Thousands of warehouse workers at an Amazon plant in Bessemer, Alabama, are at the center of a potentially game-changing union vote taking place right now. On February 8, the warehouse workers were sent ballots by mail to decide over the next seven weeks if they want to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Just …
Why Amazon Is Fighting So Hard to Stop Warehouse Workers From Unionizing Read More »
The strongest effort to create a union at Amazon in many years is underway in Bessemer, Alabama. Organizers with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union-UFCW (RWDSU-UFCW) have been working with employees at the Amazon fulfillment center. By December, more than 2,000 workers had signed union cards, leading to an election set to begin in February. …
RWDSU-UFCW Leads Organizing Drive at Amazon Fulfillment Center in Alabama Read More »
The tech industry’s overwhelmingly non-unionized status took a small but significant hit on Monday, with the announcement of the Alphabet Workers Union, a minority union at Google (the parent company of which is Alphabet). Their goal—at least in the short term—isn’t to win a union representation election and get the company to the bargaining table. It’s …
The five most valuable companies in America are all big tech companies, and none of them are unionized. Compounding this existential challenge for organized labor is the fact that the huge work forces of the companies make unionizing them seem an impossibly large task. Now, one union has solved that problem with a revolutionary approach: Just start. This morning, …
Google Workers Say the Endless Wait to Unionize Big Tech Is Over Read More »
This is Part II of our special two-part episode with Tacoma longshore workers Zack Pattin and Brian ?“Skiff” Skiffington. Zack and Skiff are both members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 23 and organizing leaders with the ILWU Young Workers Committee. In Part I of our conversation with Zack and Skiff, we talked about their winding …
Why Workers Fought and Died for Union Hiring Halls Read More »
Last Friday, representatives from the Retail Workers (RWDSU) went before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Region 10, seeking a quick union certification election. The election is to determine whether a majority of the employees at the newly opened Amazon Fulfillment Center (BHM1) in Bessemer—a small of suburb of Birmingham, Alabama—want union representation. Amazon was represented …
BAmazon Union: Anticipating the Battle in Bessemer, Alabama Read More »
On March 5, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed H.B. 364, a major overhaul of New Mexico’s system of public sector labor relations. Hailed by the Teamsters as a necessary modernization and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) as a ?“big step” in the fight for public employees, many of the bill’s marquee reforms provide procedural overhauls for New Mexico’s system of …
The Stunning Workers’ Victory in New Mexico That You Haven’t Heard About Read More »
Dear Mackenzie Scott, This week, you announced that you’ve made $4.2 billion in charitable donations in the past four months. For that you deserve an extremely modest amount of congratulations! You are, no doubt, besieged at all times by people who come to kiss your ass and beg for money. We come to you today with something different: moral …
Dear Mackenzie: There’s One More Donation You Owe to the World Read More »
Musician Josephine Shetty, aka Kohinoorgasm, was preparing for her West Coast spring tour in March when the pandemic-related cancellations started rolling in. Like many musicians, Shetty’s livelihood is pieced together from part-time work. She performs at underground spaces and small clubs, releases her own music and teaches middle school music classes. ?“When you’re a person who works so …
With Gigs Canceled and No Relief, Musicians Form a Nationwide Union Read More »
Despite the challenges of organizing during a deadly pandemic, working people across the country (and beyond) continue organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life. This edition begins with several groups of organizers who won voluntary recognition of their new unions. Kentucky Democratic Party Staff Join IBEW: Staff at the Kentucky Democratic Party have joined …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
