union workers

For the first time in its history, the UAW is making inroads in the South. Could its next prize be an EV battery plant in rural Kentucky?

Lisa Autry

Buoyed by notable Southern victories in 2024, the United Auto Workers Union is on a quest to organize the electric vehicle and battery sector. The UAW hopes its next prize is a sprawling campus in rural Kentucky that, once completed, will be the largest EV battery plant in the world.

After signing legislation aimed at curtailing the practice of what sponsors dubbed “captive audience meetings,” in which workers are required to listen to their employer’s religious or political views, Gov. JB Pritzker poses with the bill at the Illinois AFL-CIO's biennial convention in Rosemont on Wednesday. Pritzker is flanked by AFL-CIO's national president Liz Shuler and the state organization’s president Tim Drea (left) and state Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago (right), along with other proponents of the bill.

Government & Politics

Under new law, Illinois employers can’t force workers to sit through anti-union meetings

Hannah Meisel

Pritzker signs ‘Worker Freedom of Speech Act’ at organized labor convention

Education

Ky. judge strikes down law targeting teachers union dues

Jess Clark

Teachers unions and other state employee organizations can continue collecting dues through payroll deduction for now. Meanwhile, Attorney General Daniel Cameron has filed an appeal.

Employees at the Elizabethtown Starbucks on Dixie Highway became the chain's first Kentucky baristas to unionize outside of Louisville.

Business & Economy

Elizabethtown Starbucks workers unionize at two stores amid national organizing effort

Jacob Munoz

Employees at both Elizabethtown Starbucks locations are the chain’s first union members in Kentucky outside of Louisville.

Government & Politics

Illinois Board Moves Forward With Employee Step Increases

The Associated Press

The Illinois Labor Relations Board is moving forward with giving step increases to unionized state workers. Step increases are automatic raises that…

Business & Economy

Honeywell Plant Awaits Final Inspection Before Operations Resume

Honeywell officials are awaiting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's final approval before resuming normal operations at the Metropolis plant. In a letter…