Last Week in Labor: Aug 8-15, 2025
More federal agencies cancel union contracts, BCTGM workers remain on strike in IL, and more headlines you may have missed.
Good afternoon, Saturday afternoon. Welcome back to the weekly labor digest. Quite a bit has happened this week that's worth mentioning.
Onwards...
Notable News in Labor
Two more agencies cancel union contracts, as FEMA, USCIS end collective bargaining
Moves at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency come on the heels of similar actions at VA, EPA
United Airlines Flight Attendant Contract Talks Stalled Until 2026
The union confirmed that talks with the Chicago-based carrier at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) will not resume until December 9, 2025, at the earliest. The process is being handled through a federal mediator, with bargaining sessions already scheduled into March 2026.
AC Transit workers approve 4-year labor deal amid major overhaul of routes
AC Transit and the union representing operators, mechanics and other employees have announced the approval of a four-year labor deal, as the agency embarks on a major overhaul of its routes.
According to the agency, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 ratified a collective bargaining agreement with 73% support. The deal was also unanimously approved by the AC Transit Board of Directors.
Nurses and labor, communities allies vow to fight back against Medicaid cuts
At a town hall on Thursday, registered nurses with California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) – along with local elected officials and leaders and members of community organizations from Bakersfield and the Central Valley – vowed to take on the elected officials and corporations that are destroying public programs like Medicaid in order to fund tax cuts for billionaires.
WMU Board of Trustees approves new contract with AFSCME union
KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Western Michigan University Board of Trustees held their first meeting Wednesday with new President Russ Kavalhuna driving the agenda.
It was a meeting only in the official sense, as the board met virtually in a special online session to ratify a contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union.
United Express GoJet Flight Attendants Ratify New Contract
GoJet Airlines Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), have ratified a contract today with wage increases and additional improvements throughout the duration of the contract, including a trigger for boarding pay and a pathway to shorter on-call reserve periods.
BCTGM strike at Teasdale Foods continues in Hoopeston, Ill.
Following a meeting with union members on Aug. 11, Teasdale Latin Foods said a resolution still has not been reached, but they remain “committed” to finding a way to bring striking employees back to work.
Some Dodger Stadium Workers Planning Event Amid Labor Negotiations: Report
According to Jen Ramos Eisen on Twitter/X, the tour guides have prepared leaflets for distribution outside Gate A (the stadium's main entrance gate on Vin Scully Ave., also known as the "Sunset Gate") this Friday that will include information about their current and desired pay.
‘It will be a disaster’: Labor leaders, teachers sound the alarm as SEPTA cuts loom
“I don’t know that there is a way to plan around something this devastating,” Philadelphia AFL-CIO President Danny Bauder told City & State. “I hate to say this but, thankfully, SEPTA has a plan for how they’re going to handle the lack of funding in terms of bus routes and things like that. But this is going to be awful.”
Unions & the Trump Administration
Presidential Administration Launches Ever Greater Assaults on Federal Workers and Unions
The APWU stands in unwavering solidarity with our union family at the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and other Federal unions, amid the grave attacks against the rights of federal workers and working people across the country.
Unions, labor exports say sectors and workers are feeling the impacts as deportations continue
Labor experts say the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign is continuing to impact working families and various sectors.
On a press call this week, labor researchers, union leaders and farmers said impacts are across the board — from people being scared to go to work amid ICE raids to costlier goods and services.
USDA Plans to Cancel Union Contracts for Meat, Poultry Inspectors
The agency notified federal union leaders this week that it will terminate contracts for thousands of employees. Unions say reductions in staff will threaten food safety.
(Inter)National Solidarity
CWA Stands with Postal Workers Against Privatization
"CWA stands in solidarity with APWU,” said CWA Director of Organizing Tim Dubnau. “We know that privatizing our mail will destroy good union jobs, make the post office slower, and make the experience worse for customers. Wells Fargo should stop interfering with the post office and put their energies into bargaining with CWA members for a first contract for the 29 branches that are now CWA strong."
Commentary & Analysis
To Make Democracy Work, Give More of It to Workers
The fight to reclaim American democracy has to begin with our oligarchic political economy.
What Trump's Decertification of Federal Employee Unions Means
The Trump administration moved ahead last week with its plans to void the collective bargaining agreements covering hundreds of thousands of federal workers. The labor movement appears largely quiescent in the face of this historic union busting.
Looking Ahead...
Hundreds Of Rural Letter Carriers To Rally In Orlando To Protect The Postal Service From Privatization
On Monday, more than 500 rural letter carriers, other postal workers and their allies, will gather in Orlando to rally against misguided efforts to privatize the United States Postal Service. The rally, which takes place during the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association (NRLCA) National Convention, will feature Florida Representatives Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost, along with national postal union leaders, demanding Congress safeguard the public Postal Service and the union jobs that keep it running.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a good rest of your weekend,
In love and solidarity,
Mel
Header Photo: Workers with BCTGM post with their picket signs on July 30, 2025. Photo courtesy of BCTGM Facebook Page.
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