Victory at ZeniMax
Also, Louisiana attacks public sector unions, and JBS workers ratify a national contract
News and Views
The relationship between Minnesota’s public sector unions and the state’s governor (and vice presidential candidate) Tim Walz is souring, over issues like return-to-office mandates, health care costs, and possible layoffs. “I think management and labor always has a healthy tension,” Walz told MPR. “As a longtime labor union member, I hear where they’re coming from. So, I think it’s healthy. I won’t kid you, they’re probably not going to throw a picnic for me.”
Down South, the Louisiana state legislature is advancing a bill that would make it much harder for unions to collect dues from public sector workers. “This is our LAST CHANCE to stop a bill that will cancel our union membership yearly, force us to sign up through our bosses, allow our bosses to drop our membership any time, and as a whole will make it incredibly hard for us to keep our unions,” writes AFSCME Local 2349, which represents New Orleans employees.
Workers at 14 JBS meatpacking facilities across the countries have ratified “a historic national contract that includes massive wins like the establishment of a new pension plan for the first time in decades,” per the AFL-CIO. Beyond the landmark pension plan agreement, the contract also includes wages of $23 to $24 an hour, safety and ergonomic protections, and paid sick leave. The contract covers 26,000 members, from Arizona to Nebraska to Texas and more.
In a first for Microsoft, the CWA just won a tentative agreement for 300 video game workers at ZeniMax. It would be the first union contract at a Microsoft subsidiary, which workers will now vote on whether to ratify. CWA has had a neutrality agreement with Microsoft since 2023, and the agreement was extended to ZeniMax in June 2024.
The NUHW has won significant wage increases, ending a the 192 day-strike by mental health therapists against Kaiser Permanente, while Kaiser paid scab therapists $13,000 per week, according to striking workers.
Today’s Win and Action:
More than 150,000 members of the American Federation of Government Employees have opted to pay dues directly to their union. That’s important because President Donald Trump, as well as previous administrations, have attacked federal unions by undermining their ability to collect dues from workers’ paychecks. If you’re a federal worker represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, sign up to pay dues directly to your union.