Posts tagged International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
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.
An FBI informant in Johnny Doc’s inner circle didn’t violate his right to fair trial, judge says
August 3, 2023 // Though recording someone outside of a law enforcement investigation without their consent is a crime in Pennsylvania, the FBI, based on those tapes, enlisted the cooperator to begin working as an official confidential informant out of concern that statements such as those were an attempt by Dougherty to intimidate witnesses in the case against him, Blake said. And for the next several months, the informant continued to record Dougherty at union meetings up to and throughout his 2021 trial. The labor leader learned of the mole’s existence only after his conviction and as he prepared for a second trial on extortion charges related to threats he allegedly made to a union contractor who tried to fire his nephew.
Former Honolulu Union Leader Headed To Prison For More Than 11 Years
July 24, 2023 // In a weeks-long trial last year, federal prosecutors detailed how the finances of Local 1260 nosedived after Ahakuelo took over as business manager and financial secretary. In 2010, the union had a surplus of approximately $700,000, Gillmor noted. Four years later, it had a deficit of some $760,000. Prosecutors said Ahakuelo hired family members at salaries exceeding what union rules allowed. His wife, sister-in-law, son and his children’s spouses were all on the union’s payroll. Their pay contributed to the union’s salary expenses jumping by 150%, the judge said. Ahakuelo was emboldened by an inexperienced executive board, handpicked by Ahakuelo himself, that literally and figuratively handed him signed blank checks to spend as he wished, Gillmor said. Ahakuelo was also able to make unilateral decisions on travel. On several occasions, he brought an unnecessary entourage of family members and other employees on trips with dubious connections to union needs.
CANADA: A New App May Allow Workers To Unionize Anonymously
June 12, 2023 // The app allows workers to anonymously ask their coworkers if they want to form a union, without management interference. If 60 per cent of the workplace responds positively, the app sends digital union cards for workers to sign. Signed cards are then forwarded to the union chosen by the initiators of the campaign, who can file them at the B.C. Labour Relations Board. Crucially, it is up to the union to make connections with the workers interested in organizing. The process sounds straightforward enough, but does raise several concerns. For one, only unions using the app can receive signed cards and connect with workers who are organizing. Without buy-in from a broad cross section of unions, workers in some industries might find themselves without digital access to a union appropriate to represent them.
Michigan: Prevailing wage, Right to Work reforms’ effect unclear here
April 10, 2023 // The recent reforms are a net positive for unions in every industry, he said. Indeed, for the construction trades, in particular, prevailing wage requirements help prevent non-union bidders from undercutting union workplaces on public construction projects, Fashbaugh said.
PHILADELPHIA: Former City Councilmember Bobby Henon is facing sentencing for a bribery conviction. Here’s what you should know.
March 1, 2023 // A former electrician and the political director of the politically powerful union of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, he was elected to Council in 2011 backed by union money and support. While in office, Henon remained on Local 98′s payroll — at a salary of more than $70,000 per year — in addition to collecting his $140,000 paycheck from the city. At Dougherty’s urging, the jury found, Henon drafted and, in some cases, introduced legislation — aimed at punishing a towing company that had attempted to tow the union leader’s car and at supporting his bid to become head of the Building Trades Council, an umbrella group of the city’s labor unions. He granted Dougherty outsized influence during negotiations over the city’s 15-year franchise agreement with Comcast, a potentially lucrative deal for Local 98′s members. Henon was also convicted of a separate bribery scheme in which he extorted a $5,000 bribe in the form of a campaign contribution from the Communication Workers of America, when the union in 2015 needed his help in an ongoing dispute with Verizon. Among those pledging their support: former Gov. Ed Rendell, AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding, Local 98 spokesperson Frank Keel, former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, City Commissioner Lisa Deeley, and City Councilmembers Mark Squilla and Michael Driscoll. Driscoll was elected to Henon’s Council seat in a special election following his conviction in 2021.
Nevada: Follow the Money: Unions were biggest category donating to Legislature in 2022 cycle
February 21, 2023 // Nearly 96 percent of all big-money contributions from union and labor groups went to Democratic lawmakers, with Sen. Skip Daly (D-Sparks), who previously served as business manager of LIUNA Local 169, leading the field by a wide margin. Another lawmaker finished second — Assemblyman Max Carter (D-Las Vegas), who is affiliated with several unions, including International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 357 in Southern Nevada. In the second-place spot is the combined spending of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which gave more than $147,000 to 34 lawmakers. By far the largest beneficiary of that spending was freshman Assemblyman Max Carter (D-Las Vegas), an electrician by trade and member of IBEW Local 357 who received the maximum $10,000 from three IBEW affiliate PACs for $30,000 total — nearly 10 percent of the $338,000 he raised from all big-dollar donors. In a distant second to Carter in IBEW fundraising was Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas), who raised a combined $13,000. Others in competitive districts also saw combined IBEW totals north of the $10,000, including Sen. Julie Pazina, Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, Sen. Melanie Scheible, and Assemblywoman Elaine Marzola — all Democrats from Las Vegas, save Marzola, a Democrat from Henderson.
Union campaign at Tesla marks second attempt to organize workers
February 21, 2023 //
Reuters Analysis: Biden’s climate agenda has a problem in not enough workers
January 17, 2023 // The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last year, provides for an estimated $370 billion in solar, wind and electric vehicle subsidies, according to the White House. Starting Jan. 1, American consumers can take advantage of those tax credits to upgrade home heating systems or put solar panels on their roofs. Those investments will create nearly 537,000 jobs a year for a decade, according to an analysis by BW Research commissioned by The Nature Conservancy.
Chicago saw a wave of new unions form in 2022. Getting to the bargaining table is the next challenge.
January 2, 2023 // But it’s not just Starbucks: In Chicago, museum workers at the Art Institute, faculty and staff members at its affiliated school and employees at the Newberry Library have all unionized this year. So have workers at Howard Brown Health, budtenders at Zen Leaf cannabis dispensaries and booksellers at Half Price Books in Niles. Baristas at four La Colombe Coffee Roaster locations filed for union elections in December. Thousands of graduate students at Northwestern and the University of Chicago filed petitions within two weeks of each other in November. For the hundreds of newly unionized workers in Chicago, the hard work has only just begun; now they must negotiate a first contract with their employers. Labor leaders see a contract as the gold standard for protecting workers’ rights and securing gains in areas like pay and benefits. But the process can take years.