Voters approved pro-Labor proposals in Maryland and Vermont:
This week’s midterm elections will likely reshape labor relations on a few fronts. For starters, voters in two states approved ballot measures that will ease unions’ paths to organizing and bargaining.
Vermont’s state constitution will receive new language emphasizing workers’ rights to unionize and collectively bargain. This amendment also prohibits legislators from enacting any provision, like a right-to-work law, that could be interpreted as contrary to the amendment’s language. And in Maryland, a ballot question passed to fund collective bargaining for public-sector workers.
Larger fallout to come: Considering how many congressional seats changed parties, don’t be surprised if the Faster Labor Contracts Act passes sooner rather than later. As LRICS CEO and General Counsel Phil Wilson wrote in our most recent INK newsletter, “Democrats have secured 54 Senate seats, and the two races still being counted appear to be leaning Democratic. If those break as expected, Democrats will hold 56 seats.”
Wilson added that Democrats would need only four Republican votes to clear a filibuster, and two Republicans are already co-sponsors: “This bill has moved from long shot to live threat.”
Another Chicago strike, this time from the Teamsters:
A few months ago, we talked about how UNITE HERE was threatening to put hotel workers on strike in Chicago. The union has since followed through and expanded the strike to at least seven hotels. Now, the Windy City is dealing with a parking attendant strike from the Teamsters, who planned to expand the walkout to around 200 parking garages and hotels this week. The strike is also anticipated to take shuttle bus drivers off the job at O’Hare International Airport.
What, exactly, the union hopes to accomplish with the resulting chaos remains a mystery. An attorney for the Chicago Parking Association, which represents parking garages across the city, told ABC7 Chicago that the employers offered a contract that “includes 100% employer-paid health insurance, a generous pension plan, paid time off,” and “a 27 percent increase in wages and benefits over five years.” In classic Teamsters fashion, the union unrealistically believes that’s not good enough.
And speaking of the Teamsters being relentlessly pushy….
Henry Ford Genesys Hospital nurses are talking:
We recently detailed how the Teamsters’ 411-day nurses’ strike at Michigan’s Henry Ford Genesys Hospital ended with no meaningful results for workers. Those nurses ratified a deal that largely mirrored what the employer had already implemented, including 13% wage increases. The union put those nurses on picket lines through winter weather while making unrealistic promises and demands, and now some of these workers are talking to a progressive publication about their disappointment.
These workers say that the Teamsters made a big show with an October 2025 visit to the picket line from President Sean O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. Yet after that photo op, the nurses were literally left out in the cold without communication. They say that the union deliberately isolated them and prevented them from speaking with nurses in other Teamsters units, and the striking nurses were frustrated watching the Teamsters sign several other contracts for Michigan nurses while their own strike dragged on.
It’s no wonder two decertification petitions were filed seeking to remove the Teamsters from representing Henry Ford nurse units.
Obama Foundation workers launched a union drive:
This entry is mainly a reminder that no matter how progressive an employer’s brand might be, its workplace is still vulnerable to organizing. Such is the case for the Obama Foundation, named for former President Barack Obama, a vocal union supporter, and former first lady Michelle Obama. The foundation runs not only the recently opened Obama Presidential Center in Chicago but also offices in D.C., and it employs remote staff across the U.S.
Sixty-eight workers signed a letter announcing the formation of Obama Workers United as an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The union aims to organize 250 workers, including museum staffers, and the letter alleges an “unsustainable work environment” and a “high turnover rate” driven by stagnant wages and “inadequate benefits.” The letter also cites Barack Obama’s own “Open Letter to America’s Hardworking Men and Women,” which he penned in 2016 in praise of unions.
The NLRB’s backlog is steadily shrinking:
The NLRB began 2026 with a quorum but an impossible-seeming backlog left behind by former General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s aggressive policies. General Counsel Crystal Carey prioritized clearing out those languishing cases, and the agency has reported significant progress on the issue “despite hurdles,” including short staffing and decreased funding.
The Board’s announcement reports moving 10,684 of the cases that were pending on Jan. 7, 2026, “to determination,” meaning that these cases have concluded active investigation, and regional directors will soon decide on dismissal, settlement, or movement toward hearings. Additionally, the Board’s own docket of pending cases fell from 591 at the start of 2026 to 292. Hopefully, this means that the Board will soon be deciding cases that could lead to overturning Biden-era precedent on Carey’s wish list, so stay tuned there.
