Recommended Reads

This week, we’re sharing thoughtful reads from a range of sources that help us understand the issues and ideas that shape our Union world.

Manuel Hurtado, an SEIU Local 1000 member in the East Bay, writes for CalMatters on the critical importance of supporting state workers. His powerful article describes his own experiences and recent studies showing that more than two-thirds of state employees do not earn enough to support themselves and a child. Our members make California run, and yet we still are fighting for basic dignity at our jobs and in our pay. Read his article here: https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/04/california-state-worker-low-pay/

Across the country, workers are dissatisfied with the abuses of their employers and are organizing against a tight labor market and rising costs of living. In the last year, hundreds of thousands of workers across this country joined unions, according to new federal filings from the previous calendar year as reported in Bloomberg in their article. Read more here: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/unions-report-key-membership-gains-in-2022-federal-forms-show

And Amazon delivery drivers employed by a delivery contract company unionized and negotiated their first contract with the Teamsters union last week. This represents a huge feat for workers in a sector controlled by a company that has used wealth and fear to undercut worker organizing. This strategy from the Teamsters can help fight back against the illegal and grotesque form of union busting used by Amazon to silence workers at one of the country’s largest companies. Read more here: https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/27/23667968/amazon-contractor-delivery-union-teamsters