Posts tagged Alabama
United Auto Workers move to unionize workers at another Alabama automotive plant
July 8, 2025 // Last year, the UAW’s executive board earmarked $40 million to fund an organizing push among non-union auto and electric battery workers, concentrating some of the money in the South. But a high-profile push to unionize Mercedes-Benz’s plant in Tuscaloosa County failed by a margin of 597 votes.
Exclusive-UAW investment blunder cost the union an estimated $80 million, documents show
June 24, 2025 // The board voted to liquidate about $340 million in stock investments in August 2023 to pay strike costs, according to a union document reviewed by Reuters. The wording of the vote stipulated that the money be reinvested according to union policy after the strike ended and the labor contracts were ratified, though it didn't specify how quickly. But almost none of its portfolio was invested in stocks during the year after the strike began in September 2023, according to the records reviewed by Reuters. The news agency was unable to establish why the stock investment wasn't made. The issue of why the union did not reinvest the funds for more than a year is now being investigated by the federal monitor which was appointed as part of a 2020 settlement between the UAW and the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve a union corruption scandal, according to a statement from a majority of UAW board members.
Sen. Hawley Introduces Bill to Raise Minimum Wage to $15
June 10, 2025 // Some business advocacy groups still oppose minimum rate hikes, including Hawley's proposed bill. "This proposal would more than double the minimum wage and slash over 800,000 jobs," Rebekah Paxton, research director at the Employment Policies Institute, said in a statement to The Hill. "An overwhelming majority of economists agree that drastic minimum wage hikes cut employment, limit opportunities for workers and shutter businesses."
Trump hails US Steel-Nippon deal, says steelmaker will be ‘controlled by the USA’ — but offers few details
June 1, 2025 // "I have to approve the final deal with Nippon and we haven't seen that final deal yet," Trump told reporters on the tarmac following the Pittsburgh event. "But they've made a very big commitment, and it's a very big investment." In his remarks at the rally, the president said U.S. Steel will maintain all of its current operating blast furnaces at full capacity for a minimum of 10 years.
Independent Contractors Take Center Stage for ‘Empowering the American Worker’
May 27, 2025 // However, expert witness Dr. Liya Palagashvili showed data of the deliberate harm done through California’s law AB5 and its ABC test that is also embedded in the federal Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO) Act and other statewide legislation seeking to restrict the work of independent professionals. Now, these results are causal, meaning we can definitely say that ABC tests cause these negative outcomes. No other studies to date have found positive employment effects from these laws. The research shows that restrictive ABC tests do not create more work opportunities. They eliminate both independent and W-2 jobs.
Liya Palagashvili: The Portable Benefits Revolution: How Did We Get Here?
May 1, 2025 // Senator Bill Cassidy just put flexible benefits on the map. This is the story of how a niche policy idea climbed to the top of the Congressional agenda.
Opinion: Algorithmic surveillance helped Amazon crush unionizing effort
March 21, 2025 // Now, in a critical study titled "Weaponizing the Workplace: How Algorithmic Management Shaped Amazon's Antiunion Campaign in Bessemer, Alabama," Teke Wiggin, a researcher at Northwestern University, says that Amazon might have pressured workers to vote in a certain way. According to Wiggin, Amazon might have leveraged “the specific control technique of algorithmic management to repel (not just prevent) collective action by workers.” “The findings reveal that employers can weaponize elements or effects of algorithmic management against unions via repurposing devices that algorithmically control workers, engaging in 'algorithmic slack-cutting,' and exploiting patterns of social media activity encouraged by algorithmic management,” the paper says.
‘Union Joe’ left labor movement weaker than it was
February 25, 2025 // As Dominic Pino pointed out last month in National Review, the overwhelming majority of workers in such fields as manufacturing, construction, mining, transportation and warehousing are not union members. Efforts to unionize employees attract disproportionate media cheerleading, especially when the unions target iconic American companies like Starbucks and Amazon. But there isn’t nearly as much coverage when workers in high-profile workplaces vote against joining a union — as they have recently at a Mercedes factory in Alabama, an Amazon warehouse in North Carolina and even Princeton University — or when scores of unions each year are decertified in workplace elections.
Commentary– Justin Hill: Protecting the Secret Ballot: A step forward for Mississippi’s workers and taxpayers
February 24, 2025 // this measure prohibits “neutrality agreements,” which can unfairly prevent employers from sharing information with their workers. Employees deserve the right to hear both sides of the issue rather than being presented with only the union’s perspective and talking points. Transparency is critical for workers to make informed decisions about their future. This legislation applies only to future economic incentives and union organizing efforts. It does not impact existing unions, current economic incentive agreements or subcontractors. Compliance with this law is straightforward and does not conflict with federal labor regulations. When a similar law was challenged in Arizona, the courts upheld the state’s right to protect the secret ballot process.
Beshear calls it the world’s largest EV battery plant, now they want to unionize
February 13, 2025 // The unionization rate in Kentucky has grown the past two years, and with Ford having two organized assembly plants in nearby Louisville, the next UAW victory seems logical in Glendale. “I’m not surprised to see this union organizing drive, and my guess is, the union will be successful when it comes up for a vote, especially if there’s already, shall we say, some misunderstandings about raises and safety,” stated economist Allen. “That’s going to make Ford’s job that much more difficult.” A date will be set by the for a secret-ballot election, and if a majority of workers vote in favor of the union, the next step is negotiating a contract for what will become the 10th largest manufacturing site in the world.