Posts tagged Minneapolis
Federal labor regulators say Minneapolis Trader Joe’s illegally removed pro-union literature
June 7, 2023 // Workers from the four stores unionized with Trader Joe’s United continue to negotiate with the company over a first labor contract covering wages, benefits and working conditions. Ryther says discussions have been halting. Workers want to negotiate a single contract across all four stores and do so with a virtual option. The company wants to treat workers at each store as separate bargaining entities and has refused to bargain with a virtual hybrid option, Ryther said. Trader Joe’s United has filed a complaint with the NLRB alleging the company has bargained in bad faith for not coming to the table when union representatives tried to bargain with a virtual option.
Tied vote stymies union effort at Lower East Side Trader Joe’s
April 24, 2023 // A two-day union vote at a Lower East Side Trader Joe’s ended in a tie, handing a loss to workers who supported the effort, the union announced Friday. The final vote at the Essex Crossing Trader Joe’s was 76-76, legally marking a win for the company, worker-led union Trader Joe’s United said in a news release. Despite the tie, however, worker-organizers at the store said they would continue to fight for a union.
Will more Trader Joe’s workers vote to unionize?
April 20, 2023 //
Opinion: Collective Manipulation; Whether in courts or in legislatures, public employee unions need to be reined in.
February 22, 2023 // The book contains countless examples of collective bargaining agreements effectively allowing employees to get away with gross misconduct and preventing managers from sanctioning them for lackluster work. An EPA employee was caught surfing porn in his cubicle at work and was paid for nearly two years before agreeing to retire. An IRS agent systematically denied benefits to African immigrants, repeatedly made discriminatory remarks in the office, and tried to run another employee off the road. His union lawyers got him a deal that left him with a clean personnel record when he left the agency, allowing him to get a job with the Forestry Service. “As a practical matter,” Howard writes, “almost no public employee can be dismissed without a massive managerial commitment,” and even that commitment does not guarantee success. California has 300,000 teachers and only about two or three a year lose their jobs because of poor performance. At the federal level, more employees die at work than face termination for poor performance. Public sector unions provide more than direct financial contributions to political campaigns. Howard recounts how they recruit and train candidates, manage phone banks, lead door-to-door canvassing drives, staff campaigns, and run ads. Such union political activity makes them larger and more influential than other political interest groups. The protracted legal battles former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker faced after he proposed reining in public-union power supports Howard’s thesis that union power is formidable. Walker beat a union-led recall effort against him, but union opposition to modest changes led to electoral annihilation in New Jersey in the 1990s.
Sun Country fleet service employees vote to unionize
January 9, 2023 // Fleet service employees at Sun Country Airlines (NASDAQ: SNCY) voted this week to unionize, joining the Minneapolis Local 970 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The workers, who include ramp agents and personnel that load and unload planes, approved the unionization measure by a vote of 46-32. In a statement, the union said worker priorities including securing better wages and recognition of seniority, among other issues.
1,500 U of M workers to announce whether they will authorize strike
October 12, 2022 // The union workers are advocating for three main points: at least $20 an hour for every employee, pay increases that keep up with inflation, and the opportunity to work during the summers. Aldes said some union workers are still making less than $16 an hour. U of M also recently offered refunds to students with meal plans because staffing issues have led to limited meal options and dining hall hours being cut.
1,500 U of M workers to announce whether they will authorize strike
October 10, 2022 // The university told FOX 9 that the proposal it made last Thursday represented "the highest increase it's offered the Teamsters in 26 years." It’s an average increase of more than 5 percent, bringing the average pay to nearly $21.67 an hour. U of M also recently offered refunds to students with meal plans because staffing issues have led to limited meal options and dining hall hours being cut.
Healthcare Workers at Cuyuna Hospital Successfully Petition for Votes to Remove Union
September 22, 2022 // After miscounting the signatures, the NLRB Regional Director cited the “contract bar” as a reason for dismissing the petition. Had the Region not ultimately reversed itself, that erroneous decision could have blocked a decertification vote for three more years because of the contract bar.