Posts tagged federal labor law
Long Island Healthcare Employee Charges Union Officials With Illicit Attempt to Prevent Workers from Voting Union Out
November 15, 2024 // Brief: 1199SEIU officials engaged in backchannel communications with federal labor board to block vote; same union is facing ouster effort by NJ workers as well
SoCal AT&T Employee Hits Company and CWA Union With Federal Charges for Illegal Collusion to Unionize Workers
October 22, 2024 // Charge: Union left after employees demanded vote to kick union out; now back as unlawful ‘company union’ under backroom deal
Color Of Change ordered to reinstate illegally laid off workers and pay back wages after NLRB Ruling
September 27, 2024 // Color Of Change, one of the nation’s largest racial justice nonprofits, illegally laid off workers in mid 2023, but the NLRB found that the organization, represented by Seyfarth Shaw, did not meet its obligation to notify and bargain with the union before taking action. It’s illegal for organizations to lay off workers after they unionize prior to winning a first contract, a period called status quo.
Employment Law Landscape Could Change After Election
September 16, 2024 // During the Trump administration the NLRB majority narrowed the scope of the National Labor Relations Act in several key respects and established a more neutral approach to union organizing. The Biden/Harris administration, which styled itself as the “most union-friendly in history,” reversed virtually all of the Trump-era policies, significantly expanded the scope of the law, and tilted the organizing landscape in favor of organized labor, Hayes said.
Interview: Independent Contractors and Union Reforms, How @VinnieVernuccio Champions Worker Choice
September 12, 2024 // Unions are stuck in this turn of the last century industrial revolution, a one-size-fits-all adversarial business model that most workers today don't want. I do see a place for unions if they embrace a voluntary business model and become like professional service organizations. Unfortunately, they're not there. If you're under a union contract, you're stuck with the wages, the benefits, the vacations, [and] the hours they negotiate for you. It's actually impossible for the employer to unilaterally say, “you're doing a great job, I'm going to give you a raise,” or “I'm going to give you a bonus,” or, “hey, you want more vacation for a little less money?”
More Workers Are Filing For — and Winning – Union Elections Than in Any Year in the Past Decade
September 12, 2024 // A surge in union activity since the COVID-19 lockdown shows no signs of stopping, though it’s still not enough to reverse the two-decade downward trend in union membership in New York and across the nation.
The Union Members Who Never Voted for Their Union
September 10, 2024 // Reform federal labor law to require a secret-ballot election for unionization, as the Employee Rights Act would do. A 2022 survey showed that 70 percent of Americans — and 76 percent of union households — support this concept. At present, unions can succeed without support from a majority of its workforce when only a tiny portion of eligible employees vote in the election. For example, the NLRB is considering certifying an election in California in which just three employees out of 24 voted to unionize. A fourth voted against the union, and the rest did not vote. Federal labor law should require a quorum — such as two-thirds of all eligible voters — in order for an election result to be upheld. Such a requirement is popular: Eighty-four percent of Americans support this idea.
AT&T Employees Nationwide Continue Winning Efforts to Remove Unwanted CWA Union Bosses Imposed Through ‘Card Check’
September 5, 2024 // Michael Swift, an In-Home Expert for AT&T Mobility, filed the “decertification petition” with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of his coworkers across four AT&T Mobility locations in Mississippi. Marquita Jones, a Louisiana-based In-Home Expert, did the same for her colleagues across four Louisiana locations. If the AT&T Mobility In-Home Experts win their decertification efforts, they will join well over 800 AT&T employees from across California, Texas, and Tennessee, who have also successfully challenged CWA card checks. Under card check, union organizers bypass the secret ballot election process and instead collect cards face-to-face from employees that are then counted as “votes” for the union.
Chipotle may have violated workers’ unionization rights, US labor board says
August 28, 2024 // The board said late Monday that its Detroit regional director found merit to allegations filed against Chipotle by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The union alleges that Chipotle unlawfully disciplined an employee in Lansing, Michigan, for engaging in union activity and told employees the fast-food chain couldn’t give them raises because they were unionized. The regional director dismissed an allegation that Chipotle unlawfully withheld credit card tips from unionized workers. An allegation that Chipotle unlawfully used surveillance methods on its employees is still under investigation.
A measure to help Oregon cannabis workers unionize is headed to November ballot, labor group says
July 11, 2024 // When a bill to enact a very similar law failed in the 2023 legislative session, UFCW announced it would attempt to recall state Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene. Union leaders accused Holvey, who chaired an influential committee, of tanking the bill’s chance of passing. Holvey, often seen as a staunch supporter of unions, has said he was concerned the idea would violate federal labor law, and that he offered UFCW opportunities to make changes. The union spent more than $300,000 on a recall campaign that was defeated overwhelmingly by voters in Holvey’s Eugene district last October. Holvey has since announced he will retire when his term expires in early 2025. In the meantime, UFCW was taking steps to put its idea directly before voters. According to campaign finance records, the union has spent more than $2 million on a statewide signature gathering campaign.