Posts tagged Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

    Progressives Push Congress to Shore Up Agency that Protects Workers’ Rights Before it’s Too Late

    December 15, 2022 // “The fact that we have to have a press conference and draw attention to this issue shows what’s fundamentally wrong,” says Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of Our Revolution, whose members held pro-union signs as lawmakers spoke outside the Capitol. “The Democratic Party is not in touch with its roots.” It’s illegal to retaliate against workers for starting or joining a union. The NLRB is responsible for holding employers who violate labor law accountable and help parties in labor disputes reach settlements. But resolving complaints has often been slow, a situation that labor activists say deters efforts to organize workers.

    Unanswered questions surround unionizing effort by congressional staffers

    July 26, 2022 // For starters, congressional offices have different budgets from which to draw salaries for staff — and those amounts are fixed once decided annually. That makes bargaining across multiple personal member offices difficult, as even ideologically aligned members of Congress may have differences in their personnel budget and staffing structure. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, House Compensation and Diversity Study, Census Bureau, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    “Dear White Staffers” Speaks: Inside the Effort to Unionize Capitol Hill

    July 19, 2022 // To join the CWU, a simple majority of workers in a given Hill office must vote to unionize. Each House office that joins CWU will serve as its own collective bargaining unit represented by members elected from their own ranks. How things will unfold on the Senate side still isn’t settled. “I don’t know what the process is,” said Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown on Monday. “It’s up to the Rules Committee, I assume.”

    Bernie Sanders, AOC support Staten Island Amazon factory ahead of union vote

    April 24, 2022 // New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders showed up to encourage workers to continue their fight against the tech company.

    Does Democrats’ support for unions extend to their own employees?

    April 22, 2022 // The CWU, a group of staffers that launched a union drive earlier this year, wants the House to vote on a resolution guaranteeing staffers protections as soon as next week. Currently, the Congressional Accountability Act allows staffers to organize, but doesn’t offer them any shield from retaliation, meaning staffers could be fired and blacklisted if they do so. Thus far, Pelosi’s office has not commented on when a floor vote could be scheduled on the resolution.

    Congressional Staffers Unionize After Viral Instagram Account Exposes Poor Working Conditions

    February 4, 2022 // “While not all offices and committees face the same working conditions, we strongly believe that to better serve our constituents will require meaningful changes to improve retention, equity, diversity and inclusion on Capitol Hill,” the union said in a statement. “That starts with having a voice in the workplace.”