Posts tagged Indiana
Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition endorses 3-day strike
April 15, 2024 // In January, IGWC submitted 1,300 union cards to Indiana University President Pamela Whitten, per a release. IGWC also asked IU to hold a union election and bargain with the union. The union indicated that its correspondence was not answered by university officials. IGWC led a four-week strike of graduate workers in 2022. That strike resulted in IU raising yearly minimum salaries for graduate workers from $15,000 to $22,000, per a release.
Why Indianapolis Airport police, fire can unionize but not baggage handlers, others
March 5, 2024 // Barbara Glass, the president of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, said firefighters and police employees told the board they want to unionize in 2019. But they have not heard from the other employees. The 11-member board includes six Hogsett appointees, an appointee from the president of the City-County Council, and officials from Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, and Morgan Counties. The dynamic is not unique to Indianapolis. Police and fire unions have been carved out of anti-union laws for decades. In 2013, a then Republican-controlled Michigan government exempted police and fire employees from a law that prohibited mandatory union membership. Wisconsin police and fire were also excluded from similar legislation in 2011.
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION IGNORES OWN MANDATE FOR FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
February 26, 2024 // And it’s certainly not good legacy-building for Davis Gates, whose first year as union president has been tainted by deficit spending, decreased spending on members, personally cheating Indiana schools out of taxes owed to them and sending her son to a private school while denying that choice to low-income families. CTU’s bylaws require publication of an annual audit of finances, but there’s been no sign of an audit for at least four years CTU’s internal rules are clear: an annual audit must be performed and published each year.
IN POSSIBLE TEST OF FEDERAL LABOR LAW, GEORGIA COULD MAKE IT HARDER FOR SOME WORKERS TO JOIN UNIONS
February 12, 2024 // he state Senate voted 31-23 on Thursday for a bill backed by Gov. Brian Kemp that would bar companies that accept state incentives from recognizing unions without a formal secret-ballot election. That would block unions from winning recognition from a company voluntarily after signing up a majority of workers, in what is usually known as a card check. Senate Bill 362 moves to the House for more debate. Union leaders and Democrats argue the bill violates 1935’s National Labor Relations Act, which governs union organizing, by blocking part of federal law allowing companies to voluntarily recognize unions that show support from a majority of employees.
New IC rule will have ‘unintended consequences’
January 23, 2024 // For Jim Burg, owner of Warren, Michigan-based James Burg Trucking Company, being an independent operator helped him build his business, and he views being an owner-operator as a potential stepping stone for others wanting to do the same. Burg started his company in 1984 with one truck as an independent contractor. His company is now a 94-truck operation with a terminal in Michigan City, Indiana. His trucks primarily haul steel for the automotive and manufacturing industries. "I drove over 1.2 million miles during the early years of my company's existence. Being an IC gave me the experience to understand the trucking industry and how to run a business, Burg recalled, "and it allowed me to gain knowledge of both as I set out to establish my own company."
Commentary: States should protect workers from Democrats’ latest assault on their rights
January 19, 2024 // Ending the secret ballot is just one of the ways these Senate Democrats are trying to deprive workers of their rights. They ultimately want automakers to sign a so-called neutrality agreement. As I’ve documented, such agreements typically do three things. The first is to gut the secret ballot in favor of card check. Second, they give unions the personal information of every worker at a company — another violation of privacy and another invitation to intimidation. Finally, neutrality agreements put a gag order on companies, prohibiting them from talking to their workers about unionization. Yet that violates workers’ right to the full information they need to make the best choice. And that’s exactly why unions want to shut companies up — because it makes workers easier to control.
Ban of BLM Apparel by Whole Foods Ruled Legal
December 29, 2023 // Administrative Law Judge Ariel Sotolongo ruled that BLM masks, T-shirts, and other apparel worn by Whole Foods employees during the 2020 riots was not protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act because it had little connection to the Whole Foods workers’ jobs. The NLRB General Counsel, who prosecutes unfair labor practice cases, had argued that workers wore the attire in 2020 to make black coworkers feel safe and supported amid a series of nationwide protests lead by BLM. The general counsel claimed banning the apparel violated workers’ rights to advocate for better working conditions. But Judge Sotolongo said that regardless of individual workers’ motivations, the general counsel failed to show that workers had a collective goal related to their employment.
UAW files unfair labor practice charges against Hyundai, Honda and Volkswagen
December 14, 2023 // The UAW has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen, the union said. The union alleges management at facilities for the companies have participated in illegal “union-busting as workers organize to join the UAW.” The charges come roughly two weeks after the UAW said it was launching an unprecedented campaign to organize 13 nonunion automakers in the U.S.
Unions push to represent more workers, but organized labor’s share of jobs is declining
October 24, 2023 // For all the sound and fury on the labor front, its net effect is unknown. Unions’ overall share of the workforce was 10.1% in 2022 and declining, about half the rate of 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That percentage is swelled by union predominance in government work. In the private sector, the share of union jobs was 6% in 2022. The number of union members overall has grown but not as fast as jobs in the rest of the economy. “It takes a lot of new members to raise the union density,” said Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
AUTOS Ford lays off 700 who were building electric version of F-150
October 17, 2023 // The company said it will temporarily cut one of the three shifts at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, near the company's main headquarters. It will rotate the layoffs between the three shifts. Ford had temporarily closed the plant this summer to upgrade its production capability, and the company said this latest layoff is related to "multiple constraints, including the supply chain and working through processing and delivering vehicles held for quality checks after restarting production in August."