Our latest roundup of worker wins includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life.
Vestas Wind Techs Vote to Join UWUA: Vestas wind turbine technicians in Michigan voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to join Utility Workers (UWUA) Local 223, becoming the international company’s first technicians in North America to do so. Denmark-based Vestas is the largest wind turbine company globally—these newly minted UWUA members perform routine operations and maintenance on 128 different turbines, including major part replacements. Workers initially contacted the union about organizing, with concerns over work-life balance, training and the company’s safety culture. “These workers took a remarkable step forward to take back their power,” said UWUA National President James Slevin. “They were up against a strong anti-union campaign. The company pulled all the usual stunts to try to get them to vote against this union campaign. We welcome these Vestas wind techs to our membership, and we look forward to addressing their key concerns when we sit down to negotiate their first contract.”
AGMA and Cincinnati Opera Announce New Contract: The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and Cincinnati Opera released a joint statement last week announcing the ratification of a new three-year contract. This collective bargaining agreement comes as the opera company is in preparation for its 105th anniversary Summer Festival that will feature the talent of AGMA members onstage and behind the scenes. Highlights of the deal include wage increases, improved workplace protections, new policies addressing core member concerns like artificial intelligence and more. “These negotiations were a testament to the strength and solidarity of the artists of Cincinnati Opera,” said AGMA Counsel Martha Kinsella. “We advocated strongly for meaningful wage increases and achieved the best contractual raises in recent memory. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to our Negotiation Committee, which represented nearly all working groups, for their dedication, strategic thinking, and unwavering advocacy throughout this process.”
Walt Disney Animation Studios Production Workers Ratify Contract: In a vote taken last week, production workers represented by The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839, officially ratified their first union contract with Walt Disney Animation Studios. The unit covers production coordinators, production supervisors and production managers who first started organizing in 2022—the next year, a supermajority of production workers voted to join TAG. The newly minted contract includes victories like a pension, health care benefits and double-digit increases to minimum wage rates for all job roles. “In Hollywood, we love an underdog story. Our ratification was just that — the underrepresented and underpaid coming together and demanding better pay and equity with our artistic counterparts,” said production supervisor Nicholas Ellingsworth. “In the end, we were heard and seen, and we have a pathway to further improving the conditions in which production management works.”
UAW Members at Ultium Cells Approve Collective Bargaining Agreement: Nearly 1,000 UAW Local 1853 members who work at Ultium Cells in Tennessee voted on Wednesday to ratify their first contract with the electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer. A joint venture of General Motors and South Korea's LG Energy Solution, Ultium Cells produces battery cells for EVs at a neighboring assembly plant. The agreement’s highlights include a one-time $3,000 lump sum payment and wages that align with what Ultium Cells workers make at a plant in northeast Ohio, which was the first to unionize. The wages currently start at $26.91 and include increases every year to reach $35 per hour by September 2027. “Ultium workers are setting the bar for Southern workers and charting a brighter future,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “From Georgia to Kentucky to Texas, folks in these new EV plants know they deserve fair pay and benefits, just like union workers before them. And you can bet the UAW is going to stand with them to make sure they get their fair share and a collective voice on the job."
Court Rules Trump’s Firing of NLRB Member Illegal: A federal District Court in Washington, D.C., ruled on Thursday that President Trump acted illegally when he suddenly terminated National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox. Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered her to be reinstated to the independent agency tasked with protecting the rights of working people to organize unions. “The court also sent an important message that a president cannot undermine an independent agency by simply removing a member of the board because he disagrees with her decisions,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Working people around the country count on equal justice and fair decision-making from an independent NLRB—and today, because of Wilcox’s commitment to the mission of the NLRB and her refusal to stand by as Trump illegally removed her from the board, the NLRB can get back to work.” Read AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler’s full statement here.
Barnes & Noble Workers Win Historic Union Contracts: On Thursday, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union-UFCW (RWDSU-UFCW) members announced that they have successfully ratified historic, first-in-the-nation collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) at three New York City Barnes & Noble stores. These new contracts collectively cover more than 200 workers, including staff at the Flagship Union Square store located below the Barnes & Noble corporate headquarters. A central focus for members of the Barnes & Noble Union during negotiations was workplace safety—the union was also active in lobbying for the passage of the Retail Worker Safety Act. Highlights of the CBAs include wages increases, RWDSU-UFCW union health care coverage, language requiring de-escalation training and late night transportation, layoff protections, and more. “Workers at Barnes & Noble should be incredibly proud of what they’ve accomplished together in these historic first union contracts,” said RWDSU-UFCW President Stuart Appelbaum. “United in their fight for increased safety in their stores, it was their voices among others across our union that won increased protections for everyone in the industry through the Retail Worker Safety Act. Today, we can finally say those safety protections are codified in their union contracts, which also include industry standard setting wage increases, union healthcare, and more. A union is the only way to ensure workplace protections are secure—especially now, while laws protecting workers are under attack.”
Gannett Journalists Win Tentative Two-Year Contract Deals: After three years of bargaining and a walkout pledge, journalists represented by The NewsGuild of New York, CWA Local 31003, at six of the largest Gannett-owned papers in New Jersey and New York have reached tentative agreements. The APP-MCJ Guild and the Hudson Valley News Guild bargained separately but have been coordinating closely to secure victories for all the covered newsrooms. Wins include life-changing wage increases, strong salary floors, artificial intelligence guardrails, just cause provisions and more. “This agreement is a testament to their strength, tenacity and solidarity and should serve as proof-positive for other Gannett newsrooms, who should stop asking nicely and start using their collective power to demand what they deserve,” said Asbury Park Press reporter Mike Davis, acting unit chair of the APP-MCJ Guild. “We fought for Gannett to invest in our communities, and in us,” said Journal News reporter Nancy Cutler, acting unit chair of the Hudson Valley News Guild. “And we won.”