Posts tagged Michigan
Detroit refinery union workers, Marathon Petroleum reach 7-year agreement, ending 3-month strike
December 17, 2024 // DETROIT: Contract talks started in December 2023. Around 270 union members went on strike on Sept. 4. It was the first time in 30 years that workers with Local 283 had gone on strike. The Detroit facility refines 140,000 barrels of oil per day.
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.
After two years without a contract, unionized Chipotle workers call for nationwide boycott
December 5, 2024 // In August, the National Labor Relations Board found that Chipotle violated labor law for allegedly telling employees it couldn’t provide raises because they were unionized. Chipotle does tend to pay its workers above minimum wage. Anisa Smith was hired in October for $13.25 an hour — almost $3 more than Michigan’s minimum wage. She said she agreed with her manager that she could work Monday through Thursday while her daughter is at school.
The UAW’s strike on General Motors might haunt workers
December 4, 2024 // The United Auto Workers at General Motors received a 33% pay raise as a result of last year’s strike, but GM announced another round of layoffs on Nov. 15. GM laid off 1,000 employees worldwide, including 507 workers at its Warren, Michigan, location. The news comes after GM’s tech center in Warren lost 634 jobs in August, and the company cut 1,314 jobs from its Orion plant in December, two months after the strike ended.
Nurses from Corewell Health East hospitals to vote this week on whether or not to unionize
November 12, 2024 // “We didn’t just decide to unionize with one hospital. We know for that this company that we're with, we have to have strength in numbers,” Johnson added. From Nov. 12-14, more than 9,600 Corewell Health nurses will have the opportunity to vote yes or no to unionizing.
Stellantis to lay off 400 workers at Detroit parts facility
November 11, 2024 // Stellantis added to its rising tally of layoffs on Friday, saying 400 workers at a Detroit automotive parts facility would indefinitely lose their jobs as the carmaker reduces costs in its struggling North American business. "As Stellantis navigates a transitional year, the focus is on realigning its U.S. operations to ensure a strong start to 2025," the company said in a statement.
Hydra-Lock employees vote to decertify their union
November 11, 2024 // “This is the latest in a surge of Michigan workers rejecting union bosses’ forced dues powers since the repeal of Michigan’s popular right-to-work law,” Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email. Public opinion surveys show that Michigan voters, including unionized workers, strongly opposed the right-to-work repeal, Semmens added.
Commentary: More Jobs, Fewer Workers: Is the Labor Market Strong or Weak?
November 5, 2024 // Even after factoring in the BLS’s acknowledgment that its reports overstated job gains by 818,000 from March 2023 to March 2024, there still appears to be about five times as many new jobs created over the past year as there are additional people working. While media reports and markets tend to focus on jobs reports, what matters most to the economy and to human flourishing is how many people are working. Currently only 60.2% of people ages 16 and over in the U.S. are working. This is a gap of about 2.6 million workers compared to pre-pandemic employment rates.
UAW’s Fain says strike will cripple Stellantis
November 3, 2024 // Kevin Gotinsky, who heads the UAW’s Stellantis Department, described the Local 1166 vote as a low-turnout election, with about 61% voting in favor. He said the union is confident it can get “everybody moving together” going forward, with a more aligned approach over the next three months. More than a dozen locals have withdrawn grievances filed as part of the process, according to the company, but the union can refile them. UAW Stellantis Department Director Kevin Gotinsky speaks during a rally outside of the UAW Local 51 office in Detroit on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, highlighting Stellantis' refusal to follow through on the $19 billion in product and investment commitments made during the 2023 Stand Up Strike. Strike authorization does not guarantee a strike will happen, but provides leverage for the union as it negotiates with the company, which says a strike under these circumstances would not be legal.
Hydra-Lock Employees Win Decertification Vote, Oust UAW Union
October 31, 2024 // After corruption scandal and Right to Work Repeal, Michigan workers win their freedom from UAW bosses and forced union dues