Featured Stories
Government's Ofsted Inspections Overhaul: NEU Response
LONDON, England, Oct. 7 -- The National Education Union issued the following news release:
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Government's Ofsted inspections overhaul: NEU response
05/10/2026
Commenting on reports that the education secretary is set to overhaul Ofsted school inspections for the second time in a year, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"Ofsted isn't fit for purpose. Teachers, support staff and school leaders have suffered under a system that presents a real threat to life, one which has driven thousands out of the classroom as a result of anxiety and unnecessary high
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LONDON, England, Oct. 7 -- The National Education Union issued the following news release:
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Government's Ofsted inspections overhaul: NEU response
05/10/2026
Commenting on reports that the education secretary is set to overhaul Ofsted school inspections for the second time in a year, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"Ofsted isn't fit for purpose. Teachers, support staff and school leaders have suffered under a system that presents a real threat to life, one which has driven thousands out of the classroom as a result of anxiety and unnecessary highstakes, grade-based accountability.
"We welcome the government's commitment to urgent relief from the pressure inflicted by the new Ofsted framework and will work with Lucy Powell on this. The framework has failed in its own terms and is widely discredited.
"Our survey of members on the impact of Ofsted inspections revealed chilling levels of stress and anxiety amongst school staff, particularly school leaders.
"Staff and pupils deserve an accountability system that works for all to support schools in providing the first class education pupils deserve. While dialogue continues at national level, school staff can protect themselves from the impact of Ofsted by using our risk assessment.
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Original text here: https://neu.org.uk/latest/press-releases/governments-ofsted-inspections-overhaul-neu-response?_locale=en
[Category: Union]
UAW Leads 6 Unions in Call for Ban on Stock Buybacks and Dividends at US Defense Contractors
DETROIT, Michigan, Oct. 6 [Category: Union] -- The United Automobile Workers posted the following news:
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UAW Leads 6 Unions in Call for Ban on Stock Buybacks and Dividends at US Defense Contractors
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The United Auto Workers, along with six unions representing members at the largest U.S. defense contractors, are calling on members of Congress to support a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would ban defense contractors from stock buybacks and dividends. Since 2020, the big five prime defense contractors have spent twice as much on stock buybacks and dividends
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DETROIT, Michigan, Oct. 6 [Category: Union] -- The United Automobile Workers posted the following news:
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UAW Leads 6 Unions in Call for Ban on Stock Buybacks and Dividends at US Defense Contractors
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The United Auto Workers, along with six unions representing members at the largest U.S. defense contractors, are calling on members of Congress to support a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would ban defense contractors from stock buybacks and dividends. Since 2020, the big five prime defense contractors have spent twice as much on stock buybacks and dividendsthan capital expenditures, while defense workers fall further behind.
"The working class makes the defense industry run, but instead of investing in our national and economic security, companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Woodward, and dozens more spend taxpayer dollars on Wall Street payoffs to enrich the billionaires," said UAW President Shawn Fain. "It's time we put an end to defense contractors paying off Wall Street while defense workers and taxpayers pay the price."
In a letter to members of Congress, the unions call on legislators to "stand with America's defense workers and seize this opportunity to enshrine" the provision called Section 815 into law, following on an executive order by the Trump administration enacted in January. Section 815 would implement legislation introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) by imposing a blanket ban on Wall Street payouts to incentivize investment in the facilities and workers that make the industry run, instead of short-term stock market paydays.
"With the industry's center of gravity progressively shifting to investor returns, workers too have paid an enormous price," the letter continues. "In contract negotiations and organizing campaigns with these employers, we hear time and again that there are not enough resources to provide workers with job security and fair compensation. In just the past two years, this has led to labor disputes and work stoppages at major defense contractors such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Textron, GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and more."
The press is invited to read the full letter here, signed by the following labor organizations:
United Auto Workers (UAW)
United Steelworkers (USW)
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART)
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Original text here: https://uaw.org/uaw-leads-6-unions-in-call-for-ban-on-stock-buybacks-and-dividends-at-us-defense-contractors/ (TNSmlt)
TSA Rewards Officers for Working Unpaid Through Two Shutdowns by Taking Away Their Chairs. Now Travelers Can Tell TSA How They Feel.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO American Federation of Government Employees issued the following news release:
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TSA Rewards Officers for Working Unpaid Through Two Shutdowns by Taking Away Their Chairs. Now Travelers Can Tell TSA How They Feel.
WASHINGTON - The Transportation Security Administration has decided that the problem with airport security is chairs. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is asking every traveler who has ever handed over an ID at a checkpoint to help fix TSA leadership's actual problem, which is its judgment. Starting today,
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO American Federation of Government Employees issued the following news release:
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TSA Rewards Officers for Working Unpaid Through Two Shutdowns by Taking Away Their Chairs. Now Travelers Can Tell TSA How They Feel.
WASHINGTON - The Transportation Security Administration has decided that the problem with airport security is chairs. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is asking every traveler who has ever handed over an ID at a checkpoint to help fix TSA leadership's actual problem, which is its judgment. Starting today,anyone can Take a Stand and tell TSA to give officers their chairs back.
On Sept. 25, Steve Lorincz, TSA's executive assistant administrator for security operations, ordered chairs removed from travel document checker podiums at airports nationwide "effective immediately." His reasoning: "Maintaining a standing posture helps reinforce professionalism, attentiveness, and active engagement with passengers." TSA told reporters the change "reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality."
Read that again. TSA took chairs away from the people checking your ID and called it hospitality.
There is no security study behind this. There is no data showing a seated officer misses a fake ID that a standing officer would catch. A boarding pass reads the same at any height. What there is, according to AFGE TSA Council 100, is a workforce that already stands and walks on hard floors all day, now told to do it for hours at a podium with no relief, because a manager in Washington thinks it looks friendlier.
Then it got worse. Days after the chairs disappeared, officers were handed a "Security Operations Pledge of Service and Security" to sign, with their immediate supervisor countersigning. No TSA seal. No letterhead. Just a signature line. The pledge asks officers to promise to support "the well-being and morale of our colleagues." TSA is asking officers to sign a pledge about morale in the same week it took their chairs. You cannot make this up. TSA did.
These are the same officers who kept America's checkpoints open through two government shutdowns in the past year, much of that time without a paycheck. TSA's thank-you was a pledge card and a sore back.
"Our officers screen millions of people a day and they do it right, sitting or standing," said Hydrick Thomas, president of AFGE TSA Council 100. "Nobody who works a checkpoint asked for this. Nobody who flies asked for this. If TSA leadership truly believes standing makes people better at their jobs, I look forward to watching every manager in the building prove it for eight hours straight. We will bring the pledge. They can bring their own chair, if they are allowed one."
"Steve Lorincz took the chairs out from under officers who kept this country flying through two shutdowns, and then TSA asked them to sign a pledge about morale," said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. "That is not leadership. That is a punch line. Hospitality is not something you get by making working people stand at a podium until their feet go numb. Respect is how you keep good officers, and respect is how you keep travelers safe. TSA should put the chairs back today, and every traveler who agrees should tell them so."
For the public: Travelers can send a letter to TSA leadership asking the agency to restore chairs a document checker podiums nationwide. As the letter puts it, "A seated officer checks a boarding pass and an ID just as carefully as a standing one."
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Original text here: https://www.afge.org/link/8b20cdbafd944d8da555f87e32118511.aspx (TNSmlt)
Post-Gazette Union-Busters Hit Dead End at Supreme Court, Must Pay Back Millions to Journalists
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO Communications Workers of America posted the following news release:
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Post-Gazette Union-Busters Hit Dead End at Supreme Court, Must Pay Back Millions to Journalists
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PITTSBURGH - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's appeal of a ruling requiring the company to pay back its workers--members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061)--for the cuts to pay, illegally implemented increases in health care costs, and other unilateral changes to their working conditions.
Millions of dollars
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO Communications Workers of America posted the following news release:
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Post-Gazette Union-Busters Hit Dead End at Supreme Court, Must Pay Back Millions to Journalists
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PITTSBURGH - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's appeal of a ruling requiring the company to pay back its workers--members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061)--for the cuts to pay, illegally implemented increases in health care costs, and other unilateral changes to their working conditions.
Millions of dollarsare owed to current and former PG employees. And the PG has no further venue for appeal.
"I've actually lost count of the number of agencies, judges, courts, and other authorities that have told the Blocks that the workers were right and the multi-millionaires were wrong. Our members were the first to tell them--more than nine years ago now," said Jon Schleuss, President of The NewsGuild-CWA. "It's staggering to think how much money and time the company wasted on losing when that could have been spent on dignified working conditions and improving the caliber of local journalism. The Block family's efforts to delay accountability are finished. We look forward to seeing justice served so that our award-winning journalists can continue to focus on holding power to account."
Unionized editorial workers of the Post-Gazette went on strike in October of 2022, demanding a restoration of the contract the company illegally tore up, including dignified health care. In November of 2025, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals enforced the ruling of the National Labor Relations Board, ordering the PG to do so.
With their strike demands secured, union journalists returned to the PG on Nov. 24, 2025.
The Post-Gazette, which was owned by the Block family until May 4, would go on to lose an appeal of a concurrent 3rd Circuit Court injunction restoring the health care plan that was unlawfully cancelled. The Newspaper Guild, the AFL-CIO, and the U.S. Solicitor General filed briefs arguing against the company's repeatedly defeated position.
"A lot of honest, determined people sacrificed more than most know to get this ruling enforced and finalized," said Andrew Goldstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh. "The Blocks and their co-conspirators in company management and elsewhere knowingly and willfully broke federal law for years, bringing untold harm to not only their workers but the news industry more broadly. We're looking forward to getting quite literal payback and hope this serves as a warning to similarly reckless owners. Shame on the Blocks."
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Original text here: https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/post-gazette-union-busters-hit-dead-end-supreme-court-must-pay-back-millions
Nurses celebrate massive, historic victory against disgusting Kaiser wage theft
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- National Nurses United issued the following news release:
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Nurses celebrate massive, historic victory against disgusting Kaiser wage theft
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More than 1,000 RNs across California to recover millions in stolen wages
Registered nurses at Kaiser Permanente hospitals across California are celebrating a historic victory against wage theft committed by their employer today. California Nurses Association (CNA), which represents more than 25,000 nurses at 22 Kaiser facilities, successfully won an arbitration agreement that mandates Kaiser pay
... Show Full Article
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- National Nurses United issued the following news release:
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Nurses celebrate massive, historic victory against disgusting Kaiser wage theft
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More than 1,000 RNs across California to recover millions in stolen wages
Registered nurses at Kaiser Permanente hospitals across California are celebrating a historic victory against wage theft committed by their employer today. California Nurses Association (CNA), which represents more than 25,000 nurses at 22 Kaiser facilities, successfully won an arbitration agreement that mandates Kaiser paystolen wages dating back to at least 2021, potentially totalling a sum in the tens of millions of dollars to be paid out to more than 1,000 nurses.
"Unfortunately, Kaiser wants to normalize stealing from nurses," said Michelle Gutierrez Vo, RN in adult/family medicine at Kaiser Fremont Medical Center and a president of CNA. "They changed their payroll system, messed it up, and let the mistake steal millions of dollars from nurses. When we called them on it, their fancy lawyers fought us tooth and nail for every single dollar. Nurses wouldn't take no for an answer, and we won back millions of dollars in stolen wages, and we went above and beyond Kaiser's earlier attempts to settle for less."
CNA was first notified by Kaiser nurses several years ago of issues with wage theft following a change in Kaiser's payroll system dating back to at least early 2021. Because the union does not have direct access to Kaiser's payroll system, it took years of nurses working together to piece together the true scale and extent of the problem, which Kaiser repeatedly tried to minimize and obscure. CNA believes the final sum could total in the tens of millions.
Despite this victory, nurses remain outraged that Kaiser spent years and untold sums in legal expenses in their effort to avoid paying the wages they had stolen, which, while substantial, were still only a fraction of the organization's billions of dollars in profits. It took years of nurse advocacy to force Kaiser to even admit that more than 1,000 nurses were being shorted on their pay.
"This entire experience has been a reminder for us that Kaiser would rather pay lawyers to fight nurses than pay nurses to take care of our patients," said President Gutierrez Vo, RN. "It is another disgusting reminder of this company's priorities. And, for us, it's also another powerful reminder of what's possible when nurses work together to demand what we're owed from companies like Kaiser."
CNA represents more than 25,000 registered nurses at 22 Kaiser facilities in California and is in active contract negotiations with the company. Nurses at Kaiser hospitals protested wage theft and other key bargaining issues at informational pickets held earlier this year.
California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.
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Original text here: https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/nurses-celebrate-massive-historic-victory-against-disgusting-kaiser-wage-theft
Molson Coors Workers Join Teamsters
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted the following news release:
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Molson Coors Workers Join Teamsters
(ELKTON, Va.) - Over 400 workers at the Molson Coors facility in the Shenandoah Valley have voted to join Teamsters Local 29. The packaging, warehouse, brewing, interplant distribution, utilities, and maintenance workers organized for increased wages, improved benefits, and a voice on the job.
"These workers remained determined and refused to let management's union-busting tactics stand in the way of organizing," said Jeff Padellaro,
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted the following news release:
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Molson Coors Workers Join Teamsters
(ELKTON, Va.) - Over 400 workers at the Molson Coors facility in the Shenandoah Valley have voted to join Teamsters Local 29. The packaging, warehouse, brewing, interplant distribution, utilities, and maintenance workers organized for increased wages, improved benefits, and a voice on the job.
"These workers remained determined and refused to let management's union-busting tactics stand in the way of organizing," said Jeff Padellaro,Director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference. "We are proud to welcome these new members and we are ready to support them as they prepare to negotiate a fair first contract."
"This vote is a proud moment for the workers at Molson Coors and the beginning of a positive new chapter," said Jeff Vaughan, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 29. "The members voted for structure, clear standards, and a seat at the table. Our goal is to negotiate a comprehensive contract that delivers for these members and their families."
The workers overcame an aggressive union-busting campaign by Molson Coors. The company spread false information regarding status quo bargaining and purposefully conflated dues and DRIVE contributions in an effort to discourage workers from unionizing. Despite the campaign, workers remained united and voted to join the Teamsters.
"We are proud to have fought back against management's efforts and successfully organize with the Teamsters," said Cole Lam, a nine-year Molson Coors packaging bottle line tech and member of Local 29. "We're excited about the opportunity to negotiate better health coverage and establish a defined roadmap for professional growth." Teamsters Local 29 represents the hardworking and deserving men and women in the dairy, small package, warehouse, and freight trades in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. For more information, visit teamsters29.org.
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Original text here: https://teamster.org/2026/10/molson-coors-workers-join-teamsters/
DGA, IATSE, LIUNA, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters, WGA East and WGA West Release Report on Shift in Location for Film and Television Production Over 25 Years
NEW YORK, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees posted the following news release:
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DGA, IATSE, LIUNA, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters, WGA East and WGA West Release Report on Shift in Location for Film and Television Production Over 25 Years
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Share of production spend on films with significant U.S.-based production declined by 32 percentage-points to 42%
Share of production spending on television episodes with significant U.S.-based production declined by 30 percentage-points to 64%
Report highlights need a federal film and television tax
... Show Full Article
NEW YORK, Oct. 5 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees posted the following news release:
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DGA, IATSE, LIUNA, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters, WGA East and WGA West Release Report on Shift in Location for Film and Television Production Over 25 Years
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Share of production spend on films with significant U.S.-based production declined by 32 percentage-points to 42%
Share of production spending on television episodes with significant U.S.-based production declined by 30 percentage-points to 64%
Report highlights need a federal film and television taxcredit to make the U.S. more competitive against foreign production incentives and to secure U.S. -based jobs
Los Angeles, October 5, 2026 - The Directors Guild of America (DGA), the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters), the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) today released a study conducted by EY Quantitative Economics and Statistics (EY QUEST) on the change in the location of film and television production over a 25-year period from 1999 to 2024.
The full report can be found here
The study's findings confirm an increasing share of U.S. film and television production has moved to foreign locations over the past 25 years, significantly reshaping an industry that supports more than two million U.S. jobs.
An examination of where scripted, live-action productions by major U.S.-based studios were primarily filmed, as well as the production spending and number of cast and crew associated with each location, the study revealed the following.
Changes in film production
* The share of production spending by major U.S. studios on movies filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined from 74% to 42% (a 32 percentage-point decrease).
* The share of films by major U.S. studios on movies filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined from 66% to 54% (a 12 percentage-point decrease).
* For total cast and crew working on major studio films, the share of cast and crew working on movies filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined from 72% to 43% (a 29 percentage-point decrease).
* From 1999 to 2024, the share of production spending in the U.S. among the 25 highest-budget films by major U.S. studios declined by 40%.
Changes in television production
* The share of production spending by major U.S. studios on television episodes filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined from 94% to 64% (a 30 percentage-point decrease).
* The share of television episodes by major U.S. studios filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined from 96% to 70% (a 26 percentage-point decrease).
* For total cast and crew working on major U.S. studio television episodes, the share working on television episodes filmed partially or primarily in the U.S. declined from 86% to 58% (a 28 percentage-point decrease).
The analysis focused on productions by larger studios with budgets above certain thresholds that would capture productions with the most significant impact on industry employment and economic activity and projects with sufficient scale to make strategic location decisions between filming in the U.S. or abroad. These budget thresholds were at least $5 million for feature films and $1 million for TV episodes under 41 minutes or $1.7 million for longer episodes.
When read in tandem with a recent study by the Motion Picture Association, unless action is taken America will continue to lose ground in retaining this industry and the middle-class jobs it provides.
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Original text here: https://iatse.net/dga-iatse-liuna-sag-aftra-teamsters-wga-east-and-wga-west-release-report-on-shift-in-location-for-film-and-television-production-over-25-years/ (TNSmrp)
