Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where Payday needs your help desperately.
Help Us Impress Foundation Funders
In June, Payday Report is gonna meet with a large foundation, which has given us some money in the past. In order to impress them, I want to raise $6,000 in one month.
The past year has been tough on Payday. The loss of Twitter has led to a 32% decline in crowdfunding for Payday Report, but as I grew our presence on Bluesky, where we have picked up 3,000 new followers in just 3 months, fundraising has been picking back up.
I want to show our funders that we still have some strength and by raising $6,000 in a month, we can do that.
Donate to help us impress the funder. Please, if you can, sign up as one of recurring donors today.
Also, be sure to fill out our reader survey, which will help us make the case to our funders.
ICE Targets Farm Workers Union in Upstate New York
In upstate New York, a group of farmworkers, who have been unionizing against a notorious anti-union employer, were targeted for deportation. From The Intercept:
Several of the workers taken into custody on Friday have been active in efforts to unionize year-round employees, including at least one who has spoken publicly in favor of joining the United Farm Workers of America, according to Elizabeth Strater, director of strategic campaigns for UFW, the storied labor union.
“We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly pro-union worker leaders,” said Strater.
Most of the workers detained on Friday hail from Mexico or Guatemala.
The raid did not appear to be a broad sweep but rather a targeted enforcement aimed at specific people, according to sources who have been in contact with the families and spoke to The Intercept on condition of anonymity to candidly discuss a sensitive legal situation.
“At first we thought they were enforcing a deportation order, that they had one person that they’re looking for and then everyone else got dragged in — that’s kind of standard,” said one of the people with knowledge of the raid. “But this was strange because they actually had a list of most of the workers on the bus.”
For more, check out The Intercept.
SEIU 1999 President Defeated in Re-Election Bid
This weekend, SEIU 1999 President George Gersham was defeated in his bid for re-election by his long-time Vice President Yvonne Armstrong.
Gersham has led the 400,000-member union since 2007 which was the largest local union within SEIU. With April Verrett taking over as president of SEIU, Armstrong’s elevation to the head of SEIU 1999 is likely to have deeper ripple effects within the union.
For more on the defeat, check out POLITICO.
4th Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Votes to Unionize
Last week, Payday published an exclusive analysis that showed that 22,000 entertainment workers have unionized since the Writers Guild strike began two years ago. Cinema workers have started unionizing as more studios offer new releases on streaming.
In April, unionized Alamo Drafthouse Cinema workers in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Denver won a 45-day strike demanding the reinstatement of 70 laid off workers. Now, 70 workers at 4th Alamo Cinema House in Austin, Texas are unionizing.
“This is the result of four months of hard work and outreach by organizers,” a group called SlaughterHouse United told Hollywood Reporter. “We look forward to the result being officially certified by the NLRB post-haste and to begin bargaining with Alamo in good faith to secure a fair contract for our workplace.”
For more, check out Hollywood Reporter.
Colorado Governor May Veto Pro-Union Bill
Finally, under Colorado’s “Labor Peace Act,” a union is required to obtain authorization from 75% of its members before it’s able to bargain over union security measures in contracts. Now, Democrats in the state legislature are poised to eliminate the requirement.
However, Colorado’s Democratic Governor, Jared Polis, says he may veto the measure unless a compromise can be reached with business interests.
“The business community has proposed several changes,” Polis told The Colorado Sun. “There’s absolutely a victory for labor, if they will simply take it.”
Polis has already angered many in organized labor for vetoing three of their top priority bills in the legislature.
For more on labor’s angr with Poliis, check out The Colorado Sun.
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- More UAW members speak out against the Trump tariffs
- Salt Lake City librarians officially unionize, but likely require referendum to determine next steps
- Big Tech faces global push as social content moderators unionize
- Kaiser Permanente and NUHW reach tentative agreement following months-long strike
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History staff plan to unionize amid claims of toxic work environment
- Romanian nationalist and Trump fan George Simion wins first round of presidential vote
- Portuguese rail strike shuts down everything
- Finally, strippers in Washington say that “Strippers Bill of Rights” has fallen short
Alright see yinz tomorrow. Keep sending tips to melk@paydayreport.com
Donate to help us raise $6,000 in one month. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our recurring donors today.
See yinz tomorrow,
Melk
