Posts tagged job security
Detroit casino union employees overwhelmingly vote to authorize a strike
October 3, 2023 // Detroit casino union employees voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike Friday night. The Detroit Casino Council — which represents workers at MGM Grand Detroit, Hollywood at Greektown and MotorCity casinos — said 99% voted yes to authorize a strike if a new contract agreement isn't reached by mid-October when the current contract expires. Workers say they sacrificed raises and took on heavier workloads during the coronavirus pandemic after agreeing to a three-year contract extension in September 2020. DCC said workers deserve pay increases now that business is bouncing back.
Opinion: Biden says he’s most pro-union president ever. But his policies hurt striking UAW workers
October 2, 2023 // Unfortunately, UAW leadership continues to advocate for their own best interests. Those who have worked in the auto industry know that negotiations must walk a fine line. If the Big Three have to file for bankruptcy protection, as General Motors and Chrysler did in 2009, all autoworkers are in a much more precarious position. UAW leadership has a responsibility to preserve their members’ jobs − securing raises that will improve their members’ standards of living, but that are not so excessive they threaten workers’ long-term job security. Moving forward, UAW leadership should target the real problem: Bidenomics. The UAW supported Biden in 2020 and enthusiastically endorsed his Inflation Reduction Act, despite the fact that it included electric vehicle subsidies that are accelerating the elimination of union jobs.
Opinion: UAW veers off the road in demanding more money for less work
September 26, 2023 // Last week, the UAW called for a work stoppage for about 12,700 employees at three U.S. plants. And until the union listed its demands, I had no idea that working five days a week was so undignified. Any union is only as strong as it is reasonable. The UAW – which represents about 150,000 autoworkers – has four major demands. They range from fair to fantastical. It's fair that the union is seeking the restoration of defined-benefit pensions and a rollback of concessions that workers made in 2007 when U.S. automakers were struggling. That is, as long as the union and the workers it represents understand that these things are cyclical and that they may have to make concessions again .
UAW widens strike against GM and Stellantis but not Ford
September 24, 2023 // GM called the strike escalation “unnecessary” and accused union leaders of “manipulating the bargaining process for their own personal agendas.” “We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are historic,” the company said. The 20 percent raise in its latest offer would boost 85 percent of GM’s UAW workforce to base-wage earnings of $82,000 a year by the end of the contract, the company said this week. It is also offering two weeks of paid parental leave and other perks. Stellantis said it submitted a new offer to the UAW on Thursday but has not received a reply. It said its 20 percent wage increase offer would boost all its full-time UAW workers to earnings of $80,000 to $96,000 annually by the end of the contract. The company questioned “whether the union’s leadership has ever had an interest in reaching an agreement in a timely manner.”
UAW’s Shawn Fain calls GM’s contract counteroffer ‘insulting’: What’s in it
September 8, 2023 // GM presented the counteroffer around 10 a.m. Thursday to UAW leaders. It comes just days after the UAW filed unfair labor practice charges against GM and Stellantis. The National Labor Relations Board is investigating those charges now and the outcome could impact a potential strike. "After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers," Fain said in a statement to the Free Press. In a letter to the employees midmorning, which GM provided to the Detroit Free Press, GM wrote, "Our offer includes well-deserved wage improvements that far exceed the 2019 agreement and reward you for your hard work. We still have work to do, but we wanted to make this offer to show our good faith efforts to keep the process moving." For all hourly employees, GM said it will recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday, giving a new total of 16 to 18 paid holidays per year. Ford declined to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday, Fain has said. GM hourly employees would also receive a $5,500 bonus for ratifying the contract, which matches Ford's offer.
Virginia Tech graduate students and staff are launching labor unions
September 7, 2023 // It’s an effort that has been in the works for three years, as the groups have quietly recruited members while, across the country, campus labor unions have gained attention. On Tuesday, members of the United Campus Workers of Virginia Tech (UCW-VT) and the Virginia Tech Graduate Labor Union (VT GLU) will team up in a rally on the Blacksburg campus. They hope going public will attract new members and draw attention to their efforts to press university administrators for improvements for campus workers at all levels. Together, the unions have a potential membership of about 20,000 people affiliated with Tech.
Frontier, CWA strike new labor union contract
September 6, 2023 // A CWA rep told Fierce the agreement covers both customer service representatives – including call center workers in Ashburn – and broadband technicians. Frontier and CWA continued to negotiate on a new union contract after the previous one expired August 19 at 11:59 p.m. In July, CWA members voted to give union leaders authority to call a strike if CWA and Frontier “failed to reach a fair settlement.” As part of the deal, Frontier is committing to creating additional jobs, which will consist of 25 full-time regular Outside Plant technicians and 10 full-time regular Engineering Assistants, said the CWA rep.
This Labor Day, ask yourself: Are unions living up to their promises?
September 4, 2023 // Good people across the country may believe that handing more power to public sector union executives will fix teacher shortages or improve ineffective government programs. Instead, these good people should reflect this Labor Day and ask themselves whether public sector unions have lived up to these promises over the past 50 years. They should also ask how we can hold union executives accountable and improve how public sector unions work. Unfortunately, anyone trying to advance ideas to improve public sector unions soon discovers union executives aren’t interested. Public sector union executives will go to war to ensure they keep their power — even at the expense of the employees they purportedly represent.
Unions Against Teachers
August 29, 2023 // Many teachers comply, despite disagreement with the union, simply to avoid perceived or actual liability. Among those who don’t, many would rather quit than get dragged to court or end up in the local news over a political dustup.
AFGE Urges Congress to Pass Bill Reinstating Federal Tax Deduction for Union Dues
August 1, 2023 // The Tax Fairness for Workers Act, H.R. 4963, would restore the tax deductibility of union dues for workers and would create an “above the line” deduction for unions so workers can use it even if they don’t itemize. The bill, which currently has 158 co-sponsors, would also help workers by restoring the deduction for unreimbursed employee expenses including job search expenses, travel, out of pocket cost of uniforms and tools, and other costs related to being an employee. AFGE thanks Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Donald Norcross, D-N.J., for introducing his important bill. AFGE also thanks Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., for leading the Senate bill, S. 738, which has 39 co-sponsors.