Worker Wins: A Significant Step Forward
Our latest roundup of worker wins includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life.
NYC Ferry Tech Supervisors Join the TWU: Tech supervisors at the NYC Ferry voted unanimously last week to join the Transport Workers Union (TWU). The waterfront transit system operates six transit routes that span over 60 nautical miles of waterways. With this latest victory, the TWU now represents hundreds of workers at NYC Ferry and is working on a first contract for the tech supervisors, as well as ferry captains and technicians and welders. “This is a complete and total victory for the TWU, organizing every work title, wall-to-wall at NYC Ferry, building worker power with industrial trade unionism,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said. “Workers at the NYC Ferry are well on their way to being fully unionized with additional organizing efforts underway.”
City Colleges of Chicago Workers Reach Tentative Agreement: City Colleges of Chicago faculty and professional staff represented by Cook County College Teachers Union (CCCTU) Local 1600—an affiliate of the AFT—reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract in the early hours of Monday morning. The development comes after months of bargaining and a work stoppage that was slated to begin the day the deal was reached. It contains annual raises that keep up with inflation, protections against health insurance cost increases, safeguards around artificial intelligence and more. “I am proud of our negotiating teams, of our members who were prepared to strike, and of this contract,” said CCCTU President Tony Johnston. “It should not have taken until 3:45 AM the day of a strike to get here. But we are happy to reach a fair agreement that supports students, faculty, and professionals.”
After Two-Week Strike, OAPSE School Bus Drivers Win Contract: Members of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE)/AFSCME Local 184 have successfully won a new contract with First Student Transportation after a powerful work stoppage. Princeton School District bus drivers have been fighting for fair wages, health care and solutions to an employee retention problem, which the company had long failed to address. Local teachers and community members expressed an inspiring amount of solidarity by showing support for workers on the picket line. “They’re standing up to corporate power and making sure that members get affordable healthcare and a living wage,” AFSCME President Patrick Moran said, referring to the fact that First Student does not provide affordable health benefits and many of its drivers must rely on Medicare or Medicaid. “We’re here, we’re standing with them, and we’re going to continue to stand with them.”
Allina SEIU Hospice Nurses Approve First Union Contract: After more than a year of bargaining and two unfair labor practice (ULP) strikes, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa members who work at Allina Hospice have ratified their first union contract. SEIU members demonstrated remarkable resolve and unity throughout bargaining and now have a powerful contract protecting them on the job. The agreement contains provisions that establish a fair and consistent union wage scale, immediate pay increases, an improved mileage-reimbursement system, and more. “We are deeply grateful to every member of our bargaining unit, as well as our patients, our community, and our fellow unions who stood with us throughout this fight,” said Abby MacDonald, a RN case manager for over three years at Allina and member of the bargaining team, in a press release. “The support helped us push for the changes necessary to recruit and retain the best nurses to do this critical work.…This fight has strengthened our collective voice and will continue to guide us as we work to ensure that the essential work of caring for dying patients and their families is respected, valued, and supported. This victory belongs to all of us.”
Houston Symphony Musicians Ratify New Four-Year CBA: Members of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 65-699 who perform in the Houston Symphony have ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Highlights of the deal include annual wage increases, the addition of three new string jobs and two librarian positions to the orchestra, reimbursement for custom hearing protection, improvements to the audition process, and more. “We’re proud to have reached an agreement through the collaborative spirit that has long characterized the Houston Symphony,” said Wei Jiang, Houston Symphony acting associate principal violist and bargaining committee chair. “This contract represents a significant step forward for our organization, making meaningful investments in preserving our healthcare, addressing long-standing historical concerns, and strengthening the conditions that support both our artistic excellence and the health and wellbeing of our musicians.”
Nurses in Wichita Ratify New Contract: National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) members at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph hospitals in Wichita, Kansas, have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement. The deal includes safe staffing improvements, workplace violence prevention language, a 17%–24% wage increase over three years, additional paid holidays and more. Registered nurses (RNs) also won one master agreement that covers all NNOC-represented nurses in the city. “After a successful strike in July, and with the threat of a second strike, we were able to win key improvements on all our priority issues,” said Marvin Ruckle, an RN in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Joseph. “Patients will be safer, and nurses will stay at our hospitals because of this agreement.” “Nurses in Wichita are one,” said Shelly Rader, an RN in the emergency unit at St. Francis. “And now, we have one master agreement to cover all union nurses in Wichita, we are united for our patients.”
Pittsburgh Regional Transit Workers Ratify New Contract: Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 85 have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT). The 2,300 bus operators and maintenance and office staff are covered by the new contract, which includes a 15% pay increase over the lifetime of the deal, expanded freedom for senior workers to choose their routes and more. “The great members of Local 85 have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new contract which will enhance the wages and benefits for members and their families for the next 4 years! That’s how a democratic union works. It’s time to move forward together and enforce what we fought for,” the union said in a social media post.