Portside

A group of video game testers at Microsoft have formed the tech giant's first union, and Microsoft has signed off on it, according to Communications Workers of America, which represents the employees.

Howard Brown Health Center is well known as an LGBTQ-focused health provider and a stalwart Chicago progressive institution. Workers say that on the heels of their recent unionization, management is laying off 60 workers.

Momentum for unions and unionization efforts in art museums, art institutions, and art schools continued in 2022, as workers bargained for better conditions, held strikes, and even ratified contracts.

The gaming industry has seen a wave of unionization efforts in recent years. Quality assurance testers at ZeniMax Studios pushed to unionize, saying labor issues such as low wages and long hours drove them to organize.

After the Supreme Court gutted rules to protect unions, the Freedom Foundation has been on a national mission to erode labor’s base of support.

Workers nationwide lack a federal guarantee of paid sick leave in the United States. Establishing a federal paid sick leave guarantee would improve the lives of all American workers — railworkers included.

Negotiations will take place in 2023 for some of the biggest contracts in the labor movement, including at UPS and the Big Three automakers.

The year has been characterized by incredible solidarity, as Starbucks and Amazon workers challenged our conceptions of political possibility and galvanized a resurgent labor movement. It was a year of taking power to task, from the fearless Warrior Met strike to the militance of worker-led, independent union drives at Amazon, Trader Joe's and Chipotle.

Most middle and lower wage older workers are not able to retire and must work to avoid poverty and maintain living standards. For work to be a bulwark against old age poverty, work must be decent, and work and retirement policy must be compatible.

A contract forced on railroad workers, and anti-labor conduct by Starbucks and Amazon, showed the difficulty of organizing in 2022.