Posts tagged Labor Market
Despite Biden’s Efforts to Empower Unions, Membership Rates and Wage Advantages Fall to All-Time Lows
January 24, 2024 // So, why have unionization rates and union wages been falling despite significant union-organizing efforts at places such as Starbucks, Amazon and Trader Joe’s, as well as President Joe Biden’s “whole of government” approach toward increasing unionization? Primarily, it’s because unions aren’t providing things that workers want or need. Many workers don’t like unions spending their dues on politics instead of representation, their not infrequent deception and coercion to gain support or their rigid structures that impede flexibility and prohibit performance-based pay. Meanwhile, by engaging directly with their employers, workers have been able to achieve stronger wage gains (albeit entirely erased by inflation), increased workplace flexibility, expanded benefits (such as paid family leave) and a multitude of educational opportunities.
McLayoffs Incoming: McDonalds Embracing Google’s AI For Online Ordering
December 14, 2023 // The American worker's plan to phase themselves out of the job market once and for all is almost complete. At least, that's what the case looks to be like at McDonald's. The fast food restaurant, which has already adopted self-serve kiosks in store, is now tapping Google's AI for its online ordering experience. In a press release out late last week, McDonald's said the partnership "is a significant step for McDonald's in advancing its restaurant technology platform to become the most sophisticated and productive in the industry."
Wages are rising. Jobs are plentiful. Nobody’s happy.
November 21, 2023 //
Small business owners not optimistic as inflation, labor struggles continue: NFIB survey
November 14, 2023 // The NFIB's Optimism Index was 90.7 points in October, significantly lower than the survey's 50-year average of 98 A seasonally adjusted net of 17% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months and 61% of owners overall said they were hiring or attempting to hire in October – but 90% reported few or no qualified applicants for open positions.
From Hollywood to auto work, organized labor is flexing its muscles. Where do unions stand today?
November 9, 2023 // There are also limits for organizers under current labor law. That means that what worked in auto workers' labor campaign, for example, may not look the same or be possible in other industries. Larger, more established unions typically have more bargaining power — and that's reflected in new contract wins seen today. “We have a labor law that was designed in the era in the 30s and 40s, when auto plants of 10,000 workers (were organizing)," he said. Starbucks is “split into these small coffee shops of 15 workers. ... They need to join together to have any kind of bargaining power against a big employer. But our labor law isn’t structured to help them do that,” Colvin said. Service jobs can also be hard to organize due to part-time work and high turnover rates. The same can be said for Amazon warehouses, where there have been pushes for unions.
Unions’ power ebbs and flows
November 6, 2023 // Unionization efforts have expanded but many are taking place where there is little history of organized labor, creating a higher bar for workers. Colvin points to Starbucks workers who have seen union drives clipped in the last year. Starbucks has been accused of chilling organization by closing unionized stores and firing pro-union workers. There are also limits for organizers under current labor law. That means that what worked in the auto workers' labor campaign, for example, may not be possible for other industries.
Unionization booms in 2023, but is far from 1950s peak
November 2, 2023 // "A very limited number of workers in California are unionized. Currently, it's about 16 to 17 percent," Bernick said, adding that the majority of unionized workers are in the public sector. A lack of jobseekers, a strong economy and the state mandating higher pay for many classes of workers, have helped wage gains in recent years, Bernick said. So, 2023 could turn out to be something less than a grand slam. "I've seen a number of events that have been pointed to as seminal changes in unionization in California, and they've actually had very limited impact," Bernick said. But the public, by and large, supports the organizing efforts.
Toyota Gives 9% Pay Bump to Most U.S. Auto-Factory Workers, Following UAW Gains in Detroit
November 2, 2023 // The UAW recently concluded a more-than-six-week strike at the Detroit automakers, after reaching proposed contracts at all three car companies for roughly 146,000 U.S. auto workers. Those agreements include a 25% general wage increase over four years, which the UAW says is more than members have received in the past 22 years combined. When cost-of-living adjustments are factored in, the increase would boost the top pay for Detroit Three production workers to about $42 an hour at the end of the contract’s term in 2028. UAW President Shawn Fain has promoted the wins in Detroit as providing momentum to a union that is looking to expand its membership more broadly in the auto industry, a goal that has been elusive in the past. He has signaled that the UAW’s next targets are U.S. factories at Toyota, Tesla and foreign-owned automakers that currently don’t have union-represented workers in the U.S.
UAW and Ford reach tentative deal to end strike
October 26, 2023 // The Ford deal includes the biggest contract wins the UAW has secured in years, including a 25 percent hike in base wages through April 2028, the union said. The agreement provides cost-of-living adjustments to wages that will help raise the top hourly wage by over 30 percent to more than $40 by the end of the contract, union officials said. The starting hourly wage will grow to more than $28. The deal also shortens the time it takes new workers to reach the top wage, and eliminates wage tiers that left newer workers on a lower pay scale, the UAW said. It also boosts Ford’s contribution to retirement accounts.