Workers at Rivian in Bloomington-Normal are organizing around serious issues, from the corporation bleeding cash to its jeopardizing worker safety and health.
“What car buyer with a conscience will want to buy an EV made by workers suffering gruesome injuries?” the union says in a new Fact Sheet. “And with Americans’ support for unions at historic highs, how will the public react to news that Rivian is fiercely opposing its workers’ right to organize?”
Letter Carriers reach deal, ratification uncertain. Negotiators with the National Association of Letter Carriers came to a tentative agreement on a new contract with the U.S. Postal Service, but the deal has provoked rank and file criticism for its proposed wage hike: a 1.3% annual raise from May of last year through Nov. 7, 2026. Representatives from the union’s bargaining team have met in regional meetings with members and faced opposition.
“Once everyone saw the numbers, the anger and the upset were almost instantaneous,” said Twin Cities carrier Aaron Hutchison. “It’s not hard to organize people when they’re already mad.”
NLRB affirms Peoria Starbucks broke the law. A National Labor Relations Board panel this fall ordered Starbucks’ Peoria Campustown location to stop singling out workers for discipline because they support unionizing, required the coffee shop to post a notice of workers’ right to organize, and to pay two workers for illegal pay cuts.
In 2022, workers at Starbucks’ West Main Street location were the second Starbucks workers in Illinois to unionize with the Workers United/Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
“We’re happy to see the NLRB continue to stand up for workers and our legal right to organize,” Starbucks barista and union activist Michelle Eisen said.
Twin Cities’ unionized Barnes & Noble workers protest lack of progress. Barnes & Noble workers represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) last month demonstrated in front of the Bloomington store, hoping to pressure the bookstore to negotiate a first contract.
The workers unionized more than a year ago and started bargaining in March.
The union also says the company has retaliated against workers for exercising their rights to engage in concerted, union activity. “We have a right to stand together and ask for more, and we deserve more,” said B&N worker Thaddeus Stoklasa. “We are the people who run these stores.”
Demonstrators said if the contract is not settled, they plan to strike.
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