After winning back the House of Representatives in last Tuesday’s election, House Democrats plan to grill President Trump’s Department of Labor about its policies regarding tipped workers. In December, the DOL proposed a rule allowing employers who pay tipped... More »
Graduate student workers at Georgetown University voted overwhelmingly to unionize with the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE), an AFT affiliate. Following an agreement reached between the union and the university, the election was overseen by t... More »
Massachusetts nurses wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe supporting Ballot Question 1, an initiative that would guarantee safe nurse staffing levels (also known as safe patient limits) in order to ensure that all patients receive the care that they need. As au... More »
Today, the Harvard Graduate Students Union – United Auto Workers (HGSU-UAW) will begin contract negotiations with the Harvard administration. Graduate student workers at Harvard voted to form a union this past April. In advance of negotiations, the uni... More »
Nurses unions around the country are advocating for safe staffing levels at hospitals, i.e. limiting the number of patients assigned to each nurse so that nurses can provide safer care. For instance, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is promoting a ballot ... More »
Workers at Marriott hotels across the country are voting to go on strike. Under the banner of “one job should be enough,” these workers — members of UNITE HERE — are calling for living wages that will enable them to support themselves and their fa... More »
Governor Bruce Rauner (R) of Illinois vetoed a bill that would have allowed graduate research assistants at the state’s public universities to join labor unions. Currently, graduate teaching assistants — but not research assistants — at the Univer... More »
North Carolina raised the minimum wage to $15/hour for around 10,000 state government and public university employees. Legislative budget-writers explained that this raise will help retain experienced state workers, who often leave their jobs for higher-payin... More »
Incarcerated people across the United States will go on strike starting tomorrow (Tuesday, August 21st) to protest mass incarceration, poor prison conditions, and exploitative prison labor practices. While the 13th Amendment bars slavery and involuntary servi... More »
The Seattle City Council unanimously passed a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights guaranteeing minimum wages, rest breaks, and related protections for nannies, house cleaners, cooks, gardeners, and other domestic workers. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said she wil... More »
New York State’s Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board ruled that Uber drivers are employees, rather than independent contractors, for purposes of unemployment insurance and benefits. The Board wrote that “credible evidence establishes that Uber exercises suffi... More »
800 adjunct and non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty at Fordham University reached their first contract with the university earlier this week. Fordham NTT faculty — represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — won 67%-90% raises for ... More »