Posts tagged Barack Obama
Will Starbucks’ union-busting stifle a union rebirth in the US?
August 28, 2023 // Many baristas say one Starbucks strategy in particular has discouraged workers from unionizing. In May 2022, Schultz announced that Starbucks would give certain raises and benefits to workers at its more than 9,000 non-union stores, but not offer those raises and benefits to its unionized workers. Starbucks insists it would be illegal to impose any raises or benefits on its unionized stores without first negotiating about them, but the NLRB’s general counsel asserts that this policy constitutes unlawful discrimination against Starbucks’ unionized workers. Under this policy, Starbucks has given its non-union workers, but not its unionized ones, a more relaxed dress code, increased training, faster sick leave accrual and, most important, credit card tipping. (Workers at the first few Starbucks stores to unionize had asked early on for credit card tipping.)
Federal judge refuses to block law currently restricting Florida unions
June 28, 2023 // A federal judge Monday refused to block key parts of a new Florida law that places additional restrictions on public-employee unions, turning down a request from teachers unions that argue the law violates First Amendment and contract rights. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker declined to issue a preliminary injunction, ruling that the Florida Education Association and other unions had not shown they had legal standing. The 12-page ruling came after Walker held a more than three-hour hearing Friday. The unions sought the injunction against parts of the law that require union members to fill out new government-worded membership forms and prevent union dues from being deducted from workers’ paychecks.
Unions’ 2024 maneuvering leaves some feeling conflicted
June 27, 2023 // Organized labor is dear to the president’s political heart and is set to play a major role in next August’s Democratic National Convention, particularly as union considerations were one of the decisive reasons why party leaders chose Chicago to host the event over Atlanta, another finalist. But that rosy depiction, somewhat by design, glosses over the full picture. Not every union — despite what Biden told reporters last Saturday — is behind him. The United Mine Workers of America and United Auto Workers are among the notable holdouts. Their leaders have expressed harsh words about some of the administration’s policy decisions (more on that lower down.) Additionally, the selection of Chicago for the convention reopened old wounds for some union hands, given the heavy involvement of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire heir of the family that controls the Hyatt hotel chain.
Opinion: Unions, Washington Lackeys Exploit Ohio Rail Tragedy to Fatten Coffers
June 7, 2023 // the unionistas are pushing for a permanent requirement that all carriers use a minimum of two-person crews. This, despite the fact that the ill-fated Norfolk-Southern train itself had not two but three crew members. Mandating two on a crew would have done nothing to avert the disaster. It’s not responsive to the challenge at hand. Moreover, the make-work provisions will not affect Norfolk-Southern-sized railroads. It will primarily hurt the smaller regional and short-line railroads, which are more likely to use a one-man crew.
Labor union challenges constitutionality of debt limit law
May 10, 2023 // The union’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, says the debt limit statute allows the president to cancel government spending that’s been approved by Congress, and that violates the separation of powers. The lawsuit states that the union does not seek to challenge the “controversial proposition” that Congress can limit the country’s debt. But it contends that “Congress may not do so without at least setting the order and priority of payments once that limit is reached, instead of leaving it to the President to do so.” “Nothing in the Constitution or any judicial decision interpreting the Constitution allows Congress to leave unchecked discretion to the President to exercise the spending power vested in the legislative branch by canceling, suspending, or refusing to carry out spending already approved by Congress,” the lawsuit states.
National Treasury Employees Union President Reardon to step down
March 20, 2023 // First elected to the union’s highest seat in 2015, Reardon, who has been involved with NTEU for more than three decades, will retire when his term ends on Aug. 10, 2023.
Biden set for first veto on Senate bill opposing climate-friendly investing
March 2, 2023 // President Biden is expected to issue the first veto of his presidency after the Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would revoke a Labor Department rule allowing the managers of the agency’s vast retirement funds to use climate-oriented and social criteria when making investments. The Senate passed the measure after Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) crossed party lines and joined the Republicans, providing the key pieces of the 50-46 majority needed. Both senators are up for reelection next year in heavily Republican states. Four senators abstained. The House passed the bill on Tuesday. The measure takes aim at big asset managers who often use criteria that they believe are crucial for building a portfolio that can withstand changes, especially climate changes, over the coming years. These criteria are known as ESG — environmental, social and governance — and have become sensitive political and cultural touchstones, with critics calling them evidence of “woke” financial institutions.
UC strike energizes unprecedented national surge of union organizing by academic workers
January 3, 2023 // In 2022 alone, graduate students representing 30,000 peers at nearly a dozen institutions filed documents with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election. They include USC, Northwestern, Yale, Johns Hopkins, the University of Chicago, Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Caltech plans to officially kick off its organizing campaign this month, and other academic researchers are working to form unions at the University of Alaska, Western Washington University, the National Institutes of Health and such influential think tanks as the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute. Princeton University, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Pasadena, Caltech, Pardee Rand Graduate School, University of Wisconsin–Madison
NLRB puts union bull’s-eye on the franchise industry
January 2, 2023 // The National Labor Relations Board has proposed a dramatic overhaul of the franchise business model by reclassifying workers at restaurant or hotel chains as employees of the parent company, a move that would make it easier to unionize across the entire brand. Opponents warn that the change will devastate an industry employing 8.2 million people and contributing roughly 7% to the nation’s overall economic output. “This is going to hurt a lot of people, from someone coming out of the corporate environment looking to be an independent business owner to someone looking to start their career with an entry-level job to consumers who will have to pay $15 for a hamburger,” said Frank Caperino, who teaches franchise management at San Diego State University and owns multiple franchises.
THE DEMOCRATIC MACHINE IN NEVADA MIGHT BE FALTERING
October 20, 2022 // Clearly it was an unhappy development, especially for a Democratic incumbent governor in the final weeks of a close reelection race, but it didn’t appear debilitating: The state’s largest teachers’ union announced last week that it would be withholding an endorsement. For connoisseurs of Nevada politics, though, the news was closer to the rumble of an approaching earthquake. “This would never have happened,” one Nevada Democratic insider says, “if Senator Reid were still alive.”