Labor unions have a long history in public works and trades. Typically unions are made up of police officers, fire fighters, sanitation, electricians, construction workers, the health industry, and the like. However, recently there are a variety of industries with employees voting to unionize. Their reasons for voting to unionize are all unique to the industry, but nonetheless highlight the fact that employees want to change their work environment.

Airline crews:

Earlier this month, over half of JetBlue’s 5,000 flight attendants voted to unionize. They are now part of a union that is near and dear to New York’s heart, the Transport Workers Union. This is the second union to be brought in to JetBlue since its first union in 2014, the Air Line Pilots Association.

An article on Bloomberg.com sited job security from mergers as one of the reasons the flight attendants had voted to unionize, as well as having a voice in lobbying matters in the aviation industry. TWU President John Samuelsen said of the vote, “This historic victory is yet another example of the tide turning in America as workers continue to lock arms and fight back to defend their livelihoods,” according to Forbes.

JetBlue is following suit with one of countries most heavily unionized industries, with some airlines having more than 4 unions supporting their employees.

Education:

Student workers, usually holding the title of Adjunct Professor or Research Assistant, have a long history of trying to unionize in private institutions. After taking on the lion’s share of research work and instruction, they are typically left with low wages, heavy overtime and a lack of job security.

Harvard students recently voted to unionize and won the right to bargain with the school. According to the prestigious college’s website, this is the first time in the history of Harvard that the students will have a union. Harvard’s decision to negotiate with graduate student workers is out of step with other ivy league colleges, such as Yale and Columbia, who have refused to do so when their students vote to unionize. The union, HGU, is represented by the United Automobile Workers and is now the HGU-UAW.

Journalists/Freelance Writers:

Several online media publications have voted become members of the Writers Guild of America East. Employees from Thrillist, Vox, Vice, and MTV News make up just a number of the roughly 5,000 union members that WGAE represents. Unique to an industry based in the arts, unionizing also means the protection of the work they generate for the publications-for example, the recent settling of a 17-year-old- class action lawsuit claiming copyright infringement brought forth by 3,000 journalists. Similar to the airline industry, mergers and acquisitions that could put freelance positions at risk are also a reason employees are voted to unionize. Most recently, 85% of employees from the Chicago Tribune have voted to unionize. This is still pending approval from parent company, Tronc according to an article on Politico posted in late April.

For-Hire Transportation:

Not unlike their yellow, green, and livery forefathers, for-hire transportation services have begun to unionize. With the ease of a mobile app, Uber and Lyft created quick income for the drivers and quick transportation for the users. After feeling abused under the employment status of independent contractors, the Independent Drivers Guild was formed for (and by) app-based and for-hire drivers. These were the same drivers initially protected by the IAMAW District 15.