Posts tagged Mandates
MICHIGAN: Independent Contractor Restrictions, New Wage Mandates Advance in Senate Proposal
May 18, 2025 // Senate Bills 6 and 7 would reshape employment laws in Michigan by adding problematic and onerous new “wage transparency” mandates and penalties on ALL employers and industries. Although the Senate Labor Committee limited the California-style independent contractor test to the construction industry (NAICS Sector 23), the change will significantly hinder the industry’s ability to use contractors and subcontractors — including business-to-business relationships — ultimately driving up costs across the board.
COMMENTARY: Overregulating Local Firefighters Could Leave Us All Burned
October 29, 2024 // The proposed rule is yet another example of administrative overreach, spanning approximately 83 pages and incorporating an additional 2,552 pages of ever-changing industry “consensus standards” from the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). It is worth noting that the NFPA is a captured third-party organization heavily influenced by manufacturers and the International Association of Fire Fighters union. Mandating these standards is also flawed because the term “consensus standard” is misleading at best. NFPA standards, which are incorporated as “minimums,” are aspirational goals. In Connecticut, no fire department — whether career, volunteer, or combination — is 100 percent compliant with these standards. This discrepancy is not unique to Connecticut; rather, it reflects the reality across the nation.
Employment Law Landscape Could Change After Election
September 16, 2024 // During the Trump administration the NLRB majority narrowed the scope of the National Labor Relations Act in several key respects and established a more neutral approach to union organizing. The Biden/Harris administration, which styled itself as the “most union-friendly in history,” reversed virtually all of the Trump-era policies, significantly expanded the scope of the law, and tilted the organizing landscape in favor of organized labor, Hayes said.
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION CONTRACT COULD COST AT LEAST $10.2B TO $13.9B
June 6, 2024 // CTU wants massive pay raises, stipends and additional personnel – all of which are within the traditional scope of bargaining. It also wants the city to create new housing, levy new taxes, construct new parking garages, undertake new environmental initiatives, divest pension funds from fossil fuels, fully fund infertility and abortion care for members, subsidize weight-loss surgery and drugs such as Ozempic, add new members to the bargaining unit, offer free CTA passes for all students and employees, among many other things. The new contract also mandates certain positions to be staffed at every school, regardless of enrollment. The new positions include: librarian, librarian assistant, social worker, newcomer liaison, case manager, restorative justice coordinator, reading specialist and interventionist (elementary schools), three elective teachers (middle schools), technology coordinator, “Climate Champion,” and gender support coordinator and/or LGBTW+ lead/specialist and option to expand LGBTQ+ faculty support teams at each school. Because of the minimum staffing requirements laid out in the contract, this would constitute a minimum of 4,650 new hires. Based on the current average compensation for each type of employee, hiring the additional personnel would cost an estimated $1.7 billion.
Some of California’s best-paid public employees say they’re ready to strike. Here’s why
August 7, 2023 // Some of California’s highest-paid public employees are in an intensifying labor battle with the Newsom administration over staffing shortages at state prisons and hospitals that workers say endanger patients and staff. The union representing doctors and psychiatrists working in California correctional facilities said that 91% of voting members authorized a strike Monday. Non-competitive salaries, strenuous working conditions and an overreliance on higher-paid contracted doctors, make it difficult to hire staff physicians, said Dr. Stuart Bussey, president of the umbrella Union of American Physicians and Dentists.
Hunter Tower: Is Pittsburgh a blueprint for other union-dominated blue cities?
May 1, 2023 // SEIU leaders now hold key posts in Gainey’s administration. Silas Russell, SEIU Healthcare executive vice president and political director, co-chaired Gainey’s transition team. Maria Montano, former SEIU Healthcare communications director, is now Gainey’s press secretary. And Lisa Frank, former SEIU vice president and director of strategic communications, is now the city of Pittsburgh’s chief operating officer. Emails uncovered through right-to-know requests by CBS Pittsburgh reveal that Russell provided the mayor with union-generated talking points ahead of a meeting last year with UPMC officials.
Railroad workers aren’t the only Americans without paid sick days
December 2, 2022 // While the vast majority of union members have paid sick days, the freight railroad workers do not. Among other demands, they have been threatening to strike in order to get paid sick days that are not in the current contracts. The railroads say that workers can use personal time if they need a sick day. But the unions argue that with current staffing levels and scheduling rules, it’s difficult for workers to have personal days approved, and they are likely to be penalized or even fired if they call in sick anyway.
Construction and Taxpayer Coalitions Opposes Biden’s Pro-Project Labor Agreement Proposal
October 21, 2022 // “The proposal will injure competition and increase costs on taxpayer-funded construction contracts included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and other measures passed by Congress that fund public works contracts without government-mandated PLA requirements or PLA preferences. The coalition’s website, BuildAmericaLocal.com, features a grassroots campaign and a number of educational resources such as studies, op-eds, letters, talking points and a social media kit exposing problems with government-mandated PLAs and the Biden administration’s policies promoting anti-competitive and inflationary PLA schemes. The letter was signed by the following organizations: American Concrete Pumping Association American Fire Sprinkler Association American Pipeline Contractors Association American Road & Transportation Builders Association Associated Builders and Contractors Business Coalition for Fair Competition Construction Industry Round Table HR Policy Association Independent Electrical Contractors National Association of Home Builders National Black Chamber of Commerce National Federation of Independent Business National Precast Concrete Association National Ready Mixed Concrete Association National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association National Utility Contractors Association Plastics Pipe Institute Power and Communication Contractors Association Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Security Industry Association Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Media employees face no consequences for ignoring return-to-office requests — yet
October 7, 2022 // The rigidity of media companies’ return-to-office policies range from encouragement to straight-up mandates. But across the board, employees and union members Digiday spoke with at Dotdash Meredith, Hearst, NBC News, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal said they have not heard of anyone who has had to deal with disciplinary actions for continuing to work from home. (Notably, all of these newsrooms are unionized.)
‘She’s an arsonist pretending to be a firefighter.’ Critics say newly re-elected AFT head’s agenda is destroying education as she steers $12m to Dems and encourages beliefs like white teachers ‘spirit murder’ minority kids
August 1, 2022 // A glance at the AFT's spending under Weingarten's leadership is enough to eradicate any notion of political or ideological neutrality. Since she assumed leadership in 2008 the power of the union coffers has been harnessed and used almost entirely in the interests of the Democrats. In 2008 the union spent $2.6million on campaign contributions with 10 percent of that going to Republicans. Tiffany Justice, parental rights activist, Weingarten earns $534,240, eight times the average teacher's salary, Moms for Liberty, Daniel Buck, Chalkboard Review, Social and Emotional Learning, Stanford University professor Terry Moe,