The Associated Press

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Women’s sports hit new highs in 2024 with record-breaking crowds and achievements, but increased visibility also brought harassment, scrutiny, and polarized debates on and off the field.

Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract. The strikes that started Thursday and Friday followed other recent standoffs between corporate America and organized labor. Large and established labor unions secured meaningful employer concessions this year following strikes by Boeing factory workers, dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports, video game performers, and hotel and casino workers on the Las Vegas Strip. Strikes — particularly ones that happen during the holidays, a time of high economic activity — can help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or flex their muscles by garnering support from workers and sympathetic consumers. John Logan, director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, said he thinks the Amazon and Starbucks workers are “desperate” to make progress before President-elect Donald Trump gets to appoint a Republican majority to the National Labor Relations Board, which is expected to be less friendly to unions during his administration. “The unions want to make these disputes public and bring political pressures on the companies,” Logan said in a written statement. “If these disputes drag on until next year, and if they are fought largely through the labor board and the courts, the unions and workers will almost certainly lose. This might be their last, best chance to pressure the companies in public before Trump comes into office.” However, Trump has also given some signs that he might be friendlier to labor during his second term compared to his first term. Last month, he picked Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor in his new administration, elevating a Republican congresswoman who has strong support from unions, including the Teamsters. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien also spoke at the Republican National Convention this past summer. https://lnkd.in/etBwgqDe

With hours to go before a midnight government shutdown, the House approved a new plan from House Speaker Mike Johnson that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but dropped President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.

Some last-minute shopping tips ... this story comes back every year around this time like elf on a shelf. My latest The Associated Press version: https://lnkd.in/gJjh8D-F

Starbucks' unionized workers began a five-day strike Friday that they say could spread to hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve. Workers are protesting a lack of progress in contract negotiations with Starbucks. Pay raises are a sticking point, with workers saying they deserve more than Starbucks is offering. Starbucks said its workers already make an average of $18 per hour, with benefits like health care and free college that push the pay package to $30 per hour. Here's my story for The Associated Press: https://lnkd.in/g4ATAjWf

In an exclusive interview with the AP, pro tennis player Jenson Brooksby spoke about living with autism and how that affects his performance.

Sports Week in Pictures: Dec. 11-17 A collection of some of the top sports photos in the past week by AP photographers around the world. View the full gallery here: https://buff.ly/3VHBTIX

Congress has until midnight Friday to come up with a way to fund the government, or federal agencies will shutter. It's up to each federal agency to determine how it handles a shutdown, but there would be disruptions in many services.

Aaron Pierre, one of AP's Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024, credits his mom for being his rock this year. Even at 6'3" and starring in "Rebel Ridge" and "Mufasa: The Lion King," he’s still her little boy.