We Will Have a Voice: 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.

AI-Powered Robots Are Coming for Trade Jobs: “Unions are worried these current shifts could amount to a warning for jobs outside the office. ‘White collar work will probably be the first tranche, but every job across sectors will be impacted,’ AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told my colleague Brock Hrehor on Wednesday. The union is pushing for a slate of AI bills in California, which partly include advanced notices for AI-related job cuts that should offer protections across different labor sectors.”

Volkswagen Workers’ Victory Represents Rare Union Breakthrough for South: “Workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tenn., factory won 20% raises and lower-health care costs in their first UAW contract after nearly two years of bargaining. Why it matters: The agreement is being billed as a historic breakthrough in the UAW’s decades-long effort to unionize foreign-owned auto plants in the South. Catch up quick: The UAW has been trying to organize the so-called transplant factories—a group now including Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and others—for 40 years.”

Salt Lake City Finalizes ‘Historic’ Collective Bargaining Agreement with Librarians: “Library employees in Utah’s capital city are officially the first municipal library staff to unionize after city leaders approved a resolution to support their first collective bargaining agreement. ‘This is a historic day for the city,’ said Salt Lake City Council Chairman Alejandro Puy, moments before the body unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding that the Salt Lake City Library Board and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1004 reached on behalf of eligible library employees.”

The Unusual Working-Class Message That Turned a Deep-Red District Blue: “The issues that have worked for Democrats around the country this election season—affordability and working-class stability chief among them—also worked for Taylor Rehmet, a union president and machinist who beat his Trump-backed opponent for a deep-red state Senate seat in the Fort Worth area of Texas last weekend. But his platform included something more unusual and a little retro: a promise to return vocational education to public high schools.”

Actors’ Equity, IATSE, Other Entertainment Unions Condemn Kennedy Center Closure: “Following President Trump’s announcement that the Kennedy Center would be the closed for two years beginning July 4 for renovations, a number of entities have roundly condemned the move from Congressional Senators to, now, a host of entertainment unions and workers. Actors’ Equity Association, American Federation of Musicians, American Guild of Musical Artists, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society—unions whose members are routinely hired by the Kennedy Center—have released a joint statement decrying the move, calling it ‘harmful for the arts and creative workers in America,’ and saying they have been given ‘no formal notice or briefing.’”

MedStar Nurses Ratify New Labor Deal: “Registered nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., have ratified a new three‑year labor agreement covering more than 2,200 nurses, according to a Feb. 2 National Nurses United news release shared with Becker’s. The contract, which will run from March 2026 through February 2029, includes wage increases of up to nearly 24% over the life of the agreement, the union said. Union leaders also highlighted several provisions intended to enhance safety and working conditions, including additional security resources and the addition of a registered nurse to the hospitalwide workplace violence committee. The agreement also includes new language allowing bargaining over new technology, bereavement leave for grandparents and staffing language intended to ensure nurses are immediately available for patient care.”

Yet Another Judge Rejects Trump Effort to Block Offshore Wind, Saying New York Project Can Resume: “A federal judge on Monday ruled that an offshore wind project aimed at powering 600,000 New York homes can resume construction, the fifth such project put back on track after the Trump administration halted them in December. In clearing the way for Sunrise Wind to proceed, Judge Royce Lamberth found that the government had not shown that offshore wind is such an imminent national security risk that it must halt in the United States.”

Quality Assurance Workers at Blizzard Ratify Union Contract with Microsoft: “A majority of quality assurance workers at Blizzard studios in Albany and Austin have ratified a union contract at Microsoft after just under three years of negotiations. In a statement to press, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) said employees in Albany and Austin—represented by CWA Locals 1118 and 6215, respectively—‘overwhelming voted’ to ratify a contract that guarantees wage increases, enhanced regulations around the usage of generative AI in the workplace, and crediting protections.”

Nearly 500 of CHOMP’s 800 Nurses Vote in Favor of Joining a Union in Historic Vote: “Registered nurses at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula have overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the California Nurses Association in an election that ended Friday, Jan. 30. The vote has yet to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board, but according to CNA, nearly 500 of CHOMP’s 800 nurses voted yes. It will be the first union in the hospital’s 91-year history. CNA will now represent all 800 registered nurses at CHOMP. ‘This means everything to me and my fellow colleagues at CHOMP. It means we’ve got a seat at the table. It means with regard to patient care, patient safety we will have a voice in the policies,’ says Kristine Olalia, an orthopedic surgery nurse with the hospital for nine years.”

Florida Lawmakers Unanimously Advance Bill to Expand Protections for Temp Workers: “A bill that would help temp workers and day laborers secure stable, permanent employment advanced through a Senate committee of lawmakers Wednesday in a unanimous and bipartisan vote of approval. The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia of Miami, would effectively amend and strengthen the Florida Labor Pool Act—a 1995 law that established certain protections for temp workers that aren’t guaranteed under federal law. This includes preventing a business or temp agency (also known as a labor pool) from charging temp workers for safety equipment, or charging exorbitant fees for lunch or transportation to a job site. Nearly three dozen people spoke or waived in support of Garcia’s proposal Wednesday, including representatives of the Florida AFL-CIO—a statewide federation of over 500 labor unions—and the pro-labor Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy.”