Posts tagged COVID-19
College staff threaten to quit after administration orders them to return to office 5 days a week
May 29, 2025 // Georgia's public universities are now requiring staff to return to the office five days a week, causing backlash from employees who claim the mandate will cause additional problems. The University System of Georgia, which governs public university institutions in the state, announced at the start of the year that faculty must be present on campus during core business hours. Last month, USG's chancellor Dr. Sonny Perdue told presidents and administrators at a Board of Regents meeting, 'If that’s not what y’all want, you let me know, because that’s where we’re going,' the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Farmworkers in NY and CA File Federal Challenges Against Statutes Letting Union Bosses Seize Control Without Employee Vote
May 28, 2025 // Workers contend that “card check” unionization method leads to false claims of majority union support, intimidation, and constitutional violations
Amazon labor organizers challenge union election loss, alleging employer coercion
May 14, 2025 // The union campaign at Garner’s RDU1 warehouse lost by a wide margin earlier this year. Organizers say they faced retaliation and a massive “union-busting” effort.
Op-ed: The evidence is in: Forcing workers to join unions destroys good-paying jobs
May 5, 2025 // He then noted: “This difference is substantial, equivalent to a 28 percent increase in manufacturing employment” in right-to-work counties relative to their forced-unionism neighbors. Practically all elected officials in the U.S. claim to support the creation of new manufacturing jobs and the retention of current ones. But the many Big Labor politicians in Washington, D.C., who support the elimination of state right-to-work laws and the expansion of union bosses’ forced-unionism privileges to all 50 states are objectively in favor of the destruction of good-paying manufacturing jobs.
Op-ed: MARY KATHARINE HAM: Teachers union bosses put themselves first, teachers and students last
April 23, 2025 // Just recently, Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst uncovered $3.3 million in taxpayer money, and 87,000 hours spent at one agency alone over just two years that went to thousands of hours of union-related activities instead of the American people. Elsewhere, the IRS union is negotiating for its members to show up only once a week in person and retain a bunch of generous bonuses. An unwelcome April surprise, just like your tax bill!
Hundreds of Southern California Edison planners, technicians file for union election
April 22, 2025 // A separate union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 47, already represents construction linemen who install and maintain the overhead distribution and transmission lines. John Mader, president of ESC Local 20, urged the company to take a neutral approach to the union so that workers could eventually vote in an election “without interference or intimidation.”
Employees swarm to second ‘deferred resignation’ offer, though some are receiving unexpected responses
April 15, 2025 // Employees across the department had until April 8 to opt into the program. Widespread layoffs are expected shortly, followed by relocations into new hubs around the country. USDA has implemented a heavy pressure campaign to motivate employees to accept the extended paid leave offer as it seeks to minimize the number of employees it must lay off through reductions in force. Employees received as many as 20 emails from HR, agency leadership and their own supervisors during the week the DRP window was open encouraging them to take advantage of the offer. “We were being peppered like hot wings before grilling,” one employee who received the email barrage said.
Teacher unions sue Trump over $400 million Columbia University research cuts
March 26, 2025 // The AFT has also sued Trump over his efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. Trump and AFT President Randi Weingarten have long clashed over the rule of unions in the education system, dating back to Trump's first presidency, when the two fought over return-to-class plans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Via 313’s Austin location unionizes after 3-year fight, labor board ruling
March 24, 2025 // Unionization efforts began in January 2022, reported Eater Austin, when employees alleged that management was not transparent about safety concerns related to the Omicron variant of coronavirus. A group of 46 employees across Austin signed a petition asking for sick and hazard pay, alongside improved COVID-19 safety procedures. Employees later filed for union election through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Aug. 2022.
Senate confirms Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Labor secretary
March 11, 2025 // “The American people demand and deserve change after four years of economic heartache under the ‘most pro-union administration in American history.’ Unfortunately, Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s record pushing policies that force hardworking Americans into union membership suggests more of the same,” McConnell said. “Most Americans believe joining a union should be a personal choice – not a mandate – which is why more than half the states, including Kentucky, have adopted right-to-work laws.”