Venessa Wong at Capital & Main reports on Labor Unions that are increasingly fighting for housing benefits for their Members.  A flagship example of Unions demanding affordable housing is the Chicago Teachers Union, which kicked off a wave of housing-related Union actions after striking in 2019 over affordable housing and homelessness, issues for which they demanded solutions in their contract.  More recently, the Boston Teachers Union won a pilot program to provide housing support for homeless families in its 2022 contract with Boston’s Public Schools.  That same year, Academic Workers employed at the University of California demanded affordable rents in University Housing during a Union fight.  And this March, 16 Unions across New York State joined a coalition supporting a Bill to cap rent increases and enhance tenant protections.  “As a Labor Union we can bargain for (wage) increases at the table, but that is immediately eaten up by rent increases, and people don’t feel like they’re able to move forward,” said Helen Schaub, Interim Political Director at 1199 Service Employees International Union.

To Directly Access This Labor News Story, Go To: Affordable housing part of job benefits packages now pushed by unions (usatoday.com)