Posts tagged mediation
Podcast Newt Gingrich, Vinnie Vernuccio; Episode 837: Protecting the American Worker
May 5, 2025 // Newt’s guest is Vincent Vernuccio, president and co-founder of the Institute for the American Worker. They discuss the significant labor policy developments and legislative efforts aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in both public and private sectors. Their conversation covers the introduction of the Start Applying Labor Transparency (SALT) Act, which seeks to amend the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to ensure greater transparency in financial transactions between unions and labor consultants. Vernuccio also explains the implications of President Trump's executive action, Schedule F, which aims to make certain federal employees at-will to enhance accountability. They also discuss the challenges posed by public sector unions and the potential impact of Senator Josh Hawley's Faster Labor Contracts Act, which could impose arbitration on private sector union negotiations. Vernuccio emphasizes the need for modernizing union models to align with today's workforce demands for flexibility and merit-based advancement.
Federal labor mediation agency cuts staff down to ‘skeleton crew’
March 26, 2025 // The Trump administration is cutting almost the entire workforce at a small, independent agency that handles collective bargaining disputes in the private sector and across the federal workforce. The Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service is terminating most of its employees and services by the end of the day Wednesday, according to four employees who spoke to Federal News Network.
Inside The Now-Shuttered Federal Agency Where Employees Lived ‘Like Reigning Kings’
March 20, 2025 // The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) occupied a nine-story office tower on D.C.’s K Street for only 60 employees, many of whom actually worked from home, prior to the pandemic. Its managers had luxury suites with full bathrooms; one manager would often be “in the shower” when she was needed, while another used her bathroom as a cigarette lounge. FMCS recorded its director as being on a years-long business trip to D.C. so he could have all of his meals and living expenses covered by taxpayers, simply for showing up to the office. FMCS is a 230-employee agency that exists to serve as a voluntary mediator between unions and businesses. As an “independent agency,” its director nominally reports to the president, but the agency is so small that in effect, there is no oversight at all
Trump Targets Spending on Labor Union Talks in Latest DOGE Move
March 18, 2025 // President Donald Trump’s administration is mandating federal agencies report how much they spent negotiating labor union contracts for the past year, a sign that collective bargaining agreements could be the next target in a government cost-cutting push. An Office of Personnel Management memo sent Monday directs federal agency heads to report the amount spent on the collective bargaining agreement process, including how much they paid their employees involved in the negotiations, fees for engaging in mediation or arbitration and the fair-market-value of the office space used for the talks.
Op-ed: Josh Hawley’s union-friendly bill may open the door to right-to-work
March 17, 2025 // Hawley, who opposes right-to-work laws, may be inadvertently laying the groundwork for a national version of that same policy, protecting private-sector workers across America from getting fired for not paying union fees. Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act—which the Teamsters union has already endorsed—is billed as a means of stopping employers from delaying negotiations with labor unions. Under current law, businesses and unions are required to negotiate in good faith, and there’s no deadline for an agreement because workers and job creators need time to reach the best deal.
VTA asks for Gov. Newsom’s intervention to force striking union employees back to work
March 17, 2025 // The VTA, whose buses and light rail trains have been idled since workers walked out Monday, also disclosed Saturday filed March 10 for a Superior Court injunction to "stop the irreparable harm to the community." The transit authority argues that Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, representing more than 1,500 VTA workers, violated a "no strike" clause in its contract, even though the agreement expired at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
Providence and nurses at 8 Oregon hospitals reach tentative agreement after 26 days of strike
February 6, 2025 // Providence and nurses at its eight Oregon hospitals have reached a tentative agreement after 26 days of strike, in what the state's nurses union has described as the largest health care strike in state history.
OREGON: Elected officials join Albany teachers on strike, demand resolution
November 19, 2024 // The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Julie Fahey, was among the officials to join the rally Monday afternoon in hopes of putting more pressure on the district to settle the contract. Earlier Monday morning, teachers hit the picket lines as the GAPS teacher's strike enters its second week following the stalemate between the union and the district to resolve the ongoing sticking points.
Butte-Silver Bow County union workers still angry over contract negotiations, threaten strike
November 5, 2024 // In the meantime, the clerks union that consists of 65 members is adding its voice of malcontent. "Our position currently right now is that we are the lowest paid Butte-Silver Bow employees. Our employees are 12-13 on up, and what we’re looking for is making sure that these have a livable wage and making sure that they have health insurance and those types of things," says Jennifer Kerns, a county administration assistant and vice president of the Local 372. Kerns says so far, union members have voted down the current contract twice and will take their third and final vote next week. In her time with the union, she says she has never seen the clerks vote down a contract.
A Labor Dispute Inside The Department of Labor?
October 24, 2024 // Acting DOL Secretary Julie Su (dubbed "the union whisperer") is being accused of acting in "bad-faith" by her own DOL employees' union and wasting tax-payer resources.