Posts tagged bonus
Opinion: Help! We’re Trapped in a Trader Joe’s Union
October 28, 2024 // But the union hasn’t been what many of our co-workers expected. The officers basically selected themselves. They then delayed negotiations with Trader Joe’s while forfeiting our annual bonus retirement contribution. Amid growing discontent in the store, the two of us attended a bargaining session in February 2023, which the union president invited all crew members to join. We were shocked at what we saw. We thought the union would focus on things that matter, like wages and benefits. Instead, union representatives negotiated over things like “pronoun pins,” which the company already provides. They demanded that Trader Joe’s cover abortion and “gender-affirming care.” The company’s response: The health plan already covers that.
Interview: Independent Contractors and Union Reforms, How @VinnieVernuccio Champions Worker Choice
September 12, 2024 // Unions are stuck in this turn of the last century industrial revolution, a one-size-fits-all adversarial business model that most workers today don't want. I do see a place for unions if they embrace a voluntary business model and become like professional service organizations. Unfortunately, they're not there. If you're under a union contract, you're stuck with the wages, the benefits, the vacations, [and] the hours they negotiate for you. It's actually impossible for the employer to unilaterally say, “you're doing a great job, I'm going to give you a raise,” or “I'm going to give you a bonus,” or, “hey, you want more vacation for a little less money?”
Jeffco Public Schools, teachers union strike deal for 5% cost-of-living raises
May 24, 2024 // The deal was reached two months before the union’s contract expires on July 31 and includes an additional one-time payment for educators that will equal 2% of their salary. Jeffco Public Schools will pay the one-time payment using money from its $211 million in reserves, according to the union’s news release.
CenterPoint avoids strike after union workers vote to approve new contract
October 20, 2023 // Nearly 80% of Local 66 members voted in support of the new contract, and about 20% voted to authorize a strike, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, according to the newspaper. There were other issues leading up to Wednesday's vote, including proposed smaller pay increases, the proposed end to annual bonuses, and the disciplinary system for employee attendance. Allen said the approved contract will take away 3% of unionized employees' annual bonuses based on good attendance and driving records. The company removed a tiered disciplinary system for missing work, although, if work is missing, there will be no pay.
ILLINOIS: City Council set to vote on new contract for largest city worker union
September 13, 2023 // AFSCME employees would receive immediate 11% pay increase, $1,250 bonus The city has agreed to a tentative contract with the largest union representing city employees, more than eight months after the union’s previous contract expired at the end of 2022.
NORTH CAROLINA: Sanitation workers say Tuesday will be end of 6-day strike in Durham
September 11, 2023 // The group said Monday that the city’s Solid Waste Management Department threatened to stop paying them while the strike continued on. The strike had come with a demand for a $5,000 bonus, among other requirements. On Friday, CBS 17 was in downtown Durham when many solid waste workers held a rally. Several sanitation employees have told CBS 17 they make between $19 to $25 an hour. According to the union, wages have gone up by 15% since 2019, but inflation and cost of living have increased by nearly 23%.
UAW’s Shawn Fain calls GM’s contract counteroffer ‘insulting’: What’s in it
September 8, 2023 // GM presented the counteroffer around 10 a.m. Thursday to UAW leaders. It comes just days after the UAW filed unfair labor practice charges against GM and Stellantis. The National Labor Relations Board is investigating those charges now and the outcome could impact a potential strike. "After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers," Fain said in a statement to the Free Press. In a letter to the employees midmorning, which GM provided to the Detroit Free Press, GM wrote, "Our offer includes well-deserved wage improvements that far exceed the 2019 agreement and reward you for your hard work. We still have work to do, but we wanted to make this offer to show our good faith efforts to keep the process moving." For all hourly employees, GM said it will recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday, giving a new total of 16 to 18 paid holidays per year. Ford declined to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday, Fain has said. GM hourly employees would also receive a $5,500 bonus for ratifying the contract, which matches Ford's offer.
UFT’s new contract reminds teachers of union’s past failures
June 27, 2023 // In 2014, UFT secured a complex contract with New York City that included retroactive back pay for teachers that would be paid out over several years. However, the contract excluded teachers who retired or left the profession before 2015. Over 4,000 teachers never received back pay, which for some could have been as much as an 8% pay bump. The affected teachers were outraged. In response, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten said, at the time, “Would UFT have liked it for all—of course; but not unprecedented practice [to not pay the teachers who retired].” UFT is an affiliate of AFT. Then, in 2020, after several years of payments, New York City informed UFT that it did not have enough money in its budget to finish the retroactive payments due to a pandemic-induced budget shortfall. UFT blamed New York City for delaying the payment for all teachers, and an arbitrator ruled the city must make the payments. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, “This is far from a perfect solution for thousands of our members who are still owed deferred wages that can go back as far as years.” He explained, “The decision … makes it clear that the city must find a way to meet its financial obligations to its educators.”
Memphis: Sanitation workers reach agreement with pay increases, more after nine-day strike
April 25, 2023 // After a nine-day strike, sanitation workers in Memphis signed a five-year contract with Republic Services. The agreement, which applies to workers at both the South Memphis and Millington landfills who are unionized under Teamsters Local 667, will mean increased pay for regular hours worked as well as increases for safety. The workers took down their picket lines Friday in anticipation of the agreement with Republic Services. The strike lasted nine days, with organizers drawing comparisons to the historic sanitation worker strike of 1968.