Workers United News

Workers United – SEIU joins the global labor movement in strongly condemning the murder of Shahidul Islam, an organizer who was killed for standing up for the rights of garment workers in Bangladesh. Shahidul was a senior organizer with the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF) and President of BGIWF’s Gazipur district committee. Shahidul was beaten to death in retaliation for supporting workers at the Prince Jacquard Sweater Ltd. factory, where BGIWF had been organizing for the last few months. Workers United – SEIU expresses its deepest sympathies to the family of Shahidul Islam and to our sisters and brothers at BGIWF. We stand in solidarity with these courageous leaders fighting for respect and dignity at work.

In the truest form of trade union solidarity, Workers United and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), together with the organizing committee of Fruit Stand Workers United (FSWU) have agreed that CWA will provide support to FSWU’s union organizing efforts at Apple’s Grand Central Station store in New York City.

Workers United, the union supporting Starbucks workers across the country as they organize, is announcing our intention to establish a Strike and Defense Fund with initial dedicated funding of $1 million for the Starbucks Workers United campaign.

The campaign to unionize Starbucks Corp. stores across the country has reached a new stage, with federal labor board prosecutors heading into hearings over accusations that the coffee chain violated labor law as workers at a growing number of locations have gone on strike.

The union backing organizing efforts at Starbucks is creating a $1 million fund to cover lost pay for baristas who go on strike, giving workers more firepower in their fight to unionize.