As Starbucks Workers United expands from shop to shop, workers face an onslaught of union-busting tactics. But union fever is spreading rapidly as workers at over 400 locations have filed petitions for union elections, with more planning to do so.
Amid the upsurge of successful union representation elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, workers are still struggling to secure their first contracts—and real change in the workplace.
If the effort to organize the Buffalo facility succeeds, it would become Tesla’s first unionized workplace. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has expressed opposition to unions in the past.
Over decades, a boutique of consultants, industrial psychologists, and specialist lawyers--spending an estimated $340 million a year--has played a significant role in subduing the labor movement, and has helped keep U.S. unions pinned down to this day.
Employers are using heavy-handed tactics to prevent workers from organizing, and U.S. labor union density is falling as a result.
Peet’s Workers United received assistance from Starbucks Workers United organizers.
Ninety-one percent of the graduate and professional student workers who participated in Monday's election voted to form a union.
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.
So far, tech's labor activism has largely moved on the margins of the industry, with Amazon warehouse workers, Apple Store employees and video game QA testers leading organizing efforts, while engineers, product teams and other headquarters staff mostly shied away.
Music supervisors requested Netflix and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers voluntarily recognize their union earlier this year, which would have skipped the step of a formal election, but they declined.
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