Featured Stories
Teamsters California-Backed Waste Bill Becomes Law
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 [Category: Union] -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted the following news release:
* * *
Teamsters California-Backed Waste Bill Becomes Law
*
Press Contact: Lena Melentijevic Phone: (347) 208-2279 Email: LMelentijevic@teamster.org
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - The Teamsters applaud California lawmakers for passing and signing into law Senate Bill 1371 (SB 1371). Authored by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, SB 1371 will safeguard sanitation workers, keep California communities clean, and hold irresponsible waste haulers accountable for prolonging work stoppages.
"Waste
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 [Category: Union] -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted the following news release:
* * *
Teamsters California-Backed Waste Bill Becomes Law
*
Press Contact: Lena Melentijevic Phone: (347) 208-2279 Email: LMelentijevic@teamster.org
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - The Teamsters applaud California lawmakers for passing and signing into law Senate Bill 1371 (SB 1371). Authored by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, SB 1371 will safeguard sanitation workers, keep California communities clean, and hold irresponsible waste haulers accountable for prolonging work stoppages.
"Wasteworkers have one of the toughest jobs in America. Their work is made even harder by greedy employers trying to take money out of their pockets," said Victor Mineros, Co-Chair of Teamsters California and Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division Director. "SB 1371 takes the power from billion-dollar haulers and puts it in the hands of union waste workers. On behalf of Teamsters California's quarter-million members, thank you to every elected official who got this critical bill over the finish line."
Contracts between waste companies and municipalities typically have a "force majeure" clause. This shields the company from being penalized for failing to fulfill its contractual obligations during major disruptions like natural disasters. But to undermine unions and workers, companies often include labor disputes as a qualifying force majeure disruption. SB 1371 closes this loophole.
"This is a big day for California workers. For too long, waste companies have gotten away with making communities and unions foot the bill for employer-caused strikes," said Peter Finn, Co-Chair of Teamsters California. "SB 1371 goes a long way toward leveling the playing field. Thank you to Senator Maria Elena Durazo and all those who worked so hard to make this bill a law."
The Teamsters represent thousands of waste workers throughout California. Over 3,000 of them across Southern California represented by Teamsters Local 396 are currently bargaining new contracts with major employers including Republic Services and Waste Management.
"Waste companies always try to turn the public against workers who are forced to strike for better conditions -even when the employers cause the strike and keep getting paid for collections that aren't happening," said Mike Di Bene, a 15-year Republic Services driver represented by Teamsters Local 70. "This is one of the worst things management does to try to hurt union waste workers like me. But thanks to SB 1371, California haulers can no longer use this abusive tactic. Now, workers have the power."
Teamsters California is the united voice of 250,000 workers across dozens of industries who power the state's economy and communities every single day. For more information, go to teamstersca.org.
***
Original text here: https://teamster.org/2026/09/teamsters-california-backed-waste-bill-becomes-law/
Education Policy Institute and NEU Report on Teachers' Use of AI
LONDON, England, Sept. 26 (TNSrpt) -- The National Education Union issued the following news release:
* * *
Education Policy Institute and NEU report on teachers' use of AI
25/09/2026
Commenting on the How can we empower teachers to use AI without undermining their professionalism or relationships with students?, a report published today, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"It is so important that AI in schools is not used in ways which undermine teachers' professionalism or the activities and cultures which build good learning relationships.
"The teacher-pupil
... Show Full Article
LONDON, England, Sept. 26 (TNSrpt) -- The National Education Union issued the following news release:
* * *
Education Policy Institute and NEU report on teachers' use of AI
25/09/2026
Commenting on the How can we empower teachers to use AI without undermining their professionalism or relationships with students?, a report published today, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"It is so important that AI in schools is not used in ways which undermine teachers' professionalism or the activities and cultures which build good learning relationships.
"The teacher-pupilrelationship is key to learning and must be protected.
"The overarching message from our roundtable with the EPI is that AI should augment teachers, not replace their expertise, skill or judgement. De-skilling teachers must be avoided.
"Teachers' expertise and joint collaboration must be central to teaching and curriculum planning, and also to schools' policies and practices on AI."
* * *
REPORT: https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/How-can-we-empower-teachers-to-use-AI-without-undermining-their-professionalism-or-relationships-with-students.pdf
* * *
Original text here: https://neu.org.uk/latest/press-releases/education-policy-institute-and-neu-report-teachers-use-ai?_locale=en
[Category: Union]
Thousand nurses in SF to protest AI giant's work with ICE, CBP
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Sept. 25 [Category: Union] -- National Nurses United issued the following news release:
* * *
Thousand nurses in SF to protest AI giant's work with ICE, CBP
*
In San Francisco on Wednesday, Sept. 30, more than a thousand nurses, along with community members, will mobilize against the notorious artificial intelligence giant, Palantir. Palantir has a track record of building AI tools for large-scale data collection and mass surveillance that threaten human rights.
The Wednesday action - organized by the nation's largest union of registered nurses National Nurses United
... Show Full Article
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Sept. 25 [Category: Union] -- National Nurses United issued the following news release:
* * *
Thousand nurses in SF to protest AI giant's work with ICE, CBP
*
In San Francisco on Wednesday, Sept. 30, more than a thousand nurses, along with community members, will mobilize against the notorious artificial intelligence giant, Palantir. Palantir has a track record of building AI tools for large-scale data collection and mass surveillance that threaten human rights.
The Wednesday action - organized by the nation's largest union of registered nurses National Nurses United(NNU) and its affiliate California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) - is part of the People vs. Palantir Global Week of Action. From September 28 to October 1, thousands of people across multiple continents will demand that public institutions, hospitals, universities, and pension funds cancel their existing contracts and relationships with Palantir.
In San Francisco, registered nurses will march to the city's ICE detention center to call attention to Palantir's collaboration with federal immigration enforcement through its app called ELITE. ELITE is used by federal agents to identify people for arrest using, in part, improperly obtained Medicaid data.
"Honoring our obligation to 'do no harm' means that nurses must actively refuse Palantir's role in our hospitals and in our government," said CNA/NNOC president Sandy Reding, RN. "The violence and destruction unleashed by immigration agents and enabled by Palantir is a total violation of nursing values of care and compassion. That is why we unequivocally say 'Purge Palantir!'"
What: People vs. Palantir Global Week of Action - San Francisco / Bay Area
When: Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 1:30 p.m.
Where: March begins at Jessie Square (760 Mission St.) proceeding toward ICE building (630 Sansome Street).
Who: National Nurses United and affiliate California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee
NNU nurses, as part of the Purge Palantir coalition, have been putting Palantir's connections to the U.S. government, including elected representatives, and the U.S. hospital industry in the spotlight.
Their Aug. 27 action, which spanned eight cities, focused on the deadly impacts of Palantir's technology. In each city, nurses placed 50 pairs of baby shoes in the street - one pair of shoes representing every 10 babies who have been detained since President Trump took office. Passersby could also see large images of the heart-wrenching notes written by some of the 6,000 children who have been imprisoned by federal agents since the second Trump term began.
The nurses also held large red umbrellas emblazoned with eyes, symbolizing that nurses are keeping an eye on Palantir's harmful activities.
"No part of our country has been untouched by the terror and violence unleashed by federal immigration agents and enabled by Palantir's technology," said NNU President Jamie Brown, RN. "While our patients and neighbors are living in fear of deportation and detention, our hospitals are facing huge cuts and our patients are facing mounting health care costs because of H.R. 1. Nurses aren't just saying no to Palantir, but we're calling for our public resources to go toward the benefit of working people, not billionaires and their corporations."
While the U.S. government and corporations award billions of dollars in contracts to Palantir, the U.S. health care system faces a dire threat. H.R. 1 is the 2025 budget bill, pushed through by Republicans and President Trump, that cut more than $1 trillion in Medicaid and Medicare funding to give billionaires tax breaks, militarize immigration enforcement, and fund endless wars abroad. Not only will these cuts threaten health coverage for millions of people, they risk closures and service cuts at more than 600 hospitals nationwide, according to recent NNU research.
The growth of AI companies like Palantir is dependent on the growth of power- and water-intensive data centers. Nearly three-quarters of Americans oppose the development of data centers in their neighborhoods due to clear evidence about mounting environmental damage, noise pollution, and the unmet promise of permanent jobs to boost local economies.
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee represents more than 180,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout the country. CNA/NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.
***
Original text here: https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/thousand-nurses-in-sf-to-protest-ai-giants-work-with-ice-cbp
National Education Union: School Teachers' Pay - Joint Union Response to Secretary of State
LONDON, England, Sept. 25 -- The National Education Union issued the following news release:
* * *
School teachers' pay: Joint union response to Secretary of State
24/09/2026
-
ASCL, NAHT, NEU and Community have jointly responded to the Secretary of State's consultation on the STRB report. Underlining the consensus in the profession, they call on the Government to recognise and act on the key issues affecting the pay and working conditions of teachers and school leaders.
The Government must significantly improve pay and conditions to tackle the continuing recruitment and retention crisis.
... Show Full Article
LONDON, England, Sept. 25 -- The National Education Union issued the following news release:
* * *
School teachers' pay: Joint union response to Secretary of State
24/09/2026
-
ASCL, NAHT, NEU and Community have jointly responded to the Secretary of State's consultation on the STRB report. Underlining the consensus in the profession, they call on the Government to recognise and act on the key issues affecting the pay and working conditions of teachers and school leaders.
The Government must significantly improve pay and conditions to tackle the continuing recruitment and retention crisis.The huge real terms cuts against inflation to teacher and school leader pay since 2010, much greater than pay cuts in other professions, have damaged the competitive position of teaching. Teachers and school leaders also face excessive workload and work intensity. Pay is too low and workload is too high. This drives teacher and school leader shortages across the school system. Unfair pay arrangements including performance-related pay add to the problems.
The unions are clear that the Government must make the investment needed to reverse the real terms pay cuts. The Government must also address excessive workload, enhance work/life balance, and increase flexible working opportunities. Without such action, the recruitment and retention crisis will continue and intensify. The education system is inadequately funded, and sufficient investment is urgently needed to support the vital work of schools.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:"We need an urgent Government response to the clear evidence on teacher pay and workload. Following the announcement of 16 September that the pay award will be fully funded at a national level, the Government must provide the investment needed to reverse the huge pay cuts against inflation since 2010 and tackle the critical workload issues."
Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "School leaders are optimists by nature, but the current reality is bleak. Many schools still face significant budget shortfalls despite the recent funding announcement and will have to make further cutbacks. Workloads are routinely excessive and over the next few years they are being asked to deliver many reforms, including a complete overhaul of the SEND system. Expecting people to do ever more with ever less is a recipe for professional burnout and policy failure."
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: "Teachers and school leaders are the people who make the greatest difference to children's education, yet too many are being driven from the profession by relentless workload, damaging inspection pressures, and pay that has been eroded over many years. If government is serious about recruiting and retaining the talented professionals our schools need, it must tackle those pressures and commit to a long-term, multi-year approach to pay that restores teaching's competitiveness as a rewarding lifetime career. Investing in the education workforce is investing in children's futures."
Community's Director of Operations and National Officer for Education & Early Years, Helen Osgood, said: "The STRB agrees teacher pay must increase to stabilise the workforce and retain experienced teachers, but we do not feel that 3.5% is enough to do this. It is urgent for pay, workload and flexible working arrangements to be properly addressed so that the recruitment and retention crisis does not fall into a downward spiral. Our teachers deserve better!"
* * *
Original text here: https://neu.org.uk/latest/press-releases/school-teachers-pay-joint-union-response-secretary-state?_locale=en
[Category: Union]
National Education Union Pauses Strike Ballot Following the British Government Commitment to Fully Fund School Pay Award
LONDON, England, Sept. 25 -- The National Education Union issued the following news release:
* * *
NEU pause strike ballot
24/09/2026
-
The executive of the National Education Union met today to discuss the commitment from government to fully fund at a national level the teacher and support staff pay award for 2026/27. They have agreed to pause the ballot that was set to launch on 3 October.
Almost a year ago, in its submission to the School Teachers' Review Body, the Department for Education proposed a 6.5 per cent rise for teachers over three years, a review of the 1265-hour limit on directed
... Show Full Article
LONDON, England, Sept. 25 -- The National Education Union issued the following news release:
* * *
NEU pause strike ballot
24/09/2026
-
The executive of the National Education Union met today to discuss the commitment from government to fully fund at a national level the teacher and support staff pay award for 2026/27. They have agreed to pause the ballot that was set to launch on 3 October.
Almost a year ago, in its submission to the School Teachers' Review Body, the Department for Education proposed a 6.5 per cent rise for teachers over three years, a review of the 1265-hour limit on directedtime, and that the pay award should be funded entirely from 'efficiencies' within existing budgets.
Between February and April, we held an indicative ballot of our members, resulting in a 90 per cent yes vote for taking action. This pressure contributed to a shifting of ground, which saw a new commitment from Bridget Phillipson in early July: 6.5 per cent across two years, the withdrawal of a threat to directed time, and more money to meet the cost of the pay rise. But it was not enough, leaving a yawning pound sterling460m black hole in school budgets.
A trade dispute was registered with government on 17 July. However, since then negotiations between the NEU and incoming education secretary Lucy Powell have resulted in additional funding of pound sterling500m. This comes from a re-evaluation of the Local Government Pension Scheme.
However, the NEU is clear schools have been starved of funding for a sustained period and Government must not stop here. The pound sterling3.3bn saving from the TPS should also remain in schools rather than be clawed back by the treasury. No ifs or buts this is education money and in education it must stay.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said:
"NEU members should be congratulated for fighting funding cuts to education on behalf of the entire school community.
"A pay deal without funding was never viable. We have been clear with ministers that their talk of hope and opportunity for young people counted for little without the investment to turn those words into reality. This is the strongest signal yet that the new administration is willing to put its money where its mouth is. It is my sincere belief that we now have a genuine opportunity on our hands to build on this victory, leverage our success, and make austerity in the classroom a thing of the past.
"However, there is still much to do. Seventy-four per cent of schools have less money in real terms than they did in 2010. Teachers have suffered real terms pay cuts of around a fifth in that same period, contributing to the recruitment and retention crisis. Buildings continue to crumble. Workload remains high.
"The NEU is clear schools have been starved of funding for a sustained period and Government must not stop here. The pound sterling3.3bn saving from reduced employer contributions to the Teachers' Pension should also remain in schools rather than be clawed back by the treasury. No ifs or buts - this is education money and in education it must stay."
* * *
Original text here: https://neu.org.uk/latest/press-releases/neu-pause-strike-ballot?_locale=en
[Category: Union]
Contract Victory in Akron
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 [Category: Union] -- The Transport Workers Union of America issued the following news release:
* * *
Contract Victory in Akron
*
TWU Local 1 Members Ratify Six-Year Contract with Akron Metro, Locking in Big Raises
Agreement is "light years" better than terms proposed by a factfinder and Akron Metro management, union officials say.
Sept. 25, 2026
Transport Workers Union Local 1 members today ratified a six-year contract with Akron Metro that includes a 21% compounded wage increase over the life of the agreement, substantial retroactive pay, and a signing bonus. The agreement
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 [Category: Union] -- The Transport Workers Union of America issued the following news release:
* * *
Contract Victory in Akron
*
TWU Local 1 Members Ratify Six-Year Contract with Akron Metro, Locking in Big Raises
Agreement is "light years" better than terms proposed by a factfinder and Akron Metro management, union officials say.
Sept. 25, 2026
Transport Workers Union Local 1 members today ratified a six-year contract with Akron Metro that includes a 21% compounded wage increase over the life of the agreement, substantial retroactive pay, and a signing bonus. The agreementcomes nearly three months after workers authorized leadership to call a strike. A Bus Operator making $66,500 today will make $80,200 by the end of the contract in May 2030.
Local 1 represents 310 Bus Operators, Vehicle Service Workers, and Clerical Workers at Akron Metro. Running retroactively from June 2024 to May 2030, the contract includes:
* $8,300 in retroactive pay per member, on average, not including overtime.
* A $2,000 Signing Bonus
* A $2,000 Annual Attendance Bonus, up from $1,000
* Annual raises of 3%, 3%, 3.5%, 3.5%, 3%, and 3%
The contract is substantially better than the three-year proposal that was drafted by a fact-finder/arbitrator and approved by the Akron Metro Board in June. That proposal included two years without a raise, one 4% increase, a $3,500 signing bonus - but no retroactive pay.
"We fought back and drove the economic value of the contract much higher than the bosses ever thought possible," TWU International President John Samuelsen said. "We put together a strategic campaign with Local 1 leadership, executed the plan, and secured a contract that gives workers the respect and economic advancement they deserve."
"This is a major victory for the hard-working men and women who provide vital bus service to Akron and the surrounding communities," TWU International Administrative Vice President Curtis Tate said. "The terms of this contract are light years better than what the fact finder recommended and what Akron Metro was looking to impose, including two years without raises. We rejected that 100% and stood our ground."
"I'm proud of my members," TWU Local 1 President Wayne Cole said. "They leafleted riders, held rallies, spoke out at Metro Board meetings - and were ready to strike. Once management realized workers were organized and ready to take strike action, they buckled."
Local 1's previous contract with Akron Metro expired June 1, 2024, and workers received their last raise was June 1, 2023. The new contract includes increases to workers' health insurance premiums, but they are dwarfed by the significant wage and bonus gains, and they remain flat for the duration of the agreement.
***
Original text here: https://www.twu.org/contract-victory-in-akron/
CMMC nurses and community members celebrate landslide union victory
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Sept. 25 [Category: Union] -- National Nurses United issued the following news release:
* * *
CMMC nurses and community members celebrate landslide union victory
*
Registered nurses and their community allies held a rally today to celebrate their commanding union election victory last night at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston, Maine, announced Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the country.
In the final weeks before the election,
... Show Full Article
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Sept. 25 [Category: Union] -- National Nurses United issued the following news release:
* * *
CMMC nurses and community members celebrate landslide union victory
*
Registered nurses and their community allies held a rally today to celebrate their commanding union election victory last night at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston, Maine, announced Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the country.
In the final weeks before the election,CMMC (and its owner, Prime Healthcare) fired 15 union supporters and suspended five nurses for speaking up and advocating for their patients.
"You take on one of us, you take on all of us," said fired CMMC nurse Katie Grinnell, RN. "Prime and CMMC made a bet that we'd scatter to the wind when they started firing nurses for our patient advocacy. But last night, they lost that bet.
"Their cruelty toward us just made us stronger," said Grinnell. "We are more determined than ever to win improvements to the lives of nurses and patients at our hospital. Prime should not profit off the backs of us nurses, at the expense of our patients."
CMMC was acquired by Prime Healthcare earlier this year. Since Prime began operating CMMC, nurses have cited increased patient loads, a lack of necessary patient care supplies (like clean bed linens), and unilateral cuts to nurses' pay and benefits. The union victory means that Prime and CMMC must now bargain with the nurses over the terms and conditions of their employment. Nurses say they voted to join the union so they could have a real voice in decisions that affect patient care in the hospital.
"We feel the love and support of our community," said Jesse Buck, RN at CMMC nurse in the cardiac intermediate care unit. "We are so grateful to all of our neighbors and friends who have reached out to let us know they're pulling for us. And we appreciate so much all of the elected officials and candidates who have publicly stood with us so far. With this incredible election victory, we can now begin to rebuild our hospital for the benefit of everyone."
The new union members at CMMC will now prepare to bargain their first union contract.
Maine State Nurses Association is part of National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing labor union of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide.
***
Original text here: https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/cmmc-nurses-and-community-members-celebrate-landslide-union-victory
