Weak laws embolden combative employers, so even with big wins and all-time high support, union membership is not keeping up with workforce growth.
With a partial agreement reached and tens of thousands remaining on strike, UC workers wonder if they can afford the work they love.
48,000 underpaid student workers in the University of California system prepare to go on strike Nov. 14.
Co-published by Fast Company
In Robert Jimenez’s day, California was second only to Michigan in auto manufacturing, and homeownership was a much more attainable aspiration. “We are what’s left of the middle class,” he says.
Co-published by Fast Company
The United Auto Workers union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Tesla for firing pro-union workers at its Fremont, California auto assembly plant.
Co-published by Fast Company
Why would Tesla suddenly fire hundreds of workers at its one and only automobile plant? Could it be because it wanted to exchange vocally pro-union workers with temps that are cheaper to employ and easier to control?
Co-published by The American Prospect
Workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California electric car factory have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Elon Musk’s company of illegal surveillance, coercion, intimidation and prevention of worker communications.
Co-published by The American Prospect
Although its products epitomize the future, assembly line workers say Tesla’s labor conditions are mired in the past. BY DAVID DAYEN
I met Brian Smith and his grandmother Jean on a Sunday morning in South Los Angeles. Brian was a recent graduate of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11’s “boot camp” training program designed to prepare new members for the rigors of the trade. I had first come across Brian at the Wilshire Grand Center construction site as he waited for an elevator so he could move his cart of materials to a higher floor. It was only his third day on the job – he seemed enthusiastic but unsure of what the future held.
Brian told me that a union electrician from the neighborhood had come to his home in his off time to help his grandmother with some wiring. Brian, who had been working as a marketer in the music industry, was looking for something more stable – a career he could depend on. The Local 11 electrician invited him to look into his trade.