● Unions brought black Americans into the middle class. They're now being decimated.
On the last Friday of May, Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders that dealt a blow to the ability of federal employees to organize.
The first order now reduces the time to fire “poor performers and employees under suspicion of misconduct”. The second order restricts union officials to using only 25% of their work hours on official time for the union, meaning it can’t be used for lobbying Congress or representing employees who file grievances. The last order empowers all agencies to renegotiate all collective bargaining agreements, under the watchful eye of a new “Labor Relations Working Group”.
Then, on 27 June, the US supreme court ruled that public sector unions can no longer compel employees to pay union dues.
On the surface, these recent developments may seem unremarkable – and outcries from labor may just sound like public sector workers unwilling to let go of a comfortable status quo. But between them they could represent one of the most precise injuries to the progress of people of color in history.
● An interview with the South Dakota labor leader who banned white supremacists from union leadership.
● After five years of fighting, Google and Facebook security guards finally have a union contract:
The news was announced on Monday in a press release from SEIU United Service Workers West, a labor union representing over 40,000 property service workers throughout California. As part of the agreement, security guards will see an hourly wage increase of up to $1.20 by January, improved healthcare and vacation plan, and paid holidays.