Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where I'm recovering from a mild case of COVID. My apologies for the lack of labor reporting this week, but we will have plenty more next week.
UAW Lose Baffling Blowout in Illinois
Yesterday, the UAW announced that they had suffered a baffling loss at the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford, Illinois. Workers voted against unionizing by a margin of 38 (union) - 90 (against).
The loss is particularly troubling, since the UAW had teamed up with IATSE and the Teamsters to unionize casino workers, and both unions won at the location.
In January of 2025, 25 workers at the casino voted to unionize unanimously with IATSE. In February, another group of workers voted to unionize with the Teamsters by a margin of 14-1.
Two years ago, the UAW announced a massive effort to unionize non-union employers following the publicity it generated during the “Stand Up Strike.” So far, though, the UAW has failed to come up with much-predicted victories after winning at Chattanooga Volkswagen in 2024, with 72% of workers voting in favor of the union.
In May of 2024, after filing for a union election with more than 70% of workers signed up at Mercedes in Alabama, the UAW lost the union election by a margin of 44%-56%. In August, the UAW won a narrow vote at BlueOval Kentucky by a margin of 526-515, with 41 ballots still currently being challenged, a margin that many union organizers said was too narrow at a time when other unions are winning at similar manufacturing plants by much larger margins.
The recent lopsided, more than 2-1, defeat of the UAW in Rockford, at an employer where two other unions won easily, raises troubling questions about what is happening inside the UAW. The union has faced massive turmoil and infighting, leading many veteran organizers to leave, to be replaced by much younger, inexperienced organizers.
“They value loyalty above all else, and that’s why they are losing,” one UAW organizer told Payday Report.
The UAW did not respond to the request to comment. We will update you if they win.
For more on the turmoil within the UAW, see our longform story “UAW Prez Threatened to ‘Slit the Throats’ of Critics as He Pushed No-Bid Contracts with DC Firms.”
Donate to Help Us to Do Tough Labor Reporting
Many so-called “labor journalists” refuse to write stories that ask tough questions of labor leaders. However, if the labor movement is to succeed, we need to ask these tough questions.
The boss will always have massive resources to throw at us, and we have no control over that. What we do have control over is our ability to organize effectively and inclusively. Thus, it’s essential to call out this type of dysfunction in the labor movement.
1,500 Teachers Strike & Demand Help With Permanent Residency for H-1B Visa Holders
In the Bay Area, 1,500 teachers went on strike at the West Contra Costa School District. The strike is the first teachers’ strike in the school’s 60-year history.
While pay and healthcare are major issues, one of the union’s significant demands is that the school district help teachers with H-1B visas, whom they recruit from overseas. The union is demanding that the district help foreign teachers obtain permanent residency in the United States after their visas expire.
The union says that giving teachers permanent residency would help many students.
"Let's be clear about what instability looks like in West Contra Costa. Multiple weeks without a speech language pathologist for preschoolers who need early support. Classrooms without permanent teachers, students left drifting. School sites stretched so thin that they are breaking," union president Francisco Ortiz told CBS News Bay Area. "This is happening right now, and our students feel every ounce of that instability."
For more, check out CBS News Bay Area.
Unions Raise Alarm About Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger
Earlier today, Netflix announced that they would acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $82.7 billion. Already, the Writers Guild of America has pledged to block the deal.
“The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent,” the Writers Guild said in a statement. “The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers. Industry workers along with the public are already impacted by only a few powerful companies maintaining tight control over what consumers can watch on television, on streaming, and in theaters. This merger must be blocked.”
For more on what Hollywood unions will do on the merger, check out the Guardian.
Production Assistants’ Union Wins Two More Historic Union Elections
Finally, last week, Payday covered how Production Assistants United, which is affiliated with LiUNA Local 724, won a historic first union contract for workers with the television show The Pitt. Traditionally, entry-level production assistants have been excluded from most unions, but LiUNA has been making headway in organizing them.
(Check out Payday’s longform “22,000 Entertainment Workers Have Unionized in 2 Years Since Writers Guild Strike” for background on how the strikes opened up organizing opportunities for previously unorganized workers in Hollywood)
Now, the union has announced that two more TV shows have organized. The union announced that production assistants at the CW show All American and the CBS sitcom Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage have voted unanimously to unionize.
“Securing two more unanimous PA election wins is an incredible boost for our campaign and for the production assistants across the industry,” said LiUNA Local 724 business manager Alex Aguilar in a statement. “The energy on the ground is real — people want change, they want respect and they want a voice. These victories prove that momentum is on our side, and we’re just getting started.”
For more on the groundbreaking union drive, check out the Hollywood Reporter.
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- Why Gen Z men are the most pro-union generation in history
- Ohio auto workers are paying the price for EV tax credit rollback
- United Educators of San Francisco sets up its first of two required strike authorization votes
- Why academic freedom is a heated topic in Pitt grad union negotiations
- Alabama inmates plan another labor strike over conditions featured in new HBO film
- Philly restaurant mogul Stephen Starr to face union-busting charges
- ‘Empty building sites’: North Carolina immigration crackdown sparks fear among workers
- Finally, SAG-AFTRA reaches tentative agreement with AMPTP on historic first iIntimacy coordinator contract
Alright folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending tips, comments, and complaints to melk@paydayreport.com
