Jacqueline Rayfield is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, Donald Trump plans to meet with the Teamsters, UPS announces layoffs, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) continues its campaign to organize non-union autoworkers.
Trump will meet with Teamsters this afternoon in an effort to decrease Biden’s union backing. Teamsters workers and the former president will participate in a roundtable discussion of issues critical to workers in Midwestern swing states. President Biden’s support from union leadership, however, remains strong, with endorsements from the AFL-CIO and UAW President Shawn Fain.
UPS announced yesterday that it would cut 12,000 jobs, in part citing higher union labor costs. These cuts represent less than 3% of the company’s workforce and include only non-union workers. In July, the UPS signed a contract with the Teamsters to push pay for full-time drivers up to $49 per hour. Despite these pay increases, the company reported $24.92 billion in fourth quarter revenue in 2023.
The UAW announced on Monday that 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed UAW cards since the union ratified its contract with Big Three automakers. The UAW estimates that it will need to reach around 150,000 people in its organizing campaign to bring in non-union workers. “These workers are standing up for themselves, for their families, and for their communities,” said UAW president Shawn Fain of these newly organized workers.
Daily News & Commentary
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November 21
Workers at electric vehicle battery production complex in Kentucky launch campaign to join the UAW; Amazon workers at company’s largest air facility on the West Coast start union drive to join the Teamsters; and medical residents and fellows affiliated with Brown University organize to join CIR/SEIU Healthcare.
November 20
Philadelphia unions plan a joint strike, Greece faces a 24-hour general strike, and University of California unions set strikes for today and tomorrow.
November 19
Fifth Circuit hears challenges to NLRB; Democratic NLRB majority may be ending soon; building trades unions criticize Democratic party
November 18
In today’s News & Commentary, the Democratic Party Union blasts staff layoffs and Philadelphia city workers threaten mass strike. The Democratic National Committee Staff Union has criticized party leadership following several days of layoffs in the wake of the 2024 election loss. The union claims these cuts go beyond typical post-election turnover and have impacted […]
November 17
DOL overtime rule struck down; Cornell Graduate Student Union speaks on campus repression.
November 15
In today’s News & Commentary, Philadelphia’s largest city workers union authorizes a strike, video game union at Microsoft completes one-day strike, and Massachusetts teachers’ unions are fined. District 33, a union of Philadelphia city workers, has authorized a strike. The union represents 9,000 mostly blue-collar workers, including sanitation workers. Workers are dissatisfied with the city’s […]