Next year will bring major changes to the labor landscape on several fronts. General counsel will need to navigate recent NLRB decisions, HR will need to review the new memo on settlement agreements, and the NLRB had another shake-up with more on the way. Heck, the Board even threw a bizarre curveball at a subject near and dear to Trump.
Of course, unions will continue their siege on the organizing front. Numerous union contract battles will also take place for new and renewal agreements, and we rounded up the most notable examples for 2025.
Longshoremen
Back in October, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) suspended its strike against the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) after reaching a semi-resolution. That agreement punted the automation issue with a new strike deadline, and unsurprisingly, talks ground to a halt again by mid-November. ILA President Harold Daggett wants a “no automation” rollback despite semi-automated cranes and gates already in use at some ports. If the parties don’t come to an agreement by Jan. 15, Gulf and East Coast ports could shut down for another strike.
Retail
Starbucks and the SEIU-affiliated Starbucks Workers United (SBU) are still hammering out their first contract negotiations with key issues remaining. 98% of SBU members have voted to authorize a strike as frustrations continue to grow after the union demanded that agreements be in place by the end of 2024. Meanwhile, new CEO Brian Niccol penned an end-of-year message about his goal of making Starbucks “the best job in retail.” If only Niccol didn’t have to consider a union to get there.
Costco and the Teamsters are negotiating a new master contract for 18,000 workers with the current agreement expiring on January 31, 2025. After talks were suspended in August and recently resumed, the union claimed that the company would not agree to “98 percent of Teamsters proposals.”
A stream of UFCW contracts with Albertsons and Kroger, involving hundreds of thousands of workers, will expire in 2025, starting with Colorado locals in January. These battles have been complicated by a union lawsuit against the grocery store chains for a “no-poach” agreement that allegedly gave the companies some advantage in negotiations.
Transportation
A seven-week strike by Seattle-area machinists came to an end in November with a new contract for 31,000 IAM-represented workers after contentious union tactics. Max 737 production only resumed a week ago. Still, the corporation faces more contract negotiations next year due to IAM-represented workers, this time those who manufacture fighter jets in St. Louis, who could strike after a July contract expiration date.
Over 30,000 flight attendants already authorized strikes at a trio of airlines, including United Airlines, where an Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) contract expired over three years ago; Alaska Airlines, where workers rejected a tentative agreement in August; and Frontier Airlines, which reportedly pays flight attendants the lowest wage out of any major airline. Bargaining sessions will begin again in January, but at least the holiday travel season is safe from these potential strikes.
