Organized Labor

A strike by dockworkers at 36 ports from Maine to Texas, the first in decades, could snarl supply chains and lead to shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks.Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation even though progress had been reported in contract talks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight.

Thousands of U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday after their leaders couldn’t bridge a giant gap between union demands in contract talks and what Detroit’s three automakers are willing to pay.

Leaders of Hollywood’s actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry.

Florida’s Senate voted 23-17 to pass legislation that will affect public-sector unions, especially teachers’ unions across the state. The bill would increase the required percentage of union members who pay dues from 50% to 60% for all public unions except police, firefighters and correctional officers. As many as two-thirds of Florida’s teachers’ unions would be decertified, preventing them from negotiating for salary and benefits for teachers, guidance counselors and media specialists. The Senate is controlled by Republicans. Teachers’ unions have traditionally supported Democratic policies and candidates in Florida. The same lawmaker who proposed the bill also sponsored another bill this year – which has not been taken seriously and is stalled in a Senate committee – that would effectively shut down the Democratic Party in Florida.

Florida farmers face acute needs for labor when the harvest comes, and in recent years they've relied on guest workers from other countries under the H-2A…

AFL-CIO National President Richard Trumka was at a phone bank in Ft. Myers today. He joined volunteers calling union members and asking them to vote for…