Posts tagged nondiscrimination
Michael Watson: Big ESG’s Big Partner: Big Labor
April 20, 2025 // Unions’ principal interest in the ESG activism movement is on the “S” or “social” prong of the acronym. Both unions themselves, like the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and critics of unions, like the Institute for the American Worker, will argue that Big Labor views ESG as a category for advancing union organizing and other core union priorities. Proxy Preview shows unions and union-aligned groups (like city and state pension funds and the largely union-owned and union-controlled Amalgamated Bank) pushing shareholder resolutions demanding that companies “adopt a noninterference policy respecting freedom of association” or “respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining”—euphemisms for neutrality in union organizing. Under a neutrality agreement, the employer agrees not to present its views on the potential consequences of union organizing to employees, and it may agree not to confirm union majority support by a government-supervised secret-ballot election, instead using public union-card signatures (known as “card check”).
Teacher Alleges Discrimination, Segregation in Ca. Union
May 31, 2024 // “Race-based discrimination is both immoral and illegal, yet my union has decided to segregate its ranks by imposing a racial litmus test as a requirement to run for this board seat. Union officials apparently believe that the best solution to America’s shameful history of discrimination is more discrimination. I believe that their actions are an illegal and a divisive distraction from our educational mission.” — Isaac Newman
Graduate student worker strike averted as union, University reach 11th-hour deal
November 29, 2023 // Graduate student workers averted a strike Sunday evening when the Graduate Student Worker Organizing Committee and USC reached a tentative agreement on all of the union’s demands, notably on wage increases and a nondiscrimination clause. The agreement comes after seven months of negotiation. Meanwhile, the University faced pressure to finalize a deal with a Nov. 28 strike date if a deal had not been reached.