Over 500 video game developers who work on Blizzard’s “World of Warcraft” elected to form a wall-to-wall union representing the entire WoW development team.

Read the full article at Los Angeles Times.

The Strategic Organizing Center had a historic campaign at Starbucks in November 2023, challenging the coffee company’s longtime resistance to employees’ attempts to unionize. It marked the first time a labor union deployed the activist investor playbook to pressure a company to address its human capital
issues.

Read the full article at Agenda.

Farmworkers at Windmill Farms in Sunnyside, CA held a work stoppage following weeks of retaliation, unfair quotas and firings, and incorrectly translated instructions.

Read the full article at Yakima-Herald Republic.

Sen. Sanders’ inquiry into Amazon’s warehouse safety record found that workplace injuries, such as muscle sprains, rotator cuff injuries and herniated disks, hit a high during Prime Day sales week.

Read the full article at The Washington Post.

Amazon worker Wendy Taylor pens an op-ed for Fortune citing SOC research about Amazon warehouse injury spikes during major sales events.

Read the full article at Fortune.

With strong pressure from Wall Street to use stock buybacks to boost share prices, a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies and the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund showed the need for the federal government to lay down a firm line against potential abuse. The authors urged the administration to put real teeth into that effort by inserting explicit restrictions on all stock buyback spending in the final CHIPS subsidy contracts.

Read the full article at Common Dreams.

A federal appeals panel sided with college athletes and rejected the NCAA argument that worker protections don’t apply because college players are amateur “student-athletes.”

Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.

Dollar General agreed to pay $12million in penalties to the Department of Labor for safety violations, including blocked exits and fire extinguishers, and unsafe storage practices. The retail giant will have to hire additional safety managers, expand its safety and health management system, provide training to employees and managers, and develop a safety and health committee.

Read the full article at Reuters.

President Joe Biden proposed a rule on July 2 that protects approximately 36 million workers from potential heat exposure-related injuries suffered during heat advisories, and consequently reduces the number of heat-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses on the job. The rule requires employers to identify heat hazards, develop emergency response plans related to heat illness, and provide training to employees and supervisors on the signs and symptoms of such illnesses; employers will also be required to implement rest breaks, provide shade and water, and heat acclimatization for new workers.

Read the full article at Associated Press News.

The Washington Post covered the Biden Administration’s decision to re-bid the Maximus contract with a labor harmony provision following worker agitation.

Read the full article at The Washington Post.

Following concerted worker action, the Biden Administration told call center operator Maximus that it will have to reapply for its current $7billion federal contract, with the addition of a labor harmony requirement.

Read the full article at Fast Company.

The SOC Investment Group joined other Tesla shareholders in a push to vote against Musk’s extensive pay package, in a vote seen as a referendum on the limits of executive pay and the accountability of tech billionaires.

Read the full article at The New York Times.