Posts tagged laid off
Color Of Change ordered to reinstate illegally laid off workers and pay back wages after NLRB Ruling
September 27, 2024 // Color Of Change, one of the nation’s largest racial justice nonprofits, illegally laid off workers in mid 2023, but the NLRB found that the organization, represented by Seyfarth Shaw, did not meet its obligation to notify and bargain with the union before taking action. It’s illegal for organizations to lay off workers after they unionize prior to winning a first contract, a period called status quo.
Opinion: Why union-free workers shouldn’t believe UAW bosses
April 16, 2024 // Even as laid off unionized autoworkers are expressing their dismay about the UAW brass, Fain and his minions are pouring, by their own account, $40 million in dues money extracted from workers like Woods and Roberson into campaigns to secure monopoly bargaining privileges over currently union-free autoworkers employed in right to work states. Fain’s message to production employees at facilities like the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is that they will get “higher pay, more paid time off and more generous health benefits” if they help UAW officials seize power to “negotiate” how they are compensated and managed. Given the miserable track record of making good on his word, Fain has already established during his still-short tenure as UAW president that there is no good reason Chattanooga or other currently union-free autoworkers ought to believe him.
F-150 Production Halted, Ford Temporarily Lays Off 9,700 Workers
February 5, 2024 // According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, Ford stopped production of the 2024 truck between January 25 and January 31, 2024 at its Dearborn Truck Plant. Production of America’s best-selling truck was also stopped at the Kansas City Assembly Plant from January 25 until February 1. The Free Press reports: “Production has resumed after being paused temporarily because of a supplier parts concern,” [Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch] said. “We are vigilant about ensuring that the vehicles our customers receive are built with the quality they expect and we are taking appropriate actions to deliver on that commitment.” Enoch said Lightning production was also stopped Jan. 25 through Jan. 31 because ICE production was stopped at Dearborn Truck; the Dearborn Truck paint shop services both the internal combustion and electric trucks. During the shutdown, United Auto Workers union employees working at both facilities were laid off temporarily. In Kansas, 4,500 workers were affected while the figure in Dearborn was around 5,200. However, workers are now back on site and regular shifts have returned at both facilities. Related video
Staffers at Malcolm Gladwell’s podcasting firm Pushkin Industries are unionizing
November 20, 2023 // Staffers at the cash-strapped company — which recently laid off dozens of employees — joined the Writers Guild of America East, the labor union announced on Thursday. The union said it plans to commence talks with the company “as soon as possible” on a collective bargaining agreement.
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.
Anderson Economic Group, LLC Reports Strike-Induced Auto Industry Losses Exceed $9.3 Billion
October 26, 2023 // Anderson Economic Group, LLC, a boutique economic consultancy based in Michigan, has calculated that the 2023 UAW strike against Detroit’s three top automakers has surpassed $9.3 billion in economic losses for the auto industry. These calculations encompass losses through the fifth full strike week, which ended at midnight on October 19. These figures do not include plant closures, additional strike targets, or layoffs that took effect on or after Friday, October 19. These will be included in our loss calculations in the sixth and any successive weeks. OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer, in this case referring to Ford, GM, and Stellantis.
Michigan credit unions offer assistance to workers impacted by UAW strike
October 24, 2023 // To assist these workers, who will be without their usual wage for an undetermined amount of time, credit unions around the state have reached out to their members to offer a wide array of relief options. Most common among options are skip-a-pay waivers, modifications to existing loans and new loan products with one-to-three month payment extensions. “When our members struggle financially, credit unions consistently step up with solutions,” said Terry Katzur, CEO of ELGA Credit Union in Grand Blanc. “We did it during the COVID pandemic when our members were without jobs and we are showing the credit union difference again as a response to the UAW Strike.” ELGA Credit Union is providing fee-free loan payment deferment for any worker impacted, whether they are a UAW worker on strike or laid off due to strikes, as are many non-union workers at auto parts suppliers. The credit union is also offering personal loans to UAW workers. LAFCU, the Lansing-based credit union founded by Oldsmobile employees 87 years ago, is offering special strike loans (up to $4,000 for 36 months at 8.99% APR), as well as debt consolidation, refinancing options and free credit counseling.
How state unemployment benefits impact the UAW strike
September 27, 2023 // "We were very confused if we were going to get (strike pay) or not," Halle Heinz, one of the Ford employees laid off, told WXYZ-TV in Detroit. "They were trying to hold as much strike pay as they could in order to make everything survive." Under Michigan law, UAW workers generally won't qualify for unemployment if they get laid off because of a labor dispute involving other workers at the same worksite, Brett Miller, an attorney specializing in labor law for Butzel in Detroit, tells Axios. UAW's Ohio and Indiana director is also navigating murky waters when it comes to unemployment. "It's clear as mud," UAW Region 2B director David Green told Crain's Cleveland Business. "I don't want to say all our members are going to get unemployment, because that's not going to happen." Disputes over unemployment benefits could end up in court, he said.
Workers at Elysian Brewing Have Unionized, and Want to ‘Set a Trend’
September 7, 2023 // Elysian is one of many craft breweries in the U.S. that is owned by multinational beverage titan Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI), which is sometimes vilified by smaller breweries. One curious aspect of the beer industry is that many of the facilities that produce ABI’s best-selling beers, are unionized, but craft breweries are generally non-union. The large number of craft brewers, most of which don’t have many employees, hasn’t been fertile ground for union organizers. But craft brewery employees across the country may be looking at unionization. They’re spurred on (like most workers who consider joining unions) by low pay and poor working conditions, but also by the realization that though craft breweries are often small, the craft industry as a whole is now a big chunk of the overall beer market. As ABI has bought up brewers, “craft” is no longer really synonymous with “small” or “anti-corporate.” (ABI has reportedly laid off workers at breweries this year in response to an overall decline in the craft beer market.)