Posts tagged concessions
Chances of costly autoworker strike extra high amid Biden’s EV push
August 24, 2023 // This time around, labor negotiations are taking place under much different circumstances, with Detroit automakers in a precarious spot in an unsettled industry. Yes, they've been raking in huge profits from high-priced pickup trucks and SUVs. But they're also investing billions of dollars to develop future EVs that consumers are still hesitant to buy. Of note: In a rare move, Biden entered the fray last week, urging both sides to come to an agreement. "I support a fair transition to a clean energy future," the president said in a statement.
Who’s on strike and who’s close? Labor unions are flexing
August 8, 2023 // Recent decades suggest there won’t be a strike at more than one at once. UAW (United Auto Workers) typically picks one “target” at which to focus negotiations and possibly strike and then demand that the other two unionized automakers agree to the same “pattern” deal. That one really has the chance to hurt the Democrats since the union is very upset about the auto industry plans to shift to EVs (electric vehicles). They see EVs as a jobs killer because of so many fewer parts – it takes about one-third fewer jobs to build an EV than an internal combustion engine (ICE) car. And many of the EV jobs are at battery plants being built nationwide right now, but which are joint ventures between the automakers and foreign battery companies, and thus not guaranteed to be unionized. Even if those battery plants end up with a union, it’s not clear the joint venture will agree to UAW-level wages. The one UAW-represented plant in Ohio pays roughly half of what workers are paid at an engine or transmission plant owned by one of the Big Three (US automakers) and represented by the UAW.
Teamsters Sacrifices 30,000 Workers: 3 Ways Union Contributed to Yellow Trucking’s Demise
August 2, 2023 // A key reason Yellow was said to be closing its doors is that the union was refusing Yellow’s restructuring and modernization efforts. Part of that restructuring would have included efficiency savings by enabling an additional 600 utility truck drivers to also sometimes perform dock work, but the union controls what tasks workers are allowed to perform, and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien asserted that this restructuring “would have decimated thousands of Teamsters jobs.” Instead, the union’s refusal to allow company management to do what it felt necessary to save the business contributed to the decimation of 22,000 Teamsters jobs.
Some part-time UPS workers say “historic” contract falls short
July 27, 2023 // Peter Lyngso, a part-time package sorter working in Chicago, called the agreement a "sellout," and said it doesn't address longstanding pay disparities between full-time and part-time workers. "There has been a very loud rank and file movement of part-timers across the country demanding a realignment of wages for what is a brutally difficult job," he said on social media. "I'm preparing to go to the mat over it for a no-vote," he told CBS MoneyWatch. Part-time workers make up the majority of unionized UPS Teamsters. Leading up to the negotiations, union head Sean O'Brien called them the "unsung heroes" of the company.
Strike at trucking firm Yellow averted after deal
July 24, 2023 // In 2020, then-U.S. President Donald Trump bailed out the company with a $700 million pandemic relief loan. In exchange, the federal government took a 30% stake in Yellow. The Nashville, Tennessee-based company formerly called YRC Worldwide has not significantly repaid that loan, which is part of $1.2 billion in debt it is scrambling to refinance before it comes due next year. Yellow's other lenders include a group led by Apollo Global Management (APO.N). Company executives appealed to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for help slashing expenses as cash dwindles. It has successfully won such concessions in the past, but this time was rebuffed by new Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien. "Following years of worker give backs, federal loans, and other bail outs, this deadbeat company has only itself to blame for being in this embarrassing position," O'Brien said in a statement last week. O’Brien is also leading negotiations covering roughly 340,000 U.S. employees at United Parcel Service (UPS.N). A federal judge in Kansas on Friday rejected Yellow's request to block the Teamsters from striking over the delinquent benefit payments.
Sick leave and family leave priorities for workers heading into new year
December 15, 2022 // The bitter negotiations that nearly brought the country’s freight rail system to a halt last week hinged on one quality of life issue: worker leave. Rail workers nearly went on strike over paid sick leave. They lost their fight, but in the post-pandemic era, the issue of how and when workers can take leave from their jobs is at the core of several major labor negotiations.
Reform candidates lead in UAW races with 73% of vote counted
December 2, 2022 // Members of the United Auto Workers union appeared on Thursday to favor replacing many of their current leaders in an election that stemmed from a federal bribery and embezzlement scandal involving former union officials. Reform-minded candidates, many part of the UAW Members United slate, are leading or close in multiple key races with about 73% of the vote in. Many challengers campaigned on rescinding concessions made to companies in previous contract talks, including cost-of-living pay raises, elimination of a two-tier wage and benefit system, and other items.
United To Accelerate Pilot Salary Increases Amid Contract Negotiations
November 15, 2022 // United's move comes two weeks after a contract offering a 15% pay raise over 18 months was shot down by the pilot's union with 94% support. Despite reaching an agreement in principle in May, talks fell through a few months later and both sides were back on the negotiating table in the fall. With the latest deal falling through, United's pilots plan to picket to force more concessions.
“Nonunion drivers are getting paid better than us:” Car haul truckers in US determined to strike Tuesday night
May 31, 2022 // We had a lot of guys leave because it’s better pay everywhere else. But there are perks to the union and that’s why I’m still here; the union is a family, but we got to get this pay right. “All of the other drivers who are nonunion are getting paid better.” Referring to the so-called Teamsters reformers in charge of the union, including new president Sean O’Brien, he said: “We are not elevating the appropriate people.
Unions rally for striking Alabama miners
April 8, 2022 // The miners began a strike more than a year ago against Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood. The UMWA organized a caravan today to show support for the miners, who union leadership said last week now number around 900. Members of the United Auto Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers, Association of Flight Attendants, and Unite Here were expected at the event.