Posts tagged health and safety
Strike ends for Mack Trucks workers after 39 days on the picket line
November 16, 2023 // Reggie Benjamin and his union brothers strike and walk a pickett line along Eisenhower Blvd. in Lower Swatara Township, Pa., Oct. 11, 2023. Benjamin is a Reman Technician working on assembly line transmissions and is from Lewisberry, Pa. Mark Pynes | pennlive.com Reggie Benjamin and his union brothers strike and walk a pickett line along Eisenhower Blvd. in Lower Swatara Township, Pa., Oct. 11, 2023. Benjamin is a Reman Technician working on assembly line transmissions and is from Lewisberry, Pa. Mark Pynes | pennlive.com © Mark Pynes | pennlive.com/pennlive.com/TNS The Mack Trucks employee strike has ended after more than a month of picketing. “After 39 days on strike, UAW members at Mack Trucks have voted by 93% to ratify their new contract with significant local improvements,” United Auto Workers said on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Wednesday evening. People Born Before 1969 Eligible For Walk-In Tubs People Born Before 1969 Eligible For Walk-In Tubs Ad profind.com Workers had been out demonstrating at the Mack Trucks plant along Commerce Drive in Lower Swatara Township and along Eisenhower Boulevard in Swatara Township as well as plants in the Lehigh Valley, Hagerstown, Maryland, and at distribution centers in Baltimore and Jacksonville, Florida. United Auto Worker Local 677 members strike along Eisenhower Blvd. in Lower Swatara Township, Pa., Oct. 11, 2023. Mark Pynes | pennlive.com United Auto Worker Local 677 members strike along Eisenhower Blvd. in Lower Swatara Township, Pa., Oct. 11, 2023. Mark Pynes | pennlive.com © Mark Pynes | pennlive.com/pennlive.com/TNS “UAW leadership has informed us that their members have ratified the new five-year agreement,” Mack Trucks said on its website. “The agreement guarantees significant wage growth and delivers excellent benefits for our employees and their families. At the same time, it will safeguard our competitiveness and allow us to continue making the necessary investments in our people, plants and products. We look forward to welcoming our employees back to our sites on Monday, November 20, for your usual shift.” Related video: Congressman Trone rallies UAW strikers at Mack Truck Plant in Hagerstown (WDVM Hagerstown) Maryland Congressman David Trone spent the morning at the Mack Current Time 0:14 / Duration 0:44 WDVM Hagerstown Congressman Trone rallies UAW strikers at Mack Truck Plant in Hagerstown 0 View on Watch View on Watch The vote for the new contract took place on Wednesday, after the United Auto Workers 677 negotiating committee said in a letter to its members that it met with the company and put formal requests across the table to address members’ needs but the company rejected all of the proposals. The negotiating committee did say that the company agreed to “some significant changes” since the strike began but that members would be voting on the same contract that was voted down in early October. The letter said that the negotiations were over and the contract would come up for a vote. Most notably, the letter warned of the repercussions of voting down the contract, which included possible lost of jobs, loss of insurance after Dec. 1 and a loss of a $3,500 ratification bonus.
Workers at Chinese-state-owned hotel in SF on strike after foodborne illness complaints
November 15, 2023 // Workers at the Chinese-state-owned BEI Hotel in SF suffered food poisoning after the hotel "unilaterally laid off its cooks and outsourced cafeteria meals," starting in May of this year, a press release said. The BEI is a 400-room hotel owned by Beijing Tourism Group, an enterprise managed by a subsidiary of the Beijing government.
Why the hotel workers in Las Vegas might be the next big strike
October 15, 2023 // Rogers, Martinez, Buie, and their coworkers are now waiting to find out what comes next. Culinary 226 remains locked in negotiations for a new five-year contract. With the membership primed to strike, there’s no telling how long it will be before Striketober comes to the Strip. If—and when—the call comes, though, they will be ready. “I voted yes to authorize a strike because I’m fighting for my family and for our future,” Maria Sanchez, a guest room attendant at the Bellagio and Culinary Union member, said in a statement. “The workload since the pandemic has been intense, and when I get home I’m so tired and I don’t have energy to take my two kids to the park or play with them. . . . I voted yes to win the best contract ever so that I can work one job and come home to spend time with my children.”
Workers at Mack Trucks set to strike after rejecting tentative contract deal
October 9, 2023 // Union workers at Mack Trucks have voted down a tentative five-year contract agreement reached with the company and plan to strike at 7 a.m. Monday, the United Auto Workers union says. Union President Shawn Fain said in a letter to Mack parent company Volvo Trucks that 73% of workers voted against the deal in results counted on Sunday. The UAW represents about 4,000 Mack workers in three states. Union leaders had reached a tentative agreement on the deal on Oct. 1. The deal included a 19% pay raise over the life of the contract with 10% upon ratification. There also was a $3,500 ratification bonus, no increase in weekly health care contributions, increased annual lump sum payments for retirees and a $1,000 annual 401(k) lump sum to offset health care costs for employees who don’t get health insurance after retirement. Fain said in his letter to Volvo Trucks’ head of labor relations that employees working early Monday will exit the factories after performing tasks needed to prevent damage to company equipment.
Potential Strike from CSU Staff and Faculty?
October 6, 2023 // The demands include but are not limited to, a 12% salary increase, extended paid maternal leave (16 weeks rather than 10), lactation stations, a managed course cap so the staff’s workload is not too overwhelming, improved health and safety regulations, and gender neutral restrooms. All demands have been denied by the CSU system; in fact, according to Professor Jeffrey Newcomb, the East Bay Chapter CFA president, majority of demands were not even mentioned during the bargaining process and sessions. In return the CSU system initially offered a 4% salary increase for one fiscal year, which has since been increased to a 5% later into the bargaining process.
California’s on the cusp of transforming America’s fast food industry — again
August 16, 2023 // “Because it’s so many stores, and going store to store would be difficult, the path to unionization here is basically through legislation,” said Brandon Dawkins, SEIU 1021 vice president of organizing. “After we get the council together and force the employer to the table, then the unions — we can come in and really sit down and negotiate with the corporations to, number one, create a union and, number two, address issues like safety and wage theft.” A labor council’s purview extends to workplace conditions like predictable scheduling — a longstanding goal for labor — noted California Labor Federation Executive Officer Lorena Gonzalez, a former state lawmaker who carried an earlier version of the bill when she served in the state Assembly. “If you get joint employer liability, it’s more likely McDonald’s would want to talk about a national agreement or strategy because now they’re on the hook for every labor violation,” Gonzalez said. That tactic has angered restaurant operators who have rallied against the legislation. Marisol Sanchez, a second-generation McDonald’s franchise owner, has appeared in advertising opposing the 2023 bill. Sanchez said she believed SEIU was acting on its own political agenda rather than in response to worker demands.
Hundreds Of Northshore Mining Workers Join United Steelworkers Union
July 21, 2023 // The union said in a statement Tuesday that Northshore Mining was the last remaining taconite mine on the Iron Range without a union. Roughly 400 workers mine taconite in Babbitt and make iron ore pellets in Silver Bay.
Union of Southern Service Workers rallies at Labor Department to protest unsafe work conditions, deliver complaint
April 6, 2023 // The new Union of Southern Service Workers and affiliated workers staged a rally outside the U.S. Department of Labor’s downtown Atlanta office on Tuesday to demand stronger workplace protections and federal enforcement of safety regulations. About 50 USSW organizers and workers from Family Dollar, Waffle House and other companies converged on the Department of Labor’s office at 61 Forsyth St., before marching to Centennial Park.
Starbucks could be forced to bargain with workers who rejected union
January 25, 2023 // A U.S. labor board official is seeking a rare order requiring Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) to collectively bargain with workers at a Florida store, even after they voted against unionizing by a nearly two-to-one margin. The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board's Tampa, Florida office filed a complaint on Tuesday claiming unlawful threats, retaliation and surveillance by Starbucks managers were so severe that holding a new election at the store would be futile.
Trader Joe’s United’s first loss is further proof that unionizing isn’t easy
November 2, 2022 // Ananya Bhattacharya Mon, October 31, 2022 at 4:43 AM·3 min read Three months into its unionizing efforts, Trader Joe’s United has lost its winning streak. At a Trader Joe’s store in Brooklyn, workers on Oct. 28 voted 94 to 66 against joining the independent union, which represents employees at two other stores in Massachusetts and in Minnesota.