325 articles· Covering labor news, worker rights, and workplace policy
Healthcare & Labor"I told the organizer about the rats in the supply closet, and she immediately started talking about filing an OSHA complaint," said Maria, a certified nursing assistant at a long-term care facility outside Cleveland. "But that wasn't what I needed.
Union Organizing---
Union OrganizingMore than 34,000 apartment building workers in New York City moved toward strike authorization on April 18 as their union contract approached expiration at midnight on April 20, according to Prism News.
Workplace Safety"They had us watch a two-hour safety video on our first day. Real professional, real polished. Then they put us on the floor with machines that had no guards, no lockout procedures, and a supervisor who told us to 'just be careful.
Union Organizing"After they fired me, my employer withheld my last pay. They said I owed them for sponsorship costs." That's Kathleen, a care worker whose story was documented by Citizens Advice in the UK.
Union Organizing"I got hired at Starbucks because a friend got fired and nobody did anything about it. That's when I realized: you can't organize a workplace from the outside. You have to be in it.
Union Organizing"We spent $40,000 on a new platform, and six months later, our stewards were still texting each other on their personal phones to track grievances.
Union OrganizingMaria Gonzalez, a warehouse steward in Northern California, waited three weeks for her union rep to call back before her contract expired. Her local had operated on a pure service model for more than a decade. Dues went in, and a staff representative was supposed to handle everything else.
Workplace Safety"I watched the press come down on Marcus's hand because the guard had been removed three shifts ago and nobody fixed it. Management knew. We all knew. The difference is, we couldn't afford to refuse the work." That's what a stamping plant worker in Ohio told us.
Union OrganizingThe most effective union organizer I ever watched work spent less than a third of her time talking to people at their workplace. The rest? She was at school board meetings, church potlucks, community health fairs, and neighborhood association gatherings.
Union OrganizingThe election isn't the hard part. I know that sounds wrong. Everybody treats the NLRB vote like the finish line, the climax of the whole union organizing campaign. But here's what nobody tells new organizers: roughly 80% of campaigns that win an election still fail to secure a first contract.
Civil Rights at Work---
