fb-pixelFuture of Work - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

As showdown with Uber and Lyft draws near, labor groups are split on their aims

The big fight over gig drivers’ rights in Massachusetts revolves around employment status, but another battle is also being waged over allowing these drivers to form a union regardless of how they’re classified.

Academic workers at Harvard unionize after six-year effort
More than 3,000 non-tenured faculty and researchers are now affiliated with the UAW.

‘Without us this whole system just collapses’: BU graduate workers strike causes class disruptions
Many of the university’s 37,000-plus students depend on graduate students to teach their classes and science labs, grade their quizzes, and respond to their emailed queries.

BU grad students’ strike threat reflects surge in higher education union activity — and it’s about more than work

The graduate student workers union of 3,000 is planning a strike that could potentially disrupt the city’s largest university.

Boston University graduate workers vote to strike starting Monday
The union of nearly 3,000 graduate students is calling for improved health care coverage and better pay.

Salem Hospital physicians vote overwhelmingly to unionize
They are part of a growing number of doctors organizing amid concerns that the health care industry is becoming increasingly more corporate.

Thousands of Boston University graduate student workers vote to strike over pay, benefits
The student workers, who have been in contract negotiations with BU since 2023, earn between $27,000 to about $40,000 per year, far from a living wage in Boston, the union said.

As higher-education unions grow, library employees at Smith College form one
Employees sent a letter to the Northhampton university Friday, asking it to voluntarily recognize the Smith College Libraries Workers Union.

Latest Headlines in Future of Work

These two Boston employers just tightened their return-to-office mandates

Fidelity Investments and Deutsche Bank AG are among the ranks of companies changing when and how frequently workers need to report to the office.

Date night strike: Thousands of US, UK delivery, ride-hailing drivers stop work on Valentine’s Day

Many gig workers are pushing to unionize, saying that would give them the ability to bargain over compensation, safety measures, and other benefits.

Date night strike: Thousands of US, UK delivery, ride-hailing drivers stop work on Valentine’s Day

Thousands of ride-hailing and delivery workers in the US and the UK went on strike on Valentine’s Day, calling for fair compensation and other changes to their working conditions.

Gig worker ballot fight is heading to court — again

A coalition of drivers and labor leaders will file a lawsuit Thursday aiming to block five versions of a state ballot initiative that would classify app-based workers as independent contractors.

At Meta’s Cambridge office, cafeteria workers fight to maintain union rights

Last month, when a new contractor started operating the tech giant’s dining facility, it announced it was throwing out the existing union contract and planned to negotiate a new one from scratch.

Union membership rate hits record low in 2023, though unions picked up workers

The decrease in the union membership rate happened because the labor market added a whopping 2.7 million jobs in 2023, with nonunion positions growing at a faster pace than union ones.

Salem Hospital doctors are organizing a union

The physicians citied budget cuts, overflowing hospital beds, and decisions being made without their input.

Starbucks union fight is grinding down the company — and workers at local cafes

A half-dozen local baristas say they are plodding forward with their unionization fight, despite it dragging on without a contract in the 15 Massachusetts union stores.