Posts tagged Democrat
Legislative staffer unions percolate beyond D.C.
January 26, 2023 // Part of its argument is that the legislative union would violate the separation of powers because it would be overseen by Oregon’s Employment Relations Board, a part of the executive branch. “All of its members are appointed by the governor, so it's controlled by the executive branch, and that subjects the legislature to the executive branch in a specific way,” Freedom Foundation attorney Rebekah Millard told POLITICO.
She made history as Chicago mayor. Reelection may be harder
January 24, 2023 // Elected as a reform-minded outsider who would rid the city of pay-to-play politics, Lightfoot was criticized when a campaign staffer sent out an email to public school teachers seeking students to volunteer for the campaign in exchange for class credit. Lightfoot apologized, calling it a mistake. Inspectors general are reviewing for possible policy violations. Some of Lightfoot’s biggest battles have been with the Chicago Teachers Union, which backed her opponent in Lightfoot's first run for mayor. The two sides butted heads during an 11-day teachers strike in 2019 and bickered over returning to in-school instruction during the pandemic. This year, the teachers union has endorsed Lightfoot rival Brandon Johnson, a Cook County commissioner and former Chicago teacher and union organizer.
Unions are “Baking In” Remote Work for Federal Employees
January 19, 2023 // But the prospect of conflict with union contracts, uncovered by TechTarget, adds a wrinkle to any plans. “Remote work policies are also getting baked into federal employee union agreements, which could make it difficult for federal agencies to order workers back to the office even if they wanted to,” the story said. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) claims to be “made up of over 281,000 workers in almost every agency of the federal and D.C. governments, spread across 936 local unions.” In December 2022, after some extended legal struggles with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the union said that the two parties had reached a settlement over immediate flexible work arrangements “while we negotiate terms for a permanent telework program.”
UNIONIZE MANAGEMENT? WASHINGTON STATE IS CONSIDERING IT.
January 19, 2023 // WMS employees earn up to $300,456 per year, more than three times the salary of the average working Washingtonian and 23 percent more than the highest-paid state department secretaries. Historically, the Legislature has consistently increased the salaries of WMS employees at the same rate it has increased wages for union-represented state workers. In terms of compensation, the only reason it would be in the interest of WMS employees to unionize would be to attempt to secure wage increases larger than those negotiated by the unions representing general government civil service employees. But given that state funds are finite, this necessarily pits managers’ interests against those of the employees they supervise.
Union-friendly changes in the works at U.S. labor board
January 4, 2023 // The U.S. National Labor Relations Board's Democratic majority is poised to make a series of key changes to federal labor law in 2023 that will aid unions amid a surge in organizing that gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic. The NLRB and its general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, have signaled their interest in overturning a number of Trump-era decisions that were favored by business groups.
THE MYTH OF THE BIPARTISAN UNION
January 4, 2023 // Unsurprisingly, the $109,500 PSE contributed directly to candidates in 2022 was dwarfed by the $309,280 it contributed to PACs, generally to engage in independent expenditures. Of this, $77,000 went to PACs affiliated with Democrats and $22,500 went to GOP-controlled PACs. The remaining $209,780 went to two PACs operated by the SEIU Washington State Council and which back Democrat candidates and liberal ballot measures in all but the rarest circumstances. All told, PSE contributed $418,780 to candidates and PACs in 2022. Of this, $353,280 (84%) went to Democrat candidates or affiliated/aligned PACs. Only $63,000 (15%) supported Republican candidates and PACs.
UC strike energizes unprecedented national surge of union organizing by academic workers
January 3, 2023 // In 2022 alone, graduate students representing 30,000 peers at nearly a dozen institutions filed documents with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election. They include USC, Northwestern, Yale, Johns Hopkins, the University of Chicago, Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Caltech plans to officially kick off its organizing campaign this month, and other academic researchers are working to form unions at the University of Alaska, Western Washington University, the National Institutes of Health and such influential think tanks as the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute. Princeton University, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Pasadena, Caltech, Pardee Rand Graduate School, University of Wisconsin–Madison
NLRB puts union bull’s-eye on the franchise industry
January 2, 2023 // The National Labor Relations Board has proposed a dramatic overhaul of the franchise business model by reclassifying workers at restaurant or hotel chains as employees of the parent company, a move that would make it easier to unionize across the entire brand. Opponents warn that the change will devastate an industry employing 8.2 million people and contributing roughly 7% to the nation’s overall economic output. “This is going to hurt a lot of people, from someone coming out of the corporate environment looking to be an independent business owner to someone looking to start their career with an entry-level job to consumers who will have to pay $15 for a hamburger,” said Frank Caperino, who teaches franchise management at San Diego State University and owns multiple franchises.
‘Most Pro-Union President’ Runs Into Doubts in Labor Ranks
December 28, 2022 // Those who support more populist-minded policies say Mr. Biden has delivered in certain ways: enacting subsidies for domestic manufacturing and restrictions on trade with China and appointing regulators who have frequently gone to court to block large mergers.
Key union organizing tactic backed by U.S. labor board
December 16, 2022 // NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran, a Democrat, said in a statement that the decision ensures that workers fully enjoy the freedom to associate with unions protected by federal law. The board's two Republican members, Marvin Kaplan and John Ring, said in a dissenting opinion that the decision improperly favors unions while ignoring whether bargaining units "will facilitate efficient and stable collective bargaining."