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After a judge paused the University of California strike, questions about "no strike" provisions remain

Jun 14, 2024
The UC system argues that the strikes violated the union contract's "no strike" provision. But workers may have the right to violate no strike agreements in certain cases.
Above, UAW-represented academic workers at UCLA strike on May 28. A judge has temporarily halted the strike.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

UAW to be put to the test this week in Alabama Mercedes-Benz union vote

May 13, 2024
Starting Monday, around 5,200 workers at a Mercedes-Benz assembly-and-battery complex near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will begin voting on whether to join the UAW.
Above, people celebrate at a United Auto Workers vote watch party on April 19, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Salvadoran janitors fight for better wages, supporting families here and abroad

Apr 22, 2024
Immigrants from El Salvador clustered in major cities often work demanding, low-paying jobs that are hard to fill — like janitors.
Nuria Gomez de Gonzalez from El Salvador marches in downtown Houston for better wages and hours for local janitors like her.
Elizabeth Trovall/Marketplace

British doctors seek jobs abroad amid discontent over NHS pay

Feb 19, 2024
As doctors prepare for another strike to protest their salaries and working conditions, some weigh opportunities in the U.S. and Canada.
Junior doctors plan to go on strike Saturday, another in a series of work stoppages.
Guy Smallman/Getty Images

Ski patrollers warm to unions to cope with low pay, high costs in resort areas

Dec 27, 2023
They provide essential services like emergency rescue and avalanche prevention, but they often can't afford to live near where they work.
Ski patroller Jake Miller at Eldora Mountain Resort. He loves the job but struggled with the compensation.
Courtesy Miller

How important is a "ratification vote" in union contracts?

Nov 13, 2023
Union members from the auto industry to Hollywood actors are currently taking the votes. They are more than a rubber-stamping process.
Picket signs for a United Auto Workers rally in October. The UAW is among major unions to reach tentative contracts with employers.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Campus labor activism spreads to undergrads

Nov 6, 2023
And those students are likely to take their engagement beyond the academy.
Undergraduate workers, from resident advisers to campus radio managers, are seeking to unionize, joining a wave of labor activism at colleges. Above, Harvard Yard.
Scott Eisen/Getty Images

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Retail pharmacists walk out, citing overwork and understaffing

Nov 2, 2023
The walkout, called "pharmageddon" on social media, included pharmacists at CVS and Walgreens.
Most retail pharmacists don’t belong to a union, but these recent walkouts could lead to more interest in organizing, says Richard Dang, a professor of clinical pharmacy of USC.
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

In California, child care providers unionized for better pay and retirement benefits

Oct 31, 2023
California is one of 11 states that allows in-home child care providers to bargain collectively. This year, the union that represents 40,000 of these workers in that state won big in their fight for better pay and benefits. 
Patricia Moran plays with two children at her child care facility in San Jose on Oct. 2.
Beth LaBerge/KQED

As GM announces quarterly results, all eyes are on strike's effects

Oct 24, 2023
Investors — and the union — will be scrutinizing the numbers for clues about how the extended work stoppage is affecting the companies.
Because only two weeks of the UAW strike were in Q3, earnings may not take much of a hit — but keep an eye on forecasts.
Michael Swensen/Getty Images