Jonah Furman

Farm and Construction Equipment Workers Strike in Iowa and Wisconsin

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Jonah Furman

Eleven hundred workers who manufacture agricultural and construction equipment for CNH Industrial in Burlington, Iowa, and Racine, Wisconsin, have been on strike since May 2.

At the core of the strike is the company’s three-tier pay system. Workers hired before 1996 make $6 to $8 more per hour than those hired after 2004; those hired between 1996 and 2004 earn somewhere in between. Workers want to see at least the bottom tier abolished.

Retaliation Can't Stop Growing Starbucks Union

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Jonah Furman

So far, over 200 Starbucks stores across the country have filed for union elections, with 25 of the 27 that have voted so far choosing to join Starbucks Workers United. That includes the union going five for five yesterday in elections at stores in Richmond, Virginia.

We Can't Just Keep Saying 'Pass the PRO Act.' We Have to Organize.

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Jonah Furman

In January our movement got its annual punch in the gut from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whose 2021 report shows 241,000 fewer union members than the previous year. Just 1 in 10 workers belongs to a union; in the private sector it’s 1 in 16.

In 20 years the country gained 14 million workers—but unions lost 2 million members.

Poll after poll shows majority support for unions; “Striketober” gripped headlines for weeks. And yet our numbers keep going down.

Auto Workers Win Direct Democracy in Referendum

This article was originally published on December 1, but is being updated as results come in.

The members of the United Auto Workers have voted overwhelmingly to move to a direct voting system for choosing their union leadership—“one member, one vote.” With all votes counted as of December 2, direct elections had the support of 63.6 percent of voters.

It's a historic win for reformers in one of the nation’s most important unions, where members have pushed for this change for decades.

'We'll Never Be in This Position Again': Striking Deere Workers Hold Out for Better Deal

A month into the nation’s largest work stoppage, striking John Deere workers are holding out for a better deal.

For the second time in a month, 10,000 Auto Workers at John Deere stunned both the company and the union leadership November 2 by rejecting a tentative agreement. Workers at the farm equipment manufacturer remain on strike. Company and union negotiators are set to meet today for the first time since the deal was voted down.

The vote was closer than on the first tentative agreement, which was rejected by 90 percent of members. This time, 55 percent voted no.

'Let's Put a Wrench in Things Now': Deere Workers Strike as Company Rakes in Record Profits

Ten thousand John Deere workers in Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas launched an open-ended strike October 14.

The strike came after workers overwhelmingly voted down a first tentative agreement negotiated by the Auto Workers (UAW). Among the over 90 percent of members voting, 90 percent voted no.

Kaiser's Outrageous Two-Tier Wage Proposal May Provoke a Massive Strike

At midnight on September 30, the national agreement expired between Kaiser Permanente and the Alliance of Healthcare Unions: 21 locals representing 52,000 workers. Now 35,000 of them have authorized strikes.

The heart of the conflict is a two-tier wage proposal, a rarity in health care. The company wants to create regional wage scales for everyone hired after 2022—meaning a giant cut in pay.

Kaiser isn’t hurting financially; last year it netted $6.4 billion, and it even returned $500 million in CARES Act funding to the federal government.

Countdown to a Strike Tonight at John Deere

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Jonah Furman

At 11:59 p.m. tonight, barring a last-minute deal, nearly 10,000 Auto Workers members at John Deere in Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas will go on strike. The last Deere strike began in 1986 and lasted for five months.

In the lead-up to tonight’s strike, tensions are high. The negotiating team is still bargaining up till the deadline. Management is trying to intimidate workers out of striking and is preparing to fill the gaps with non-union salaried employees.

In a Surprise, John Deere Workers Get to See Contract Before Voting On It

Ten thousand Auto Workers (UAW) members at John Deere will vote on a new contract on Sunday, October 10. Unexpectedly, they can see the language of proposed changes to their several-hundred-page contract ahead of the vote. The UAW International posted the language online last night, along with a contract summary and proposed amendments to the pension plan.

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