Posts tagged Manufacturing
Commentary: Who Is Big Labor, Anyway?
February 5, 2025 // If the Current American Plurality wants to hold together, it will need to find ways to support workers as a whole, not cheaply chase the union members that BLS and other data reveal to be unripe for recruitment by throwing more traditional members of the coalition under the bus. The Taft-Hartley Consensus approach to labor relations, which Republicans have advanced for 80 years, offers the opportunity for those workers who freely choose to organize unions to continue to do so while protecting the rights of workers who choose not to form unions or choose to work independently. It should not be cheaply abandoned in service to myths about whom the conservative movement is seeking to court.
Commentary: New Hampshire could boost manufacturing jobs with one simple trick: becoming a right-to-work state
December 17, 2024 // Policymakers hoping to help specific industries tend to suggest protectionist measures (such as tariffs). But with manufacturing, as with the economy as a whole, recent research shows that enhancing individual freedom by repealing protectionist regulations is a more effective way to stimulate significant job growth. To create a surge in domestic manufacturing jobs, all a state has to do is pass a right-to-work law.
Oregon’s largest union rejoins labor federation AFL-CIO after two decades
November 29, 2024 // Nationally, SEIU and the Teamsters union split from AFL-CIO in 2005, citing disagreements over how to stem the decline in union membership and the AFL-CIO’s focus on national politics over labor organizing. The Oregon affiliate, SEIU 503, followed its national organization. SEIU members spent the past year, following 2023′s “summer of strikes,” talking about what they wanted out of the labor movement, which has grown and seen workers emboldened by a tight labor market push for higher wages and better benefits. One key theme was that they wanted to be in solidarity with other workers, SEIU 503 Executive Director Melissa Unger said.
Boeing to lay off over 2,200 workers in US states of Washington and Oregon
November 18, 2024 // Boeing will lay off more than 2,200 workers in the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon, according to filings posted on Monday, as part of the debt-heavy U.S. planemaker's plan to cut 17,000 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce.
Boeing Will Pay Furloughed Staff But Cut 10% Of Jobs After Settling Strike
November 11, 2024 // Ortberg also reiterated the companys plans to slash its workforce by about 10% of its 170,000-strong headcount across the US and other countries. The CEO first detailed these plans on October 11, when Boeing published its preliminary Q3 results. At the time, the executive said that the company had to reset its workforce levels to align with its financial reality and to focus on critical priorities.
How AI Is Impacting Labor Relations—and Why Employers Need to Pay Attention
October 25, 2024 // One key takeaway from the DOL guidelines is the importance of worker involvement. In unionized workplaces, rolling out AI without worker input is risky. Unions are already pushing back, trying to ensure that AI doesn’t replace jobs or erode working conditions. Employers should expect collective bargaining proposals that set clear parameters around AI usage, from performance monitoring to task automation. Industries like entertainment are leading the charge, with unions such as SAG-AFTRA and the WGA negotiating limits on AI-generated scripts and digital replicas. At ports, the International Longshoremen’s Association is resisting fully automated systems. These are clear signs that AI’s impact on labor is at the top of many unions’ minds.
Commentary Is Big Labor Reducing Worker Wages, Opportunities for Growth?
September 3, 2024 // But the Biden-Harris administration’s embrace of Big Labor—as in big national labor organizations, as opposed to small, local unions—actually hasn’t helped workers as unionized workers’ wages have fallen behind the wages of nonunion workers over the past four years. Unlike small local unions that are in better positions to represent the unique needs of their members and that may even have productive relationships with management, the Big Labor movement is increasingly putting politics, power, and one-size-fits-all policies above the personal well-being of many workers.
Harris secures support from union leaders. But workers are still weighing their options.
August 14, 2024 // A video message from Fain praising Walz on the union’s Facebook page elicited a tsunami of negative comments from factory workers across the country, many of whom voiced their support for the Republican ticket.
Commentary: South Carolina should resist UAW campaign to unionize auto plants
July 24, 2024 // For example, the UAW’s strike against the Big Three automakers in Michigan last year resulted in significant layoffs, despite being seen as a victory for the union. Stellantis recently announced temporary layoffs of 1,600 workers in Michigan, and the Big Three have collectively announced over 18,000 layoffs since agreeing to the union's burdensome new contract.
Union workers at downsizing tractor factory weigh Biden vs. Trump
July 16, 2024 // Trump and his populist strain of protectionist policies such as tariffs on Chinese goods accelerated a drift toward Republicans by unionized workers. A question in this year’s race is whether unions such as the UAW can reverse this migration. “Joe Biden is the most pro-union president in American history, the first president to walk a picket line, the defender of more than 1 million pensions, and a champion for working people over greedy corporations," a Biden campaign spokesperson said. A campaign spokesperson meanwhile said Trump has made "historic gains with longtime Democrat constituencies including African Americans, young people and union workers."