Thankfully, there were no fatal crashes in these incidents, but it is a matter of life-safety and a matter of time before an accident occurs. Airplanes rely on air traffic control for coordination in takeoff and landing as well as flight tracking. These incidents highlight the challenge for air traffic controllers to do their jobs and safely coordinate air traffic.

Several issues are at the root cause of the outages. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) has warned for decades that equipment in air traffic control towers is out-of-date and in many cases obsolete and not manufactured anymore. Infrastructure in the nation’s airports is outdated with some projections of modernization costing upwards of 18 billion USD. The need to rebuild and modernize air traffic systems was also echoed by Sara Nelson, the President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) in a statement issued on May 2, 2025.

Air Traffic Control Towers are also chronically understaffed and the workers that are there usually work long hours in order to ensure coverage. The recent outages though have seen workers either leave the job or go on trauma leave which has exacerbated the working conditions. Training for Air Traffic Control takes a minimal of 8 weeks, and the attrition rate due to stress on the job compounds staffing issues.

For the moment, air traffic in and out of Newark has been cut by 25% to accommodate the short staff and equipment issues. However, this is just a temporary fix on a much larger issue. Our airports are a critical public space for transportation and infrastructure to the nation. Workers should have full staffing levels and modernized equipment to ensure the safety of air passengers and safe working conditions.

We can’t forget that over 40 years ago, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO)warned us of the growing safety issues when they went on strike in 1981. Then President Reagan responded to this strike in fascistic fashion by firing all Air Traffic Controllers. The outdated infrastructure in our airports mirrors the out-of-date infrastructure of many of the systems that power the nation.

The post We Were Warned By PATCO Strike, Out-of-Date Air Traffic Control Towers Leads to Nationwide Blackouts appeared first on Labor Today.

The workers also rallied in support of an unidentified graduate student who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on March 27, 2025, and another student that was revealed to had been abducted on March 28, 2025 from the campus of Minnesota State University Mankato.

Hundreds of students and workers gathered on campus at the UMN in front of Morrell Hall, the same hall which was occupied for 24 hours back in January 1969 by 70 black students to protest institutional racism and the lack of outreach, support, and culturally relevant coursework for students of color. At the rally, AFSCME 3800 President Max Vast, GLU-UE President Abaki Beck and others addressed the crowd with both a list of demands to UMN President Rebecca Cunningham and addressing the working conditions on campus that were making it harder for UMN workers and faculty to do their jobs.

The list of demands includes the following:

1. An immediate meeting with AFSMCE-3800 and GLU-UE, to ensure the urgent concerns of our union members are addressed and swiftly acted upon.
2. A clear, written commitment to defending immigrant workers by providing immediate and full financial, material, and legal support for international students and workers facing the threat of deportation. Establish the University of Minnesota as an official Sanctuary Campus to protect our community.
3. A binding agreement to halt layoffs for one year due to federal funding cuts, providing staff with job security as legal challenges to cuts unfold. The future under the Trump administration remains uncertain and in President Cummingham’s own words, “we should not overreact to what continues to be a fluid situation”.
4. A rapid expansion of Know Your Rights trainings for all students and workers to ensure that we are fully prepared to defend out rights and stay safe in the face of increasing federal attacks.
5. A publicly communicated plan to strengthen and expand our legal challenges to federal funding cuts, outlining how the University will address the potential impact of funding cuts. We demand the University commit to leveraging the full power of the University to resist these attacks, and ensuring that workers’ jobs and research remains protected.
6. An end to union busting on campus, demonstrated by bargaining in good faith with our Unions, and immediately and voluntarily recognizing graduate fellows and newly organized workers on campus. Strong unions are the foundation of our university and make this a better place to work, live, and study for everyone.
7. Immediate action to end political repression on  campus, including a clear commitment to protect workers targeted by McCarthyist federal investigations, immediately repealing restrictive protest policies, reversing the consolidation of power over departmental speech, and ending retaliation against campus protest. We further demand the University refuse to comply with the Trump Administration’s request for names and nationalities of students and workers involvement in protest.
8. A written commitment to no cuts to cultural centers or academic programs, and the continuation of critical EDI work. The University must take concrete steps to ensure ALL students and workers feel safe, supported, and respected on this campus. This work is far from finished.

AFSCME-UMN will also be heading to the bargaining table for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the UMN as their prior contact was three years ago. President Vast appealed for continued support from the students and workers in their fight to secure a new CBA and the rights of all students and workers in the UMN.

LUEL applauds AFSCME-UMN Local 3800 and GLU-UE Local 1105 for standing up for fellow workers and students. LUEL calls on the UMN and all university systems to respect the rights of students and workers and for the UMN to recognize the graduate fellows and other workers that want to form a union.

AFSCME-UMN Local 3800 can be found at: https://www.afscmemn.org/local-3800-university-minnesota-clerical-workers GLU-UE Local 1105 can be found at: https://umnglu.org/

The post Students and Workers Rally at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Against Layoffs and Attacks on Free Speech appeared first on Labor Today.

The Culinary and Bartenders Union Local 226, more commonly known as the Culinary Union, had their last contract with Virgin Las Vegas ended in June 2023, and negotiations had stalled up to the walkout. While Virgin claimed that the union’s demands “were economically unviable”, the union pushed for a similar contract won by workers at other Las Vegas businesses Per Treasure-Secretary Ted Pappageorge, Virgin’s proposals worked out to:

“An estimated $0.30 per year to wages over five years after deducting money for benefits, compared to non-tipped workers at [Las Vegas property] The Strat, who received over $4.00 an hour in wage increases this year alone. Virgin Las Vegas’ proposal is miles apart and insults every worker — which is why the committee voted unanimously to refuse to settle for a second-class contract.”

The local went on strike for nearly 70 days, with a 24-hour picket line impacting housekeeping, food and beverage, and restaurants on the property. The hotel also arrested workers for “trespassing,” even though they worked at the hotel. On January 25, 2025, an agreement was reached between the union and Virgin Las Vegas. The new 5-year contract with workers will see a 10% wage hike in the first year, with the rest of the pay increases coming over the remaining years of the contract the LA Times reported. The contract brings workers in line with similar workers on the Las Vegas strip.

The post After Months-Long Strike Culinary Union Reaches Agreement in Las Vegas appeared first on Labor Today.

The most pressing issues discussed dealt with people on probationary status, long-distance workers worrying about their job status, and possible forced termination of their jobs. Another issue that was brought up was people being forced to go back to work if they were remote. President Hotopp addressed concerns that were raised and clarified the positions of the union on recent issues. AFGE 3928 had completed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) back in October 2023. The contract is good until September 2026 and then until a new one is negotiated, so the union was not worried about recent declarations of the Trump regime to ignore and cancel all government union contracts made in the last 30 days.

President Hotopp outlined ways the union will be fighting back including using injunctions, filing grievances, and other legal procedures to protect the rights the workers have won. Recently, AFGE joined with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees(AFSCME) to file a lawsuit against recent executive orders seeking to stop the assault on public sector workers and the civil service. Per AFGE National President Everett Kelly:

“AFGE is filing suit with our partner union today to protect the integrity of the American people’s government. Together, we can stop the efforts to fire hundreds of thousands of experienced, hard-working Americans who have dedicated their careers to serving their country and prevent these career civil servants from being replaced with unqualified political flunkies loyal to the president, but not the law or Constitution.”

LUEL will continue to monitor the situation with workers in the public sector and calls on the Trump administration to cease its’ assault on workers’ rights.

The post Public Sector and Civil Service Fight Back Against Trump Regime appeared first on Labor Today.

The following excerpts are taken from an interview Josiah gave to LUEL:

Can you tell me a bit about IATSE Local 745? Who do you represent? What was the impetus around organizing your crafts?

IATSE Local 745 started in the 2000s with Minnesota and Iowa sports broadcasts. All the people were in the broadcast sports games. They banded and unionized. They won recognition and they have been operating since then. They unionized some others including Bally Sports North, other broadcasters, and third-party crews. Always broadcasters and TV, never in-house video board. In 2016, Timberwolves employees attempted to unionize in 2016. They started the first time with (wanting) a contract and began collecting cards. (Management and the workers) Were arguing with the courts over whether they were contractors. After a year or so they finally got a ruling that they were able to organize and (the workers) were not contractors.

The first (union vote) lost by 7 votes. A lot of people came and went, and a lot of propaganda was brought in. There was a raise (for workers) in 2016 so they would not do a union election, but they went to an election anyway. The 2016 raise was the first raise since 1997. The workers got a raise when they were brought on as W2s instead of contractors. We were collecting cards in 2022, they (management) knew it, and we had just won our fight at Minnesota United. They gave us a raise.

We waited until we got a contract with United to see how that went, and no more were raised until we had collected the majority of cards this year. Right when we were about to file, we got a rush email that people were getting raises. 2016, 2022, 2024, got raises in those years and we were collecting cards in those years. Other than 1997, every other raise was under the threat of unionization. They will be counted on December 10, 2024. The city council has been supportive of the company’s staying neutral.

Can you give some extra information on the National Labor Relations Bureau (NLRB) case that put workers classified as employees and not contractors?

They reclassified everyone as W2 instead of contractors. 1989 was when the Timberwolves started. The crew was contracted through a 3rd party, and eventually, the basketball team took up the contract.

LUEL notes that this case was Minnesota Timberwolves Basketball, LP, and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Petitioner. Case 18-RC-169231, where a majority of the NLRB found that the team had not proven that the workers were contractors and ordered them to be classified as statutory employees under the law. This case was decided on August 18, 2017.

The interview continues:

Any particular challenges that have arisen in the campaign?

(I’m) not super familiar with how the earlier one (unionization effort) went, but between Timberwolves and Lynx season there is a new batch of employees that we have to explain why we are doing this and when and how we get raises. It is tough to keep educating new workers. 

I came from doing work from Gophers Sports at the University of Minnesota, (I) was making minimum wage there. It’s been a challenge to inform people why we are doing this and our tactic this time is to keep quiet about it and have one-on-one conversations, we waited to have a big group meeting until when the team found out about the unionization effort a month ago. The team has not had as much time to retain a union-busting lawyer and go after us this time compared to last time. We leaned on the support we got from the press, and city council, and were able to put a stop to the union-busting that went on last time. This is not (our) first rodeo, but we did it with Minnesota United FC and that was a new experience.

Besides union recognition, what are the workers at Target Center seeking to get from the bosses?

We want union raises, rather than raises anytime we are unionizing. Healthcare contributions, retirement contributions, minimum call times, and raises that are yearly. There are some people that drive a long way through traffic for 3/4 hours of work, so we want to guarantee more hours to people to make it sustainable. These are the main things. Also important are written safety guidelines. Safety has been OK there, but the build quality of some platforms is very poor. One worker, Charlie, works on the truck shows, he is familiar with Target Center and has had to make countless calls to have camera platforms properly built. There have been loose screws. Anyone one day could go into work and have a platform collapse resulting in injuries and damaged equipment. We want to be able to go to work and not worry about safety.

How can other workers support the organizing efforts of IATSE 745 and the Target Center workers?

Yes, so, at this point we are voting so the best thing you can do is encourage workers and let them know you have their back. This is the same we ask from anyone who wants to support us. Let us know if you support what we are doing. When we win, we will need support to secure that contract. It will not be a simple fight to get that first contract. It took us 15 months at Minnesota United, and we have heard the worst from other unions. We are worried about stalling tactics at the bargaining table.

In the meantime, we want to win the election and don’t want to get in the way of people who want to vote yes. I think it goes a long way when people stand up and support what we are doing. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison jumped on the info session on Monday, November 18, 2024. That appearance goes away when people that you know or have heard of are like “I see and I support you”. We got the union-busting to stop for now so we don’t need to put pressure on the team.

Follow our Twitter at @MnufcUnion as it is where we post updates and once we get to the negotiation stage we will need people’s support. That helped us big time with Minnesota United. The fans helped a lot and the team does care about how their fans feel. The fact is that the Timberwolves organization can afford to pay us better. The Timberwolves are worth over 3 billion dollars, Lynx are worth over 50 million dollars. With ticket sales, they can definitely pay us more. We are part of the reason people want to be at games so pay us a living wage.

LUEL notes that the majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the owner of the Minnesota Lynx, Glen Taylor, is called the richest man in Minnesota and is worth 2.8 billion dollars per Wikipedia. As a typical capitalist and boss, Mr. Glen would rather spend thousands on anti-union efforts than pay his workers a fair, living wage.

LUEL applauds the efforts of IATSE Local 745 and the workers in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx association in their efforts to secure a union and a fair contract. The capitalists, the bosses, and their businesses have been racking in record profits at a time when inflation has raised the cost of living for workers. LUEL calls on the Timberwolves and Lynx organizations to recognize the union and give the workers a fair contract, and safe working conditions for their workers. We will be watching the vote and situation as it unfolds. IATSE Local 745’s website can be found at https://www.iatse745.com, and their Twitter is @MnufcUnion.

The post LUEL Supports Unionization of Sport Videoboard under IATSE Local 745 appeared first on Labor Today.

In February 2024, the UAW announced committing $40 million through 2026 in new organizing funds to support non-union autoworkers and battery workers who are organizing across the country, and particularly in the South. The UAW International Executive Board voted to commit the funds in response to an explosion in organizing activity among non-union auto and battery workers, in order to meet the moment and grow the labor movement.

In the next few years, the electric vehicle battery industry is slated to add tens of thousands of jobs across the country, and new standards are being set as the industry comes online. These jobs will supplement, and in some cases largely replace, existing powertrain jobs in the auto industry. Through a massive new organizing effort, workers will fight to maintain and raise the standard in the emerging battery industry.

In April 2024, workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN voted to join the UAW with 73% in favor of the union. About 83% of all the workers turned out for the vote. A couple of months later, the UAW lost a unionization drive at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, AL on the heels of a multi-million dollar disinformation campaign by the company and threats by Alabama lawmakers.

The UAW is not only organizing auto plants, but also the battery factories for automobiles. In September this year, workers at the Spring Hill, TN plant of Ultium, which makes EV batteries for GM vehicles, voted to join the UAW. Other EV companies have unionized with unions like the Communication Workers of America (CWA) like workers at the New Flyer factory in Alabama. They formed a union with the CWA joining a string of US organizing victories at its parent NFI Group Inc., North America’s biggest manufacturer of transit buses.

With the presidential election looming and the cost of living rising, LUEL applauds the organizing of the UAW and other unions in the South. The only way to fight the rising cost of living and push back against the bosses is organizing the working class in this country. These campaigns are leading the way in rebuilding the American labor movement into a fighting force for all working class people.

The post EDITORIAL: UAW Southern Organizing Campaign Leads a Rebuilding Labor Movement appeared first on Labor Today.

“Without any regard to the livelihoods of 200 workers and their families, Nestlé executives announced today that they will close the Freehold plant. This company should be ashamed for turning their backs on workers in Freehold and the community that has been home to this company for more than 70 years. Nestlé took advantage of New Jersey taxpayer subsidies, built a $340 million facility in Mexico, and will now exploit cheaper labor in another country at the expense of New Jersey workers—this is nothing short of disgusting corporate greed. Teamsters Local 11 will continue fighting to protect our members at Nestlé. We demand this company meet the needs of these workers as they navigate the next steps during this very difficult time.”

Nestle has other factories in the United States, but the Freehold NJ factory was the only one that produced coffee. With the shutting of the Freehold factory, the new factory in Veracruz, Mexico would be the main producer of coffee for Nestle employing 1200 people. This is also the second factory in Veracruz, Mexico operated by Nestle.

In claiming to save tens of millions by shutting down the Freehold factory, Nestle spent hundreds of millions more dollars to build a completely new factory and infrastructure in another country. Nestle threw out over 200 unionized workers and their families in order to further exploit 1200 lower paid, non-unionized workers. The town of Freehold, NJ had given Nestle over 70 years of support only for the company to throw them into an uncertain future.

The corporate greed of Nestle is on display with the closure. Nestle made approx. 10.74 billion USD in profit in 2022, yet can’t spare any of that profit to give workers a living wage and stability to their communities. Nestle Executive Board members walked away with approx. 57 million USD in compensation in 2020, yet can’t be bothered to pay 200 workers a fair wage.

LUEL stands in solidarity with the New Jersey workers in their fight for their jobs and their community and decry the greed of Nestle. The UAW bargaining, and winning, the right to strike over plant closures is a right workers must demand in order to protect their future from these closures triggered by the search for ever-increasing profits.

The post Nestle Abandons Workers as it Shutters Freehold Plant appeared first on Labor Today.

The Teamsters gave everyone an update on the current state of negotiations and the material demands of the Teamsters. On the side of non-economic issues, there have been a number of tentative agreements reached concerning issues such as:

• No driver-facing cameras in vehicles, along with no audio recording
• A stop to subcontracting out SurePost packages
• No discipline can be issued solely on technology.
• Reduction of delays in contract grievances to go directly to national grievance panel.
• New package cars will be equipped with AC and fans installed in all current package cars within 30 days of contract coming in to force.

Other non-economic issue tentative agreements (TAs) were shown on a handout given. According to the workers, the current sticking point is economic issues especially pay for part-time workers. While some progress on economic issues were tentatively agreed on, like elimination of the two-tier system of workers working full-time, other issues like part-timers being subject to market rate adjustments that meant they either could or couldn’t pay bills at any given time. The workers there told that the ball is now in UPS’ court, as management can either give them an actual deal they can work with or they will strike come August 1^st.

UPDATE: As of July 25^th, the Teamsters and UPS have reached a tentative contract agreement. Some of the gains in the contract are:

• Existing full and part-time UPS Teamsters will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023. Over the length of contract, wages will increase $7.50 an hour.
• Existing part-timers will be raised up to no less than $21 per hour immediately, and part-time seniority workers earning more under a market rate adjustment would still receive all new general wage increases.
• General wage increases for part-time workers will be double the amount obtained in the previous UPS Teamsters contract — and existing part-time workers will receive a 48 percent average total wage increase over the next five years.
• Wage increases for full-timers will keep UPS Teamsters the highest paid delivery drivers in the nation, improving their average top rate to $49 per hour.

All Rank and Files members will receive a list of improvements and locals will conduct member meetings and have several weeks to vote on the offer electronically starting August 3 and ending August 22. This is a great victory for the Teamsters and workers. LUEL hopes that this will encourage other workers across the country to fight for fair contracts and wages.

The post An Update on Teamsters UPS Negotiation from Minnesota Workers United appeared first on Labor Today.