Posts tagged International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Opinion: The UAW vote — gambling with our future
April 15, 2024 // The UAW talks a lot about solidarity — but solidarity with whom? Unionized VW employees cannot be in "solidarity" with their fellow unionized workers at other foreign auto assembly plants in the U.S. for one simple reason: Every time the UAW has entered a foreign automotive assembly plant in the U.S., that plant has eventually closed. Mitsubishi in Illinois; Toyota in California; Mazda in Michigan; and VW in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania — the last time the UAW made an American Volkswagen plant unprofitable.
Commentary: Biden fosters Big Labor cronyism
March 25, 2024 // It is bad enough that union dues go to political activity that workers may or may not agree with. It is worse that some union bosses are stealing money from the workers that they claim to represent. Every dollar that a union boss steals is one dollar less that a worker can put toward sending their children to school, putting food on the table, or building a nest egg. The Biden administration enables union corruption because union dues overwhelmingly go toward electing Democrats. Biden’s refusal to pull union bosses away from the trough directly harms workers. Unlike Biden, House Republicans are leading the charge to stamp out union fraud and corruption.
Chair Foxx Investigates 12 Unions for Recent Fraud, Corruption Seeks answers on protecting workers from further union malfeasance
March 18, 2024 // “The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) is concerned about fraud, embezzlement, and corruption perpetrated by union officials. To ensure workers represented by labor organizations are shielded from malfeasance by union officials, the Committee requests documents and information relating to…efforts to protect employees and deter fraud, corruption, and improper accounting.”
Tens of thousands of workers in Florida have just lost their labor unions. More is coming.
February 22, 2024 // The numbers are not being tracked or published by the state or any labor organization, so WLRN requested the records and created a public database to track the fallout of the law. Most affected employees perform core public sector jobs like teaching in schools, doing clerical work for state and local government, repairing engines and machinery for government agencies, answering 911 calls at call centers and working at city parks.
Wisconsin Rapids workers vote against unionizing Ocean Spray Plant
February 8, 2024 // According to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 965, last Friday 41 workers voted in favor of joining the IBEW local and 50 voted against.
Wisconsin Rapids Ocean Spray workers will hold union vote in February. How does it work?
January 25, 2024 // Dillon Gorman, the business manager for IBEW 965, said he's organized and attended rallies all over the state at various companies, each time staying the required distance from the property, but offering to share more information with workers about what their options are as they leave or arrive at work. These days, it's easier to share information about unions, health care options, election information and more, as they can also easily share that online on the IBEW website. Gorman said they organized the rally in Wisconsin Rapids because workers at the Ocean Spray plant had reached out to the union for more information after they said the company recently changed some working conditions and benefit structures. On Wednesday, workers came from all over the state, including Eau Claire, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Beaver Dam and Janesville to show support.
Philly workers got organized in 2023. Look back on this year’s strikes, walkouts, and union campaigns.
December 30, 2023 // As worker organizing activity heated up toward the end of 2022, with new unions and strikes grabbing headlines through the fall, labor leaders predicted 2023 would be an even bigger year for employees seizing on their leverage.
Closing arguments are underway in John Dougherty embezzlement trial
December 4, 2023 // Dougherty threatened to “beat up,” “run over” and put potential witnesses “under the water” in a speech secretly recorded by an FBI informant. Costello, addressing the jury Monday morning, pointed to the frequency with which those supposed mistakes occurred. “This conduct was not a one-time mistake,” he said. “It was something that was done all the time. It was pervasive. It was intentional. In fact, it was so pervasive it just became routine.”
Trial of Philadelphia labor leaders exposes the rampant corruption plaguing the country’s unions
November 16, 2023 // On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Grenell showed evidence of Burrows billing the union for more than $65,000 “for renovations done on his New Jersey home and other properties he owned,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Last week, lawyers showed the jury proof that Dougherty spent $7,000 of union dues on a birthday party and lavish gifts for his wife and mistress, the union’s political director, “at separate Atlantic City shindigs within weeks of each other." Union corruption is nothing new, and Burrow’s and Dougherty’s trial details are relatively unsurprising. Those organizations have a long track record of dishonesty and exploitative tactics, such as forcing a company’s employees to pay union dues or strong-arming the city of Philadelphia to use union contractors for projects.
Ex-union boss John Dougherty’s embezzlement trial starts this week. He could get jail time.
October 31, 2023 // Dougherty, who was once a hugely influential political force in the city and statewide, is trying to avoid another loss in court — and possible jail time — following his conviction on corruption charges two years ago. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has already secured guilty pleas in the embezzlement case from four former employees of the union he led, Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). They’re now trying to convict Dougherty and a codefendant, former union president Brian Burrows, who will be tried separately.