organizing

Southern California Uber drivers belonging to the California App-Based Drivers’ Association have aligned themselves with Teamsters Local 986 in hopes of organizing. The drivers perceive many of the business practices mandated by Uber as “unsafe, deceptive, and unfair.”

Maybe the word 'union' is a little too reminiscent of the "War of Northern Aggression," but southerners antipathy to workers organizing has infected much of those states. Political campaigns and demonization by the right has been crucial in redefining what exactly is good for southern workers.

In what is sure to anger Republicans seeking to curb the influence of labor, the National Labor Relations Board is proposing a streamlined process to make it easier for workers to organize. The new plan could cut time from petition to elections to under a month, scaring big business leaders who would prefer to indefinitely delay workers.

A group of 30 technicians at Amazon’s Fulfillment Center in Middletown, Delaware have successfully petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election. The petition was filed with assistance from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) and the election will take place on January 15th in a conference room at the Delaware facility.

Over the weekend, Salinas Valley community supporters joined Walmart workers at a demonstration in front of the Laguna Seca Raceway in California during the annual Monterey Motorsports Reunion. The demonstration took place while Walmart Board Chair, and heir to the Walton family fortune, Rob Walton raced two of his multimillion dollar race cars worth more than $16 million.

A Michigan state appeals court has ruled that an anti-union right-to-work law applies equally to all state employees. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that the law superseded the Michigan Civil Service Commission, which had be tasked with setting compensation prior to the legislation.

The EB-5 investor program connects wealthy immigrants with U.S. businesses seeking capital. Run by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency (USCIS), its stated purpose is to “stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors.” One of those companies is forcibly trying to deny benefits, and inhibiting lawful organizing of its employees into a union.

Why Labor Organizing Should be a Civil Right: Rebuilding a Middle-Class Democracy by Enhancing Worker Voice, by Moshe Z. Marvit and Richard D. Kahlengerg, was released last year to critical and academic acclaim but not nearly enough attention. The book, whose authors are both fellows at the progressive think tank the Century Foundation, lays out a simple, brilliant idea: to amend the Civil Rights Act so that it prohibits discrimination.

A call to arms for the next generation of unionized workers and leaders. Young people in the United States support the Labor Movement more than any other demographic. The trick is translating that support into action.

The National Guestworker Alliance just announced a huge victory. The C.J.’s Seafood workers who exposed forced labor on the Wal-Mart supply chain in June were vindicated by the federal government, which granted them U-Visas—special visas for victims of serious crimes. This is an extraordinary victory for worker organizing and labor law enforcement in the U.S.