A New Era of Worker Power: The Working People Weekly List

Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.

SEIU Joins AFL-CIO to ‘Unleash a New Era of Worker Power’ as Trump 2.0 Looms: “The 2-million-member-strong Service Employees International Union announced Wednesday that it is joining the AFL-CIO, bolstering the ranks of the largest labor federation in the United States as unions prepare to fight the incoming Trump administration. ‘CEOs and billionaires want nothing more than to see workers divided, but we’re standing here today with greater solidarity than ever to reach the 60 million Americans who say they’d join a union tomorrow if the laws allowed and to unrig our labor laws to guarantee every worker in America the basic right to organize on the job,’ AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement. With SEIU included, the unions that make up the AFL-CIO represent roughly 15 million workers across the nation. April Verrett, SEIU’s international president, said union members ‘are ready to unleash a new era of worker power, as millions of service and care workers unite with workers at the AFL-CIO to build our unions in every industry and every ZIP code.’”

UAW Seeks Union Election at Ford Battery Plant in Kentucky: “The United Automobile Workers union is seeking approval from federal labor regulators for a union election among workers at a Ford Motor battery plant in Kentucky, providing an important test of organized labor’s strength after the election of Donald J. Trump. The union petitioned the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday to let workers at the new factory in Glendale, about 55 miles south of Louisville, vote on whether they want to join the UAW. The plant, which is expected to begin production this year, is a joint venture between Ford and SK On, a South Korean battery company.” 

Park City Ski Patrollers, Resort Reach Tentative Settlement: “Park City Mountain Resort and its ski patrol have reached a tentative agreement. Late Tuesday night, the resort and the Park City Professional Ski Association released a joint statement announcing that a tentative agreement had been reached through April of 2027. ‘The union’s bargaining committee is unanimously endorsing ratification by its unit with a vote scheduled to take place (Wednesday),’ the two sides said. ‘The tentative agreement addresses both parties’ interests and will end the current strike.’”

Biden Signs Bill to Boost Social Security Payments for Some Public Sector Workers: “President Joe Biden signed a bill Sunday that boosts Social Security benefits for millions of public sector workers in what the White House described as the first expansion of such benefits in 20 years. The Social Security Fairness Act eliminates two decades-old provisions—the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset—that reduced Social Security benefits for some retirees who also received pension income. Police officers, firefighters, postal workers, and public school teachers are among the nearly 3 million affected by the provisions. ‘The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity,’ Biden said.”

Nurses at Three Legacy Hospitals Announce Intent to Unionize: “More than 2,200 nurses at three of Legacy Health’s six hospitals announced their intent to join the Oregon Nurses Association today in what would be the largest organizing effort in the union’s history. Nurses from Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, and Randall Children’s Hospital delivered a letter to management petitioning for voluntary recognition of the union so they could start collective bargaining on issues that include patient care and staffing, ONA said. The union plans to file for an election with the National Labor Relations Board and set a date for it soon.”

Journalists for the Athletic Push to Join the New York Times Union: “The editorial staff of the Athletic, the sports-media outlet owned by the New York Times, has signed cards signaling its intention to unionize. Staffers sent a letter to Times management Monday asking them to recognize them as part of the Times Guild, the same union that represents the Times newsroom. The Athletic’s bargaining unit is around 200 people and would grow the Times Guild to around 1,700 members. Times reporters are represented by the NewsGuild of New York, which was part of the Athletic’s organizing effort.”

In Rare Move, Some Providence Physicians Prepare to Strike Alongside Nurses: “Thousands of Providence healthcare professionals around the state are preparing to strike, and for the first time in recent history, physicians are among their ranks. In late December, nearly 5,000 Providence healthcare professionals represented by the Oregon Nurses Association voted to approve a strike at all eight Providence hospitals to begin Jan. 10. The called strike came after several weeks of unsuccessful contract negotiations. The union claims the health care system fails to follow state staffing guidelines and doesn’t offer competitive wages and benefits. On Dec. 30, ONA gave the required 10-day notice to strike.”

How Labor Law Changed Under Biden—and What Comes Next: “Core to the Biden administration’s economic policy was an attempt to rebalance the power between workers and employers through labor and employment regulations, from the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on non-compete clauses to the Department of Labor’s expanded overtime protections. At the center of this effort was the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency charged with protecting workers’ rights to organize and combating unfair labor practices. Led by general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, the board took an active stance in interpreting and enforcing labor law, generating new precedents that reduced barriers to worker voice and unionization.”

Midland PetSmart Employees Vote to Unionize with UFCW Local 540: “Employees at the PetSmart store in Midland have voted to unionize. On Friday, Jan. 3, employees have joined the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 540, which represents workers in retail, grocery, food processing and other industries in Texas, according to a press release. ‘I, along with my co-workers, am so proud of coming together to form a union that will finally allow us to advocate for improved hours, pay and worker safety on the job,’ Stephanie Lawrence, a PetSmart customer engagement lead and member of the organizing committee, was quoted as saying. ‘We went into this election united, and the results confirmed what we have known for months: PetSmart workers deserve a union.’”

Starbucks Union Files 34 Federal Complaints, Signaling Renewed Hostilities: “Starbucks Corp.’s union filed 34 U.S. labor board complaints against the company this week, signaling rising tension between the coffee chain and the labor group that had agreed last winter to try to end their hostilities. The complaints were filed with the National Labor Relations Board by Starbucks Workers United, which has organized around 500 of the company’s roughly 10,000 corporate-run U.S. cafes over the past three years. The filings accuse Starbucks of violating federal labor law at stores in 16 states, including by singling out and firing employees over the last several months because of their union activism.”