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Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Mark Gallego Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Mark Gallego of the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA). Mark Gallego has been the business agent and a labor leader for UA Local 469 for 12 years. Gallego represented UA on the national Labor Council for Latin American Advancement's executive board for three years and is involved in the Local 469 PAC to elect candidates who support labor. Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 09/29/2026 - 10:32 Tags: Hispanic Heritage MonthContinue reading→

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: AutoZone Workers Vote to Join UAW, First for Nationwide Chain 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. Workers at an AutoZone location in White Plains, New York, have made history by voting to join UAW Local 259, making them the first store at the country’s largest auto parts retailer to organize for a fair contract.Staff cited concerns around low pay and unfair working conditions as core motivators for joining together for a stronger voice on the job. LaborLab—a nonprofit labor rights watchdog organization—and workers identified at least 11 corporate executives, along with several regional and district managers, who appeared at the store leading up to the vote.“It’s like hitting a fly with a mallet,” said Mike DiGuiseppe, Local 259’s vice president. “They’ve had more corporate executive union-busters in the store than workers.”“Our goal is to get compensation, job security, just more things that closely reflect the value that we know that we bring to the company. We’re not getting close to what we’re worth,” said David Valencia, who works at the AutoZone store. “There is no bargaining when you’re alone. They’re only going to bargain when you’re together. So we don’t have a choice. Either we’re going to live in poverty and not be able to pay our bills, or we’re going to do this.” Kenneth Quinnell Tue, 09/29/2026 - 10:12 Tags: OrganizingContinue reading→

Get to Know AFL-CIO's Affiliates: Writers Guild of America East This is the next post in our series that will take a deeper look at each of our affiliates. The series will run weekly until we’ve covered all 65 of our affiliates. Next up is the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE). Name of Union: Writers Guild of America EastMission: To negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conduct programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers’ views to various bodies of government.Current Leadership of Union: Tom Fontana serves as president. He has written and produced such groundbreaking television series as “St. Elsewhere,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Oz” and Netflix’s “Borgia.” Fontana wrote the HBO film “Strip Search,” directed by Sidney Lumet, as well as contributed two pieces to the September 11 special “America: A Tribute to Heroes.” He was an executive producer and co-creator of the AMC/Canal+ series “Monsieur Spade.” He wrote, directed and produced “Sugarland” on Audible. He has received, among others, three Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, three Writers Guild Awards, four Television Critics Association Awards, the Cable Ace Award, the Humanitas Prize, two Edgar Awards and the first prize at Geneva’s Cinéma Tout Écran Festival. From the Writers Guild of America East, he has received the Evelyn F. Burkey Award, the Richard B. Jablow Award and the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement.Michael Rauch serves as vice president of film/television/streaming, Jessica Schulberg serves as vice president of online media, Beth Godvik serves as vice president of broadcast/cable/streaming news, and Sasha Stewart serves as secretary treasurer.Current Number of Members: 7,000+Members Work As: Writers and media professionals. Industries Represented: Film, television, news, podcasts and online media.History: The Writers Guild of America East was founded in 1954, but the path to the Writers Guild is a long one that runs alongside the histories of both the entertainment industry and the labor movement. Since 1954, the Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West have negotiated and administered Minimum Basic Agreements with major film producers and networks and stations, covering theatrical and television films, broadcast and cable television, documentary film and radio, and public and commercial television. The Writers Guild of America East has a long history of advocating for the rights of writers and creative professionals from new and developing media industries.Current Campaigns/Community Efforts: The WGAE is actively organizing media workers and engaged in contract campaigns at shops such as MS Now. It is also working on state legislation that would mandate disclaimers on news stories that are wholly created by artificial intelligence and on a federal film incentive to help bring film and television production back to the United States. The WGAE website is filled with resources for writers and union members, including access to current contracts and information about writers’ rights. WGAE keeps a Strike/Unfair List for various productions. WGAE supplies a list of agents who have signed the 2019 Agency Code of Conduct with the Guild, as well as franchise agencies. The Guild has an Activist Group. WGAE offers fellowships, annual awards, a Staff Writer Bootcamp and script registration. WGAE has salons such as the Asian American Writers Salon, the Black Writers Salon, the Jewish Writers Salon, the Latine Salon, the LGBTQ+ Writers Salon and the Women’s Salon that work to build community, amplify the voices of underrepresented writers, provide practical career-building skills, celebrate the successes of peers and more. WGAE offers caucuses as a professional forum open to both current Guild members and established writers who are pursuing Guild membership but whose produced screenplays and projects do not meet the criteria for membership under the Minimum Basic Agreement. Caucuses include the Indie Film Caucus, the Documentary Caucus, the Animation Caucus and the Nonfiction Women of Color Caucus. The WGA Audio Alliance organizes the writers of scripted podcasts. WGAE produces the nonfiction podcast for OnWriting that features members sharing career advice and discussing current projects. The Writers Guild Initiative brings the craft of writing to communities whose voices and stories are underrepresented in the popular discourse. Learn More: Website, Instagram, BlueSky, LinkedIn Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 09/28/2026 - 14:01Continue reading→

We Are Empowered: 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. Unions Rally Around the Threat of A.I.: “Unions are confronting A.I. as an existential danger to workers, not only because of the possibility of massive job losses but also because of its hand in the widening gap between wages and corporate profits. In April, Liz Shuler, the president of the AFL-CIO, called A.I. ‘the single biggest threat to working people of our lifetime.’”Revenge of the Labor Movement: Democrats with Union Backgrounds Aim to Retake Congress: “‘In a political environment that’s been dominated by wealthy elites for decades, union candidates provide a level of trust and credibility that’s simply unmatched,’ Steve Smith, a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the U.S., told the Guardian. ‘These candidates are at long last returning the levers of power to the people.’”At Vatican Conference, Labor Leader Critiques A.I. Execs Who 'Want to Play God': “‘Right now, we have CEOs who want to play God to make decisions that affect hundreds of millions of working people without our input and consent,’ said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO. ‘We can choose a better path, with workers at the table, engaging in dialogue with stakeholders to shape a more hopeful and just future.’ Shuler attended a mid-September Vatican conference on the role of organized labor in confronting emerging social and ecological challenges in the Americas. During the gathering, she argued that labor movements and the Catholic Church can work together to promote an approach to A.I. that protects workers who are threatened by the mass unemployment that could be one of the technology's effects.”The New Union Way to Build Progressive Power: “Braxton Winston, president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, told me, ‘Deep canvassing allowed us to affirm and adjust what we thought we knew, rather than just assuming. It helped us reach out to a part of our membership that often doesn’t vote with us.’ The details of the contracts are not all that different from standard progressive policy platforms, but they have an authenticity and legitimacy that top-down programs lack because they are built directly on the expressed concerns of rank-and-file workers. ‘The labor movement needs to lead and we need to have a broader moral vision that connects to a better life for working people,’ says Matt Schlobohm, executive director of the Maine AFL-CIO. ‘That theory of change informs this whole project.’”Nurses at Central Maine Medical Center Vote to Unionize: “Central Maine Medical Center nurses voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing Thursday night. 204 nurses voted yes and 21 voted no, that’s about 91%. Healthcare workers at the hospital will now join the Maine State Nurses Association, which represents 4,000 nurses across the state.”Samuel Adams Brewery Workers in Jamaica Plain Vote to Unionize: “Ye olde workers at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery and Taproom in Jamaica Plain love wealth, as well as liberty—but they’d settle for a raise. About 30 bartenders, brewery tour ambassadors, and other staff members voted to unionize Tuesday night, joining roughly 11,000 workers of the United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 328 across Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, according to union officials.”Smiling Bud Workers Vote to Unionize in New Jersey: “Employees at a cannabis contract manufacturing facility in Bergen County are the latest group of workers in New Jersey’s legalized industry to unionize. According to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 360, staffers at Smiling Bud recently voted to organize. The union represents cannabis workers in dispensaries, labs, manufacturing, processing, delivery and grow facilities across the U.S.”Nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital Approve Contract: “After four years of negotiating, registered nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore voted in favor of a three-year contract Sept. 19 that ends mandatory overtime, provides the right to union representation and includes a 5- to 6-percent pay increase over three years. ‘Over the long road to secure this contract, we won a lot of victories, from equipment improvements to staffing improvements to raises, through organizing and putting pressure on the hospital,’ said Melissa LaRue, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit, in a news release from National Nurses United. ‘Now that we have a contract, we are empowered, ready to hold Ascension accountable to it and ready to keep up the fight for a hospital that puts patients over profits.’”Butterball Sanitation Workers in North Carolina Vote to Join Union: “The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) said 58 sanitation workers at the Butterball facility in Raeford, NC, joined the union as members. The employees clean and prepare the poultry plant for daily production of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook turkey products.”PNBC, AFL-CIO and Rainbow PUSH Join Forces to Launch ‘The People’s Revival’: “The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (PNBC), in partnership with the AFL-CIO and Rainbow PUSH Coalition, will launch ‘The People’s Revival,’ a national voter mobilization movement focused on voter education, voter mobilization and voter protection. The national campaign launch will take place Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. at Zion Baptist Church, 4850 Blagden Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20011. PNBC’s official campaign materials describe The People’s Revival as a multi-state get-out-the-vote initiative centered on voter education, mobilization and protection.”IAM Union Members at NASSCO Ratify New Three-Year Labor Agreement: “The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) says that its members at General Dynamics NASSCO have ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement covering more than 800 shipbuilders in San Diego. The agreement comes less than a month after IAM Local S6 Members at GD Bath Iron Works ratified a new five-year labor agreement (see earlier story). The union says that the agreement with NASSCO delivers a 10% wage increase in the first year, followed by increases of 5% in the second year and 4% in the third year—raising wages by nearly 20% over the life of the contract.” Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 09/28/2026 - 13:52Continue reading→

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Central Maine Medical Center Nurses (NNU) Vote Overwhelmingly to Form Union 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. After weathering intense interference from hospital management, registered nurses (RNs) at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) have voted overwhelmingly to join Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU).This landslide victory and display of solidarity is especially meaningful given that Prime Healthcare, the hospital’s owner, fired and suspended 20 nurses during the organizing campaign in retaliation for speaking up and fighting for their patients. Now that the election is over, MSNA members will continue to demand the reinstatement of their illegally disciplined coworkers and are preparing to negotiate a first contract that protects their voice on the job.“We are beyond thrilled to win our union election. Prime Healthcare thought they could silence us,” said Aaron McDaniel, an RN in the intensive care unit. “But now we are members of National Nurses Organizing Committee and we will use our voices to speak up loudly for our patients. We’re so proud to join NNOC because we know we will win a contract that will make a drastic difference for our patients and for us as nurses to build a healthier community.” Kenneth Quinnell Mon, 09/28/2026 - 09:58 Tags: OrganizingContinue reading→

Hispanic Heritage Month Profiles: Manny Diaz Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFL-CIO will be profiling leaders and activists to spotlight the diverse contributions Hispanics and Latinos have made to the labor movement. Today's profile features Manny Diaz of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). “Getting my Local One card in 1992 and becoming a house electrician for the Shubert organization in 1999 have been my two greatest achievements," Manny Diaz said. An IATSE member for more than 30 years, Diaz is a house electrician at the Imperial Theatre in New York and serves on IATSE Local One's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Social Justice; Emergency Protocol; Safety; and Broadway League Negotiation Committees. Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 09/25/2026 - 10:23 Tags: Hispanic Heritage MonthContinue reading→

Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Loft Cinema Workers Unanimously Ratify First CBA 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. Members of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 415 who work at Loft Cinema in Tucson, Arizona, have voted unanimously to ratify their first union contract.The nonprofit art house cinema has a historic connection to Local 415—Loft projectionists were represented by the union in the first few years of the theater’s operation, but that ended after the theater management changed in the early 1970s. Decades later, current staff have revived their membership and now have a contract that ensures wage increases, expanded paid time off, paid breaks, overtime pay for work on holidays, weekly hours guarantees and more.“We’re very proud of the hard work of the Loft employees during their campaign to unionize and their persistence in bargaining this agreement,” said Local 415 Business Agent Ian Fritz. “Our union is honored to represent them, and I hope their success sends a message to movie theater workers across Tucson that joining a union is every worker’s right.” Kenneth Quinnell Fri, 09/25/2026 - 10:17Continue reading→

Worker Wins: ‘A Meaningful Voice In the Decisions that Affect Them’ Our latest roundup of worker wins includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life. Butterball Sanitation Workers Vote to Join UFCW: Sanitation workers at the Butterball plant in Raeford, North Carolina, have voted to form a union with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1208. These members play an essential role in the facility, cleaning and preparing it for daily production. The core issues that motivated them to join UFCW included pay and safety concerns, problems with favoritism and the need for a fairer career advancement process. Workers stood strong against anti-union rhetoric to secure this powerful Southern organizing victory.SLU Graduate Student Workers Vote to Ratify Contract: Graduate workers at Saint Louis University (SLU), who are represented by UAW Local 6690, have ratified their first collective bargaining agreement. Under the name Graduate Workers of SLU Union-UAW, academic staff at the private Jesuit research university have been negotiating since they first organized in 2024. “SLU preaches Cura Personalis, and protecting graduate workers is a clear example of caring for the whole person,” said union member Grayson Arnold in an op-ed. “Graduate workers’ physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness all directly relate to how we show up as students and employees. When graduate workers are less stressed, they’re better equipped to teach their class or lab and to form impactful connections with their undergraduate students. With this win, the whole university benefits.”Firefighters Agree to 3-Year Contract with City of Somerville, Secure Wage and Benefit Increases: Members of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 76 in Somerville, Mass., agreed to a new three-year contract, covering July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029. Local 76 members have ratified the contract, and the Somerville City Council has voted to fund it. The contract includes a 2% cost-of-living adjustment in each year of the contract; an additional 2% pay increase for firefighters with 20 or more years of service; an increase in the annual EMT certification stipend to $6,000; a new emergency medical response stipend that begins at $1,000 before increasing to $2,000 in the agreement’s second year; the establishment of a city-funded cancer-screening account of $50,000 that will be replenished annually; 18 sick days annually; the use of up to 10 sick days for an approved Family and Medical Leave Act absence to care for an immediate family member; and eight weeks of paid maternity leave for employees who give birth. “Local 76 would like to thank Mayor Wilson and his team for keeping true to their word and putting the work in to get this agreement done,” said Local 76 President Mike Jefferson. “This is what bargaining in good faith looks like, having a contract done in a timely manner and not waiting years to come to an agreement like we had become so accustomed to in the past.”Workers at Cooperative Development Institute Win Voluntary Union Recognition: Workers at the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) in Northampton, Massachusetts, received voluntary recognition from management for their union, CDI Workers United (CDIWU), on Aug. 31. CDIWU represents 30 CDI employees and is affiliated with the Providence Newspaper Guild, The NewsGuild-CWA Local 31041. Workers are organizing to secure meaningful participation in workplace decisions, transparency, accountability, equitable working conditions, and a desire to strengthen communication across programs and throughout the organization. “We organized because we believe deeply in CDI and in the cooperative values that guide our work,” said Addy Schuetz, a member of CDIWU. “Every day, we help communities build structures that give people a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect them. We believe workers deserve that same opportunity. Forming CDI Workers United gives us a way to bring those values more fully into our own workplace and to work together toward a stronger, more sustainable CDI.”Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Job Application Loyalty Question After Unions File Suit: On Friday, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from requiring federal agency job applicants to write an essay about their favorite Trump administration initiative, siding with AFGE, AFSCME and the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), an affiliate of SEIU, in their lawsuit. Unions filed a complaint after the Office of Personnel Management issued a “merit hiring plan” in May 2025. The court found that this unlawful requirement violates the First Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act and the Privacy Act. This is a major win for public service workers and the communities we serve,” said AFSCME President Patrick Moran. “These ‘loyalty questions’ are a blatantly illegal attempt to hire partisan cronies who would endanger our communities by putting politics before people, rather than dedicated, qualified public service workers.” “Requiring federal job applicants to answer politically motivated questions goes against the very nature of the nonpartisan civil service, and we are pleased the judge has put an immediate stop to the administration’s loyalty questions. Federal employees should be hired based solely on their ability to perform the job–not their allegiance to any particular administration,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said. “Today’s ruling makes clear that hiring in the federal workforce cannot be turned into a political loyalty question,” said David J. Holway, national president of NAGE. “Federal jobs are not political rewards, and public service is not conditioned on allegiance to a president.”Hofstra Faculty Approve New Five-Year Union Contract: Faculty at Hofstra University—who are members of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), an affiliate of AFT—have ratified a new contract. Union members overwhelmingly approved the agreement last week, securing annual raises of between 3% and 3.5% over the lifetime of the five-year deal. “Months of hard work, extensive negotiations, and active participation by our membership and community achieved this outcome,” AAUP Hofstra said in a statement. “We thank our members for their participation and unity throughout the entire process; hundreds attended meetings, participated in an on-campus rally, voted to support job actions, signed strike pledges, mobilized their networks to sign a petition to President Poser, shared their views, and took part in the final contract vote.”Fort Wayne Philharmonic Musicians Secure New Agreement: The Fort Wayne Musicians Association, American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 58, has reached a new four-year collective bargaining agreement with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Highlights of the new contract include approximately 30% in cumulative wage increases over the life of the deal, higher employer-paid pension contributions, enhanced family benefits and more. This agreement will allow the Philharmonic to attract and retain talented AFM members while it expands programming and community engagement projects for patrons in Northeast Indiana. “Our new agreement brings Musicians meaningful gains in wages, additional work weeks and a bolstered benefits package, while also improving the audition, probation and tenure processes for the newest members of our orchestra,” said Philharmonic Players’ Association Chair Debra Welter. “We look forward to our continued partnership with the Philharmonic Board, management and staff as we bring symphonic music to audiences across Northeast Indiana.”Labcorp Workers in Atlanta To Vote To Join IUPAT: Labcorp workers in the Metro Atlanta area will be voting this week to join the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), District Council 77. District Council 77 represents workers across Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. This organizing effort dates back to 2022. After service representatives scheduled their first National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election, Labcorp management held more than 15 hours of captive audience meetings. Staff were also subjected to surveillance, threats and other intimidation tactics. Unfair labor practice complaints related to this drive were settled earlier this year, and workers were awarded more than $750,000 in back pay. With a new NLRB vote coming up, Labcorp is back to union-busting tactics, but workers are undeterred and ready to win representation on the job.Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Joins AFSCME Retirees, President Moran to Celebrate Huge Pension Victory: Years of organizing by AFSCME Retirees paid off Monday, when Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an AFSCME-endorsed bill giving a double-digit cost-of-living increase to 60,000 retirees across the commonwealth. Shapiro signed the legislation at AFSCME Chapter 13 Retirees 45th convention in Harrisburg. The new law brings closure to a decades-long campaign led by the Chapter 13 Retirees to receive the COLA members say they’ve needed and earned over years of service. The new COLA increases range from 15%–24.5% for those who retired from public service before 2001, depending on their retirement date. This is the first pension bump for these retirees in more than two decades. “Your victory means tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians can breathe a little easier,” said AFSCME President Patrick Moran. “And it proves something important: When working people stick together, commit to organizing and refuse to quit, we can win.” Union Journalists at Forbes Win First Contract with Editorial Integrity and Job Security Protections: Unionized editorial staff at Forbes, represented by The NewsGuild of New York (an affiliate of The NewsGuild-CWA), ratified their first contract, the culmination of a more than four-year fight since organizing in 2021. The deal sets strong editorial integrity protections, a new salary floor, gold-standard job security protections and more. Forbes Union, which represents nearly 90 reporters, photo and video editors, ratified the three-year contract on Sept. 1. “We refused to accept any deal that didn’t honor the value we bring every day to Forbes,” said Andrea Murphy, unit chair and statistics editor for Forbes. “This contract is the direct result of our union’s perseverance and solidarity.” Highlights from the deal include: Raises of 4%, 3% and 3% in each successive year of the contract; a $2,500 ratification bonus; a new $68,500 wage floor; salary minimums; gold-standard “just cause” job security protections; a one-year recall period for members who are laid off; a pathway to full-time employment for temps; and strong editorial integrity protections.Arizona Theatre Company Workers Ratify First Contract with IATSE; Secure Wage Increases, Other Benefits: Workers at Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) voted 15–1 to ratify their first collective bargaining agreement. The workers, represented by Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 415, nearly unanimously approved the contract. The contract covers 19 workers across scenic carpentry, painting, lighting, video, audio, properties, costume, hair and makeup, and other theatrical crafts at Arizona’s only League of Resident Theatres professional regional theater. The contract includes wage increases averaging 15%, continuation of health insurance coverage during layoffs for seasonal workers, improved overtime conditions, increased sick leave and protected days off. “I could not be more proud of the current generation of ATC employees who have fought so hard for this right. We are thrilled to be joining our union kin in IATSE, Actors’ Equity Association, United Scenic Artists, and SAG-AFTRA,” said ATC employee Matthew Devore, who has worked at the company for 18 years.Primary tabsUSW Secures New Collective Bargaining Agreement with Rocky Mountain Steel Mills: Members of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Colorado have a new contract at Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. Production and maintenance workers at the Pueblo mill are represented by USW Local 2102, and clerical, technical and plant protection staff are part of USW Local 3267. The new deal contains wage improvements, including attendance bonuses and performance goal incentives; increases to pension benefits; and retention of health care coverage. “Our members work hard. They care deeply about this mill and this community, and they deserve an agreement that recognizes their contributions. We believe this contract does that while giving us a strong foundation to continue building the future of steelmaking in Pueblo,” said Eric Ludwig, president of Local 2102. “For the second time this decade, the Steelworkers have helped ensure that Pueblo's manufacturing industry remains a key part of the local economy,” said Charles Perko, president of Local 3267. “Every dollar our members earn through their work can be reinvested in our community through restaurants, stores and other local businesses. When our members win, Pueblo wins.”IAM Union Shipbuilders Ratify New Contract with Nearly 20% Wage Increases and Major Benefit Gains: IAM Union members at General Dynamics NASSCO ratified a new three-year contract covering more than 800 shipbuilders in San Diego. The agreement raises wages by nearly 20% over the life of the contract—a 10% increase in the first year, followed by 5% in the second year and 4% in the third year. It also delivers major improvements to retirement benefits; an additional floating holiday; stronger language on attendance, seniority, life insurance and disability benefits; and other gains. “This contract recognizes the skill, sacrifice, and essential work of IAM members who build the ships that support our national security and strengthen America’s maritime capabilities,” said IAM Western Territory General Vice President Robert “Bobby” Martinez. “Our members stood together throughout this campaign, and their solidarity produced meaningful improvements in wages, retirement security, benefits and workplace protections.” “Our members built the strength that made this agreement possible,” said IAM District 947 Business Representative William “Billy” Corona. “They talked with their coworkers, grew the union inside the shipyard and showed the company that NASSCO shipbuilders were prepared to stand together. That unity gave the committee the power it needed to secure real gains at the table.”Maine State Workers Ratify New Contract with Wage and Benefit Gains: Members of the Maine Service Employees Association-SEIU Local 1989 (MSEA-SEIU) ratified a new, two-year contract good through June 30, 2027. “We are taking the gains we won together—and getting organized for the fights ahead,” said MSEA-SEIU on its website. The new contract includes across-the-board wage increases of 4.5% effective the pay week closest to Sept. 1, 2026; a $2,000 lump sum payment; an increase from 80% to 85% of the federal mileage rate; Department of Health and Human Services license renewal reimbursement; an ECS Training Stipend increase to $2; reimbursement for advanced courses, licenses and certifications; improved Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations; a six-month pilot program to study where schedule flexibility is being denied, why agencies may be denying alternate work schedules and whether flexible work schedules can be expanded; creation of a contractual alternative work schedule appeal process; and numerous other gains.Ascension St. Agnes Nurses Ratify First Union Contract: National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) members who work at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore have overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying their first collective bargaining agreement. After years of negotiations and strikes, registered nurses (RNs) have won an agreement that includes a 5%–6% pay increase, staff staffing improvements, a formalized grievance procedure, workplace violence prevention language and more. “Over the long road to secure this contract, we won a lot of victories, from equipment improvements to staffing improvements to raises, through organizing and putting pressure on the hospital,” said Melissa LaRue, RN in the intensive care unit. “Now that we have a contract, we are empowered, ready to hold Ascension accountable to it, and ready to keep up the fight for a hospital that puts patients over profits.” Kenneth Quinnell Thu, 09/24/2026 - 12:01 Tags: OrganizingContinue reading→