Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s the latest edition of the Working People Weekly List.
Brightline's 'Onboard Service' Employees Vote to Join Union: “About 100 Brightline employees will join the Transport Workers Union (TWU) following a vote with the National Mediation Board last month. In a news release after the Jan. 14 vote, the Transport Workers Union of America said, ‘this is the largest newly organized group of railroad workers nationwide in over 20 years.’”
Actors’ Equity And The Broadway League Reach Agreement On Thorny Issues Around New Work Development: “Actors’ Equity Association has reached a deal with the Broadway League on a new five-year Development Agreement, resolving an eight-month strike prohibiting Equity members’ participation in early stages of development work. The National Council of Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, announced today that it had voted to ratify a new five-year Development Agreement, concluding an eight-month strike against The Broadway League, the trade organization representing theater producers and owners.”
The U.S. Postal Service Is More Efficient Than You Think. Privatizing It Could Cause Problems for Many: “‘The Postal Office remains the most affordable way to ship,’ Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, told CNN. ‘The destruction of any part of the public service we provide is going to have one bottom line result for the customers, it’s going to cost more and take longer to get there.’ ‘It really comes down to the core meaning of a public service,’ he said. ‘The Post Office is going to serve you at the same cost no matter where you are. That really should be the very definition of a public service.’”
Reconsidered Goods Unionizes: “Reconsidered Goods is nestled on the corner of the Food Lion on Spring Garden Street, across the street from Pho Hien Vuong. Unlike its surrounding businesses, Reconsidered Goods is a 501c nonprofit organization that takes donated materials and helps divert them from landfills, putting them into the hands of artists, makers, teachers, children, and other reuse advocates to create something new. Their mission is to promote sustainability, environmental awareness, community engagement, and creative expression through reuse, education, and the arts. Unfortunately, despite the organization’s noble morals, the staff of Reconsidered Goods have had enough. Due to safety regulations, lack of training, and more the workers have banded together to try and unionize to get these policies changed.”
Workers at D.C.'s St. Anselm Secure Unionization as STARR Group Challenges Vote Outcome: “Hundreds of employees at some of D.C.'s most lucrative restaurants are overjoyed following the news of their union vote. On Friday, St. Anselm employees voted 51-42 in favor of unionizing. In mid-January employees with five restaurants: Le Diplomate, Pastis, and St. Anselm, operated by STARR Restaurant Group; and Rasika and Modena, operated by Knightsbridge restaurant group, announced they were organizing a union with UNITE HERE Local 25. The unit covers the front and back of house and includes servers, bussers, dishwashers, cooks and bakers.”
Keystone Ski Patrol Union Votes to Ratify New Contract Following Negotiations: “Nearly all 81 members of the Keystone Ski Patrol Union voted to accept a new contract with Keystone Resort that will last through the 2026-2027 ski season. The announcement follows months of back and forth between management at Vail Resorts and the union that formed in 2024. Union bargaining team member Jake Randall said that after workers at Keystone’s sister resort in Park City Utah went on strike, Vail Resorts was ready to come to the table. ‘We actually came to an agreement pretty quickly after the strike ended,’ Randall said. ‘We put it to a vote with overwhelming support. We did have a couple no votes in there, but the sentiment of the group is that we made a lot of progress with this contract.’”
Picketing May Have Peaked but Union Strike Totals Remain High: “Unions led fewer strikes against U.S. employers last year than in 2022 or 2023, according to Bloomberg Law labor data. But the 236 walkouts called in 2024 still represent the third-highest annual total in almost two decades, suggesting that the post-pandemic trend of labor unrest is still far from over. After unions initiated only 86 strikes in shutdown-riven 2020, strikes took place with increasing frequency in the ensuing three years—from 164 in 2021 to 317 in 2022 to 356 in 2023—as workers sought to assert more control over their job security and compensation. It took until 2024 for the tide of strikes to subside (to 236) rather than rise.”
Children’s Theatre Company Ratifies 1st Ever Contract With IATSE: “A state theatre company has ratified its first-ever contract with a theatre union. The Children's Theatre Company (CTC) in Minneapolis has completed an almost two-year process and come to terms with the International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees (IATSE) Local 13.”