Posts tagged Kamala Harris
Op-Ed: Two visions of government contend in the 2024 elections
August 20, 2024 // Trump cites mass immigration and U.S. job losses to other nations as harming American workers by increasing the supply of job seekers while reducing the demand for labor. Trump’s policy proposals focus on creating jobs and favoring current U.S. workers, attending to both sides of the problem.
Union leaders speak at 2024 Democratic National Convention
August 20, 2024 // “We are all in for Kamala Harris because Kamala Harris has always been all in for us,” said April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.
Trump courts union vote as Teamsters hold off from backing Harris
August 19, 2024 // But an internal poll conducted before Biden withdrew found that its members were closely split, with 37 per cent supporting Trump, compared to roughly 45 per cent for the current president, according to a person familiar with the polling. One forklift driver in Michigan, who asked that his name be withheld because he feared retaliation for speaking without authorisation, said that he and other Trump-supporting Teamsters believed the former president would help all workers by strengthening the economy and the job market.
Praise of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz written by nonunion staff during teachers strike
August 15, 2024 // In an internet post this week, the staffers accused NEA management of using people to take over the duties of union workers to compile an Aug. 6 endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of former NEA member Tim Walz as her running mate. The NEA has been stuck in a labor dispute with its staff union for months. Sent through Progressive Newswire, the press release includes the name and email address of NEA communications specialist Staci Maiers as a contact. She said management froze her out of the inbox last month after she helped organize a July 5 picket line that shut down the union’s annual assembly in Philadelphia.
Commentary: Why Labor Strikes Are Likely to Take Off under a Harris-Walz Administration
August 14, 2024 // It is worth noting that the United Auto Workers (UAW) want to unionize the employees of Musk’s electric-car company, Tesla. Fain was paid $228,872 as head of the UAW in 2023; the twelve “top officers are paid in excess of the [sic] $200,000 and hundreds more earn six figures, putting them in the top 5 percent of US income earners.” It is also worth noting that the “total dues-paying membership of the UAW fell by 13,000 last year to 370,000, down from 383,000 in 2022.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average autoworker is paid $30.78 per hour and works 41 hours per week, adding up to about $66,000 per year.
UAW files labor charges against Trump and Musk over strike remarks
August 14, 2024 // The UAW recently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 bid, while the union is also aiming to organize Tesla workers. Driving the news: The UAW said it filed the charges against Trump and Musk "for their illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes."
Harris secures support from union leaders. But workers are still weighing their options.
August 14, 2024 // A video message from Fain praising Walz on the union’s Facebook page elicited a tsunami of negative comments from factory workers across the country, many of whom voiced their support for the Republican ticket.
Walz will address union members in first solo campaign stop
August 13, 2024 // As Minnesota governor, Walz signed a variety of pro-worker laws supported by labor — most significantly paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave. He also supported laws that banned noncompete agreements, prohibited employers from holding mandatory meetings intended to persuade workers against unionizing, raised safety standards in warehouses and meatpacking plants, and expanded unemployment benefits to hourly school employees who do not work during the summer.
Minimum Wages Wreak Labor Havoc
August 9, 2024 // Let’s consider the recent experience of California. It raised the minimum wage of restaurant workers from $16 to $20 per hour. In just the first two months after the law took effect, 10,000 jobs were destroyed and prices at restaurants have risen. In 2019, lawmakers in New York City passed a nearly identical piece of legislation. They increased the minimum wage from $13 to $15 per hour (equivalent to $18.72 today). The result was eerily similar. 90 percent of restaurants surveyed had raised prices, nearly 77 percent reduced employee hours, and 36 percent eliminated jobs. As then-president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Grech, pointed out, “[small businesses are] cutting their staff. They’re cutting their hours. They’re shutting down.”
Hospitality workers’ union endorses Harris, dismissing Trump’s pledge of tax-free tips
August 9, 2024 // The Biden administration has countered that tipped workers would be better off with a higher minimum wage. President Joe Biden stepped down from the ballot roughly two weeks ago and Harris, whose portfolio as vice president includes organized labor, has embraced many of his existing economic proposals. In speeches, she also has pushed for rules to make it easier for workers to unionize. After replacing Biden, Harris has swiftly consolidated what can be a fractious Democratic coalition, including lining up support from labor unions. The AFL-CIO, which counts UNITE HERE as a member, has endorsed Harris after having backed Biden. The United Auto Workers on Wednesday formally backed the vice president.