Posts tagged contractors
Local unions worried about Bills stadium work going to out-of-town contractors, workers
February 23, 2023 // Supporters of the use of precast concrete panels say they help speed up construction, reduce site disruption and can trim project costs since they require fewer workers to install. Erie County and state officials have said they expect up to 10,000 people put to work on stadium construction. The precast concrete panels, placed by cranes, are likely being used as a result of a national labor shortage because they do not require the use of as many trades people, Williamson said. But with the help of apprentices, there would be enough local workers to complete hand-laid brick on the stadium's exterior, he added. “To try to design a building and build a schedule around what they think is a labor shortage is not right and missing the whole point of having local labor doing the work,” he said.
Teachers, employees at MSD vote to unionize
February 16, 2023 // The MSD Faculty and Staff Association has technically existed as a union for decades, but until last week, it didn’t have collective bargaining rights, said Edna Johnston, its president. “It was like a dog without any teeth,” Johnston said in American Sign Language as an interpreter translated. Now that the association has negotiating rights, Johnston said, there are two main areas of focus. One is making sure all MSD employees become part of the state’s formal personnel management system. Currently, Johnston said, about a third of the teachers at the school are contractors, meaning they aren’t eligible for the benefits owed to state employees.
Exclusive: YouTube contractors to strike over forced return to office
February 6, 2023 // Cognizant says that the workers' contracts have always stated that the jobs were in-office jobs and that it communicated to workers since Dec. 2021 that it would provide 90 days notice when employees were expected back in the office. "Cognizant respects the right of our associates to disagree with our policies, and to protest them lawfully," the company said in a statement to Axios. "However, it is disappointing that some of our associates have chosen to strike over a return to office policy that has been communicated to them repeatedly since December 2021."
NLRB’S RADICAL JOINT EMPLOYER STANDARD WILL DESTROY SMALL BUSINESS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
October 11, 2022 // The NLRB is pursuing a new joint employer rulemaking that has the potential to destroy small businesses, the American Dream, and the economy. Under this expanded standard, nearly every contractual relationship between businesses will trigger joint employer status, making businesses responsible and liable for the employment practices of their franchisees, suppliers, vendors, contractors, and subcontractors. Under this new rule, businesses will be forced to protect themselves against significantly more liability and obligations under the law. The franchise business model, for example, would be gutted, as the larger franchisor will move to end or limit their support to franchisees or exert increased authority over them, essentially turning those small business owners into employees. The new standard would also force larger companies to subsume local small businesses rather than work with individually owned enterprises, stifling entrepreneurship, business innovation, and flexibility. The expanded standard even hampers businesses’ efforts to encourage “corporate responsibility” among their business partners to the detriment of workers, consumers, and their communities.
Pfizer worker launches drive to unionize global manufacturing facility in Portage
June 21, 2022 // The employee, who isn't being identified for fear of losing his job, said 30% of the plant's workers would need to support the union to bring it up for a vote. A majority of eligible workers must consent to form a union, which would require Pfizer to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with its workers. The employee leading the effort to unionize has worked for Pfizer for 24 years. Portage, Michigan, Franklin, Ohio, John Getz, Pearl River, New York
Opinion: Time for a Law That Puts Workers, Not Unions, First
March 25, 2022 // The Employee Rights Act of 2022, unlike Biden’s PRO Act, encourages innovation and job flexibility.
Editorial: Biden’s favors to unions keep costing taxpayers
March 16, 2022 // Pitching the executive order as a cost saver is disingenuous, as collective bargaining inherently drives up costs. It’s the same faulty logic used to defend prevailing wage laws that force union-level pay and benefits on publicly funded construction projects.
CWI URGES THE NLRB TO SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURS
February 11, 2022 // The Coalition for Workforce Innovation submitted a brief in the case of Atlanta Opera, Inc. 371 NLRB No. 45 (2021) to address whether the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) should reconsider its standard for determining the independent contractor status of workers.
Biden task force releases report to strengthen labor unions
February 8, 2022 // “Today’s report from the White House task force is nothing more than pro-union propaganda and exemplifies how entrenched pro-union allies are in this administration," said Kristen Swearingen, chair of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which is composed of more than 500 business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Trucking Association.