Posts tagged Labor Law
Amazon Labor Union president tells Senate that workers’ rights aren’t a ‘Democrat or Republican’ issue
May 9, 2022 // “You’re singling out a single company because of your political agenda to socialize this country,” Senator Graham said. “Every time I turn around, you’re having a hearing about [how] anybody who makes money is bad.”
House tees up vote on union protections for staffers
May 9, 2022 // The resolution introduced by Rep. Andy Levin would address that by finishing a process the House began more than a quarter-century ago. When lawmakers passed the Congressional Accountability Act in 1995, they essentially removed a legislative branch exception to numerous federal statutes, including labor laws. But the House never took the final step of approving regulations issued by the Office of Compliance, now the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.
Associated Builders and Contractors addresses Sen. Sanders Budget Committee Hearing and Misleading Allegations
May 8, 2022 // The CRA states that, once an agency rule is disapproved by Congress, such a rule may not be issued in “substantially the same form,” unless it is expressly authorized by a subsequent law. A regulatory action pushing for a new Blacklisting Rule, even if narrowly tailored to firms that have been accused of violating the NLRA––as referenced in the chairman’s letter––would most certainly run afoul of the CRA and be subjected to litigation and create additional uncertainty for federal contractors.
Commentary: One proposal to modernize labor laws would benefit women; another could set them back decades
May 5, 2022 // The PRO Act seeks to regress to the 1950s workplace that denied workers the flexibility needed to balance work/life demands. The ERA would preserve the gains women have made and provide important rights of autonomy, privacy, and opportunity for women and men alike.
Bernie Sanders Announces Wasteful, Politicized Senate Budget Hearing
May 5, 2022 // In reality, this hearing is designed to paint a single company in a bad light and gin up momentum for the nascent Amazon Labor Union (ALU). By any fair measure, this hearing is outside the Budget Committee’s jurisdiction and is part of a government-wide effort to expand organized labor’s power at the expense of American workers.
Sanders hearing: Federal contractors are guilty until proven innocent, keep workers in the dark on rights
May 4, 2022 // U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, wants to stop workers from knowing about their rights and also go back to the days of employers being guilty until proven innocent. The Senate Budget Committee Chairman will hold a hearing Thursday asking “Should Taxpayer Dollars Go to Companies that Violate Labor Laws?”
Biden’s PRO Act is a covert tax hike on 7.7 million Americans
April 28, 2022 // The PRO Act has been one of Biden’s top priorities despite the fact that it has yet to move in the Senate. The PRO Act’s ABC test is a clear tax hike on millions of Americans, 96 percent of whom make less than $400,000 per year. If Biden is serious about upholding his tax pledge, a central part of his presidential campaign, he should kick the PRO Act and the ABC test to the curb.
Amazon Takes On the National Labor Relations Board
April 27, 2022 // In the 25 official objections Amazon filed with the board, the company argues that the NLRB’s “interference and mismanagement” prevented “a free and fair election” at its Staten Island facility. Among other things, Amazon alleges that the board arbitrarily excluded some workers from the bargaining unit in which the union had to show 30% support to hold a vote. The company also alleges the NLRB let union representatives distribute marijuana to workers in exchange for votes and intimidate workers opposed to collective bargaining. (The union’s lawyer told the Associated Press that the intimidation allegation is “patently absurd” and handing out marijuana “is no different from distributing free T-shirts and it certainly did not act to interfere with the election.”)
How Amazon’s unlikely union reflects the changing face of US labour movement
April 26, 2022 // Professional labour activists will be watching closely as the Amazon Labour Union faces its second test on Monday, as workers at a smaller facility across the street begin casting ballots in their own union election. It is unclear if the grassroots strategies that succeeded the first time — such as connecting over home-cooked meals and bus stop bonfires — will produce the same results at other facilities.
Column: Why Starbucks has become a huge unionization target — and why the company is in a panic
April 25, 2022 // Many American consumer companies, including Amazon and McDonalds, have been dealing with a surging interest in unionization by their employees, spurred in part by the pandemic-driven recognition that their employers have consistently undervalued their contributions to business success.