Kenneth Quinnell

On Tuesday, Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected Issue 1, a measure put forth by extremist Republicans in the state Legislature to make it harder for citizen-driven initiatives to amend the Ohio Constitution.

More than 1,700 nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, went on strike Friday morning. The nurses, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 4-200, are seeking improved pay, better staffing, and a cap on medical insurance costs and copays. The nurses say that recruiting and retaining nursing talent should be a priority, to make sure that patient care is at its maximum levels.

Workers at Frontier Communications in West Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia, members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), voted to grant strike authorization to union leaders on Friday.

The U.S. economy gained 187,000 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.5%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This strong jobs report shows the continued success of President Joe Biden's policies.

Registered nurses in Michigan, who are members of National Nurses United (NNU), are pushing for legislation known as the Safe Patient Care Act that would set safe limits on the number of patients nurses can be assigned, curb excessive mandatory nurse overtime, and require hospitals to disclose their RN staffing levels. The goal of the legislation is to keep patients safe in Michigan hospitals, and build and retain a strong nursing workforce across the state.

Workers at Thombert, members of International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) Local 997, in Newton, Iowa, went on strike Tuesday. The UAW said Thombert refuses to negotiate in good faith for a fair contract with higher wages. Thombert is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of polyurethane wheels and tires for narrow aisle lift trucks.