Posts tagged overtime pay
Arrests, injuries reported at C&H Sugar refinery strike line in Crockett
July 23, 2026 // In a statement, a C&H spokesperson said, "Union members outside our gates are engaged in reckless and unsafe actions, endangering the health and safety of drivers, independent contractors and their fellow employees as well as unlawfully blocking commerce in and out of our refinery." The statement continued: "We call on the ILWU to stop the reckless, dangerous and illegal activity, and come to the table to finalize an agreement." As deputies continued ordering people to leave the area Tuesday, union leaders said the two injured workers were members of Local 10. One worker was transported to Kaiser Permanente Richmond Medical Center for treatment.
Report: 5 unintended effects kicked in after California raised minimum wage
July 10, 2026 // So the $20 wage may technically work. Some workers really do earn that much per hour now. But the bigger goal, helping fast food workers build a stable life, is slipping away in a different direction. The jobs are shrinking. The hours are shrinking. And the restaurants of the future may not need a person at the counter to hand you your food at all.
GOP’s populists flex muscles with wins on Capitol Hill
May 29, 2026 // F. Vincent Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker think tank, which has argued against the bill, pointed to hesitation that one union official expressed about that format in a Senate hearing last year, calling it undemocratic. “It takes away the whole point of a union because it takes away the vote from workers, and that’s exactly what the Faster Labor Contracts Act would do,” Vernuccio told The Hill. “If the union and the employer can’t come to an agreement within 120 days, this arbitration panel that’s appointed by government bureaucrats would write everything in that contract.”
Op-ed: Kathy Hochul’s Get-Past-November Budget
May 28, 2026 // Now for the category of making the state less affordable: Democrats reversed some of the state’s 2012 pension reforms. Teachers hired since those reforms will now be able to retire at age 58, instead of 63. The budget also slashes employee contributions to their pensions, and allows police and firefighters to count more overtime pay toward their pension calculations. These pension sweeteners are expected to cost the state and local governments $557 million a year. That will invariably mean higher taxes down the road. Democrats are helping Mr. Mamdani pay for them by allowing the city to re-amortize its pension liabilities, which will save $2.3 billion between this and next year while increasing costs in the long run by $5 billion.
Op-ed: This LIRR Strike Should Be the Last
May 20, 2026 // Public employees in New York do not have the right to strike. The RLA, however, supersedes state law, effectively granting the railroad’s workers this right. Much has changed over a century, and this exception should no longer apply. In 1966, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority absorbed the LIRR, making the railroad a public employer. In 1980, federal courts rejected an attempt to enforce New York’s strike prohibition, in part because the LIRR was still hauling freight at that time. It no longer does. Nonetheless, the federal exemption has proved a powerful tool for the LIRR’s unions. Each time their labor contracts come up for negotiation, these groups threaten LIRR riders, and New York governors, with stoppages. They’ve carried out the threat before, most recently in 1987 and 1994.
Republican centrists and populists combine to kill series of GOP labor bills
January 14, 2026 // Several of the GOP rebels also expect a bill led by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) that was teed up for a vote later in the week will also be pulled. That bill, the Save Local Business Act, would amend which employers would be considered joint employers of workers who worked for a different employer. The AFL-CIO argued this week that the bill would let “big corporations hide behind complex business structures.”
Education and Workforce Committee Passes 3 Bills to Expand Flexibility, Boost Earnings, and Hasten Back Pay
November 25, 2025 // On Thursday, the House Education and Workforce Committee passed three bills to boost flexibility, wages, and efficiency for workers. These three bills would modernize the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act to provide flexibility for workers, simplicity for tipped employees, and more efficient resolutions to payroll errors. Importantly, none of these provisions will cost taxpayers a single dime because they simply remove unnecessary barriers to flexibility and higher pay. In fact, at least one of the bills would likely save taxpayers from unnecessary administrative costs.
Congress Can Empower Workers Through Choice—Not Coercion
November 24, 2025 // A case in point is the legislative package that Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced on Nov. 10, joined by others including Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C). They’d protect workers’ paychecks by requiring unions to get approval before spending dues money on politics. They’d also protect workers’ privacy by letting them choose what contact information unions get during the organizing process. And they’d protect workplace democracy by requiring that at least two-thirds of workers participate in union elections — preventing a minority of people from determining the fate of every employee. Another praiseworthy reform is the Employee Rights Act, which Scott introduced in the shutdown’s early days after Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) previously introduced it in the House. Among its many good ideas, the Employee Rights Act guarantees the secret ballot and protects workers from intimidation and harassment. It also gives unionized workers in the 26 right-to-work states the freedom to negotiate their own contract with their employer, so they can better address their individual needs. And the Employee Rights Act guarantees that self-employed workers have maximum flexibility to design their jobs to fit their lives.
Spirit Airlines unions agree to pay cuts for flight attendants, pilots
November 19, 2025 // The Air Line Pilots Association said it has agreed to Spirit's plans to reduce hourly pay by 8% and slash its retirement account contributions by half from 16% to 8%. The amended collective bargaining agreement will last from the beginning of 2026 through the end of 2027. The airline agreed to incrementally restore the pilots' pay starting in August 2028 with a 4% raise and then another 4% in January 2029. Retirement contributions will return to 16% by July 2029.
Union Fights to Revive $3.5M Pension Win Against Jones Lang LaSalle
October 21, 2025 // In a Friday petition for rehearing, the pipe fitters and plumbers’ union — alongside several benefit funds and trustees — urged the Third Circuit to reconsider or rehear the case en banc, arguing that the panel’s split September ruling misinterpreted the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and ignored key principles set forth by the Supreme Court. At the Heart of the Battle: What Counts as “Hours Paid”? The dispute stems from a 2020 ERISA lawsuit accusing Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. (JLL) of failing to properly account for overtime pay when calculating pension contributions. The Delaware district court initially sided with the union in 2024, awarding $3.5 million in unpaid contributions, audit costs, liquidated damages, and interest.