Posts tagged Kentucky
ARKANSAS BILL WOULD END GOVERNMENT COLLECTION OF UNION DUES FROM TEACHERS’ PAYCHECKS
March 28, 2023 // Just weeks after passing the largest education reform in state history, Arkansas lawmakers are now considering a bill that would better protect both taxpayers and teachers in the Natural state by preventing government employers from deducting union dues or political contributions from public school employees’ paychecks. “Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has taken major steps to make good on her promise to be the education governor that others should aspire to,” said Rusty Brown, southern director for the Freedom Foundation. “The governor has already signed into law the largest teacher salary increase in state history, moving Arkansas from having some of the lowest teacher salaries in the country to among the five highest in the nation. I defy any teachers’ union to show where they’ve done the same.”
Southern States Moving Bills to Reinforce Janus Ruling
March 23, 2023 // Moreover, while the Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma proposals all include provisions not specifically mentioned in the Janus ruling as written by Justice Samuel Alito and affirmed by four of his colleagues, each is entirely consistent with its unambiguous intent. The ruling clearly states, “Neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a nonmember’s wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay.”
Amazon workers in Kentucky hold rally to start process of unionizing
March 20, 2023 // The workers are demanding representation at all disciplinary meetings, a starting pay of $30 an hour, and 180 hours of paid time off.
Video: ALEC’s Labor of Love: A History of Championing Worker Freedom
March 10, 2023 // Today, ALEC debuts its first episode, “Worker Freedom,” in our 50th anniversary video series. The episode features ALEC champions Scott Walker (45th Governor of Wisconsin), Matt Hall (Michigan House Minority Leader and ALEC Board of Directors Member), and Vinnie Vernuccio (Senior Fellow, Mackinac Center), discussing ALEC’s pivotal role in securing Worker Freedom policy wins across the states. In some states, private sector workers can be forced to join, leave, or pay fees to a union as job requirement. The Right-to-Work Act, which ALEC task forces approved as a model policy, provides a solution to this issue. It prevents private employers from requiring or banning union membership (or fees) as conditions for employment, giving workers in Right-to-Work states a guaranteed right to support a union or not to support a union without this choice affecting their hiring or job security.
Federal Labor Board to Prosecute Kentucky Steelworkers Union for Threatening, Seizing Money from Northern KY Worke
February 1, 2023 // Former Duro Hilex Poly employee filed charges against union and employer in 2022, National Labor Relations Board complaints affirm employee allegations
Union membership grows the fastest of any state in Tennessee over the past two years
January 24, 2023 // The number of Tennessee workers belonging to labor unions has grown over the past two years at the fastest rate of any state in the country. Fueled by a growth in unionized government employees, building trades and autoworkers, union membership in Tennessee jumped by more than 39% from the pandemic low in 2020 to reach 163,000 members last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For all its gains, however, organized labor still represents only a fraction of workers in Tennessee, especially in the private sector. Last year, 5.5% of all workers across Tennessee were union members, or only about half of the 10.1% share of workers nationwide who belong to a labor union, according to the statistics bureau.
Labor union wants more SC auto workers, manufacturers split on response
January 18, 2023 // The UAW has about 55,000 members working in the southern states — about 15 percent of union active members nationwide — building Daimler trucks in North Carolina, SUVs in Tennessee, and automotive and airplane parts in Alabama. About 2,500 members live in South Carolina, but most are retirees or surviving spouses. The number of working UAW members in South Carolina statewide is 364. Palmetto state’s lack of members is consistent with the state’s overall ranking of having the lowest percentage of unionized workers nationwide — just 2 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Louisville’s Year of the Union?
January 2, 2023 // Three Starbucks stores, including one across the Ohio River in Clarksville, Ind. A union drive is underway at another Louisville store. (Starbucks Workers United) All 17 Heine Brothers coffee stores (National Conference of Firemen and Oilers 32BJ/Service Employees International Union of Kentucky) Half-Price Books (United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227) Public defenders (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 369) Courier-Journal (Courier Journal Guild-The News Guild-Communications Workers of America Local 34070) Sysco Louisville drivers (Teamsters Local 89)
Morris Tri-State Asphalt Workers Decisively Vote Out Teamsters Union Officials
December 16, 2022 // Morris-based Tri-State Asphalt employee Brent Johnson and his coworkers have successfully voted Teamsters Local 179 union officials out of their workplace, following Johnson’s filing of a worker-backed petition earlier this month requesting a vote to remove the Teamsters union. Johnson received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation in filing the petition for his coworkers. The vote, conducted by Indianapolis-based National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 25, tilted overwhelmingly against continued union boss control, with nearly 80 percent of the employees voting to reject the union. The NLRB is the agency responsible for enforcing federal private-sector labor law, which includes holding union “decertification votes” among workers.
Workers try to unionize largest Amazon Air Hub in the world
December 7, 2022 // Ritze says an organizing committee of about 10 people is busy recruiting more people to learn about the union. "We're just really expanding that larger group around us right now ‒ across the different shifts and everything," he said. There are currently no national unions taking the local effort under their wing. The NLRB will conduct an election if at least 30% of workers sign cards or a petition saying they want a union. Then, if the majority of people vote in favor of a union, collective bargaining can begin. Alternatively, a workplace may voluntarily recognize a union.