Posts tagged National Labor Relations Board
Starbucks workers at 100 stores are planning three-day strike starting on Friday amid union push
December 16, 2022 // Starbucks workers around the U.S. are planning a three-day strike starting Friday as part of their effort to unionize the coffee chain’s stores. More than 1,000 baristas at 100 stores are planning to walk out, according to Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing the effort. The strike will be the longest in the year-old unionization campaign. This is the second major strike in a month by Starbucks’ U.S. workers. On Nov. 17, workers at 110 Starbucks stores held a one-day walkout. That effort coincided with Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives reusable cups to customers who order a holiday drink.
Opinion: The NLRB Requests More Funding, But Does It Really Need More Money?
December 16, 2022 // The Chair and General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently penned a letter to congressional appropriators, pleading for additional funding for the agency in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill, which Congress has not yet passed. The letter notes that its funding has remained at $274 million since 2014, but whether that should justify additional funding is worth scrutinizing. The NLRB letter declares that the agency needs “additional funding in FY2023 to simply maintain current operations without any investments in critical infrastructure and cybersecurity needs.” It further states that “we will be forced to reduce our operational capacity, including likely furloughs of the dedicated career employees at the agency, unless Congress provides funding to cover these costs.”
Key union organizing tactic backed by U.S. labor board
December 16, 2022 // NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran, a Democrat, said in a statement that the decision ensures that workers fully enjoy the freedom to associate with unions protected by federal law. The board's two Republican members, Marvin Kaplan and John Ring, said in a dissenting opinion that the decision improperly favors unions while ignoring whether bargaining units "will facilitate efficient and stable collective bargaining."
Morris Tri-State Asphalt Workers Decisively Vote Out Teamsters Union Officials
December 16, 2022 // Morris-based Tri-State Asphalt employee Brent Johnson and his coworkers have successfully voted Teamsters Local 179 union officials out of their workplace, following Johnson’s filing of a worker-backed petition earlier this month requesting a vote to remove the Teamsters union. Johnson received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation in filing the petition for his coworkers. The vote, conducted by Indianapolis-based National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 25, tilted overwhelmingly against continued union boss control, with nearly 80 percent of the employees voting to reject the union. The NLRB is the agency responsible for enforcing federal private-sector labor law, which includes holding union “decertification votes” among workers.
Progressives Push Congress to Shore Up Agency that Protects Workers’ Rights Before it’s Too Late
December 15, 2022 // “The fact that we have to have a press conference and draw attention to this issue shows what’s fundamentally wrong,” says Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of Our Revolution, whose members held pro-union signs as lawmakers spoke outside the Capitol. “The Democratic Party is not in touch with its roots.” It’s illegal to retaliate against workers for starting or joining a union. The NLRB is responsible for holding employers who violate labor law accountable and help parties in labor disputes reach settlements. But resolving complaints has often been slow, a situation that labor activists say deters efforts to organize workers.
Teamsters Union Officials Flee Albany XPO Logistics Workplace After Vast Majority of Workers Seek Vote to Remove Them
December 14, 2022 // Currently, the NLRB’s own data show that a unionized private sector worker is more than twice as likely to be involved in a decertification effort as the average nonunion worker is to be involved in a unionization campaign, with one analysis finding decertification petitions up 42 percent this year. “Officials of the Teamsters union – a union that has spent a large portion of its history under federal supervision – have a well-earned reputation for prioritizing power and control over the needs of rank-and-file workers,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix.
I4AW submits regulatory comments; shows support for worker freedom and flexibility
December 13, 2022 // The Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are doubling down on overreaching tactics that could have job-killing consequences for independent workers and franchise businesses.
The year labor organizing came to tech
December 13, 2022 // Tech's labor organizing is still in its infancy. Only a few unions have successfully formed, and most of those still face the often-arduous process of negotiating contracts with employers. Pandemic-driven labor shortages gave workers an unusual boost in leverage for a time, but that dynamic could change again as the economy slows down. The tech industry laid off over 120,000 employees in 2022.
Philadelphia Orchestra’s choir moves to unionize
December 12, 2022 // AGMA has given the Philadelphia Orchestra Association a Monday deadline for granting voluntary union recognition to the group, just as the members prepare to join the orchestra for next week’s performances of Handel’s Messiah. Griff Braun, an AGMA organizer, declined to say exactly how many of the group’s 100-or-so singers had signed union cards, but called it a “very strong majority.”
Starbucks workers get outpouring of support from local union members and allies at Labor Plaza rally
December 12, 2022 // Members from the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, the American Federation of Teachers, and numerous other union-affiliated figures came out to support the Starbucks workers. District 2 and District 5 council members Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and Teri Castillo also attended the event.