Posts tagged compensation
Texas judge vacates joint employer rule
March 9, 2024 // Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer rule late Friday. The rule was set to go into effect Monday. The new rule would be “contrary to law” and “arbitrary and capricious,” Barker ruled. The court had been considering a legal challenge brought in November by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with other business groups.
Despite Biden’s Efforts to Empower Unions, Membership Rates and Wage Advantages Fall to All-Time Lows
January 24, 2024 // So, why have unionization rates and union wages been falling despite significant union-organizing efforts at places such as Starbucks, Amazon and Trader Joe’s, as well as President Joe Biden’s “whole of government” approach toward increasing unionization? Primarily, it’s because unions aren’t providing things that workers want or need. Many workers don’t like unions spending their dues on politics instead of representation, their not infrequent deception and coercion to gain support or their rigid structures that impede flexibility and prohibit performance-based pay. Meanwhile, by engaging directly with their employers, workers have been able to achieve stronger wage gains (albeit entirely erased by inflation), increased workplace flexibility, expanded benefits (such as paid family leave) and a multitude of educational opportunities.
At Dartmouth, the focus turns to winning basketball games amid its unionization push
November 9, 2023 // Their unionization effort lingers in the background, another challenge to the norms of college athletics in a time with athletes transferring freely through the portal and making endorsement money through the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL). "I feel like NIL's been moving on a lot and changing the landscape of college basketball," Myrthil told The Associated Press after the Duke game. "This could be a step that changes it even further, to make the students earn what they're worth."
‘Battle royale’: Tesla and anti-union Musk make enticing targets for UAW’s next push
November 5, 2023 // Some current UAW members are already fired up to take on Tesla. “Go out west to California? Absolutely, I would go,” said John Jake Kincaid, a Stellantis employee in Michigan. “Show them our strength.” Still, fighting for a contract at companies with established relationships with union workers is a far different effort than starting from scratch. Several workers who were key to Tesla’s earlier union effort are no longer at the company. The Fremont plant’s history with the UAW predates the electric vehicle maker. For about 25 years, Toyota and GM operated the facility together in an unusual joint venture. It was a union shop. In 2009, GM pulled out of the partnership as part of its bankruptcy proceedings and in 2010 Toyota shut the operation down, throwing 4,700 people out of work. A month later, Tesla bought the sprawling 5.3 million square foot factory; the union didn’t come with the purchase.
First Faculty Unions Form at Two Maryland Community Colleges
September 7, 2023 // Before passage of the 2021 collective bargaining law, some employee groups were already organized at the Community College of Baltimore County, Montgomery College, and Prince George’s Community College. There are additional faculty organizing efforts by AFT-Maryland underway now at the Community College of Baltimore County and Prince George’s Community College.
UPS shippers may face double-digit rate increases in wake of contract
July 27, 2023 // UPS Inc. shippers should brace themselves for double-digit general rate increases (GRI) in 2024 as the transport and logistics behemoth looks to recoup the “astronomical” cost increases from its tentative five-year contract with the Teamsters union, a transport executive said. Tom Nightingale, CEO of AFS Logistics Inc., a non-asset-based provider that negotiates, audits and pays about $4 billion in annual parcel spend, told FreightWaves that the “real” GRI, which is generally what shippers pay based on their shipment profiles and after add-on accessorial and fuel surcharges, will probably be in the 11% and 12% range. The headline GRI, which often doesn’t reflect what shippers actually pay, will likely be in the high single digits, which would be a second consecutive record. It should be announced by Thanksgiving. Last year’s record UPS GRI of 6.9% (NYSE: UPS) turned into an actual GRI of close to 9% after all factors were incorporated into the calculations. Nightingale, whose company keeps close tabs on this data, said his customers were “gobsmacked” when they were told late last year what they would actually be paying in 2023. FedEx Corp., (NYSE: FDX) UPS’ chief rival, had already hit the market with the same record increase. The GRIs, though technically increases on tariff rates, often dictate what shippers will pay in their contracts unless they can negotiate them down.
Will pilot strikes disrupt my summer flights? Here’s what to know.
May 15, 2023 // Garth Thompson, chair of the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, said negotiators have spent years on work-life issues such as more schedule predictability and limiting the company’s ability to reassign pilots to work on days off and reserve provisions. “We kept the airline alive during the pandemic,” he said. “The company is poised to have wild profits going forward and they’re giving us the stiff arm at the table.” A strike authorization vote is not out of the question, Thompson said.
Nearly 48,000 University of California workers poised to strike Monday
November 14, 2022 // Leaders of United Auto Workers unions representing the workers have informed the UC Office of the President of their intent to strike at all of UC's 10 campuses starting Monday if they are unable to reach an agreement with the university, UC officials said Thursday. UAW bargaining units are set to picket from 8 a.m. Monday. Nearly 98 percent of the 36,558 members voted to approve the strike authorization, according to the union.
On strike: Clark University graduate workers walk out
October 7, 2022 // Less than a month after voting to authorize a strike, the union has had one bargaining meeting, during which, the union said, the university made it clear it would not be open to substantive negotiations. “We are campaigning for a contract that guarantees financial security and access to health care,” said William Westgard-Cruice, a Ph.D. candidate and member of the union organizing committee. "We believe that the administration will have to come to the table." The university and the union have reached tentative agreements in three of four broad categories, the university said, including management and union rights, appointments and work assignments, and discipline and grievance processes.
Red Cross, Union Workers Extend Acrimonious Contract Talks
June 7, 2022 // Red Cross management denied the allegations made by AFSCME Wisconsin. “The Red Cross has received a local unfair labor practice charge from AFSCME in Wisconsin, and is disputing the allegations at the National Labor Relations Board,” a Red Cross spokesperson wrote to The NonProfit Times. “The parties have agreed to several bargaining extensions due to National Negotiations; nevertheless, the Red Cross is committed to reaching a local contract agreement in Wisconsin that is fair and equitable to all and remains available for continued negotiations.” contract extensions. U.S. House, Congress,