On the picket line

Trump attacks NIH fellows

President Donald Trump’s administration continues its attack on organized labor and the working class. The latest example is the targeting of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fellows United United Auto Workers Local 2750. 

The NIH fellows’ organizing campaign paid off in 2023 when they won their National Labor Relations Board-certified election by an overwhelming 98% of the 5,000 postbaccalaureate, predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows employed by the institutes. Their union, the first federal union in the UAW, ratified its first contract in 2024. 

Now, the Trump administration is attempting to strip the fellows of their collective bargaining rights. An email from the NIH to union representatives said the NIH will no longer recognize the union, but failed to provide any indication that the NLRB authorized the union’s decertification. 

Union leaders assured their membership in an email that “Our contract is still in effect, and management’s attempt to evade the contract is against the law. We are moving on every available front — legal, political and most importantly through the organized power of our membership — to defend our rights.” (insidehighered.com, March 6)

California fast food workers vs ICE

The California Fast Food Workers Union, an affiliate of Service Employees Union (SEIU), is calling for the defense of workers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at their places of employment. Over 25% of the 630,000 fast food workers in California are immigrants. The union has drafted a Constitutional Pledge to California Workers’ Rights that employers can sign as a commitment to protect workers from illegal ICE raids. 

Workers campaigned to encourage their workplaces to sign the pledge, with some businesses signing and vowing to push back on illegal immigration raids. However, in San Jose, McDonald’s workers staged a walkout when bosses would not agree to protect them at their workplace and instead told workers to “hide in their cars” if ICE showed up. 

The California Fast Food Workers Union stated that some “businesses have put up signs as well as trained their staff” on their Constitutional rights and that “McDonald’s has the legal right to deny [ICE officers] entry to private areas of the store if they don’t present a warrant signed by a federal judge.” (portside.org, March 1)

Tennessee “Worker Bees”

The BE Hive Market and Deli in Nashville, Tennessee, was founded by Ben Stix after years of serving vegan potlucks to friends. Its website creates a feel good story vibe where the neighborhood potluck grew into a community vegan movement. BE Hive thrived as production grew into a manufacturing wholesale business supplying area eateries. 

That “community spirit” didn’t extend to the workers employed at the BE Hive. Recently, management laid off half of the production staff without notice, citing decline in business. Meanwhile, the remaining staff have had to work twice as hard to keep up the same standard of production. 

These “Worker Bees” are fighting back. They are picketing in front of the BE Hive Market and calling area residents to boycott. A GoFundMe site has raised thousands of dollars in support of the laid-off workers struggling to pay rent. In a show of solidarity, the Tennessee Drivers Union (workers.org/2025/03/84397/) has endorsed the BE Hive workers’ labor action. 

The workers are calling on other deli workers to support their picket line. One supporter said he is a long time BE Hive customer, but has joined the boycott, because business success should not come at the expense of the workers. (IG @thebehiveworkerbees)