Posts tagged Atlanta
Apple Store in New Jersey with over 100 employees petitions to unionize
April 12, 2024 // According to the unionization committee at Apple Short Hills in New Jersey, the group has asked Apple not to interfere in the efforts and to allow employees “to freely determine for themselves whether to form a union.” Apple responded by saying that it’s “dedicated to providing an excellent experience” for its customers and teams.
Thousands of Delta Airlines employees hoping to unionize
November 15, 2023 // Delta employees said flight attendants, baggage handlers, mechanics, and ramp workers should have the right to unionize. On Tuesday Delta Airlines ramp worker Gameli Appiah, and dozens of others claimed the corporate giant is interfering with their right.
‘I don’t think it’s too much’: Waffle House workers push for $25 an hour
October 16, 2023 // John Schuessler, a Waffle House worker in South Carolina, explained that due to the low wages, he struggles to afford groceries, clothes for his child, are behind on mortgage payments Pauletta Dillard, a Waffle House server in South Carolina, said the $3 an hour pay plus tips has been roughly the same pay for the past two decades, while more work is put on workers. Workers also explained the security issues they face working the third shift, where customers are often intoxicated and violence in the restaurant between customers or directed at workers has occurred and fights at the chain have often gone viral.
Dunkin’ faces first union push in 12 years
September 5, 2023 // Recently, SEIU’s Union of Southern Service Workers has begun working toward a new model of unionism that relies on a combination of organizing across industries in specific cities, shop floor actions and regulatory pressure campaigns. The USSW’s strategy resulted in a strike at a South Carolina Waffle House earlier this summer, and a march on the boss at an Atlanta Dunkin’ earlier this month. Why BCTGM, which is not affiliated with SEIU, chose to pursue a union election at a 23-person Dunkin’ Donuts in Ohio is not clear. But it could signal that the upsurge in labor activity at the margins of the restaurant industry has not yet dissipated. BCTGM members struck Kellogg’s plants in 2021, and a Hormel plant in 2022.
A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND UNION RAMPS UP EFFORTS TO SWEEP THE SOUTH
August 30, 2023 // The Union of Southern Service Workers began making headlines last fall after formally christening themselves during a rally in Columbia, South Carolina. This union holds some familiar attributes, given that it began as an offshoot of Raise Up, the Southern leg of the SEIU’s Fight for $15 initiative. Yet this is no ordinary effort by the SEIU, for the USSW purports to not only be “built by and for low-wage workers” but also stretches across many industries. A key distinction: The union frames itself as a cross-sector organization, designed to retain members even if they job-hop between industries, i.e., fast food, retail, hotel, nursing home, warehouses, etc.
Savannah Morning News staff vote against unionizing, amid employee departures at Gannett-owned paper
August 11, 2023 // A unionization effort at the Savannah Morning News has failed, after staff at the Gannett-owned newspaper on Wednesday voted 3-0 against organizing under the journalism labor union NewsGuild. The decision came two months after a group of eight reporters at the daily publication announced their intent to unionize, calling on Gannett to provide better pay and working conditions. But since then, several of those journalists have left the Morning News, and another — environmental reporter Marisa Mecke — told GPB that she was not allowed to participate in the election because her position is funded by an external grant.
Teamsters president says he’s asked the White House not to intervene if UPS workers go on strike
July 17, 2023 // "Asked during a webcast with members Sunday on whether the White House could force a contract on the union, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien said he has asked the White House on numerous occasions to stay away." The Teamsters represent more than half of the Atlanta-based company's workforce in the largest private-sector contract in North America. If a strike does happen, it would be the first since a 15-day walkout by 185,000 workers crippled the company a quarter century ago.
Southwest Airlines pilots approach potential strike with request to leave negotiation proceedings
July 6, 2023 // In the transportation labor negotiations process, the National Mediation Board mediates contract discussions between the carrier and its employees. When a party requests a release from mediation, the board must determine whether continuing with the negotiations process would be productive. If the answer is no, the NMB allows "a cooling-off period" of 30 days, after which a strike can happen. SWAPA pilots are planning a nationwide picket on Aug. 31 in five cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Earlier this month, Southwest reached agreements in principle with its flight attendants union — whose board later rejected the agreement — and its aircraft mechanics union, which moved forward with a tentative agreement.
Union of Southern Service Workers rallies at Labor Department to protest unsafe work conditions, deliver complaint
April 6, 2023 // The new Union of Southern Service Workers and affiliated workers staged a rally outside the U.S. Department of Labor’s downtown Atlanta office on Tuesday to demand stronger workplace protections and federal enforcement of safety regulations. About 50 USSW organizers and workers from Family Dollar, Waffle House and other companies converged on the Department of Labor’s office at 61 Forsyth St., before marching to Centennial Park.