Posts tagged Houston
CenterPoint avoids strike after union workers vote to approve new contract
October 20, 2023 // Nearly 80% of Local 66 members voted in support of the new contract, and about 20% voted to authorize a strike, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, according to the newspaper. There were other issues leading up to Wednesday's vote, including proposed smaller pay increases, the proposed end to annual bonuses, and the disciplinary system for employee attendance. Allen said the approved contract will take away 3% of unionized employees' annual bonuses based on good attendance and driving records. The company removed a tiered disciplinary system for missing work, although, if work is missing, there will be no pay.
Busted: Kroger Worker’s Card Illegally Altered to ‘Authorize’ Forced Dues
August 2, 2023 // UFCW’s violation of Haefner’s rights is not an isolated incident. In Pennsylvania, Foundation staff attorneys are also representing Giant Eagle supermarket cashier Josiah Leonatti, who charges UFCW Local 1776KS union officials with refusing to accommodate his religious objections to union membership (see page 3). King Soopers grocery employees from Colorado are also receiving free legal aid from Foundation staff attorneys in opposing illegal UFCW strike fines, some of which are as high as about $4,000 per worker. “Jessica Haefner knew her rights under Texas’ popular Right to Work law and actively asserted them, yet UFCW union officials still brazenly took her money against her will,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix.
Booze, Bard, Union Card: Drunk Shakespeare Troupes Get Organized
July 18, 2023 // That almost instantaneous recognition has also caught fire across other branches of Drunk Shakespeare. There are five groups of Drunk Shakespeare troupes nationwide: Chicago, New York City, Phoenix, D.C., and Houston. So far two other troupes, in Phoenix and D.C., have joined the march toward a united front. Drunk Shakespeare D.C. ensemble member and union representative Kit Krull said the D.C. branch had been considering coming together for a few months. “Back in April, D.C. had a reckoning that led to us approaching management about structural and equity issues that accumulated over the year we’d been open,” they explained. “We weren’t using the word ‘union,’ but I believe we were beginning to think along those lines. When we heard that Chicago had unionized, we knew that we had to get in contact with them as soon as possible.”
Dallas-Based Danone North America Employee Slams Union with Federal Charges for Illegally Seizing Money from Pay
July 12, 2023 // Alex Botello, a Dallas-based employee of food manufacturer Danone North America, has hit the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 540 union with federal charges after union officials illegally seized union dues from his paycheck. Botello filed his charges at Region 16 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Dallas with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Botello’s charge says that UFCW bosses rebuffed or ignored his two attempts to revoke a dues checkoff authorization. Botello maintains that the union’s actions violate his rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which is supposed to protect American private sector workers’ right to refrain from union activity.
Southwest Airlines pilots approach potential strike with request to leave negotiation proceedings
July 6, 2023 // In the transportation labor negotiations process, the National Mediation Board mediates contract discussions between the carrier and its employees. When a party requests a release from mediation, the board must determine whether continuing with the negotiations process would be productive. If the answer is no, the NMB allows "a cooling-off period" of 30 days, after which a strike can happen. SWAPA pilots are planning a nationwide picket on Aug. 31 in five cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Earlier this month, Southwest reached agreements in principle with its flight attendants union — whose board later rejected the agreement — and its aircraft mechanics union, which moved forward with a tentative agreement.
Op-Ed: The Chicago Teachers Union now runs the mayor’s office
April 13, 2023 // CTU leadership’s brand of union politics has little to do with students and teacher representation and more to do with an expansive political agenda that includes defunding the police, hiking taxes (on “the rich,” broadly), and pumping more city resources into the Chicago Public Schools system, where classroom spending is way up and student outcomes way down since the Caucus of Rank and File Educators rose to power. Since 2010, CTU has drawn the blueprint for how to seize control over America’s largest cities. The union runs the schools, holding as hostage Chicago kids and families whenever union bosses are unhappy with management. They also donate to the bulk of the Chicago City Council, having contributed financially to 34 of Chicago’s 50 current aldermen. But their reach expands beyond the city to politicians in the Illinois statehouse. In total, CTU since 2010 has spent at least $19 million on politics in Illinois, including over $2.5 million to Illinois Senate and House candidates.
Union faults BP’s proposals in local refinery negotiations
January 23, 2022 // People in the USW familiar with the matter said BP has put forward proposals in local negotiations at its U.S. refineries to require waiting periods of up to 120 days between the expiration of a contract and the possible start of a strike.
The vaccine mandate for Philadelphia city employees keeps getting delayed due to labor disputes
January 21, 2022 // The city’s 3,300 nonunion employees have been subject to a vaccine mandate since December, and the city has seen 99% compliance with the rule, the mayor’s office said. The city’s four major unions each sought separate agreements with the administration over how the vaccine mandate would be managed, delaying its implementation until the labor disputes are resolved.
IUOE Gets the Boot After MDS Boring Employees Vote Them Out
December 13, 2021 //