Last Week in Labor: March 14-20, 2025

Hello, happy Friday. Spring has sprung, the world is on fire, and we're hurtling into an uncertain fascist future. I hope that this weekly digest does a little bit to try and head off some of the doom spiraling that I know all of us are experiencing.

If you like what I do here and would like to support this independent project, please consider a paid subscription to the site. Every little bit helps me carve out more time to work on this, and to expand it into what I hope can be a full-time project in the future.

If you'd like to have your labor wins, losses, campaigns, and events added to the digest, shoot me an email or send me a DM on Bluesky. I'll get it into next week's newsletter.

Alright, onwards...

Notable News in Labor

CTU kicks off two-day meeting with national grassroots leaders for May Day action

From the CTU press desk,

Amid an 11-month prolonged battle for the schools that Chicago students and families deserve, public school educators in the Windy City are raising their voices and convening leadership in the national struggle for a more diverse, equitable, and fair society during a time of widespread fear, panic, and uncertainty.

Coming on the heels of the Trump administration’s 50th day in office and an unprecedented attack on our nation’s public schools, public sector, and fundamental rights, the two-day May Day planning meeting will bring together 200 of the country’s top organizers, labor leaders, community advocates and the leading voices among working people to strategize for May 1, 2025 marches and beyond.

Bill ending subminimum wages for disabled workers falters in Senate — and other labor news from Minnesota

From Max Nesterak at The Minnesota Reformer,

A bill backed by Gov. Tim Walz to phase out subminimum wages for disabled workers by 2028 barely made it out of the Senate Labor Committee on Tuesday, signaling it’s unlikely to make it to the governor’s desk this year.

Under a federal program known as 14(c) created in the New Deal of the 1930s for disabled soldiers, certain employers can pay less than minimum wages to disabled workers based on their productivity, usually for repetitive tasks like shredding documents or stuffing greeting cards in plastic sleeves in sheltered work environments. Most of these employers are organizations that also provide disability services and supervision.

Opponents of the program, including disability rights groups, argue the practice is demeaning and exploitative while often trapping disabled people in menial jobs.

AFA March 19th Day of Action Recap

From the AFA press release,

On Wednesday, March 19th, we gathered for our system-wide, Day of Action picketing event, delivering our message to GET IT DONE. It is time for management to address our priorities in an industry-leading Contract that we have rightfully earned.

Corporate greed has overshadowed our quality of life for far too long. While management continues to employ concessions and delay tactics, United Flight Attendants have not received a raise in over three years despite record-breaking travel and profits.

The disregard for our dedication and hard work is alarming. We are safety professionals, the face of United, and the backbone of this airline. We will continue to stand united, with one voice, demanding what we deserve.

UAW Local 291 Members at Cummins Walk Out on Strike in Oshkosh, Wisconsin

From UAW's news office, after 90+ members of UAW Local 291 walked off the job on March 18,

“Despite the UAW Local 291 Bargaining Team’s continued efforts, Cummins management has refused to offer a contract that addresses our members’ priorities: fair wages, affordable health care, and job security,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell. “Cummins is holding our members’ economic proposals hostage by their continued refusal to bargain, while demanding harmful concessions. That’s not bargaining in good faith.”

Last week, the UAW-Cummins Bargaining Committee demanded that management stop playing games with workers’ futures. Cummins refuses to move on wages unless the union agrees to damaging proposals, including:

• Harmful language expanding the use of temporary workers
• Changes to inventory procedures that undermine job security
• Increases to an already excessive number of mandatory Saturday shifts

NLRB Finds REI Broke Multiple Laws by Withholding Wages

From RWDSU,

Today, the REI Union announced that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 32 issued a complaint finding that REI broke the law by withholding merit raises and summit pay from workers at unionized stores nationwide. These benefits have been part of REI’s employee benefits package for over a decade and have been illegally withheld from unionized workers since they began bargaining, at one store (REI SoHo) that's in excess of three years.

The NLRB details that REI’s repeated decisions to withhold raises and bonuses from workers is illegal retaliation against union stores, and that the company has refused to bargain in good faith with the union stores as well. The NLRB seeks an order remediating these violations by requiring REI to retroactively provide wage increases and bonuses that match those in non-union stores. This complaint is the first step to rectifying REI’s ongoing illegal union busting.

Read the full complaint below,

CPT.32-CA-345434.Complaint and Notice of Hearing 3-19-25Download

East TN union say Republican 'union-busting bill' would stop companies from hiring union workers

Amid discontent at classical station, WFMT employees announce intent to unionize

From Hannah Edgar at Chicago Tribune,

Employees at 98.7 WFMT, Chicago’s classical music station, announced their intent early this month to unionize with SAG-AFTRA, the union representing broadcast media professionals.

“The current environment has left many of us feeling undervalued, overworked, and voiceless,” the union committee wrote via a SAG-AFTRA statement. “We believe in WFMT’s potential to thrive in the 21st century, but this requires empowering the people who bring the station’s programming to life. By joining SAG-AFTRA, we aim to create an environment where employees feel supported and valued.”

Unions Respond to Trump Administration

AFT's Weingarten Responds to Trump's Attempt to Eliminate Federal Role in Education

Here's the release in full:

AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement responding to Donald Trump’s forthcoming executive order attempting to eliminate the federal role in education — a move that most people in America don’t want because it will diminish opportunity for students:  

“See you in court.”

Postal Workers Rallied Across the Country on March 20

Workers with the American Postal Workers Union rallied at Post Office locations all across the country on March 20 in protest of the privatization of the USPS, as well as the 10,000 job cuts proposed by DOGE. Here are a few videos from rallies all across the country.

Columbia AAUP Urges University to Reject Trump’s Demands

From Ryan Quinn at Inside Higher Ed,

“Compliance would make Columbia complicit in its own destruction, stripping shared control of academic and student affairs from the faculty and administration and replacing the deliberative practices and structures of the university with peremptory fiats from outside the institution,” the AAUP chapter said in a statement Tuesday. “We see no evidence that compliance would assuage the hostility of the White House.”

TRO Issued in Retiree, Union Lawsuit to Block DOGE’s Access to Social Security Data

From the Progressive Newswire at Common Dreams,

Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, issued the following statement re. the U.S. District Court of the District of Maryland issuing a Temporary Restraining Order(TRO) in American Federation of State, County Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Federation of Teachers vs. Social Security Administration.

“We are grateful that the court took strong action to protect every American’s personal data,” said Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a national grassroots advocacy organization. “Seniors must be able to trust the Social Security Administration will protect their personal information and keep it from falling into the wrong hands.”

Commentary & Analysis

Want a Better Grocery Store? Support Union Workers.

From Elle Fanger at The Nation,

Workers are on the front lines of an increasingly bleak shopping experience, and they bear the costs of understaffing, underinvestment in facilities, and feeble safety measures.

The Labor Movement Should Stand Up for Mahmoud Khalil

From Jimmy Williams Jr. at In These Times,

Unions have a moral imperative to defend against illegal attacks on political speech. That means demanding justice for Mahmoud Khalil.

For Labor, Caution is Fatal

From Stephen Lerner at In These Times,

The riskiest course is to stay the course.

The More You Have, the Less You Fight

From Hamilton Nolan at How Things Work,

None of us can predict the future, but it is possible to make some well-informed guesses about where we should—and should not—expect to see The Resistance forming in earnest. In any situation like ours, where a vindictive and dictatorial figure with no regard for law or morality is centralizing power in his own hands, it does not take a crystal ball to know how different groups will respond. It only takes an understanding of incentives, and of human nature. Here is one thing that I feel very confident in saying: The people and institutions in America who have the most will do the least in this fight. Do not be surprised when your search for saviors among the pillars of society fails.

Elon Musk Wants to Run the Joann Playbook on Social Security

Labor By the Numbers

There were 47 representation-related filings with the NLRB this last week. Here are a few that stood out:

• Sesame Workshop got their filings on the books, repped by OPEIU
• The Baltimore Sun filed for representation with the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild

Looking Ahead...

On March 23, Letter Carriers will join their fellow postal workers and rally outside of post offices around the country to say "Hell No!" to dismantling the Postal Service. To find a rally near you, check this page, and check out the flyer linked below for more information on the NALC campaign itself:

Public-flyerDownload

That's it for this week folks. Keep an eye out for a reader survey in your emails this weekend--I'm expanding the newsletter and would love to hear from you about what you'd like to see on the site going forward

In love and solidarity,

Mel