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What I’ve Been Reading This Week


It is not everyday that we have a chance to look at labor developments across the pond.  While there is often some noteworthy events taking place outside of the U.S., I often do not highlight those matters as there is enough to cover in these 50 states.  With that being said, a looming strike by Royal Mail workers is noteworthy and worth leading things off this week.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.



As reported in The Guardian recently, Royal Mail workers are to hold 19 strikes over this month and November following disputes over their pay and working conditions.  These strikes come on the heels of claims that the Royal Mail Group’s senior management has taken steps to move forward with cuts to workers’ terms and conditions of employment and sideline the union.  Notably, these strikes are set to take place around Black Friday and Cyber Monday as Royal Mail workers seek to dramatically slow down Royal Mail’s business.  Will this lead to a change for Royal Mail Workers?  Stay tuned.



Last week, two more Congressional offices voted to unionize with staffers overwhelmingly voting in favor of unionization.  The offices of Democratic Representatives Ilhan Omar and Ro Khanna voted 9 - 1 and 21 - 0 in favor of unionization.  With these two successful votes, that now brings the total number of Congressional staff offices that have unionized to three.  I would expect that in the coming weeks more will follow suit.



NPR published an article last week in which it noted that despite over 300 Starbucks stores voting to unionize over the past year, that does not mean that the desired changes sought by these workers and their union have gone into place.  In fact, as the article notes, discussions between the union and Starbucks are only just beginning with the company offering several weeks this month to discuss a collective bargaining agreement.  Granted, there are still hundreds of unfair labor charges that have been asserted against the company, with Starbucks also challenging several of the results of the elections.  That has led to a long, slow, and arduous process for these workers as they seek to reap their expected benefits of unionization.  As NPR reports, the unionization amongst Starbucks stores has only just begun.

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