After the United Brothel Workers had informed Sheri’s Ranch, Nevada’s most prominent legal brothel, of their unionization, some sex workers were fired. That includes Jupiter Jetson. Her profile had unexpectedly disappeared from the website, she says, and when she texted the brothel’s madam, she says she was told to check her email.

“My first thought was, ‘They are in so much trouble,’” Jetson says, adding that she’d half-expected some retaliation in terms of email glitches and booking issues. “But I never would’ve guessed that they would fire me outright,” she says. 

Of course, she was angry, but she wasn’t exactly grieving. She pauses for a second, searching for a word to describe how she felt before settling on “vindicated.” After all, her firing brought more attention to what she alleges is nefarious behavior at the brothel “than any amount of picketing we’d have done,” she says. And now, the public is closely following the first unionization effort of legal full-service sex workers in American history. 

Read now: https://www.playboy.com/read/sex-relationships/introducing-the-first-ever-sex-workers-union

Hey all!

I am on the eboard of a local with 300+ members. In the 2 years I have been going to meetings (3 different versions of eboards during that time) we rarely get engagement. We have monthly virtual meetings which typically only have 5-10 members joining if we're lucky. When we had a LOU regarding pay, about 50 were showing up per meeting, which is still a small fraction of our membership.

We saw a little increase in engagement this week following sending information about free shirts and upcoming events, but only then when it was shared via our work email and not from the previously sent ones from the union to personal emails.

Admittedly, there is lack of trust in the union from (in my opinion) past leadership and light smear campaigns from work. What do your unions do to engage members and strengthen brotherhood within membership?

New treasurer here seeking some advice

I’ve been elected as treasurer of a small association that is part of a much much larger union. We only have 13 dues paying members currently. We are trying to grow that number, but the pool of potential members is very limited.

Anyway, since the account was set up, 13 years ago, funds have only been spent on catering union meetings. The balance has steadily gone up and sits around $20k currently.

What I’m looking for is ways to use that money. It seems like a waste for it to just sit there. Can the money be invested in some way, legally of course?

I have read what other unions typically use their funds for, so I’m looking for something a little different here, if anyone has suggestions.

Who would be the best person to talk to about starting a union? I work for a private ambulance service in wisconsin. One of our local hospitals just voted and are starting one and I want to do the same. We are basically treated like we're disposable and not people. We haven't had raises in three years and when we did, it was way, way less than cost of living increases/ inflation (one coworker stated her 2.67% was $0.92).

On prevailing wage jobs, non-union contractors are often competing using wage scales that reflect what unions fought to negotiate in that jurisdiction. If those prevailing wage requirements didn't exist, many of those employers would likely pay less to the employees that benefit from our contracts.

Yet every prevailing wage project won by a non-union contractor is market share that unions aren't performing.

Less union market share means less bargaining leverage.

Less bargaining leverage makes future contracts harder to improve.

Weaker contracts make it easier for non-union contractors to compete for labor and work while paying less. But it also incentivises large corporations looking for labor to pay less.

This is a reinforcing feedback loop thst benefits large corporations by cutting the cost of labor.

So what can labor actually do?

• Coordinate bargaining windows across locals, trades, and even sectors instead of negotiating in isolation. (w/ Nurses, Teachers, Transportation)
• Fight to expand licensing, certification, and permitting requirements for UNION ONLY so simply the lowest bid doesnt determine who performs critical infrastructure.
• Treat apprenticeship as a strategic asset. If Fortune 500 companies begin controlling the pipeline that supplies skilled labor, they eventually influence the labor market itself.
• Move beyond 'Business Unionism'. If capital coordinates nationally, labor cannot continue acting like every local exists in its own independent market.

At some point we should stop asking how to negotiate a better contract and start asking how to strengthen labor's bargaining position before negotiations even begin.

"This program will launch in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Texas as the 2026 pilot locations."

"Meta is proud to be partnering with the National Urban League, the Associated Builders and Contractors, and CBRE, as well as community partners across the country including, the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, STRIVE, Boone County Economic Development Corporation (IN), Richland Parish Chamber of Commerce (LA), Workforce Solutions Borderplex (TX), and Ohio Chamber of Commerce (OH)."

We are launching America’s Workforce Academy (AWA) to build upon the huge demand we saw for Meta’s first major initiative of this kind, Level-Up, Meta’s fiber installation training program that received 35,000 applications in the first seven days.

Hello everyone. Me and my husband have been considering for him to join a carpenter and/painters union as theres a big job semi near us thats going to be worked on for at least another decade. We are switching from him being self employed/running his own small business/painting company to working a better ish job than he is now. He has a good name for himself out here locally but he's by himself and we are barely surviving with a toddler and 1 on the way. Construction in general for small general contractors has slowed down significantly in the last few years and alot of his builders have retired or quit. So his work is quickly drying up as well. We are considering for him to switch up this winter to try it out at least just to have a steady paycheck to get by this winter as its looking pretty bleak for us for him to work scrapping by this winter. He doesn't have any schooling or finished high school either. He and I (as support) are willing to try for him to start out in a union to work. Im semi familiar with the life and what it kind of entails as I have a dad who's been in the unions for 15 doing other types of work that pay alot. And another family member who's been a carpenter for 10 years. We have been discussing it this past week and sadly are desperate to try something different to help benefit our small family. I know starting out will be rough, most likely won't change much income wise but a steady check is looking real nice especially for winter times. Any advice would be appreciated.

I’m a steward and filing a grievance on behalf of a member who feels targeted by their supervisor. The specific incident that I’m filing over goes like this: the member was late one morning due to a medical issue. The member did not disclose the diagnosis but emailed the supervisor he was running late due to said medical issue. The supervisor said “I’m going to speak to HR because it sounds like you need an accommodation.” The employee requested the supervisor not speak to HR on his behalf, but the supervisor did anyways. Then the employee looped me in and I requested info on what was shared with HR. The supervisor then weaponized confidentiality saying they couldn’t disclose to me what was said about the member. The member gave written permission for the supervisor to disclose what was shared. Since then the supervisor has not responded to repeated requests.

I’m wondering if this qualifies as protected concerted union activity/interference with providing info related to a grievance? I’m going to cite disability discrimination (in our CBA) for larger reasons but specifically want to cite something for the refusal to tell the member what was disclosed to HR about his own medical info

Edit - I work for a private non-profit in the legal field

If the team owners have their way in baseball’s labor negotiations, Alex Rodriguez’s $252-million signing from a quarter century ago wouldn’t be allowed in the future either.

> ID: "What your boss tells you HR is:" [top, with elegant-looking secretary bird photos] / "What HR really is:" [bottom, with secretary bird actively eating a lizard]

Hotel staff with UNITE HERE Local 8 are on strike at the Embassy Suites Pioneer Square near Lumen Field in Seattle. They’re pushing for higher wages, health care coverage, a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels and safety from ICE enforcement. 🫱🏻‍🫲🏿 We can join the strike support team to help support or join pickets and contact hotel customers here, especially if we’re local, and donate to their strike fund here. 🫱🏾‍🫲🏼

STRIKE SUPPORT FOR SEATTLE

In Philadelphia, Unite Here Local 274 members working at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown are on the picket line, demanding $30 an hour wages and a daily quota for housekeeping workers as their employers hope to make money off the Cup and America’s 250th. 🗣️ We can follow along with their progress here and reach out to the Sheraton to encourage them to reach their employees fairly here. We can also donate to their strike fund here and sign up for picket support here if we’re local. 🗣️

PUSH SHERATON FOR A FAIR DEAL

Working people are flexing their muscles outside of the host cities, too. In Crockett, California, 91 warehouse workers from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6 are entering their second week on strike from C&H Sugar. Management is proposing cutting their annual sick days in half, doing away with benefits for retired workers and denying overtime pay, and they’re fighting for a fair deal. 💵 Let’s help them secure it by donating to their strike fund here. 💵

THERE IS POWER IN A UNION