Posts tagged arbitrator
New Orleans collectively bargains, sets up showdown with state commission
July 13, 2023 // Union supporters swamped the City Council meeting, where “many workers cheered the ordinance, rising one by one to speak in support of it” and “donned T-shirts emblazoned with the logos” of public unions. While New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has the opportunity to veto the ordinance, she is not expected to. The Louisiana chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which claims to represent 300 public employees out of 4,000 total public employees in the city of New Orleans, called it a major victory for unions.
Looming rail strike could impact US economy ahead of holidays
November 17, 2022 // All 12 rail unions must approve their deals to prevent a strike, although no strike is imminent because all the unions have agreed to keep negotiating even if their members vote no, until a deadline early next month. Seven other unions have ratified the five-year deals that include 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses. The focus now is on the three unions that have voted down their agreements and the remaining two that haven't finished voting.
Rail union approves deal offering hope of avoiding strike
November 7, 2022 // Concerns remain about the possibility of an economically devastating strike because the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division and Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen unions voted down their contracts, and many workers say these deals just don’t address their quality-of life concerns. No strike is imminent because those unions agreed to return to the bargaining table to try to work out a new deal, but those talks have been deadlocked over the unions’ demands for paid sick time and there is a Nov. 19 deadline.
Union arbitrators are protecting truly awful government employees
October 10, 2022 // Federal personnel challenges go beyond the civil service system. Federal unions are also a big part of the problem. The government was not supposed to operate this way. Congress expressly directed agencies not to tolerate misconduct and to fire poor performers. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 even made these directives “Merit System Principles.” But agencies come nowhere close to upholding these principles. Barely a third of federal employees say their agencies remove employees whose performance is persistently poor. Half report poor performers stay on the job and continue to underperform.
Do arbitrators go easy on federal employees who challenge being fired?
October 4, 2022 // So in the federal sector, if you’re represented by a union, you have an option if your agency tries to fire you. you can appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board what we think of as these standard civil service protections. But you can also file a grievance under your union contract, it’s an either or you can’t do both. But if you choose to, you can file a grievance under the union contract, and your union can bring that instead to an arbitrator. Generally, these are private contractors, they work with the private sector unions, with the private companies with nothing to do with unions, as well as with the the federal workforce, there’s a master roster, maintained by the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service, and the contracts pretty much all say, you’ll get a list of names from this master roster, people strike names to union agency until one guy’s left. That guy then is the arbitrator.
Afraid of Being Fired? Consider Working a ‘Forever Job’ with the Federal Government
September 26, 2022 // The article noted recent data that shows just 4,000 of 1.6 million government workers lost their jobs in recent years — just 1% of the population of people holding these positions. And for those who are dismissed from their gigs, they usually get the job back through the work of an arbitrator. The American First Policy Institute has reported that over 50% resume their roles after being let go, and usually with back pay. “The combination of lengthy delays, followed by high reversal rates and back pay obligations makes attempting to dismiss unionized employees very risky for agencies,” the study from the AFPI pointed out.
MLB and players reportedly reach an agreement to unionize the minor leagues
September 12, 2022 // The bargaining unit would include minor leaguers except for 40-man major league roster players on option, who are covered by the big league union; players assigned to the Dominican Summer League, which is outside the U.S.; and players on the voluntary retired list. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Friday he anticipated an agreement. Martin Scheinman
Biden administration jumps into rail, union talks hoping to avert strike
September 8, 2022 // Such a work stoppage runs the risk of stymieing the U.S.’ supply chain at a point when the system is already strained, prices are historically high, and the peak season for agricultural commodities is just around the corner. Thirteen unions representing U.S. railroad workers have spent years renegotiating their contracts with carriers represented by the National Carriers’ Conference Committee. SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson, BLET President Dennis Pierce,
A railroad strike would swamp trucking
July 28, 2022 // “If a strike occurred, the trucking industry theoretically could see enormous demand due to container and boxcar freight that might have to go to truck,” said Avery Vise, vice president of trucking research at FTR Transportation Intelligence. Bloomington, Ind. Dean Croke, principal industry analyst at Columbus, Ohio-based DAT Systems, put it more forcefully. “It would make the last two years during the pandemic pale into insignificance.… The volume of freight shippers would try to move would overwhelm all sectors of trucking,” he said. September, rail workers, precision scheduled railroading” at the Illinois Central Railroad,
Biden averts freight railroad strike – for now
July 18, 2022 // The presidential board can only make nonbinding recommendations on the railroad contracts, but those will serve as the basis for a new round of negotiations that could yield a contract that has eluded the railroads since talks began more than two years ago. Even if those efforts fail, Congress would likely intervene to prevent a strike. Lawmakers could impose terms on the railroads and their 12 unions at that point or take other action to keep the trains moving. The National Carriers’ Conference Committee that represents Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Kansas City Southern and other railroads said it believes the wage increases railroads are offering are fair based on other recent major labor agreements, but the unions say none of the offers so far do enough to offset inflation or reflect the current worker shortages. Plus, the railroads want workers to pay more of their health insurance costs, which the unions say would eat up most, if not all, of the proposed raises. Rob Benedict, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, Brendan Branon, Dennis Pierce, Jeremy Ferguson,