In today’s news and commentary, Chicago hotel workers remain on strike, a coalition of Democratic states sues the Labor Department over canceled unemployment insurance grants, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority establishes a new mediation framework for federal worker disputes.

Hundreds of workers at six Chicago hotels remain on strike, in a push for better wages, healthcare benefits, pension improvements, civil rights protections, and safer workloads. The strike began on October 9, which began days before the Chicago Marathon. The strike, led by UNITE HERE Local 1, includes workers at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, Waldorf Astoria Chicago, Palmer House, the Westin Chicago River North, Westin Michigan Avenue, and Millennium Hotel Knickerbocker, all of whom have been without a contract since August 31. The union, which represents roughly 7,000 hospitality workers across more than 40 Chicago hotels, authorized the strike by an 85% vote last month. It has warned that workers at additional hotels could join at any moment. If all 7,000 authorized strikers walked out, it would be the largest hotel strike in Chicago history. A 2025 union survey found that nearly a third of members lacked sufficient money to cover rent or mortgage payments the prior year. 

Next, a coalition of 12 Democratic state attorneys general and two governors filed suit in the US Court of Federal Claims Friday, seeking to recover more than $100 million in federal grants the Department of Labor canceled last year. The grants, funded under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, were intended to modernize state unemployment insurance systems. DOL terminated them in May 2025, explaining only that each grant “no longer effectuates” the Department’s priorities. Maryland and Wisconsin are leading the suit, with DOL withholding approximately $19.5 million and $10 million from those states respectively. The complaint alleges DOL failed to provide a lawful justification for the cuts and violated the grant agreements themselves. Several states were forced to cancel or scale back technology and fraud prevention. More than $780 million had been awarded to states under the program before the terminations.

Finally, the Federal Labor Relations Authority announced Friday that it will begin referring some disputes between federal unions and agencies to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), formalizing a voluntary mediation framework for federal labor disputes. The move comes amid significant uncertainty about the FMCS itself. The First Circuit is currently reviewing the legality of an executive order from President Trump that states have argued would effectively shut the agency down. Whether agencies will actually participate in voluntary mediation remains an open question. Federal unions have alleged that agencies with canceled contracts have already declined to participate in arbitration and other grievance procedures.