Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

Members of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union-UFCW (RWDSU-UFCW) Local 21 participated in the Healing Appalachia music festival to connect attendees with information about the union and organizing resources.

The annual event brings community members together to enjoy music and provides those affected by opioid addiction with much-needed resources. The union partnered with the festival because it recognizes that the stability of a good union job with quality benefits can be especially life-changing for workers in addiction recovery. Local 21 even hosts regular Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at its union hall, embodying the true spirit of solidarity.

Alex Ware, president of RWDSU-UFCW Local 21, said, “Addiction has touched so many families in our communities, including our union family. At Local 21, we believe in new beginnings and in the power of good union jobs to change lives. Many of our members have overcome struggles with addiction and found stability, community, and dignity through union work and in the connections made through our union. That’s why we’re proud to support Healing Appalachia and to be here helping people see that recovery can lead to real opportunity.”

As the shutdown enters its ninth day, the rent, mortgage and bills keep coming for America’s workers.

The bills keep coming for the workers who provide health care for veterans, help Americans with their Social Security benefits, inspect our food and medicines, and keep our airports safe.

The bills keep coming for contract workers—including custodians and cafeteria workers—who don’t have the assurance of back pay. Instead of chatting with their kids about Halloween costumes, parents will be forced to explain why the lights aren’t on. People who need medication like insulin may choose to ration it so they can afford to keep the water running. 

And all of this pain is happening because the Trump administration is threatening to double or triple people’s health care premiums by refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits.

Congress needs to hear from working people right now: Fund the government. Fix the health care crisis. Put working people first. Make a call right now. 

If you’ve already made a call, click here to send an email too.

This week, the Trump administration decided that because of the shutdown, they were going to pause billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure and energy projects across the country. These projects employ hundreds of thousands of workers in construction, manufacturing and operations, and are supposed to help lower electricity prices.

It’s clear what the administration is doing: squeezing working people any way they can until they cry uncle and abandon demands to fix the administration’s Affordable Care Act crisis.

We can all agree on this basic principle: These workers, and all workers in America, just want to be able to do their job and get paid a decent paycheck for their work. The last thing that working families and our economy need is another hit when these paychecks don’t arrive on time and workers start having to make impossible decisions. 

Working people should not be used as pawns or bargaining chips, whether it is threatening one set of workers after another, canceling construction projects, or jacking up electricity prices on top of higher health insurance premiums. 

Will you make a call to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and your senators and representative to tell them to get to work and fund the government, fix the health care crisis and put working people first? Make a call now: 844-896-5059 or click here to call. 

Our latest roundup of worker wins includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life.

Temple University Resident Assistants, Peer Mentors Vote to Join OPEIU: Temple University’s resident assistants (RAs) and peer mentors (PMs) voted unanimously on Tuesday to form a union with Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 153. Members of Temple Union of Resident Assistants (TURA) have made history as the first group of undergraduate workers to organize at a public university in Pennsylvania. “Too often, the efforts we make as student workers in ResLife go unnoticed by the university,” said Erin, an RA, in a press release. “We shoulder significant responsibilities in our residence halls, caring for residents while managing our own full-time studies. This balancing act can take a mental toll, especially when our work is neither recognized nor fairly compensated. As we prepare to bargain, we will advocate for higher compensation for our Resident Assistants and Peer Mentors and improved working conditions. The value of our work far exceeds the compensation we currently receive.”

Polly’s Country Market Workers Secure New Contract: United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 951 members who work at Polly’s Country Market locations voted this week to ratify a new two-year contract. The 150-person bargaining unit at the grocery chain locations in Jackson, Michigan, won a deal that includes higher wages and improvements to paid time off. “Family-owned grocery chains are rare and unique in this day and age,” said John Cakmakci, president of Local 951, in a press release. “These Polly’s stores were unionized decades ago, and I’ve personally known members who have worked there for nearly 40 years. We have a great group of members at Polly’s with people who really care about serving their community as store employees and as union members. We last ratified the Polly’s contract four years ago and a lot has changed with the economy since then. With this new contract, we wanted wages reflecting those changes and ultimately succeeded by putting more money into the pockets of Polly’s workers.”

SEIU Members at Las Vegas Hospital Celebrate First Contract: Members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1107 who work at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas have successfully secured their first union contract. Professional staff in the bargaining unit work in laboratory technology, social work, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology, and other essential departments. Highlights of the agreement include wage increases of more than 12% over the lifetime of the deal, establishment of a committee on safe staffing, health care wins and more. “In order to provide the best care and meet all of our community’s complex needs, we must have the very best professionals working here,” said Cristina Hooper, a medical social worker at Sunrise. “Our first union contract is the foundation that will empower us to attract and keep professionals, and give us a seat at the table to represent our patients and ourselves.”

TV Commercial Production Department Workers Secure First CBA: In a first-of-its-kind victory, the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) announced the ratification of a new contract with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers Inc. (AICP) on Wednesday. The historic agreement covers television commercial production workers—including roles like production assistants, production supervisors, bidding producers and more—for the first time across hundreds of companies. Members of the Production Workers Guild (PWG), IATSE Local 111, won stronger workplace protections, better health care access, improved reimbursement procedures and other provisions that ensure parity with fellow crew members. “This ratified agreement is the culmination of four years of activism and organizing born out of the grassroots ‘Stand With Production’ movement which saw commercial production workers first stand up in the face of deteriorating conditions, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb. “It is a testament to the solidarity, resolve, and resourcefulness of production department workers. This first agreement sets a foundation that we will look to build upon for the future, with talks for a successor agreement just three years away.”

Maine Workers Grow Union Ranks at Statewide News Network: Nearly 50 workers at the Maine Trust for Local News won their election this week to join News Guild of Maine, The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA) Local 31128. The statewide nonprofit was created in 2023 when the National Trust for Local News purchased the largest network of daily and weekly newspapers in Maine. While some newsroom staff were already members of the NewsGuild of Maine—like those at the Portland Press Herald—other workers still lacked the basic workplace protections and fair pay that a union contract provides. Newly minted members include reporters, photographers, copy editors, advertising representatives and other staff at the Sun Journal, the Times Record and weekly newspapers and newsletters in southern and western Maine. “Those of us who are not represented have little influence over the environment in which we work. That changes today,” said Kendra Caruso, a staff writer at the Sun Journal. “Today we demand equal pay, equal respect and the same job securities that our represented colleagues have. As one company, one union and under one contract, we will hold the company accountable to its stated mission.”

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Sunrise Hospital Workers in Las Vegas Secure First Contract, 12% Raises: Medical professionals at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1107, are celebrating their first contract. The new contract will improve staff recruitment and retention and provides average raises of more than 12% over three years. The contract covers nearly 300 employees working in laboratory technology, social work, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology, among other fields. The contract also provides union representation and a neutral arbitrator available for workplace problems, a Patient Care Committee and other committees to improve staffing, and protected benefits like 100% employer-paid health care premiums. “In order to provide the best care and meet all of our community’s complex needs, we must have the very best professionals working here,” said Cristina Hooper, a medical social worker at Sunrise. “Our first union contract is the foundation that will empower us to attract and keep professionals, and give us a seat at the table to represent our patients and ourselves.”

Tags: Organizing