Posts tagged employers

    Commentary: Union ‘neutrality agreements’ are a threat to employers’ free speech

    October 27, 2023 // Federal agencies have begun to make adoption of these so-called agreements a condition for federal contractors. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services have pushed neutrality agreements on contractors. The Treasury Department has even hinted it may alter the tax code to funnel job creators into these agreements. Virginia companies receive over $72 billion in government contracts annually, the largest amount among all states. These contracts are responsible for tens of thousands of Virginia jobs. It’s not difficult to see these forced federal neutrality agreement requirements as a backdoor attempt to silence Virginia employers and organize their companies. If allowed, this would be another blow to Virginia’s rich history of workplace freedom.

    Labor’s AI Concerns Get an Airing at White House Meeting

    July 5, 2023 // Workers shared stories of employers who used AI to track and monitor pace of work, leading to an increase in stress and raising privacy concerns, it said. Labor representatives told officials they must be involved in conversations around how AI will be implemented, given its serious workplace consequences. The White House emphasized the need for collaboration between the government, employers, and unions to effectively implement AI.

    Private-sector employers add 235,000 jobs in December, payroll company reports

    January 9, 2023 // Private-sector employers added 235,000 new hires across the United States in December, according to the December ADP National Employment Report produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with Stanford Digital. Medium and small firms had robust hiring as big companies experienced declining job creation. “The labor market is strong but fragmented,” said Chief Economist Nela Richardson in a statement, “with hiring varying sharply by industry and establishment size. Business segments that hired aggressively in the first half of 2022 have slowed hiring and, in some cases, cut jobs in the last month of the year.”

    Workers Should Be Able to Hear from Both Sides Before Union Votes

    October 27, 2022 // To labor activists such “captive audience” mandatory meetings constitute union-busting. National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has asked the full board to outlaw the practice. (The board has thus far not acted on her request.) Congressional Democrats have tried to get rid of them too. The pro-union Protecting the Right to Organize Act would prohibit companies from making the meetings mandatory. The legislation has stalled in the Senate. There is no good reason why managers shouldn’t be able to make a pitch to workers just like union activists. Collective bargaining is—or at least ought to be—the workers’ choice. They should be able to hear from all sides before they decide.

    The labor market is still red-hot — and it’s helping union organizers

    September 1, 2022 // A red-hot labor market that has afforded workers more bargaining power with employers is fueling a string of recent union victories at high-profile U.S. companies. Workers have voted to unionize for the first time in recent weeks at Trader Joe’s and Chipotle. Unions have also made significant inroads at Amazon, Starbucks, Apple and REI, employers that have long resisted unionization. What remains to be seen is whether the job market will stay strong as the Federal Reserve pushes to cool inflation with interest rate hikes. In a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyo., last week, central bank chief Jerome H. Powell acknowledged that the rate hikes would likely inflict “some pain” on businesses and households and probably weaken the labor market. Guy Berger, LinkedIn, Julia Pollak, Zip Recruiter, John Logan, Atulya Dora-Laskey,

    As Union Organizing Actions Skyrocket, The NLRB Seeks To Bar Employers From Holding Mandatory Meetings With Employees About Unions

    April 14, 2022 // This confirms what other recent signs have illustrated, i.e., that unions are uniquely positioned at this time to organize new groups of workers. Because a petition for a union to represent a new group requires evidence that at least 30% of the employees support the union (as is the case for the vast majority of these petitions), this increase appears to be objective evidence that support for unions has increased among U.S. workers. There have been many other similar indicators of late, such as unions' recent success in organizing workers at Starbucks, many historically non-union retailers, and distribution facilities which have drawn national attention.