Posts tagged non-union
Opinion: Democrats Attack Gig-Worker Benefits
July 23, 2025 // In a committee hearing on the bill last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders sidestepped the issue of worker benefits to address his party’s real concern—giving unions more power over individual workers. “These bills are about giving corporations the freedom to deny workers the right to form a union,” he said. Independent contractors can’t unionize under the National Labor Relations Act, so unions and the Democrats they support want to outlaw contract work, or at least deprive it of benefits that could attract workers. Democrats on the committee were united in opposition. This political opposition has deterred several gig companies from offering benefits. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has pledged more than $650 million a year to fund health insurance and paid time off if lawmakers would withdraw the threat of reclassifying the company’s drivers.
Bid Protests Offer a Way Around PLAs, But Will a Slow, Steady Precedent Win the Day?
June 25, 2025 // The OMB memo instructs federal agencies to maintain the labor pact requirements but also points to a Federal Acquisition Rule provision that provides an exception to the PLA requirement for large construction projects when its use would substantially reduce the number of bidders and impact the price. But it has left neither contractor groups nor NABTU happy. "To that extent this isn’t what we hoped for, it is definitely better than what was in place with the Biden administration,” Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and workforce at AGC told ENR. “In addition, given the recent court decisions, it is hard to see how the administration will be able to impose a mandated PLA without facing successful bid protests."
Costco Increases Pay to Over $30 an Hour for Most Store Workers
January 30, 2025 // Workers at the bottom of the scale will get raises of 50 cents to $20, according to the memo. The changes apply to employees at non-union locations. Costco, which is based in Issaquah, Washington, declined to comment. The company and the union that represents thousands of its workers are in negotiations over a new collective bargaining contract. The current contract is set to expire on Friday, and Costco Teamsters — which represents less than 10% of the company’s roughly 219,000 employees in the US — has voted to authorize a strike, demanding better pay and benefits.
Union investigates claims that Boeing is sending work to non-union locations
January 23, 2025 // Union officials worry that the company is using a company-wide downsizing mandate to send work away from the Seattle area, where SPEEA represents 17,000 Boeing workers. In October, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company would cut roughly 10% of its workforce, or 17,000 jobs, "to align with our financial reality." The U.S. planemaker recorded nearly $8 billion in losses through the first nine months of 2024. The company is expected to report more losses when it releases its year-end results on Tuesday.
Gov. Beshear says BlueOval SK plant in Hardin County will not be unionized
August 19, 2024 // During an appearance on Sunday's CBS Face the Nation, Beshear said when the Ford BlueOval SK plant opens, it will not be unionized because of an agreement reached between Ford Motor Company and the United Auto Workers. he agreement created an entity that allows non-union employees to work alongside union employees. “We respect those agreements and their negotiations,” Beshear said. “Now what did it mean? 10,000 plus UAW workers in Ford’s two other facilities in Kentucky got better wages, better benefits [and] a better life for their families.”
UAW moves to hold unionization vote at Volkswagen plant in Tennessee
March 18, 2024 // The UAW said a supermajority of eligible Volkswagen workers signed union cards to call for the election at the Chattanooga plant. The facility is Volkswagen's only assembly plant in the U.S. and employs about 4,100 workers who make the Atlas and ID.4. The union added that it "is the only Volkswagen plant globally with no form of employee representation."
UAW Wage Gains Filter Over to Non-Union Workers
November 29, 2023 // Volkswagen of America and Nissan are joining the cluster of non-union automakers offering their employees double-digit pay raises in the wake of contract settlements negotiated by the UAW in the wake of the union’s so-called “Stand-up Strike.” Both companies are no strangers to tangling with the UAW, fighting off organizing efforts within the past decade. VW, with the help of Tennessee’s Republican political establishment, blocked a UAW organizing drive by fewer than 100 votes in a 2019 vote supervised by the National Labor Relations Board. Nissan defeated a 2017 organizing effort in Canton, MS, by a 2-to-1 margin in a drive undermined by corruption charges which were then haunting the union. Earlier this year, Nissan says it defeated an International Association of Machinists effort to organize tool-and-die makers employed at the company’s manufacturing plant in Smyrna, TN, in a vote supervised by the NLRB.
Stellantis offers buyout packages to 6,400 salaried employees
November 17, 2023 // The company said Monday it was offering buy-outs to 6,400 non-bargaining U.S. employees, which is about half of the company's total work population. The "necessary structural actions" the company said it was taking was to protect its operations. "As we prepare for the transition to electric vehicles, Stellantis announced today that it will offer a voluntary separation package to assist those non-represented employees who would like to separate or retire from the Company to pursue other interests with a favorable package of benefits," said Stellantis in a statement.
UAW Urges All Unions in US to Prepare for May Day 2028 Strikes
October 31, 2023 // The UAW’s social media accounts expanded the call by reposting other organizers’ social media calls to align more labor agreements to end alongside the UAW’s contract. Mass strikes are a common occurrence in Europe. Just this year, more than one million French people struck to protest the government’s proposal to raise the retirement age. Hundreds of thousands of public service workers in the UK — including rail workers, nurses, postal employees and lawyers — struck for higher wages in the face of soaring inflation. In March, German air and rail workers banded together to bring travel to a halt as they demanded more pay.
NYC expands work from home pilot program to non-union workers
October 30, 2023 // Mayor Eric Adams' administration announced Monday they will now extend its remote work pilot to city workers not represented by unions. The pilot expansion will be offered to approximately 16,500 non-union employees allowing those eligible to work up to two days a week remotely depending on their job performance and specific duties.