Posts tagged House of Representatives
Labor unions expand into legislator offices
January 23, 2023 // “Unionizing staffers in legislative offices makes no sense because it creates more problems than it solves,” says Brigette Herbst, senior organizing director for AFFT and a former state legislative staffer, “How does unionization work with the long and unpredictable hours during a legislative session? How will elected officials handle untrustworthy staffers? Union organizers haven’t answered these important questions.” Labor unions have also turned their focus to legislative staffers at the state level.
Republicans to End Unionizing Congressional Offices
January 4, 2023 // “Last year, House Democrats voted to let congressional offices organize and collectively bargain for the first time, despite some nagging logistical questions about how it’d all work. But that measure will be revoked under that rules package the GOP is getting ready to introduce when it takes over this week; none of the offices that voted to unionize last year will be recognized in the new House.”
Opinion: The NLRB Requests More Funding, But Does It Really Need More Money?
December 16, 2022 // The Chair and General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently penned a letter to congressional appropriators, pleading for additional funding for the agency in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill, which Congress has not yet passed. The letter notes that its funding has remained at $274 million since 2014, but whether that should justify additional funding is worth scrutinizing. The NLRB letter declares that the agency needs “additional funding in FY2023 to simply maintain current operations without any investments in critical infrastructure and cybersecurity needs.” It further states that “we will be forced to reduce our operational capacity, including likely furloughs of the dedicated career employees at the agency, unless Congress provides funding to cover these costs.”
Biden to Congress: Intervene in labor dispute, avert rail strike that would ‘devastate’ US
November 29, 2022 // With a Dec. 9 strike deadline fast approaching, Biden urged Congress to adopt "without any modifications or delay" an agreement brokered by the White House in September between labor unions and rail operators. Four of the 12 unions have voted to reject the five-year agreement, which was intended to avoid a shutdown of the nation's freight rail system. "A rail shutdown would devastate our economy," Biden said in a statement. "Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down. My economic advisors report that as many as 765,000 Americans – many union workers themselves – could be put out of work in the first two weeks alone. Communities could lose access to chemicals necessary to ensure clean drinking water. Farms and ranches across the country could be unable to feed their livestock."
Authorizing congressional unions won’t end Democrats’ labor troubles
May 17, 2022 // Earlier this year, after the Democrat-controlled Washington state Legislature quietly killed a pair of bills extending collective bargaining privileges to legislative aides, about 100 Democrat staffers staged an unprecedented sickout. Facing a PR nightmare, panicked Democrat leadership quickly reintroduced and passed legislation allowing staff to unionize and bargain, but not until 2024, after a new “Office of State Legislative Labor Relations” spends millions of taxpayer dollars trying to figure out how to make it work in practice.
The Employee Rights Act Puts Workers Ahead of Unions
March 25, 2022 // For most Americans, labor laws — like labor unions — are an afterthought. Just 6 percent of private sector workers are union members. However, labor law makes an enormous impact on union and nonunion workplaces alike. Therefore, the ERA improves protections for workers in a variety of situations: those who might become subject to a unionization drive, those already represented by a union, and those who do not wish to unionize.
Florida Bill Protects Workers’ Free Speech and Union Voting Rights
March 5, 2022 // “State Representatives Plakon and Byrd are leading the way in Florida and across the country for advancing employee freedoms,” said Workers for Opportunity Senior Policy Advisor Vincent Vernuccio. “We look forward to seeing the bill swiftly move through the State Senate and go to Governor DeSantis’ desk.
Opinion: Sorry Unions, Workers Just Aren’t That Into You
March 4, 2022 // Increasingly, workers have decided that union representation is not what they need. They’re not seeking it out, not signing onto unionization drives, and voting “no” in high profile ‘must win’ organizing drives where unions have brought out all the celebrity and political stops.