Posts tagged Kentucky
Government Unions are Down — But Not Out
September 10, 2024 // For nearly a decade, the Commonwealth Foundation has tracked state-by-state changes in labor laws. Every two years, the Commonwealth Foundation releases its research on the ever-changing legal landscape for public sector unions, assessing each state’s efforts to promote public employees’ rights or cave to unions’ entrenched influence. This fourth edition examines government unions’ attempts, following Janus, to hold onto and expand special legal privileges under state laws. The research also highlights the states reining in government unions’ power and influence by empowering workers.
Report: Interest in unionization on the rise in Kentucky
September 5, 2024 // But speaking of the auto industry, Kentucky’s largest auto-related project — the Ford BlueOval SK plant — will not be unionized. That’s part of an agreement between Ford and United Auto Workers. Recent data show less than 10% of workers in most of the south have union coverage, but proponents say they’re seeing renewed momentum they haven’t seen in decades.
Op-Ed: Florida vs. Michigan on Public Unions
August 30, 2024 // Each local union chapter must show that at least 60% of its eligible members are paying dues, or the state requires it to hold a new election. That sets teachers, clerks and custodians free from unions that haven’t won them over, and at least 20 units have been decertified in the past year. A few other states have also rolled back union coercion. Arkansas and Tennessee enacted paycheck protection for teachers. Kentucky legislators overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to secure the same. On the other side of the trend is Michigan, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a repeal of paycheck protection for teachers last summer. She also ended a requirement that schools pay teachers based on merit instead of seniority alone
10 States with the Largest Declines in Union Membership
August 26, 2024 // Daniel Li, CEO and Co-Founder of Plus Docs, commented on the findings: "It's interesting to see where states are seeing union memberships surge, especially as although there is a general increase in the South and Midwest, it is also true that neighboring states can see vastly different results. While Mississippi has nearly doubled its union membership, their neighbor, Alabama, has gone the opposite way."
Gov. Beshear says BlueOval SK plant in Hardin County will not be unionized
August 19, 2024 // During an appearance on Sunday's CBS Face the Nation, Beshear said when the Ford BlueOval SK plant opens, it will not be unionized because of an agreement reached between Ford Motor Company and the United Auto Workers. he agreement created an entity that allows non-union employees to work alongside union employees. “We respect those agreements and their negotiations,” Beshear said. “Now what did it mean? 10,000 plus UAW workers in Ford’s two other facilities in Kentucky got better wages, better benefits [and] a better life for their families.”
Trader Joe’s workers look to decertify union at first unionized store
August 16, 2024 // Workers at a unionized Trader Joe’s location in Hadley, Massachusetts, have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to hold a vote to determine whether to remove Trader Joe’s United from its role representing employees at the store, according to a Monday announcement from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which is assisting the workers. The petition includes signatures from “well over” 30% of workers at the store — above the threshold the NLRB requires to trigger a decertification election — the foundation said.
Opinion: UAW’s President Shares Union’s VP Wish List, and It Conflicts With Likely Kamala Pick Shapiro
August 5, 2024 // After a notable moment of dead air, Fain explained that the UAW has "really broken down these candidates, looked at them." Who is the top favorite? Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who, the union organizer pointed out, has walked the picket line with UAW, like lame duck Pres. Biden. He also gushed about the Bluegrass state progressive governor's ability to win reelection in a "traditionally" red state: He's been with us through every bit of our walk, and he's won in a state that [former Senate Majority Leader, GOP Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell is from. It's been a red state traditionally. He's won twice there.
Memphis union workers prepare to strike ahead of AT&T negotiation deadline
August 5, 2024 // Last month, CWA members voted to authorize union leaders to call a strike at AT&T Southeast if the current contract was permitted to expire before AT&T had reached a fair agreement with its union employees. Union workers are expected to hold strike watch parties in the final hours of negotiations before the current union contract expires at 11:59 p.m.
Amazon Labor Union members vote overwhelmingly in favor of an affiliation with the Teamsters
June 19, 2024 // John Logan, a labor history professor at San Francisco State University, said teaming up with an established union was like a “lifeline” for the independent ALU because the group is “going nowhere at the moment.” “Doing it independently is just so difficult when you’re up against a company like (Amazon), which is big, wealthy and is determined to defeat the union,” Logan said. The Amazon Labor Union’s 2022 victory in Staten Island remains its only election win to date. Yet the group is the only labor organization to pull off the feat at an Amazon warehouse in the U.S., in part due to opposition from the company and the sheer size of many of its facilities.