Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Overwatch Developers Form Union with CWA
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Overwatch Developers Form Union with CWA
Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Game developers behind Activision Blizzard’s popular franchise Overwatch have become the latest video industry workers to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and have secured voluntary recognition from parent company Microsoft.The Overwatch Gamemakers Guild-CWA (OWGG-CWA) is a wall-to-wall union that covers a wide range of roles, including art, quality assurance, engineering, design and more. The nearly 200-person bargaining unit formed its union with the help of CWA’s tech industry organizing project, Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA), which has helped 6,000 workers in the United States and Canada form unions over the past five years. OWGG-CWA members cite concerns around job security, wages and layoff protections as core motivators for organizing.“After a long history of layoffs, crunch, and subpar working conditions in the global video game industry, my coworkers and I are thrilled to be joining the broader union effort to organize our industry for the better, which has been long overdue,” said Foster Elmendorf, senior test analyst II and organizing committee member. “Workers organizing themselves and striving for better conditions as a group allows us to present initiatives that would not only improve our workplace but video games overall.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Wed, 05/14/2025 – 09:55
Gearing Up: Las Vegas IAM Local SC-711 Sets Stage for Contract Negotiations at Nellis Air Force Base
IAM Local SC-711 negotiating committee recently gathered at the IAM William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Hollywood, Md., to prepare for upcoming contract negotiations with M1 Support Services and its subcontractors, for the Nellis Aircraft Maintenance and Support Services Program at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. The contract covers more than
The post Gearing Up: Las Vegas IAM Local SC-711 Sets Stage for Contract Negotiations at Nellis Air Force Base appeared first on IAM Union.
Teamsters Call on Texas Lawmakers to Support Driverless Vehicle Bill
(AUSTIN, Texas) – The Teamsters are calling on Texas lawmakers to pass House Bill 4402 (HB 4402), critical legislation requiring trained human operators in autonomous vehicles (AVs), following its passage out of the Texas House Committee on Transportation. The push for AV regulation comes as the tech company Aurora begins operating fully driverless trucks on […]
Read More....It Wasn’t Even Close: The Working People Weekly List
It Wasn’t Even Close: 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.
University of Oregon Student Workers Union and University of Oregon Reach Tentative Agreement: “After a strike that lasted more than a week, the University of Oregon Student Workers union and the university itself have announced that they have come to a tentative agreement on a labor contract. Student workers at the University of Oregon walked off the job in the morning of April 28, after 11 months of failed negotiations with the university.”Union Groups Needed 140k Utahns to Support a Referendum. They Got More Than a Quarter Million Signatures: “In the end, it wasn’t even close. Labor groups had 30 days to get 140,478 signatures to put a referendum on the ballot asking Utah voters if they want to repeal a new law barring public employee unions from negotiating contracts with their government employers. They ended up with 251,590 valid signatures, making it the most successful signature-gathering effort in state history, according to the lieutenant governor’s office, racking up nearly 100,000 more names than the previous record set by the 2018 medical marijuana initiative.”Unions Push Congress to Help Bring Back NIOSH Staff: “A coalition of 28 labor unions is calling on congressional lawmakers to ‘fulfill the promise of a safe job’ by helping in the effort to reverse staffing cuts at NIOSH. In an open letter to the lawmakers, the unions, including the AFL-CIO, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, United Mineworkers of America and United Steelworkers, write: ‘Fifty years ago, our elected leaders made that promise to every working family in America by establishing NIOSH, OSHA, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, which were all entrusted by Congress to have distinct and imperative responsibilities that have allowed us to make critical progress over time.’”Entertainment Unions ‘Prepared to Fight Back’ Against Trump-Ordered Elimination of NEA, NEH and CPB: “The Arts, Entertainment, and Media Industries (AEMI) coalition within AFL-CIO said it is prepared to fight back against Trump’s proposed cuts that would eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Trump’s 2026 ‘Skinny’ Budget Request went out last week, continuing his attacks on nonprofit arts organizations such as National Public Radio and PBS. ‘Unions are prepared to fight back again against efforts to eliminate the NEA, NEH, and CPB,’ said Katie Barrows, Communications Director at the Department of Professional Employees at the labor union in a statement released Wednesday.”On Teacher Appreciation Week, Union Leaders Say Teachers Are Underpaid and Under Attack: “American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said with their skill sets and the amount of time they dedicate to their jobs, public school teachers could earn about 24% more than their current pay working in non-teaching jobs in the private sector. But teachers often stay in the profession ‘because they’re making a difference in the lives of kids,’ she said. Weingarten added, ‘You’re seeing this over and over and over again that people in communities know the importance of teachers and the importance of public schools. That’s why teachers are one of the most trusted professions in the country. But they need to be supported 365 days a year, not just one day a year.’”AFL-CIO’s Shuler, 100 Days in, Challenges Trump Refusal to Follow Constitution: “As Republican President Donald Trump again verbally trashes the U.S. Constitution, both AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and the public, in a new poll by the Pew Research Center, are calling him out for what he is—a serious threat to democracy. Shuler says he is an ‘autocrat’ and the people are telling pollsters he is a ‘dangerous dictator.’ ‘We do not fall in line for autocrats,’ declared Shuler.”Not All Students Go to College. We Need to Make That OK: “For years, America’s approach to education has been guided by an overly simplistic formula: 4+4—the idea that students need four years of high school and four years of college to succeed in life. Even with this prevailing emphasis on college, around 40% of high schoolers do not enroll in college upon graduating, and only 60% of students who enroll in college earn a degree or credential within eight years of high school graduation.”Labor Goes All in for Kilmar: “AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler highlighted Abrego Garcia’s case as well as that of Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk in a statement, while condemning President Donald Trump’s unlawful overreach. ‘The Trump administration also has illegally targeted our fellow workers—union members like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was separated from his family in Maryland and sent to a prison in El Salvador without due process, and Rümeysa Öztürk, detained while walking to dinner in Massachusetts and thrown into a detention center thousands of miles away, despite neither of them having committed a crime,’ Shuler said, before invoking a well-known labor slogan. ‘An injury to one is an injury to all. When Trump targets immigrant families like Kilmar’s and Rümeysa’s, he targets all workers.’” ‘It Makes Me Feel Angry’: Workers Forced Out by Trump and Musk Speak at MSNBC Town Hall: “Federal workers who were forced out of their jobs by President Trump and Elon Musk speak out in a live MSNBC town hall—‘100 Days of Trump: Forced Out Federal Workers.’ See the workers talk with Stephanie Ruhle and Jacob Soboroff about their experience and what these actions mean for all Americans.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 05/13/2025 – 11:16
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profile: Bethany Khan
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Profile: Bethany Khan
For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today’s profile is Bethany Khan of UNITE HERE’s Culinary Union.
Bethany Khan is the spokeswoman and director of communications and digital strategy for the Culinary Union, UNITE HERE Local 226. She uses strategic communications, technology, data and digital strategy to support working families in Nevada. Since 2012, Khan’s communications and digital strategy work has played a major role in the Culinary Union’s organizing, legislative, policy and electoral campaigns. In 2024, the Culinary Union, under Khan’s leadership, had $70 million in earned media, uplifting directly impacted and front-line essential hospitality workers’ voices.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 05/13/2025 – 10:16
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Second City Workers Reach a Deal, Win Wage Gains
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Second City Workers Reach a Deal, Win Wage Gains
Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Actors’ Equity Association announced that workers at The Second City have reached a tentative agreement with employers, avoiding the need for a strike in Chicago as authorized last week. Equity and The Second City employers had been negotiating since late February. The union and employers reached this tentative agreement with the assistance of mediator Brenda Pryor of Apex Dispute Resolution. Equity’s Central Regional Board will review the tentative agreement for ratification on May 14.“Previous wages for performers and stage managers at The Second City had fallen way behind due to inflation and the rising cost of living in Chicago,” said George Elrod, Tour Company Actor. “This deal provides a much-needed wage adjustment, while giving Second City a meaningful media package.”“I am happy that we were able to get a deal that more clearly values the workers of The Second City,” said Abby Beggs, e.t.c. Stage Manager. “Most importantly, I’m proud that we valued and prioritized our touring members and got our mainstage actors on par with the rest of the talent in the city. I believe with this deal, more and more of our actors and performers will be able to afford to do this job, and I am proud to have been a part of getting us there.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 05/13/2025 – 10:06
IAM Local 2930 Marks 1-Year Milestone
IAM Air Transport Local 2930 in Irving, TX celebrated its 1-year anniversary, servicing more than 1000 union members who move passengers around North America and the globe.
The post IAM Local 2930 Marks 1-Year Milestone appeared first on IAM Union.
Contract Negotiations Between APWU and Postal Management Nearing ‘End Game’
May 14, 2025Contract Negotiations Between APWU and Postal Management Nearing ‘End Game’
Contract Negotiations
The APWU’s contract negotiations have been taking place as two other postal unions have also been in negotiations with management. The National Association of Letter Carriers finished their nearly two-year negotiations with a mediation-arbitration award issued by arbitrator Dennis Nolan on March 21. To view the award, visit: bit.ly/NALC-2025-Award
Then on April 18, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association reached a tentative agreement with postal management that is now in the ratification process. Their contract expired in May 2024, four months prior to the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the USPS and the APWU. The APWU has fully studied and discussed both of these results, as the outcome of negotiations with our sister postal unions certainly have an impact, positive or negative, on our negotiations with postal management.
The APWU is now seven months past the Sept. 20, 2024, expiration of our contract. As of May 14, the APWU is considering one of two paths: we will either have a new voluntary agreement, which will have been presented to the Rank & File Bargaining Advisory Committee, per the APWU Constitution, for its decision on whether to put it out to a vote of the entire membership. Or alternatively, we will have begun the process of interest arbitration to determine the provisions of a new contract.
“Negotiations are never easy and never will be. However, these negotiations were complicated by the almost two-year length of time it took our sister union, the NALC, to complete their negotiation process,” declared President Mark Dimondstein. “Most importantly, the political shift in the administration and ongoing assaults against federal workers, their unions, and union contracts, made negotiations even more difficult, as well as vital, to secure a new ratified and signed agreement.”
What a Difference Worker Power Through Our Union Makes!
APWU members often view the general wage increases (GWIs), which have been relatively modest over the last 20 years, as the sole compensation package of our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Our negotiated compensation package is much more, and includes:
• General Wage Increases
• Full Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs)
• Regular Step Increases
• Night Differential
• Sunday Premium
• Overtime, including Penalty Pay
Just consider this one example of union-won results from the last nine years of three union contracts (2015, 2018, and 2021):
If an APWU-represented employee was hired in August of 2015 as a Level 6 career employee, this employee is now earning $31,000 more every year based on union-secured modest GWIs, full COLA, and regular Step Increases!(Excluding overtime, increases to the Thrift Savings Plan, etc.!) This amounts to an incredible 83% increase over those nine years!
Contract Negotiations Between APWU and Postal Management Nearing ‘End Game’0
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IAM Golf Fundraiser Helps Family of Fallen Union Member & Charity
IAM Local 1725 in Charlotte, NC held its annual charity golf tournament. This year’s fundraising recipients are the family of fallen IAM member Pete Davis and Guide Dogs of America | Tender Loving Canines.
The post IAM Golf Fundraiser Helps Family of Fallen Union Member & Charity appeared first on IAM Union.
Join Webinar on Tuesday, May 13 at 7PM ET to Protect Our Postal Pensions!
May 12, 2025Postal and Federal Pensions are at risk – APWU will be hosting a Legislative webinar on Tuesday, May 13 at 7-8PM ET titled Protect Our Pensions: Fight Back Against Proposed Retirement Cuts to explain its devastating impacts and how we can combat them.
Postal and Federal Pensions are at risk – On April 30, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted to advance a number of significant cuts to the retirement benefits of postal and federal workers, that are now advancing through Congress.
APWU will be hosting a Legislative webinar on Tuesday, May 13 at 7-8PM ET titled Protect Our Pensions: Fight Back Against Proposed Retirement Cuts to explain its devastating impacts and how we can combat them. RSVP for the webinar by clicking here, and continue reading to find out more about its negative impacts if passed into law.
RSVP for Protect Our Pensions Webinar
Protect Our Pensions Webinar
Tuesday, May 13 7PM ET