Entries by Paul Becker

TIMES TECH WORKERS WIN UNION RECOGNITION

After a year of running up against a stone wall, tech workers at the New York Times finally won their battle for union recognition. The 600 workers will join the 1300 workers in the editorial and business departments represented by the New York NewsGuild, Local 31003 of the Communications Workers of America. This will make […]

Confessions of a Union Buster

Union busting has been a widespread employer activity for many years and is today not the exception but the norm.  The Economic Policy Institute, in a study released three years ago, found that 41.5 percent of employers whose employees are organizing are charged with violating federal labor law. Another study found that 90 percent of […]

Hershey’s workers, facing brutal conditions, hold union vote

In the face of outrageous working conditions, Workers at Hershey’s chocolate plants, are in the process of holding a union election with ballots to be counted March 24. http://https://perfectunion.us/hershey-prison-workers-who-make-reeses-expose-brutal-factory-conditions/ The workers, who make chocolate bars, Reese Peanut Butter Cups and other candy products, in interviews have described being forced to work overtime, in some cases […]

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Amazon union head arrested on eve of election

With a vote on union representation at the Amazon’s JFK8 facility on Staten Island, New York, set for March 25-30, the company had the leader of the union arrested on charges including trespassing on company property. The union has responded by filing an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board claiming the […]

More Starbucks workers organize

In an update on the spreading movement of Starbucks workers to organize, nearly 350 more at 14 stores around the country have filed petitions for elections with the National Labor Relations Board. By one estimate, over 2,000 workers in 78 locations have filed for elections in the past two months. (For a fuller account of […]

Museum Workers Moving Toward Unions

Adding to the number of workers moving toward union organization, professional employees at a number of museums around the country are are forming collective bargaining units and demanding recognition. While workers employed at many of these museums, like security guards and carpenters are already organized, this is a first for curators, librarians, educators, conservators and […]

unions and renewable energy

With the transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, many workers are apprehensive about losing their jobs. A recent article on the website Truthout discusses the role that unions can play in creating the new union jobs that could accompany the transition. Truthout, 1/22  

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GOOD NEWS FOR DELIVERY WORKERS – URINE LUCK

Drivers who deliver food from New York City restaurants will now be entitled to use customer restrooms from restaurants when they’re picking up food. Beginning January 31, the drivers for app-based delivery companies like UberEats, Grubhub, and others will no longer have to resort to the indignity of relieving themselves between parked cars and risking […]

COLORADO SUPERMARKET CHAIN WINS MAJOR GAINS AFTER TWO-WEEK STRIKE

Eight thousand workers at the King Scoopers supermarket chain in the Denver metropolitan area ended a two-week strike January 24 with a three-year contract that sees many gains in their pay and working conditions. They Can’t Run Without Workers The strike showed “the company they can’t run without workers,” triumphantly declared Kim Cordova, president of […]