Posts tagged Marty Walsh
White House touts ‘significant results’ of task force after 80,000 feds opt to join a union
March 21, 2023 // Federal unions saw a roughly 20% increase in bargaining unit membership governmentwide, with close to 80,000 feds joining a union between September 2021 and September 2022, according to a March 17 update from the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. The Biden administration credited the “significant results” to the work of the task force, a group that President Joe Biden created through an April 2021 executive order seeking to strengthen collective bargaining rights for federal employees. Following the initial executive order, the task force, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, laid out 70 recommendations to improve labor-management relations for the federal workforce. Similar to the first priority of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), the task force said it aims to position the federal government as a model employer, including through worker empowerment.
Op-ed: Why Biden’s choice for Labor secretary boggles my mind
March 14, 2023 // California Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, the Democrat who chairs the Accountability and Administrative Review Committee, told the LA Times, "(Su) has done a tremendous job on many different initiatives, but she has not done a good job at running the Employment Development Department and, as a result, has wasted billions of dollars and, more importantly, caused heartache for millions of Californians." Su also championed the drive to hike California’s minimum wage, a move wildly popular with her union allies, but one that poured gasoline on the fire burning in the state’s alleys, boosting retail prices, moving home ownership beyond the reach of even more state residents and forcing businesses to lay off low-skilled workers they could no longer afford to employ.
Opinion: Biden Labor Nominee Julie Su is a Threat to Independent Contractors and Freelancers Nationwide
March 2, 2023 // Su, who is currently serving as Deputy Labor Secretary, has a demonstrated record of mismanagement of taxpayer resources and will wage war on the nearly 60 million Americans that engage in freelance work. Before DOL, Su worked as California Labor Secretary. Under Su’s scandal-tarred watch, California’s unemployment system paid out over $11 billion in fraudulent claims, totaling 10 percent of all benefits paid. Estimates show that a further $19 billion in claims were improperly distributed. An audit spurred by Su’s failed leadership showed that her work was a “high-risk issue” and “inefficient.” Su will also raise your taxes. Su will likely push a national version (such as the PRO Act) of AB5 if confirmed, breaking Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 per year.
Biden Taps Scandal-Plagued Official to Lead Labor Department
March 1, 2023 // As California's secretary of labor, Su oversaw billions of dollars in fraudulent payments through the state's unemployment system, the Washington Free Beacon reported. The extensive fraud, broken websites, and more than a million unprocessed claims in the California system led to bipartisan criticism in Su's 2021 Senate confirmation hearing. "California is not a model to emulate for the rest of the country," said then-senator Richard Burr (R., N.C.). "What's worse about the fraud committed on California and the U.S. taxpayer is that it was entirely preventable." The Senate narrowly approved Su's nomination in a 50-47 vote. Su’s appointment satisfies the Biden administration's need for diversity, the AP reported:
Opinion: Let’s Continue to Fight for Freelancers
February 24, 2023 // New Senate HELP Committee Chairman and avowed socialist Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is eager to reintroduce the PRO Act in the chamber soon. The bill’s most recent version contained the following provisions: an ABC test that deems most workers employees and not independent contractors; a statute to abolish right-to-work; making union membership conditional for employment; and giving unions unfettered access to private worker information.
Ex-NYC mayor Bill de Blasio lobbying for Joe Biden to make him Labor secretary
February 10, 2023 // During de Blasio’s eight years as mayor, the Big Apple’s municipal workforce ballooned from 297,349 in June 2014 to a record high of 326,739 in June 2019. As of June 30, 2022 — six months after he left office — the number had declined to 304,095, due to a hiring freeze and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. De Blasio, 61, also struck deals with the city’s labor unions that included a retroactive pact that gave the nearly 100,000 members of District Council 37 annual raises of 2%, 2.25% and 3%. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Enter your email address By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The combined effects of his actions pushed total payroll spending from $41 billion to $53.4 billion, a 30% increase.
Marty Walsh to depart from Biden cabinet for job atop hockey players’ union
February 7, 2023 // By taking the players’ association gig, Walsh is now in line for a massive pay bump. Walsh makes a little over $200,000 as labor secretary. The current NHLPA executive director reportedly makes about $3 million. With Republicans taking over control of the House, Walsh would have faced significant congressional oversight from newly installed House Education and Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), former Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris, California Labor Secretary Julie Su and AFL-CIO Chief Economist Bill Spriggs
NHLPA ‘getting closer’ to naming exec director; Marty Walsh reported favorite
February 3, 2023 // The NHLPA said in a statement Thursday that it is "getting closer to completion" of its search for a new executive director. The man considered to be the leading candidate is Marty Walsh, the U.S. Secretary of Labor and the former mayor of Boston, TSN reported Thursday.
The Unionization Rate Went, Uh, Down?
January 26, 2023 // Meanwhile, unionization in the private sector is 6.0 percent (down from 6.1 percent in 2021). Perhaps this is because median weekly earnings among union members rose $47 in 2002, compared to a rise of $54 among non-union workers. This is the latest year in a declining union earnings premium that reached as much as 30 percent in 2007 but was just over 18 percent in 2022