition to hold a union election with the IBEW Local 1002 
  • 9 workers at US Foods in Salem, VA filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 171
  • The Employer filed a petition to hold a union election after a majority of the 6 workers at Washington Drama Society, Inc. in Washington, DC demonstrated support for unionization with the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 868
  • 181 workers at the city of Port Saint Lucie in Port St. Lucie, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with the Amalgamated Production & Services Employees Union Local 22

Campaign Updates

  • In 2022 Amazon workers in North Carolina launched an independent union campaign under the banner Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE), holding an election that was ultimately unsuccessful in 2025. CAUSE alleges that Amazon broke the law however and is challenging the election before the NLRB, and they have continued to organize. They recently enlisted as a supporter US Representative from North Carolina Valerie Foushee who, in the weeks leading up to a close primary election against a more progressive Bernie-backed challenger, publicly backed the campaign for the first time

Election Results

221 workers across 10 bargaining units unionized, 174 workers across 5 bargaining units voted against unionization, 58 workers across 3 bargaining units withdrew their petition for a union election, 27,524 workers in 17 Florida public sector bargaining units voted in favor of recertifying their unions, and 592 security guards across 3 bargaining units voted in raids – all ultimately deciding to stay unionized with one union or another.

  • 45 workers at two Starbucks locations in Houston, TX and Springfield, MO voted 34 to 6 in favor of unionization with Starbucks Workers United 
  • 39 workers at two Starbucks locations in Radcliffe, KY and Houston, TX voted 15 to 22 against unionization with Starbucks Workers United 
  • In a heartbreaking close to the first successful union election among Tractor Supply workers – coming in November of 2024 when 23 workers at Tractor Supply Company in Columbia, TN voted 12 to 8 in favor of unionization with the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1995 – the union has disclaimed interest in representing the workers there after a long and drawn out legal battle with Tractor Supply over the appropriate bargaining unit. Immediately following the election in 2024, the company filed a request for review of the unit with the NLRB. The union opposed the request on several grounds, ultimately arguing that the unit was appropriate. Somehow, over the last 15 months, the NLRB did not make a decision in the matter and in late February the union disclaimed interest.
  • 6,707 workers at Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, FL voted 914 to 30 in favor of recertifying Duval Teachers United as their union
  • 5 workers at Howards Mechanical in Amarillo, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 49, and then withdrew that petition during the same period
  • 17 workers at American Air Conditioning & Mechanical in Springdale, AR voted against unionization with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) Local 155 (the NLRB didn’t include a vote count) 
  • 6 workers at Alstom Transport USA Inc. in Atlanta, GA voted 6 to 0 in favor of unionization with the Transportation Communications Union (TCU-IAM)
  • 25 workers at APAC-Brickey’s Stone in Bloomsdale, MO voted 21 to 4 in favor of unionization with the (IUOE) Local 513
  • 9 workers at Daimler Coaches North America LLC in Jacksonville, FL voted 7 to 2 in favor of unionization with the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
  • 45 workers at LMI Aerospace, Inc. in Saint Charles, MO voted 15 to 28 against unionization with the IAMAW
  • 2 workers at Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta, GA voted 2 to 0 in favor of unionization with the Atlanta Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 148-462
  • 30 workers at Spec’s Family Partners, Ltd in Galveston, TX withdrew their petition with the Teamsters Local 988
  • 531 workers at Paragon Professional Services, LLC and Asset Protection and Security Services, LP as a Joint Employer in El Paso, TX voted 121 to 56 in favor of unionization with the Federal Contract Guards of America
  • 65 workers at International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington, DC voted 36 to 18 in favor of unionization with the IBT Staff Council
  • In an election among three unions (I’m unclear on who initially represented these workers) among 43 security guards at Allied Universal Security Services in Washington, DC voted in favor of unionization with Union Rights for Security Officers (URSO)
    • URSO received 13 votes, Union of Patriots Plaza (UOPP) received 10 votes, Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) received 3 votes, and none of the guards voted for no union
  • The Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) was successful in another raid attempt though: winning a unit of 18 guards at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, with the SPFPA getting 10 votes, the National Union of Special Police Officers (NUSPO) getting 1 vote, and no votes for no union. 
  • 73 workers at American Medical Response, Inc. in Temple, TX voted 27 to 31 against unionization with the CWA

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, see the full list of last month’s Florida public sector union elections, as well as exclusive details about union elections referenced here.

Grievances, Unfair Labor Practices, & Court Cases

  • Mercedes agreed to revoke discipline against an employee and to post a notice reminding workers of their rights to form a union and affirm that they would not interfere with that right under a settlement agreement with the NLRB. The UAW objected to the settlement, saying it wasn’t enough
  • The National Labor Relations Board has handed down a Gissel bargaining order – rather than a Cemex one – mandating that Garten Trucking in Virginia negotiate with the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers after workers voted against unionization because, the NLRB says, Garten management violated federal laws regarding election fairness during union campaigns to such an extent that a fair election was impossible. Notably, the bargaining under was issued under the Gissel standard – which has been in place since the 60s – rather than Cemex. Both the NLRB Administrative Law Judge and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the NLRB’s order

Strikes & Bargaining

  • Multiple Teamsters bargaining units across the South ratified new contracts. Members of Local 528 in Atlanta, GA at Avis Car Rental ratified a new three year contract that the union says contains “significant wage increases, seniority for part timers, time and a half on holidays” and more. 245 members of Local 6 in St Louis, MO at Metal Container Corporation (a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch) also ratified a new agreement. In a press release, the Teamsters said this five year contract includes raises of “up to 23%,” along with more paid time off, no added healthcare costs, and more
  • IRS Chief Human Capital Officer Alex Kweskin announced the agency is unilaterally terminating its collective bargaining agreement with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). Kweskin claimed this rollback, driven by a 2025 executive order, helps them operate as “One IRS,” stating the agency will cancel all negotiations and arbitration hearings. But the union is holding the line. NTEU President Doreen Greenwald told the IRS the contract remains lawfully in effect, pointing out that the Federal Labor Relations Authority hasn’t actually revoked their certification. This comes right after the NTEU filed a massive grievance because the IRS forced a thousand back-office employees into frontline roles with zero experience.
  • Workers at SPX Cooling Technologies in Springfield, MO who recently unionized with SMART Local 208 voted to ratify their first union contract. Local 208 didn’t publicly discuss details of the contract, but new members did produce a video about organizing a union 
  • The week after bargaining began with the postal service, letter carriers across the country held rallies outside post offices demanding a fair contract. The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) encouraged all their locals to do it. Hundreds of locals participated – including the local in Huntsville (if you look closely at the news coverage, you can see me!) You can watch the NALC’s National President’s opening bargaining statement here. He called for higher wages, ending tiers, a shorter progression, and more. 
  • Alabama prisoners had planned a strike starting on February 8th. However, following the release of the Alabama Solution, leaders within the prison have been punished and so far there has only been one account of any strike activity. Written by an Alabama inmate for Scalawag, the article doesn’t mention how many people or prisons are participating in the strike. Since there haven’t been any other reports, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a very low participation rate in the prisons due in no small part to the threat of violent repression 
  • 392 workers at the Yokohama tire plant – unionized with the United Steel Workers (USW) Local 1023 – reached a tentative agreement with the company on closing the plant. The plant will permanently close on March 18th, and workers will get their pay through the end of the month
  • Bus drivers for MV Transportation – the company that oversees the Jackson Transit System (JTRAN) – say they are making progress in contract negotiations and hope to have a deal soon. The workers, unionized with ATU Local 1208, went on strike in 2024
  • Four years after workers at McKays bookstore in Knoxville unionized, rather than negotiating with their workers in good faith and providing a fair contract, the book store chose to spend a small fortune in legal fees before ultimately selling and closing the location. The Knoxville Oak Ridge Central Labor Council condemned the move as “disgusting.” CWA, the union the workers organized with, condemned the move as well, saying they aren’t going anywhere and will continue their fight against McKay’s 
  • 70 workers at Politics and Prose bookstores in Washington, DC – unionized with UFCW Local 400 – voted 28 to 8 in favor of ratifying a new union contract. The union says the new contract includes guaranteed raises, protections against “clopening” shifts, bereavement pay, and more
  • The National Institutes of Health say they will no longer recognize the workers union – the UAW. In their reporting on the situation, NOTUS quoted an email from the union to its membership which said that this is “part of a coordinated effort by the current administration to dismantle federal worker protections.” and that their “contract is still in effect, and management’s attempt to evade the contract is against the law. We are moving on every available front — legal, political, and most importantly, through the organized power of our membership — to defend our rights.”
  • IBEW and IAM members are preparing for negotiations with GE, specifically regarding the agreement that covers GE service technicians nationwide

Political & Legislative

  • County officials and union leaders in Chatham County, GA – where Savannah is located – have been saying for months that the Chatham Area Transit System (CATS) is failing its ridership, misusing and misallocating funds, with one county commissioner saying a full $4M is unaccounted for. In December, the county said that if nothing changes they will sever their relationship with the transit system (it’s unclear exactly what that would mean, some have floated the idea of a new transit system altogether). For its part, the union representing drivers – the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1324 – tie some of the service issues to low pay and poor working conditions for drivers. There are even whispers of a strike, but union leaders have denied that there are any such plans. CATS denies the claims around misappropriation, pointing to a clean audit it received at the end of February 
  • President Trump said we are in a “golden age” in his State of the Union, but across the labor movement,leaders are saying that’s just not true. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler called the speech a “fever dream” divorced from reality, noting that while costs for groceries and housing soar, the administration is prioritizing billionaire tax cuts over working families. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) highlighted a total lack of empathy; President Randi Weingarten noted that for anyone struggling with childcare or healthcare costs, the speech made one thing clear: you don’t matter. The National Education Association (NEA) slammed the “finger-pointing and scapegoating,” specifically condemning the fear caused by ICE raids in schools and the diversion of funds away from public education. OPEIU labeled the “golden age” narrative pure fantasy, pointing to stripped bargaining rights and economic policies that caused surging prices. Unions say the system is rigged and Trump isn’t helping. 
  • Imagine an election where anyone who stays home is automatically counted as voting against you. That’s exactly what Florida’s Senate Bill 1296 would do to public sector unions. The legislation builds on previous anti-union legislation aimed at killing Florida’s public sector labor movement. Jordan Scott of the Northwest Florida Federation of Labor noted in public hearings that this standard doesn’t exist in any other democratic election. Most politicians in office today would never be able to get elected themselves because so few get a majority of the total number of the eligible voters in their districts. The bill does include a massive carve-out: it exempts police and firefighters. Bill sponsor Senator Jonathan Martin defended this double standard, arguing that law enforcement faces unique job stresses and lawsuits that require union protection. But the real reason is just that this legislation is meant to harm political opponents of Republicans. The official Florida Senate Staff Analysis warned that creating two classes of employees could violate equal protection and constitutional collective bargaining rights. Citing this analysis, State Senator LaVon Bracy Davis bluntly slammed the legislation as an “unconstitutional trainwreck.” Frontline workers are also upset about this double standard and the implication that their jobs don’t have unique stresses. Transport Workers Union bus operator Shawntrell Jackson and utility worker Eddie Carter both testified at the Capitol, arguing their essential, life-saving work deserves the exact same union protections as first responders. 
  • Bills before the legislature in Virginia could extend collective bargaining rights to half a million workers across the state – but some workers are being left out. Specifically, home care workers and campus workers have been removed from the latest version of this legislation, but they’re fighting to change that. Members of the United Campus Workers (UCW-CWA) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP-AFT) at the University of Virginia held a joint town hall to educate their members about the attempt to cut them out of this legislation and to encourage them to push back
  • In 2024, the most recent year for which this data is available, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that 5,070 workers died on the job in the US. The AFL-CIO put out a statement mourning those workers, celebrating the progress that was made in 2024 (more than 200 fewer workers died – a 4% decrease in the number of deaths), and lambasting the Trump administration for actions it has taken that will almost certainly cause this trend to reverse. In particular, they cite his administration’s “slash[ing] worker safety rules, undermin[ing] the federal agencies that hold employers accountable, push[ing] out and disrupt[ing] the dedicated experts who inspect worksites for safety violations, and giv[ing] handouts to big corporations and special interests actively working to weaken safeguards for workers”
  • A new working paper in the Center for Economic Policy and Research focuses on challenges black workers face and their attitudes towards unions. The authors explicitly tie black worker exploitation to the Southern economic model, and highlight some worsening conditions – such as varied and inconsistent scheduling. They find that attitudes towards unions among black workers – even non union black workers – are overwhelmingly positive. Interestingly, they find that of workers who had gone through a campaign that faced an anti-union campaign from the employer, 50% of the workers said it made them more likely to support the union, 25% said it had no effect, and 17% said it made them less likely. 
  • Trump’s Labor Department is in a whirlwind of controversy. Secretary Chavez-DeRemer is accused of being an absentee Secretary and misusing funds, her husband is accused of sexually assaulting staff, her chief of staff and deputy chief of staff have been suspended on accusations of using Department money for personal pleasure, the DOL is now publicly stating they will de-prioritize enforcement at union workplaces, and they are reportedly trying to hire personnel based on loyalty to Trump, with instructions to college students saying “GPA is not a strong factor.” 
  • UNITE HERE has a new report out detailing how the Trump administration’s immigration policies have harmed tourism, showing how fewer people are traveling to the US despite a worldwide boom in tourism, that employment is down in tourism, and hotel revenue is almost flat – the slowest growth rate ever outside of 2020 and recessions. 
  • For some reason Florida’s Education Commissioner is attacking the Florida Education Association (FEA) for encouraging students to walk out of class in protest of ICE activity, even though the FEA strongly denies those charges
  • After consistent organizing from the union of library workers – Memphis Public Library Workers United (MPLWU-CWA) – in Memphis, the city council just voted in favor of a referendum that will give Memphis voters the opportunity to provide library workers the same civil service protections and collective bargaining rights that other municipal workers have. The referendum will be on the November ballot
  • Thousands of Teamsters at DHL Express voted by a 96% margin to authorize a strike if the company doesn’t present a fair offer by March 31st. The Teamsters say there will be no contract extensions
  • The Mississippi legislature passed an anti-union ALEC copycat bill that would prohibit companies from getting tax incentives from the state if they voluntarily recognize their workers union. It now goes to the Governor for his signature

Internal Union Affairs

  • The International Association of Machinists (IAM) has officially rechartered the Waycross, GA Local 625 as “Local 1.” This action reclaims a title for the local union that dates all the way back to the union’s founding in 1888. Machinists say that this isn’t just an administrative update, but a tribute to the original 19 machinists who organized the IAM in an Atlanta railroad pit over a century ago. By becoming Local 1, these Waycross workers are cementing their place in history, linking today’s rail operations directly to the Georgia roots of the whole union.
  • The Professional Women’s Hockey League Players Association affiliated with the AFL-CIO, becoming the 10th professional sports union to join the AFL-CIO Sports Council and the 65th affiliate of the labor federation
  • Roxanne Brown was sworn in as the first woman and first person of color to serve as president of the United Steel Workers (USW), becoming its 10th president