The Washington DC bookstore group, Politics and Prose, which has 54 employees in three locations in the Capital, has voluntarily recognized Local 400 of the United Food and Commercial Workers as the bargaining agent for its employers, the union and owners announced in a joint statement.
“We look forward to working with the union,” said the company, “to solve problems and address needs.” Hailing “the growing movement of booksellers and baristas across the country who have unionized their workplaces,” the union said it “looked forward to negotiating our first contract and welcoming more bookstore workers in DC” into the union.
https://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/icon.png500500Paul Beckerhttps://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spotlight_logo_.pngPaul Becker2022-01-06 16:06:462022-01-06 16:44:23DC BOOKSTORE GROUP RECOGNIZES UNION
After more than nine months of a historic strike, nurses at Massachusetts St. Vincent Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, reached agreement on a contract calling for important improvements in staffing that will provide safer, high-quality nursing care for their patients. The strike was sparked by the impossibly overworked conditions of nurses at the hospital that cried out for additional staffing. The nurses had long complained about the need to add more staff to relieve their overload, a condition that was sharply exacerbated by the COVID-19 epidemic that was working them to exhaustion.
It was the longest nurses strike in the history of the state, marked by community support, rallies and marches as well as support from around the country. It was finally settled with the aid of federal mediators and a final session mediated by US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. Hailing the tenacity and militant spirit of the nurses, Marlena Pellegrino, RN, co-chair if the hospital’s local bargaining unit called it “a true victory, not only for the nurses, but more importantly, for our patients and our community, who will have access to better nursing care.”
The agreement also commits the hospital to a guarantee to take no retaliation against strikers and that all the nurses will return to the same position they worked before the strike.
Despite the very small number of workers involved, the Starbucks store in Buffalo, NY made history Dec. 9 when it became the first one in the Starbucks chain to vote to unionize. The workers voted 19-8 to be represented by Workers United in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
Starbucks, the biggest coffee seller in the world, operates nearly 10,000 stores in the United States. It has waged a relentless war on union organizing attempts in Buffalo, closing some stores, and packing the others with new workers who, they hoped, would outvote the pro-union employees there. To counter the union organizing drive they sent in managers and executives to intimidate workers who have been complaining for years about the understaffing, chaotic conditions, restrictions on sick days, low pay and erratic hours.
Although the number of workers is small, the election is significant because it could mark a significant boost in the unionization of other Starbucks stores and among restaurant workers who are the least unionized workers in the country.
https://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/icon.png500500Paul Beckerhttps://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spotlight_logo_.pngPaul Becker2021-12-10 18:22:192021-12-11 15:46:01BUFFALO STARBUCKS STORE BECOMES FIRST IN CHAIN TO UNIONIZE
DC BOOKSTORE GROUP RECOGNIZES UNION
Labor BriefsThe Washington DC bookstore group, Politics and Prose, which has 54 employees in three locations in the Capital, has voluntarily recognized Local 400 of the United Food and Commercial Workers as the bargaining agent for its employers, the union and owners announced in a joint statement.
“We look forward to working with the union,” said the company, “to solve problems and address needs.” Hailing “the growing movement of booksellers and baristas across the country who have unionized their workplaces,” the union said it “looked forward to negotiating our first contract and welcoming more bookstore workers in DC” into the union.
Publishers Weekly, 1/4
“HISTORIC” NURSES STRIKE ENDS IN MASSACHUSETTS WITH SIGNIFICANT STAFF IMPROVEMENTS
Labor BriefsAfter more than nine months of a historic strike, nurses at Massachusetts St. Vincent Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, reached agreement on a contract calling for important improvements in staffing that will provide safer, high-quality nursing care for their patients. The strike was sparked by the impossibly overworked conditions of nurses at the hospital that cried out for additional staffing. The nurses had long complained about the need to add more staff to relieve their overload, a condition that was sharply exacerbated by the COVID-19 epidemic that was working them to exhaustion.
It was the longest nurses strike in the history of the state, marked by community support, rallies and marches as well as support from around the country. It was finally settled with the aid of federal mediators and a final session mediated by US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. Hailing the tenacity and militant spirit of the nurses, Marlena Pellegrino, RN, co-chair if the hospital’s local bargaining unit called it “a true victory, not only for the nurses, but more importantly, for our patients and our community, who will have access to better nursing care.”
The agreement also commits the hospital to a guarantee to take no retaliation against strikers and that all the nurses will return to the same position they worked before the strike.
Massachusetts Nurses Association website, 12/17
BUFFALO STARBUCKS STORE BECOMES FIRST IN CHAIN TO UNIONIZE
Labor Briefs, miscDespite the very small number of workers involved, the Starbucks store in Buffalo, NY made history Dec. 9 when it became the first one in the Starbucks chain to vote to unionize. The workers voted 19-8 to be represented by Workers United in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
Starbucks, the biggest coffee seller in the world, operates nearly 10,000 stores in the United States. It has waged a relentless war on union organizing attempts in Buffalo, closing some stores, and packing the others with new workers who, they hoped, would outvote the pro-union employees there. To counter the union organizing drive they sent in managers and executives to intimidate workers who have been complaining for years about the understaffing, chaotic conditions, restrictions on sick days, low pay and erratic hours.
Although the number of workers is small, the election is significant because it could mark a significant boost in the unionization of other Starbucks stores and among restaurant workers who are the least unionized workers in the country.
Robert Reich newsletter; NY Times, 12/9; Vox, 12/9; AP News, 12/9