Posts tagged collective bargaining agreement
Labor Watch: St. John’s Sues New York, Suit Against Rutgers Unions Dismissed
July 6, 2026 // The bargaining rights of faculty at religious colleges have fluctuated in recent years. The Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board decided in 2020 that religious institutions are exempt from its jurisdiction, reversing an Obama-era precedent that determined employees who do not perform religious work at religious institutions, like faculty members, can unionize. However, religious institutions have always been able to voluntarily recognize and bargain with faculty unions, as St. John’s did in 1970 when both its American Association of University Professors chapter and Faculty Association union were formed.
Maryland board rules state violated bargaining agreement with union
July 6, 2026 // The Maryland Public Employee Relations Board said the Department of Budget and Management failed to bargain in good faith with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 3 when it denied access to information about telework eligibility. The board, in a ruling issued Wednesday afternoon, ordered the state to provide the requested information in 14-days. The decision marks another bump in what has been an uneven relationship between Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and the union that represents 50,000 workers statewide — more than half of those working in state government positions.
It Was the First Unionized Apple Store in the U.S. Apple Just Closed It.
June 23, 2026 // The closure was announced in April, and Apple also shuttered two nonunionized stores on Saturday. The union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, noted in filings to the National Labor Relations Board that employees in the nonunion stores had been given the option to take similar positions at nearby stores. But Apple required the Towson workers to apply for jobs the way typical applicants would, without an easy transfer to another location.
Faster is Not Always Better: House Passes Bill Seeking Radical Change in First Contract Bargaining
June 17, 2026 // The bill also raises questions about the lawfulness of strikes and lockouts during these first contract negotiations. Typically, where parties agree to interest arbitration (or where it exists in the public sector) it is premised on a mutual commitment of labor peace, i.e., the union will not go on strike, and the employer will not lock employees out while negotiations are ongoing and the arbitration is pending. However, in the private sector and in the absence of such a mutual commitment, both such economic weapons may be used offensively in furtherance of a party’s bargaining demand. The FLCA does not explain if or how a party may exercise such an economic weapon in furtherance of their bargaining position if the dispute will be submitted to an FMCS panel for binding interest arbitration. Equally troubling is the FLCA’s potential impact on unilateral implementation. Unilateral implementation upon reaching a good-faith bargaining impasse has long been a vital bargaining tool for employers. The possibility of implementing terms when negotiations stall has been an effective tool to encourage the parties to continue making movement towards the other. Eliminating this option will alter bargaining leverage and strategies particularly in successor contracts where the FLCA’s temporal framework does not apply.
Op-ed: A GOP Gift to the Cultural Left
June 15, 2026 // We wonder if Republicans know what they’ve voted for—and not merely on wages or pensions. Unions, allied with Democrats, have long supported a progressive agenda that includes collective bargaining for abortion coverage and transgender healthcare. The model language the AFL-CIO recommends to local chapters says “all health plans offered to bargaining unit members shall cover comprehensive . . . reproductive healthcare services, including contraceptives, abortion services . . . and gender affirming care.” In 2012 the Service Employees International Union unanimously approved a resolution “calling on local unions to bargain for trans-inclusive healthcare.” The NewsGuild of New York/Communications Workers of America said in 2022 it “unequivocally supports access to abortion as a healthcare right.”
Exclusive: Group warns labor bill allows govt takeover of union contract negotiations
June 14, 2026 // Institute for the American Worker President Vinnie Vernuccio called the House-passed bill an example of “gross government overreach.” “There are better ways out there, things that increase collaboration, increase penalties even, to get people to negotiate,” Vernuccio told The Center Square. “Those are far preferable than government forced arbitration.”
Op-ed: IRS Union Cancellation Brings ‘Hardened’ Environment for Staff
June 13, 2026 // IRS CEO Frank Bisignano shut down concerns about the termination of the union contract during an April appearance before Congress, telling House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., that employees are “losing nothing.” “Federal employees under statute, under law, have greater benefits than any union in the world can provide for their people,” Bisignano said.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act violates the principles of voluntary agreement
June 8, 2026 // Most troublingly, the bill would do real harm to the very workers its supporters claim to help. Workers are often told that unionizing will give them a greater voice in the workplace. They are promised a seat at the table and a meaningful role in shaping the terms and conditions of their employment. But under the Faster Labor Contracts Act, workers would lose one of the most important forms of workplace democracy — the right to vote on the contract that governs their jobs. That loss of voice has far-reaching implications: In an industry that supports 55 million working Americans, it affects not only retail workers but also the employers that depend on a stable and collaborative workforce. If bargaining reaches the FLCA’s deadline, workers would be shut out of the process entirely. They would have no right to ratify the agreement, no right to reject it, no right to demand changes, and no meaningful ability to influence the final outcome.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act disempowers workers
June 1, 2026 // The bill’s most obvious defect is its egregious misnaming. Whatever is produced by statutorily compelled arbitration cannot be correctly characterized as a contract at all. A contract results from parties negotiating, compromising, and voluntarily agreeing to terms each can accept. That process is precisely what gives contracts legitimacy and durability. The Faster Labor Contracts Act abandons that principle. Under its framework, if the parties fail to reach agreement within the prescribed period, federal arbitrators impose terms neither side may actually want. This is not a contract; it is coercive government regulation.
Union demands answers as Sparrow Lansing outsources 379 jobs
May 29, 2026 // Union members at the University of Michigan Health-Sparrow’s Lansing location are demanding answers after they say the hospital has decided to “outsource” jobs in support and nutrition services. UAW Local 4911 President Kim Wheeler says 379 employees in the Food and Nutritional Services and Support Operations Services, also referred to as Environmental Services, have been affected by the move.