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

AFSCME Members Win Back Union Representation After Decertification by Florida: Two years after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rammed through anti-union legislation that attacked the representation of hardworking public sector workers, members of AFSCME Local 1279 in Jacksonville fought hard to bring their union back from decertification and won. Senate Bill 256 banned automatic paycheck dues deduction and required 60% membership payment rates for unions to remain active. While this effort was clearly meant to undermine and break up worker power in the state, AFSCME members worked to overcome these new legal burdens by re-signing hundreds of members on new membership cards, implementing a new dues payment system, holding dozens of workplace meetings and filling union show-of-interest cards twice. Workers successfully got their union back and negotiated a new contract that includes a 10% wage increase, increased time off and more. “This was a massively disruptive piece of legislation that changed so much but, in our case, we had basically no time to prepare for it,” said Arthur Finley, a Jacksonville Public Library employee and president of Local 1279. “We lost our union at the start but, working with the council and other AFSCME locals in the area, we were able to get on track to win it back almost right away.” “We have talked to every single worker in the bargaining unit at some point during this process,” said Galen Gingery, a security officer and vice president of Local 1279. “Overall, people have been supportive and understanding of the time it was going to take to get us back. By the time we sat down at the bargaining table we knew our co-workers were with us because we were doing those worksite visits, the townhalls and the one-on-one conversations just to get us to that point.” 

Milwaukee County Transit System Workers Ratify New Contract: After months of negotiations, members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 998 who work for the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) have ratified a new three-year agreement. The contract covers the bus drivers, mechanics and maintenance workers who keep Wisconsin’s largest transit system moving. Highlights of the deal include annual wage increases and important new safety provisions. “These guys, for the most part, are ex-police officers, ex-military people with security backgrounds,” said Bruce Freeman, president of Local 998. “We just wanted to make sure that the company is addressing the problems that we feel are problems of, you know, the unruly passengers, the disruptive passengers, assaults on bus drivers.”

Workers Celebrate Historic Disneyland Wage Theft Settlement: A California judge has approved a $233 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Disneyland for failing to pay a living wage to union members at the resort and theme park. In 2018, Anaheim voters passed Measure L, which required companies in the city’s resort area that receive tax rebates to pay their staff a $15 minimum wage. UNITE HERE Local 11, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 324, Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 83, SEIU-United Service Workers West were among the unions who fought to ensure that corporations benefiting from subsidies shared their profits with workers. Disneyland resisted the new law for years, but workers eventually won what is now the largest class action wage theft case in California history. “There’s a couple of people who are getting $100,000,” said Nathan Delgadillo, a server and member of UNITE HERE Local 11. “For all the workers, this will have a profoundly positive impact. And as a union, this is our whole program—it’s like having a vision and seeing that vision come true.” “I love what I do, turning kids into princesses and knights, but I have to be able to afford to live while doing it,” said Michi Cordell, a member of UFCW Local 324 and a Disneyland staff member of 17 years. “This settlement will be a major help to my family thanks to the union and the Anaheim voters who supported Measure L. We stood up for what we deserved, from passing Measure L to reaching this agreement, and won.”

UAW Members at AM General Ratify New Agreement: UAW Local 5 members who work at AM General ratified a powerful new agreement on Thursday that the union is calling the “strongest contract in decades.” Workers at the Mishawaka, Indiana, facility manufacture essential tactical vehicles for the U.S. military. This deal reverses a previous track record of benefit concessions, securing a large pension increase and making serious progress fixing a tiered pay system. Members also won a 12% wage increase over three years. “Our members got back to our fighting roots, as the oldest local in the UAW with a long history of negotiating world class contracts,” said Dave Green, director of UAW Region 2B. “We won a contract that not only makes no concessions to the company, but delivers incredibly strong wage and pension increases for the membership.”

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Musicians Secure Three-Year Contract: The Atlanta Federation of Musicians, American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 148-462, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) have reached a new three-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA). ASO musicians secured pay increases of 15% over the lifetime of the agreement and ensured the preservation of the health benefits packages members currently enjoy. Other victories include the addition of two more positions in the orchestra, better working conditions, and a comprehensive overhaul of audition and tenure review procedures so they will be consistent with industry standards. “The musicians are united in our unwavering commitment to our audiences and to our art—and in our clear vision for the future of the world-class Atlanta Symphony Orchestra,” said Jessica Oudin, president of the ASO Players' Association. “We are thankful to have ratified a progressive and multifaceted contract that speaks to all aspects of our work—and in so doing, honors the legacy and protects the future of the ASO.” Bruce Kenney, president of Local 148-462, said: “Our union’s history of collaboration with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra dates back to 1946….Now, we have a new agreement that honors and builds upon decades of effort and ensures the status of the ASO and the city of Atlanta as a destination for music lovers and musicians alike.”

University of San Diego Faculty Secure First Contract: Nontenure track (NTT) faculty at the University of San Diego (USD)—who are represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721—ratified their first union contract on Friday in a landslide vote. The agreement comes after more than a year of bargaining, which included a two-day strike earlier this year, and covers around 200 staff in the College of Arts and Sciences. Adjuncts teach more than half of undergraduate courses in the program, but despite this, nearly 1 in 4 NTT faculty rely on public assistance to get by. “My dream is for all the workers at USD to become unionized and have a say in their working conditions,” said theatre lecturer Soroya Rowley. “I think when everyone else sees what we won in our collective bargaining agreement, they're going to feel ready to take the next step to organizing their own units.”

Tags: Organizing