Posts tagged Labor cost
Opinion: Collective Manipulation; Whether in courts or in legislatures, public employee unions need to be reined in.
February 22, 2023 // The book contains countless examples of collective bargaining agreements effectively allowing employees to get away with gross misconduct and preventing managers from sanctioning them for lackluster work. An EPA employee was caught surfing porn in his cubicle at work and was paid for nearly two years before agreeing to retire. An IRS agent systematically denied benefits to African immigrants, repeatedly made discriminatory remarks in the office, and tried to run another employee off the road. His union lawyers got him a deal that left him with a clean personnel record when he left the agency, allowing him to get a job with the Forestry Service. “As a practical matter,” Howard writes, “almost no public employee can be dismissed without a massive managerial commitment,” and even that commitment does not guarantee success. California has 300,000 teachers and only about two or three a year lose their jobs because of poor performance. At the federal level, more employees die at work than face termination for poor performance. Public sector unions provide more than direct financial contributions to political campaigns. Howard recounts how they recruit and train candidates, manage phone banks, lead door-to-door canvassing drives, staff campaigns, and run ads. Such union political activity makes them larger and more influential than other political interest groups. The protracted legal battles former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker faced after he proposed reining in public-union power supports Howard’s thesis that union power is formidable. Walker beat a union-led recall effort against him, but union opposition to modest changes led to electoral annihilation in New Jersey in the 1990s.
Starbucks will go grande on workforce-lite future
January 6, 2023 // At the same time, Starbucks is moving quickly to automate, which will continue into 2023 under incoming CEO Laxman Narasimhan. In September, it laid out a reinvention plan that includes robotizing more in-store tasks. An investor presentation recently outlined plans to “simplify operations” and “leverage automation.” Many companies like McDonald’s (MCD.N) and Target (TGT.N) have had to find technological solutions just as workers seek higher wages. Over 12 months through November, hourly wages for private, nonfarm workers have increased more than 5% to $32.82, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistic. Labor costs are eating into margins that are also being squeezed by rising prices for materials and transportation. If an ornery workforce can be replaced by a robotic one, there’s no better time than the present.
Fears rise that UC strike could have long-lasting consequences on vaunted research, teaching
November 30, 2022 // “As long as this strike lasts, faculty across the system will be exercising their right to honor the picket line by refusing to conduct university labor up to and including submission of grades — labor that would not be possible without the labor of all other academic workers as well as university staff,” the faculty said in a statement. “We do this toward bettering the working and learning conditions of all students present and future.” The union is demanding significant pay increases to ease the burden of high rents in the pricey areas where UC campuses are located, along with more support for child care, parental leave, transportation, healthcare and international students. UC’s offers of wage increases don’t come close to meeting union demands but would make academic workers some of the highest paid among comparable public and private institutions, university officials say.
The Motor City is moving south as EVs change the automotive industry
August 15, 2022 // Detroit is the city that “put the world on wheels,” but it’s towns like Spring Hill and others in neighboring states that are attracting the most investments from automakers in recent years, as production priorities shift to a battery-powered future with electric vehicles. Companies more than ever want to build EVs where they sell them, because the vehicles are far heavier and more cumbersome to ship than traditional models with internal combustion engines. They also want facilities for battery production to be close by to avoid supply chain and logistics problems. SPRING HILL, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Hyundai Motor, Rivian Automotive, workforce, supply chain and logistics, lowest electricity prices,
Op-ed: Proposed ‘FAST Act’ directly assaults CA’s restaurant industry
August 8, 2022 // Assembly Bill 257 – known as the “FAST Act” – has been pushed through the legislative process under the guise of helping California workers in the counter-service restaurant community. If enacted, the bill – sponsored by the Service Employees International Union – would set aside existing labor laws in favor of new rules developed and enforced by 13 unelected political appointees with zero oversight. In short, the FAST Act will take away great jobs for workers, harm consumers, raise prices, stifle competition, diminish entrepreneurship and create layers of unnecessary bureaucracy – all because of a false narrative. limited-service restaurant industry, unelected statewide council, wage and hour violations, California Restaurant Association
Commentary: Is the labor market really as good as the administration says?
July 27, 2022 // Most significantly, 18 months’ worth of bonus unemployment benefits that paid most people more to stay on the sidelines than to work caused millions of people to leave the labor market. Meanwhile, Washington stimulated consumer and business demand for goods and services by flooding the economy with trillions of dollars in so-called COVID-19 relief — about half of which was money printed by the Federal Reserve.
Rising nurses’ salaries impacting Illinois hospitals
May 31, 2022 // Wilhelmi says IHA’s hospitals will do everything they can to keep all their services available, but they are at risk. He notes that is why they continue to look for other ways to reduce costs and petition the government for relief.
Worker productivity saw its biggest drop since 1947 in the first quarter—but experts say the headline figures don’t tell the whole story
May 9, 2022 // American workers’ productivity dropped sharply in the first quarter of 2022, notching the largest three-month decline since 1947. Non-farm productivity, which measures worker output against hours worked, sank 7.5% from January through March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday.
Big Labor is Targeting Banks and Credit Unions??
March 28, 2022 // Recent successful efforts by big labor to organize and unionize bank and credit union workers in New York, Washington, Oregon and California, highlight the financial industry’s vulnerability. Of course, supervisors and managers are generally prohibited from assisting and excluded from forming a labor union under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), nearly every other type of employee in the private sector is generally free to organize and bargain collectively with their employer and engage in other protected concerted activities related to terms and conditions of employment, or choose to refrain from such activities. Being simply employed by a bank, credit union or other financial institution does not prevent the worker from forming or joining a union under the NLRA.
Gig Economy May See Tougher Contractor Rule After Court Victory
March 18, 2022 // “If David Weil were to be confirmed, there’s little doubt as to how he feels about the independent contractor issue with respect to the AI that he issued,” Lotito said. While the agency’s day-to-day work under acting administrator Jessica Looman doesn’t depend on a Senate-confirmed leader, the absence of a permanent administrator can slow down the agency’s ability to advance large policy changes.