Featured Stories
Wikimedia Foundation Workers Overwhelmingly Vote to Form Union with CWA
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO Communications Workers of America posted the following news release:
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Wikimedia Foundation Workers Overwhelmingly Vote to Form Union with CWA
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U.S. workers certify first recognized unit as global union movement builds across Wikimedia Foundation
San Francisco, Calif. - U.S.-based workers at Wikimedia Foundation-the nonprofit organization that hosts Wikipedia and sister projects-have won their union election, voting overwhelmingly to join Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9415. The victory marks an important milestone in
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO Communications Workers of America posted the following news release:
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Wikimedia Foundation Workers Overwhelmingly Vote to Form Union with CWA
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U.S. workers certify first recognized unit as global union movement builds across Wikimedia Foundation
San Francisco, Calif. - U.S.-based workers at Wikimedia Foundation-the nonprofit organization that hosts Wikipedia and sister projects-have won their union election, voting overwhelmingly to join Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9415. The victory marks an important milestone ina global movement among Wikimedia Foundation workers to establish collective bargaining through the legal frameworks available in their respective countries.
U.S.-based workers began organizing as a part of the broader Wiki Workers United global union campaign of Wikimedia Foundation workers committed to strengthening worker voice, transparency, equity, and shared stewardship.
"The recognition of our union's first government-sanctioned bargaining unit is a huge milestone in our over ten-year journey to educate, agitate, and organize coworkers," said Bryan Davis, a WWU organizing committee and WWU-US/CWA member. "We continue our petition for recognition in the U.K. and hope to see more jurisdiction-specific units call for voluntary recognition in the coming weeks and months. Solidarity will continue to drive our discussions, planning, and actions as we begin working on our collective goals for contract bargaining to support all WMF workers regardless of legal jurisdiction, job duty, or hours of employment."
In July, U.S.-based workers demanded union recognition after a supermajority of them signed union authorization cards. When management refused to uphold the organization's commitment to respect the rights of workers to freely choose union representation, workers persevered through a union election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
"Today's victory is a demonstration of the power of international solidarity," said Decovan Rhem, President of CWA Local 9415. "WWU-US/CWA members organized across their workplaces and across the world, building support among coworkers internationally and among an incredible community of volunteers and wiki editors. Now, we will take the power our members have built to the bargaining table to negotiate a strong contract that gives Wikimedia workers the voice they have long deserved."
WWU extends its sincere gratitude to the Wikimedia volunteer community. Over 2,000 volunteers and community members who have collectively made more than 15 million edits have publicly signed petitions supporting Wikimedia Foundation workers and affirming the importance of giving workers a meaningful voice in shaping the future of the movement. This petition is the most supported petition in history on the English-language Wikipedia. The WWU Organizing Committee is deeply appreciative of this extraordinary demonstration of solidarity.
"Today's election result is a well-deserved victory not only for Wikimedia U.S. staff, but for everyone who believes in a free, democratic internet. I am proud to be among the 2,000 volunteer editors celebrating this achievement today," said Shushugah, a volunteer Wikipedia editor since 2015 with over 14,000 global edits.
About CODE-CWA
The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a union movement of thousands of workers fighting every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, games, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities.
cwa-union.org @cwaunion
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Original text here: https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/wikimedia-foundation-workers-overwhelmingly-vote-form-union-cwa
U.S. District Court Grants End to 37-Year Federal Monitorship of Teamsters Union
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 [Category: Union] -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted the following news release:
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U.S. District Court Grants End to 37-Year Federal Monitorship of Teamsters Union
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Press Contact: Kara Deniz Phone: (202) 497-6610 Email: kdeniz@teamster.org
(WASHINGTON) - After nearly four decades, the U.S. government has officially ended federal monitorship of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, following the approval by the Honorable Loretta Preska of the Southern District of New York (Southern District) of a joint motion filed this summer by the union and
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 [Category: Union] -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted the following news release:
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U.S. District Court Grants End to 37-Year Federal Monitorship of Teamsters Union
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Press Contact: Kara Deniz Phone: (202) 497-6610 Email: kdeniz@teamster.org
(WASHINGTON) - After nearly four decades, the U.S. government has officially ended federal monitorship of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, following the approval by the Honorable Loretta Preska of the Southern District of New York (Southern District) of a joint motion filed this summer by the union andthe Department of Justice (DOJ).
The filing issued on June 17 sought to amend the Final Order established in 2015 and the original Consent Decree policing the union. In 1989, the Southern District and the Teamsters entered into an agreement to eliminate organized crime influence within the union and ensure fair, democratic, member-driven elections. Over the past 37 years, the Teamsters have conducted nine elections and successfully eliminated corrupt elements from the union.
Since the election of Sean M. O'Brien as Teamsters General President in 2021, the Teamsters have built a new system of rigorous checks and balances in which every member complaint is investigated, and when appropriate, referred to legal authorities. O'Brien was re-elected to a second term as General President this summer at the Teamsters 31st International Convention.
In her ruling granting the motion, Judge Preska cited agreement by former federal judge Barbara Jones (ret.) -who has served as the Independent Review Officer monitoring the union -that the Teamsters indeed have "developed the institutional tools, processes, and procedures necessary to adequately detect, investigate, and resolve instances of major corruption."
"True history has been made today for the Teamsters Union that begins a new chapter of self-governance and organizational independence to benefit all rank-and-file members and elected leaders," O'Brien said. "This is the end to the longest monitorship of any union, corporation, nonprofit, or public entity in the history of the United States. Our efforts over the past four years to create a culture of vigilance in our union have proven that we can police our own. The controls in place in the Teamsters today to operate a strong, transparent, and progressive union are more stringent than any labor organization in the country."
Judge Preska in her ruling reiterated that any concerns of potential corruption in the Teamsters or any union should always be referred to the U.S. Department of Labor and the DOJ -and that the court has no intention of being an indefinite monitor. "Generalized concerns regarding the Teamsters should be directed to the Teamsters management or these agencies, not this Court," Judge Preska concluded.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on X @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
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Original text here: https://teamster.org/2026/09/u-s-district-court-grants-end-to-37-year-federal-monitorship-of-teamsters-union/
Gloria Steinem played key roles championing farm workers since the '60s
KEENE, California, Sept. 4 [Category: Union] -- The United Farm Workers issued the following news release:
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Gloria Steinem played key roles championing farm workers since the '60s
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Gloria Steinem was known for many things. Less known was her dedication and central roles in publicizing United Farm Workers' boycotts, marches and strikes during the 1960s and the decades that followed.
Working for New York magazine, Steinem couldn't persuade her editors to let her cover political subjects that interested her. She was relegated to the "girl ghettos" of food and fashion. So she volunteered
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KEENE, California, Sept. 4 [Category: Union] -- The United Farm Workers issued the following news release:
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Gloria Steinem played key roles championing farm workers since the '60s
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Gloria Steinem was known for many things. Less known was her dedication and central roles in publicizing United Farm Workers' boycotts, marches and strikes during the 1960s and the decades that followed.
Working for New York magazine, Steinem couldn't persuade her editors to let her cover political subjects that interested her. She was relegated to the "girl ghettos" of food and fashion. So she volunteeredwith "La Causa," the farm workers' cause, and with Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. She was attracted to La Causa in part by its leaders' commitment to Gandhi's teachings of nonviolence. She worked closely with the UFW's Marion Moses, a nurse (and later a physician) sent from Delano to New York to fund raise and help organize the union's boycott of California table grapes.
Moses lived at Steinem's home. The two women became friends, working closely together for the UFW, often all night. Her devotion to the farm workers turned at times into full-time efforts and later part-time ones.
Steinem joined picket lines outside New York supermarkets selling grapes. "I was working as a writer and volunteering in political campaigns, but I had never spoken in public, much less shouted on a picket line," Steinem recalled. "As we passed out flyers about low wages, dangerous pesticides and unsanitary working conditions in the fields, supermarket bag boys were sent out to harass us with taunts like 'Honey, I'd like to press your grapes.'"
When UFW leaders came to New York in 1968 she used her press skills and contacts to set up interviews with reporters and arrange television appearances to get word out about the cause. The next year Steinem got reporters from Time and Life magazines to meet with UFW leaders. She helped produce a story that made it onto the cover of Time.
She convinced Look magazine to publish an interview only after a long struggle. The publisher feared the loss of prospective advertisers such as Sunkist. Later, Steinem learned the farm worker article got in only after an editor threatened to quit. When the story appeared, Look did indeed lose some advertisers.
Steinem worked hard and tapped all of her relationships to help organize the landmark benefit concert for the UFW at Carnegie Hall in 1969, headlined by Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary. It raised $30,000, including donations from Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Jackie Kennedy, Woody Allen and others.
That year, Steinem was asked to help generate news coverage for a big farm worker march from Coachella to Calexico through the Southern California desert. Discouraging media interest was the triple-digit heat and the long distances from major media markets. She feared "this historic event is like a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear."
She knew only celebrities or prominent political supporters would attract the media. Steinem flew across country to L.A. "I am picked up by a union guy in his battered car, and we drive through the night to catch up with the marchers," she recounted. "In the distance, on an asphalt road stretching like a ribbon through the desert, I finally see hundreds of workers and their families. They are carrying the swaying image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, their [red-and-black-eagle UFW] banners shimmering in the heat waves like a mirage."
Then, "from gas stations and motels along the march route, I make calls to celebrities in [the UFW's] name." She got turned down by many. First, Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Dr. King's successor, said yes. "After more calls, I get word that Senators Walter Mondale [and] Ted Kennedy [agreed to] show up" as marchers approached the Mexican border at Calexico. It all convinced reporters to sign on. The rally became national news.
Gloria Steinem continued aiding the farm workers, offering support into the 1990s and beyond. Current UFW staff fondly recall Steinem lending her celebrity and participating in delegations to supermarkets and politicians in support of the UFW into the late 1990s.
The United Farm Workers learned of her passing with genuine sadness. She selflessly dedicated herself to La Causa through many of its toughest times.
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Original text here: https://ufw.org/gloria-steinem-played-key-roles-championing-farm-workers-since-the-60s/
Casino Teamsters Launch Strike at Encore Boston Harbor
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 [Category: Union] -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted the following news release:
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Casino Teamsters Launch Strike at Encore Boston Harbor
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Press Contact: Maura Drumm Phone: (215) 510-3735 Email: mdrumm@teamster.org
(EVERETT, Mass.) - More than 1,300 workers at Encore Boston Harbor, represented by Teamsters Local 25 and UNITE HERE Local 26, have been forced to go on strike after the company refused to bargain in good faith for a new contract.
On Thursday, August 20, Teamsters voted 97 percent to authorize a strike if a fair contract wasn't reached.
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 [Category: Union] -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted the following news release:
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Casino Teamsters Launch Strike at Encore Boston Harbor
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Press Contact: Maura Drumm Phone: (215) 510-3735 Email: mdrumm@teamster.org
(EVERETT, Mass.) - More than 1,300 workers at Encore Boston Harbor, represented by Teamsters Local 25 and UNITE HERE Local 26, have been forced to go on strike after the company refused to bargain in good faith for a new contract.
On Thursday, August 20, Teamsters voted 97 percent to authorize a strike if a fair contract wasn't reached.Encore Boston Harbor Teamsters are demanding a contract that delivers better wages, stronger benefits, and enhanced protections on the job.
"Encore management has pushed our members to the brink because they thought they could take our labor for granted," said Tommy Blitsch, Director of the Teamsters Convention, Trade Show, and Casino Division. "If Encore wants its casino running, it needs the workers who make it run. And the Teamsters are standing up and fighting back."
The group includes 211 Teamsters who work in the warehouse, horticulture, call center, cage cashiers, limo drivers, dispatchers, traffic attendants, valet and guest experience attendants. They are crucial to Encore's operations as a five-star resort.
"We make Encore a world-class resort that generates enormous profits because of our hard work," said James Atkins, lead gardener and chief steward at Local 25. "We didn't want to strike but we won't accept a contract that blatantly disrespects our labor. We're on the picket line and will stay out as long as it takes to get a fair deal."
Encore took in $847 million in Boston last year, yet management refused to come back to the table and offer any meaningful improvements, even after the strike authorization vote.
"Encore slow-walked negotiations and played games with our members, and now they're going to see how big of a mistake that was," said Thomas G. Mari, President of Local 25. "When a company refuses to respect the workers who make its profits possible, we shut it down. The Teamsters don't cross picket lines and won't be intimidated."
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on X @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
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Original text here: https://teamster.org/2026/09/casino-teamsters-launch-strike-at-encore-boston-harbor/
Olympia Fields nurses announce strike for Sept. 15. In solidarity, RNs at five other Prime Healthcare hospitals in four states to sympathy strike or picket
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Sept. 3 [Category: Union] -- National Nurses United issued the following news release:
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Olympia Fields nurses announce strike for Sept. 15. In solidarity, RNs at five other Prime Healthcare hospitals in four states to sympathy strike or picket
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Nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields, Illinois, gave notice to Prime Healthcare today that they will hold a strike for one day on September 15 to protest the administration's retaliation against nurses who speak up and fight for their patients, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), an affiliate
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SILVER SPRING, Maryland, Sept. 3 [Category: Union] -- National Nurses United issued the following news release:
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Olympia Fields nurses announce strike for Sept. 15. In solidarity, RNs at five other Prime Healthcare hospitals in four states to sympathy strike or picket
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Nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields, Illinois, gave notice to Prime Healthcare today that they will hold a strike for one day on September 15 to protest the administration's retaliation against nurses who speak up and fight for their patients, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), an affiliateof National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the nation.
In solidarity with nurses at Olympia Fields, nurses and health care workers at five Prime hospitals in four states will hold sympathy strikes or pickets on the same day. Nurses at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev.; West Anaheim Medical Center in Anaheim, Calif., and nurses and health care workers at Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, Calif. will go on sympathy strike on Sept. 15. Nurses at two Prime hospitals in two states will hold informational pickets on Sept. 15: Saint Mary of Nazareth in Chicago and Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine. In total, more than 2,800 nurses and health care workers will be either striking or picketing on Sept. 15.
The nurses in California are represented by California Nurses Association, an affiliate of National Nurses United. The health care workers at Shasta Regional Medical Center are represented by Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union. Nurses in Nevada, Illinois, and Maine are represented or seeking representation by NNOC. The nurses and health care workers in Illinois, Nevada, and California began their one-day strike earlier today over Prime's refusal to address during contract negotiations their deep concerns about patient care and safe staffing.
Union election dates have been scheduled. Nurses at Olympia Fields, Saint Francis, and Central Maine want to unionize. They filed election petitions with the National Labor Relations Board on Aug. 24 to join NNOC and will be voting on these dates:
* Saint Francis Hospital election: Sept. 17
* Olympia Fields Hospital: Sept. 23
* Central Maine Medical Center: Sept. 23
Nurses across the country are rising up systemwide against Prime Healthcare because Prime endangers patients and nurses by putting profits above all else. The strike notice for Sept. 15 was delivered after the nurses held a protest this afternoon at Olympia Fields in response to management's union busting. In addition to suspensions of six nurses at Olympia fields, one nurse at Saint Francis has been suspended for speaking up and advocating for patients.
The suspensions are just one aspect of Prime's shoddy treatment of its workers. Learn more about Prime's crimes at crimehealthcare.com.
Prime's Profiteering
The conditions driving Prime nurses to take unprecedented collective action at their hospitals are part of a broader pattern of Prime negligence and cutting services despite its profits. In 2024, Prime Healthcare made an estimated $4.4 billion in revenue according to credit reports, and Prime's nonprofit system, Prime Healthcare Foundation, reported another $1.4 billion in revenue in their audited report.
* Prime has a history of acquiring hospitals and then cutting services after it promised to maintain them.
* After it acquired St. Mary's Hospital in Kankakee, Ill., in 2025, Prime shut down the hospital's obstetrics, gynecology, and childbirth and delivery services, and voluntarily gave up its Trauma Level II designation, resulting in an injunction filed by the Kankakee County state's attorney, claiming that Prime was dishonest about keeping services open.
* Prime cut services in 2025 at St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill. and at Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, Ill., soon after acquisition, leading to a letter to Prime CEO Prem Reddy from Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin accusing the company of violating its commitments to maintain services to meet community needs.
* On Sept. 1, 2026, Prime announced that it would cut obstetric services at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, and Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago and consolidate them at Saint Mary of Nazareth in Chicago and Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields.
* In 2024, Prime Healthcare Foundation, which includes Saint Francis Hospital in Illinois and Central Maine Medical Center, claimed more than $78 million in debts they tried to collect from patients who qualify for charity care, according to their own policies.
* Prime's nonprofit hospitals made more than $104 million in payments to firms owned by Prime CEO Prem Reddy: Prime Healthcare Services Inc., the main for-profit company owning all the for-profit hospitals, Prime Healthcare Management, and Bio-Med Services, Inc., a medical equipment and consulting company. Prime only gave $3.5 million in uncompensated charity care, roughly 0.4 percent of the foundation's expenses.
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.
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Original text here: https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/olympia-fields-nurses-announce-strike-for-sept-15-in-solidarity-rns-at-five-other-prime-hospitals-in-four-states
National Education Union Issues Northern Ireland Ballot Results
LONDON, England, Sept. 3 -- The National Education Union issued the following news release on Sept. 2, 2026:
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Northern Ireland ballot results
NEU teacher members have returned a strong yes vote to take part in industrial action in a dispute with the Department of Education following the failure to agree on the implementation action plan of the Independent Review of Teacher Workload.
Pauline Buchanan Regional Secretary said
"Our members have given us a clear directive that they are not prepared to continue to shoulder the burden of impossible workload for another year. They need to see
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LONDON, England, Sept. 3 -- The National Education Union issued the following news release on Sept. 2, 2026:
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Northern Ireland ballot results
NEU teacher members have returned a strong yes vote to take part in industrial action in a dispute with the Department of Education following the failure to agree on the implementation action plan of the Independent Review of Teacher Workload.
Pauline Buchanan Regional Secretary said
"Our members have given us a clear directive that they are not prepared to continue to shoulder the burden of impossible workload for another year. They need to seereal change in their working lives on core matters. Teachers are not exaggerating, the panel identified problems, with excessive demands of workload. We must turn acknowledgement into change where protections are clear, measurable, and enforceable. I urge the Minister to listen and to act to address matters urgently."
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Original text here: https://neu.org.uk/latest/press-releases/northern-ireland-ballot-results?_locale=en
[Category: Union]
National Braille Press Workers Call for Union and Community Support
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO Communications Workers of America posted the following news release:
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National Braille Press Workers Call for Union and Community Support
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Workers organizing with IUE-CWA Local 201 say investing in the workforce will strengthen the organization and its mission to serve the blind community.
BOSTON -Workers at National Braille Press (NBP) have publicly announced their effort to form a union with IUE-CWA Local 201, calling for a stronger voice on the job and improvements that they believe will help sustain both the workforce and NBP's
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 [Category: Union] -- The AFL-CIO Communications Workers of America posted the following news release:
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National Braille Press Workers Call for Union and Community Support
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Workers organizing with IUE-CWA Local 201 say investing in the workforce will strengthen the organization and its mission to serve the blind community.
BOSTON -Workers at National Braille Press (NBP) have publicly announced their effort to form a union with IUE-CWA Local 201, calling for a stronger voice on the job and improvements that they believe will help sustain both the workforce and NBP'smission.
On Monday, workers marched together to NBP leadership to announce their union effort and call on the organization to voluntarily recognize their union. The effort has already won support from an overwhelming majority of the workforce.
Founded in 1927 and located in Boston's Fenway neighborhood, and also employing some remote workers in Massachusetts and across the country, National Braille Press produces braille books, educational materials, and other resources that help expand access to information for blind and visually impaired people. Workers have formed a wall-to-wall union of approximately 35 staff, including production workers, press operators, transcribers, proofreaders, sales and development staff, administrative workers, and others.
Workers say they are organizing to address sustainable compensation, workplace health and safety, staffing and training, professional development, flexible working conditions and scheduling, and the need for a collective voice in decisions that affect their workplace.
At the heart of their effort is a shared belief that investing in NBP's workforce will strengthen the organization itself. By improving retention, reducing turnover, strengthening morale, and creating a more sustainable workplace, workers believe they can help ensure NBP continues fulfilling its mission to serve the blind community.
The workers are asking National Braille Press to voluntarily recognize their union and meet them at the bargaining table in good faith.
Community members, union members, educators, librarians, publishing professionals, disability advocates, readers, and other supporters are invited to stand with NBP workers by signing an open letter in support of their union.
SIGN THE OPEN LETTER.
As the Industrial Division of CWA, IUE-CWA represents a force of 150,000 active and retired members united collectively to seek dignity on the job and a secure future for ourselves, our children, and all future generations.
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Original text here: https://cwa-union.org/news/releases/national-braille-press-workers-call-union-and-community-support
