Posts tagged AFSCME
PENNSYLVANIA AFSCME LOCALS EXPOSE THEIR OWN GREED
March 20, 2024 // In this case, Council 13 got a bit sloppy about sending the national headquarters its share of the take. But what can you expect from a local whose membership numbers have plunged from 32,851 in 2010 to 26,678 now, as Council 13’s have? And guess who gets the credit for that. Last year alone, the Freedom Foundation helped almost 700 public employees leave AFSCME Council 13. With the recent takeover by the national headquarters, AFSCME 13’s members must be questioning their union’s priorities right now.
Why Biden’s Pro-worker Stance Isn’t Working
March 19, 2024 //
Biden Labor Department Relies on Union-Funded Think Tanks To Push Pro-Union Message
March 18, 2024 // The Department of Labor’s Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge (WORK) Center, which the Biden administration launched in August 2023, bills itself as the "premiere online resource" for information on labor unions. It offers guides on how to organize workplace unions, and data that tout the benefits of unionization. But those data come from think tanks like the Economic Policy Institute, which says "Unions Promote Racial Equality" and "More Worker Power is the Only Sure Path to Safe Work and Pandemic Recovery." The Center for Economic Policy Research’s study, "Unionization Confers Significant Advantages for Hispanic Workers," is also listed on the site, as is a 2016 report from the left-wing Center for American Progress. The title of that study, "Unions Help the Middle Class, No Matter the Measure," highlights the overlap between the Biden administration, union leaders, and progressive groups.
Palo Alto Medical Foundation Nurses Vote Union Out at Sunnyvale and Mountain View Facilities
March 14, 2024 // Victory continues string of successful union decertification attempts by healthcare workers across the country Palo Alto Medical Foundation Nurses Vote Union Out at Sunnyvale and Mountain View Facilities
What’s Working: Why unionizing in Colorado, a modified-right-to-work state, sees limited success
March 13, 2024 // The Peace Act rules require three-quarters of eligible workers to participate in a second vote, if they already successfully voted in an NLRB election. Without it, the union has less bite since it doesn’t represent all eligible workers and cannot collect dues from those who don’t join. The NLRB’s vote needs just a simple majority. “This is where it gets kooky,” said Alejo R. González, political and community coordinator at Service Employees International Union Local 105 in Denver. “So you could literally win the vote 55 to zero and still lose because you didn’t get 75% of the people to vote. That 75% turnout is insane. It’s hard to get that many people to vote. … And a lot of companies won’t start bargaining until that happens.”
Philly AFSCME President Fired for Getting Caught
March 4, 2024 // Garrett’s $270,000-plus salary during a time when Americans are watching more and more of their budgets eaten up by the cost of groceries, gas, healthcare and household necessities. AFSCME’s national office in Washington, D.C., ordered Garrett’s removal following a hearing about allegations from fellow union officers over his penchant for altering staff salaries, hiring more than a dozen friends as employees, contracting with his sister-in-law for catering services and purchasing union-branded hoodies and other apparel from a union ally’s nephew totaling half a million dollars.
Tens of thousands of workers in Florida have just lost their labor unions. More is coming.
February 22, 2024 // The numbers are not being tracked or published by the state or any labor organization, so WLRN requested the records and created a public database to track the fallout of the law. Most affected employees perform core public sector jobs like teaching in schools, doing clerical work for state and local government, repairing engines and machinery for government agencies, answering 911 calls at call centers and working at city parks.
The Year of the Union…Corruption?
February 1, 2024 // According to an annual report by the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS), over 155 criminal investigations into union-related activity were completed over the past year. As a result, the OLMS distributed 39 indictments and collected 57 convictions for numerous offenses ranging from petty theft to labor racketeering. While these findings are certainly disturbing, they likely only represent a drop in the bucket of national union corruption. This is because, according to the Department of Labor, it is simply “not feasible” to audit every union. Instead, forced to optimize limited resources against widespread corruption, the OLMS has developed an auditing methodology for unions whose “metrics suggest the possibility that there may have been criminal activity.” In 2023, the OLMS conducted 222 of these targeted audits, ultimately finding that 18.3% of these cases warranted criminal action. With nearly 1/5 of audits uncovering some form of wrongdoing, even in the limited sampling size permitted by OLMS resources, it is fair to say that corruption is entrenched within the American labor movement.
Trump will meet with the Teamsters in Washington as he tries to cut into Biden’s union support
January 31, 2024 // During Trump's presidency, the National Labor Relations Board reversed several key rulings that made it easier for small unions to organize, strengthened the bargaining rights of franchise workers and provided protection against anti-union measures for employees. The Supreme Court's conservative majority — including three justices that Trump nominated — overturned a decades-old pro-union decision in 2018 involving fees paid by government workers. The justices in 2021 rejected a California regulation giving unions access to farm property so they could organize workers.
Maintenance workers at Duke Raleigh Hospital vote to unionize
January 30, 2024 // Workers within the Duke University Health System have attempted unionization before, most notably during the unsuccessful Duke University Hospital unionization drives of the 1970s. After dining hall and custodial workers unionized at Duke in 1972, hospital workers at Duke University Hospital tried to form an American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union in 1974. The University delayed the unionization election until November 1976, and then expanded the types of workers who were eligible to vote to include many highly skilled employees. AFSCME went on to barely lose the election, as support for the union died down and internal disputes dampened organization efforts. Workers at the hospital tried to unionize again in the summer of 1978, with many workers complaining of harassment from their supervisors and discrimination from administration. The hospital workers ultimately voted to reject AFSCME representation in early 1979.