Our latest roundup of worker wins includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life.
Child Care Providers United Secures New Tentative Agreement with California: Members of Child Care Providers United (CCPU)—which represents approximately 60,000 home-based child care providers in California—have reached a tentative agreement with the state. The union is a partnership between Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99, SEIU Local 521 and United Domestic Workers of America (UDW/AFSCME) Local 3930. Child care workers are among the lowest-paid workers in the country—and because home-based providers in California are classified as small business owners, they also don’t have access to employer-provided benefits. After CCPU won the right to collectively bargain in 2019, it secured the establishment of a retirement fund and other major wins. The new agreement covering CCPU members ensures the retention of those retirement, health care and training benefits; a cost-of-living adjustment; and stabilization payments that will help prevent child care provider closures. “In these times in which healthcare is under attack by the federal government in the form of Medicaid cuts, which of course is Medi-Cal for us, it’s significant to have a benefit like that so they can take care of themselves and their families as they continue to do this work,” said Max Arias, CCPU chairperson and chief negotiator.
NABTU, TVA and Tennessee Department of Labor Launch “Forever Family” Apprenticeship Partnership to Empower Former Foster Youth: North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development recently announced the creation of the Forever Family Apprentice Partnership. This initiative will provide former foster youth with career pathways to the union construction and energy industries. The groundbreaking deal was signed at the 2025 Tennessee Valley Trades and Labor Council/TVA Labor Management Conference. It outlines a shared commitment to provide former foster youth with access to NABTU’s apprenticeship programs, which are the gold standard for training that will lead to long-term career stability, quality wages and benefits, mentorship, and professional development. “This is what it looks like to build futures and community at the same time,” said NABTU President Sean McGarvey. “Building Trades Registered Apprenticeship is a pathway to the middle class. With this initiative, we’re giving young people from the foster system not just an opportunity to work, but an opportunity to belong—to be part of a Forever Family that supports them with the best trade skills and a family-sustaining career.”
Enoch Pratt Free Library Staff Members Ratify First Contract: AFSCME Maryland Council 3–represented workers in the Enoch Pratt Free Library (EPFL) system in Baltimore have successfully ratified their first union contract after almost two years of negotiations. The agreement between Pratt Workers United—formed under Council 3—and the historic public library system marks the workers’ first union contract, which covers more than 300 staff across all 22 locations in the system. The bargaining unit is inclusive of a wide range of essential roles, such as librarians, office technicians, custodial staff, security personnel and others. Highlights of the agreement include a $1,000 ratification bonus, improved health and safety protections, anti-discrimination provisions, and other critical wins. “It’s about time my co-workers and I have a formal agreement that guarantees we have a voice on the job,” said office technician Dominic Serino in an AFSCME blog post. “We’re the ones doing the work every day, and this agreement recognizes the vast amount of experience and knowledge we bring to our work and the communities we serve.”
Workers at Chicago’s City Bureau Win Union Recognition: After going public in July with their campaign to join the Chicago News Guild, The NewsGuild-CWA (TNG-CWA) Local 34071, staff at City Bureau are now celebrating securing voluntary recognition from their employer. All eligible workers at the Chicago-based nonprofit newsroom—across every department that plays a role in editorial work, programming and operations—unanimously signed union authorization cards when they sought recognition. Members of the City Bureau Workers Guild now are shifting their attention toward negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with provisions that will help strengthen the newsroom and build a sustainable, fair and equitable workplace. “We look forward to beginning the bargaining process and co-creating an equitable contract that serves workers and the organization we all love,” the City Bureau Workers Guild organizing committee said in a social media statement. “Building a strong, unionized workplace is a journey, and we’ve just taken a major step to bolster our collective power.”
UFCW, RWDSU and REI Co-op Reach Agreement Outlining a Path Forward for Contract Bargaining: The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW); the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU); and outdoor recreation retailer REI announced in early August that they have reached an agreement to establish a bargaining structure for REI’s unionized storefronts across the country. Members of the REI Union have been fighting for three years for a first contract that addresses low wages, understaffing and unpredictable shift hours. However, workers say management has been slow-walking negotiations and bargaining in bad faith. The agreement came out of joint meetings in late July in Chicago where workers also secured progress on several key issues. As a result, REI will now retroactively provide wage increases and bonuses to workers at union-represented stores—benefits they had previously been denied—while the union will drop active unfair labor practice charges it had filed with the National Labor Relations Board. “We want what’s best for all REI workers, our customers, and the co-op,” said the REI Union bargaining committee. “This agreement is a tremendous step forward in negotiating a first contract, and we look forward to continuing to bargain with REI.”