Posts tagged Kamala Harris
Commentary: Democracy and Labor Unions
September 18, 2024 // Unlike with politicians, there are no periodic reelections for unions. Millions of workers who have union representation have never had any chance to voice their preference for continuing with it or dropping it.
Commentary: There will be strikes this school year, and union-endorsed candidates won’t care
September 17, 2024 // Pringle has pledged to pour resources into campaigns “from the school board level all the way up to the presidency.” The NEA’s campaign war chest is formidable. Politico reported in 2020 that the NEA ran “a massive member campaign for [President Joe] Biden with digital organizing, phone banking, texting, virtual rallies and car caravans.” During its last reported fiscal year, the NEA spent $50.1 million on political campaigns and lobbying and directed a considerable portion of the $126.3 million allocated to “contributions, gifts, and grants” to political causes. Normally, Pringle keeps a low profile — her latest raucous rant aside. In contrast, AFT President Randi Weingarten revels in the spotlight and regularly reveals her political agenda.
Op-Ed: Labor unions are turning into roach motels for generations of workers
September 17, 2024 // So, if you're stuck in a union, the odds are you probably didn't vote for that union to be there -- someone employed by the company years ago voted for them based on different circumstances, but you have to live with the consequences as an employee of a company with a union stuck onto them like a barnacle. Only five percent of workers throughout the entire private sector voted for the union that supposedly represents them. Everyone else is their hostage, paying the extorted union dues whether they like or not, as a sort of ransom, yet never, ever, getting released.
Employment Law Landscape Could Change After Election
September 16, 2024 // During the Trump administration the NLRB majority narrowed the scope of the National Labor Relations Act in several key respects and established a more neutral approach to union organizing. The Biden/Harris administration, which styled itself as the “most union-friendly in history,” reversed virtually all of the Trump-era policies, significantly expanded the scope of the law, and tilted the organizing landscape in favor of organized labor, Hayes said.
US Steel Deal ‘Doomed,’ Says Union ‘Steadfast’ in Opposition
September 13, 2024 // United Steelworkers union says it will not be bullied into accepting Nippon Steel Corp.’s last-ditch efforts to win over workers for its takeover of United States Steel Corp., calling the $14.1 billion acquisition a “doomed deal” and pledging to fight any foreign ownership of the company.
Biden to sign executive order on labor standards during Michigan visit
September 6, 2024 // The White House touted Friday’s order as the latest step from Biden to prioritize workers and labor standards. The administration cited his creation of a Made in America office, a White House task force on worker organizing, a government rule to protect workers from extreme heat on the job and federal investments in apprenticeships. Biden’s trip to Michigan comes as he is increasing his travel, with a focus on his commitment to labor unions and his administration’s investments in communities across the country.
The labor movement could prove pivotal this election year
September 5, 2024 //
Trump and Harris, with starkly different records on labor issues, are both courting union voters
September 5, 2024 // By comparison, two days after taking office in 2021, Biden issued an executive order that established masking guidelines, and his administration made health and safety protocols on the job during the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic a high priority. Compared with the inaction by the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration has been more active in proposing health and safety measures. For example, in July 2024 it proposed rules designed to protect some 36 million workers from health risks associated with extreme heat. After a period for written comments, public hearings will be held on the bill. When Trump tried cutting OSHA funding for 2018 by approximately US$10 million, Congress blocked his efforts. The Biden administration is seeking a 3.7% increase in OSHA’s budget for the 2025 fiscal year.
Teamsters president said address to GOP convention was to highlight workers, not to endorse Republicans
September 3, 2024 // When asked on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” if he spoke at the convention because he feels former President Trump has been more pro-labor than any other GOP candidates, O’Brien said, “No, not at all.” “I spoke there because it was the ability to highlight how important we are. It was the ability to call out the people, the corporate elitist who forget who built this country, the American workers,” O’Brien continued. “You know, people like to, you know, have their own opinions on why we were there, but I was there to talk about the American workers.”
Commentary Is Big Labor Reducing Worker Wages, Opportunities for Growth?
September 3, 2024 // But the Biden-Harris administration’s embrace of Big Labor—as in big national labor organizations, as opposed to small, local unions—actually hasn’t helped workers as unionized workers’ wages have fallen behind the wages of nonunion workers over the past four years. Unlike small local unions that are in better positions to represent the unique needs of their members and that may even have productive relationships with management, the Big Labor movement is increasingly putting politics, power, and one-size-fits-all policies above the personal well-being of many workers.