Posts tagged Energy Department
Trump Order Could Cripple Federal Worker Unions Fighting DOGE Cuts
March 30, 2025 // The move added to the list of actions by Mr. Trump to use the levers of the presidency to weaken perceived enemies, in this case seeking to neutralize groups that represent civil servants who make up the “deep state” he is trying to dismantle. In issuing the order, Mr. Trump said he was using congressionally granted powers to designate certain sectors of the federal work force central to “national security missions,” and exempt from collective-bargaining requirements. Employees of some agencies, like the F.B.I. and the C.I.A., are already excluded from collective bargaining for these reasons.
‘Feeling of dread’ spreads across federal workforce as second Trump term looms
November 13, 2024 // Out of the more than 2 million federal employees working in the US and abroad, Schedule F could have a profound impact on the DC-Maryland-Virginia metro area, where nearly 449,000 federal workers live, according to a 2024 report. The District of Columbia itself has the largest individual chunk of federal workers in any state or territory, with more than 162,000.
Labor unions are still giving Democrats climate headaches
December 6, 2023 // The United Steelworkers, whose members operate oil refineries around the state, has endorsed a 12-year transition roadmap developed by economists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which proposes California spend $470 million annually to support workers laid off from fossil fuel jobs. In October, USW joined a new labor coalition, including chapters from United Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, that released policy priorities including wage replacement, healthcare coverage, retraining and relocation support for displaced workers.
Biden administration offers $12B to convert auto factories into EV plants
September 6, 2023 // The Energy Department said that both sets of funding announced Thursday will prioritize good working conditions, including facilities that pay high wages and commit to retaining or expanding collective bargaining agreements. However, there will be no specific requirements needed to get the funding, Betony Jones, the director of the office of energy jobs confirmed. That announcement comes as labor concerns bubble up in the transition to clean energy — with the United Auto Workers union accusing industry of using the transition to cut wages and pushing the Biden administration to do more about it. In a written statement, the union praised the administration’s announcement. “We are glad to see the Biden Administration doing its part to reject the false choice between a good job and a green job. This new policy makes clear to employers that the EV transition must include strong union partnerships with the high pay and safety standards that generations of UAW members have fought for and won,” union president Shawn Fain said in a written statement.
‘This is a problem’: Biden faces looming strikes that could rock economy
July 25, 2023 // Privately, some Democrats said the White House was caught off-guard by Fain’s ascension to the top of UAW. They described Biden’s team as currently being in an information-gathering mode about the union’s new leadership — a stark contrast from the close relationship it had enjoyed with former UAW president Ray Curry. Other Democrats said the White House was clearly aware of Fain’s criticism of how the Biden administration had doled out federal funds. But privately, some people in Biden’s orbit have continued to express worries that there’s distance between his agenda and a major union representing voters in a state key to his reelection. Biden’s senior staff has told allies “that the rhetoric from the new UAW leadership is concerning, this is a problem, and we’ve got to figure this out together,” according to a person familiar with the administration’s thinking.
Unions hate Biden’s EV push, Schumer & Co. vs. democracy and other commentary
July 6, 2023 // An “alignment between the United Auto Workers and former President Trump over electric vehicles threatens” the “alliance between the union and the Democratic Party,” notes Axios’ Nathan Bomey, with the UAW “withholding an endorsement for Biden’s 2024 campaign.” Already, “one in three UAW members voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.” And “UAW President Shawn Fain ripped” Biden after “the Energy Department announced a $9.2 billion loan to Ford to build battery plants in the South,” since “EV factories won’t employ as many people as traditional assembly plants” and the likely “lower wages at new battery-making joint ventures.” As “Democrats need the Midwest to preserve political power, the president’s commitment to promoting EVs is testing his support among longtime allies
Biden’s push for electric cars alienates longtime union allies
June 29, 2023 // The union initially backed many of Trump's protectionist trade policies when he was president, including renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which they blamed for allowing U.S. manufacturing jobs to go to Mexico. Biden's re-election campaign, meanwhile, points to the historic early endorsements from the AFL-CIO and 17 others unions as proof of the president's pro-labor stance. The bottom line: At a time when Democrats need the Midwest to preserve political power, the president's commitment to promoting EVs is testing his support among longtime allies.
Voting opens in key UAW test to organize U.S. battery plants
December 8, 2022 // Workers begin two days of voting on Wednesday to decide whether to unionize at a General Motors (GM.N)-LG Energy (373220.KS) battery cell manufacturing joint venture in Ohio. Workers at an Ultium Cells plant near Cleveland are voting on Wednesday and Thursday after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union petitioned to represent about 900 workers. Results of the election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board are expected on Friday. Last week, GM CEO Mary Barra told Bloomberg TV the company is "very supportive of the plant being unionized ... The employees are going to be voting, but we’re very supportive." In a trip to South Korea in May, President Joe Biden expressed support for workers seeking to unionize JV battery plants. The Detroit Three automakers all have battery plants in the works with South Korean partners.
Workers to vote on unionizing at new Ohio GM-LG battery plant
November 28, 2022 // Workers at Ultium Cells LLC in Warren, Ohio, will vote on 7th and 8th December after the United Auto Workers (UAW) petitioned to represent about 900 workers, said the National Labor Relations Board. The vote is a crucial test of the ability of the UAW to organize workers in the growing electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, and came after most employees signed cards authorizing the union to represent them.