Posts tagged Grand Rapids
Planned Parenthood workers become first to unionize in Michigan
January 27, 2025 // Under the new agreement, PPMI says that they will create a process for addressing workplace concerns, implement structured wage increases, and provide benefits that ensure, “competitive compensation, including additional pay for positions requiring multilingual skills.”
Genesys Nurse Hits Hospital, Teamsters Union with Additional Federal Charges for Illegal Dues Deductions
August 20, 2024 // "I already had issues with Teamsters bosses’ illegally demanding money from me when Right to Work was in force,” commented Madrina Wells. “Back then, I at least knew that I was defending my right to pay nothing at all to Teamsters bosses I disapprove of. It’s ridiculous that rather than comply with my rights, Teamsters Local 332, now with the assistance of my employer, have violated Federal law once again by deducting dues from my paycheck without my consent.”
Right-to-Work law repeal more than doubles federal complaints
July 24, 2024 // Since February, the number of cases filed with the National Labor Relations Board has doubled the total for last year, according to one advocate for workers. The National Right to Work Foundation says it fielded over 27 inquiries concerning workers’ rights in the last six months, and it has filed 10 cases with the federal agency. In 2022, the foundation filed six complaints on behalf of workers in Michigan. It filed four in 2023 but has filed at least 10 as of July 18. A foundation employee said that another 10 are likely.
Michigan Security Guard Slams Union with Federal Charges for Illegal Dues Seizures, Transparency Issues
May 9, 2024 // According to Reamsma’s charge, he submitted a notice to UGSOA union agents in March that requested the union reduce his dues payments in accordance with Beck and provide him with the required financial information. In response, union officials claimed that the amount of dues chargeable to nonmembers was equal to 100% of full union dues. Reamsma’s charge states that UGSOA “failed to provide the required financial disclosures for itself and its affiliated unions, and a chance to object to its alleged reduced fee.” The charge also notes that, despite Reamsma notifying union officials in April that he prefers to pay union dues by check, UGSOA ignored this request and has continued to take money directly from his paycheck by payroll deduction. Federal labor law forbids union officials from using direct deduction to collect union dues or fees without worker consent.
Employees strike outside of Blandin Paper following union vote
July 18, 2023 //
Grand Rapids TerryBerry Workers Vote to Remove Unwanted Machinists Union from Workplace
May 16, 2023 // Mary Soltysiak and her coworkers at TerryBerry Company filed for a decertification vote on April 14, 2023, with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. Her decertification petition contained signatures of a majority of the employees in the unit. Soltysiak has been under the protections of the Michigan Right to Work law since 2018. Under federal labor law, workers can trigger such a decertification vote with the support of 30% of workers in a unionized workplace. The NLRB should then promptly schedule a secret ballot election to determine whether a majority of workers want to end union officials’ power to impose a contract, including forced dues, on workers. The NLRB scheduled a vote for May 15, 2023. On May 15, TerryBerry employees made their position on the union clear, voting to remove the union from their workplace. Barring any objections by union officials that seek to overturn the vote, the workers will be officially free of the union in one week.
With Right to Work Repeal Coming, Michigan Workers Seek a Vote to End Union ‘Representation’ They Oppose
April 26, 2023 // TerryBerry Company employee Mary Soltysiak filed a petition for dozens of her coworkers with the National Labor Relations Board Region 7 (NLRB) seeking a vote to remove the International Association of Machinist of Aerospace Engineers (IAM) District Lodge 60/Local Lodge 475 union officials’ forced representation powers. This workers’ decertification petition comes in the wake of Michigan legislators ramming through a bill to repeal their state’s decade-old and highly popular Right to Work law. When the repeal law takes effect, union officials will once again have the power to force workers to pay up or be fired in workplaces where the union has forced “representation” powers. Mary Soltysiak and her coworkers at TerryBerry Company filed for a decertification vote on April 14, 2023, with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. Previously, she had been under the protections of the Michigan Right to Work law since 2018. Her decertification petition contained signatures of a majority of the employees in the unit. Under federal labor law, workers can trigger such a decertification vote with the support of 30% of workers in a unionized workplace.
Great Lakes Coffee in Detroit permanently closes after strike, unionization effort
May 25, 2022 // “It is permanent," attorney Frank Mamat of Dinsmore & Shohl, who represents the shop's coffee supplier, said Tuesday. "They (the coffee shop) weren't making money and they couldn't find people that felt comfortable working there because of omicron, and the customers felt the same way — they weren’t coming.”