Posts tagged overtime
Teamsters overwhelmingly ratify UPS contract
August 23, 2023 // According to the Teamsters, 86.3% of voters ratified the contract, the largest margin in the long history of collective bargaining agreements between the two sides. It is unclear how many of the 340,000 unionized UPS workers cast ballots. All 44 supplemental agreements were ratified, except for a supplement covering 174 members in Florida. The national, or “master,” agreement will go into effect once the supplement is renegotiated and ratified, the Teamsters said. Each supplement covers specific regions of the country and is tailored to the needs of Teamsters members in the respective regions.
Marvel VFX Artists Vote to Unionize
August 8, 2023 // The unionization effort marks the first time VFX professionals have banded together in such a fashion, as this segment of the industry has largely remained non-union. IATSE represents more than 168,000 technicians, artisans and craftspersons working in movies and TV, but while “positions like production designers/art directors, camera operators, sound, editors, hair and makeup artists, costumes/wardrobe, script supervisors, grips, lighting, props and paint, among others, have historically been represented by IATSE,” the release explains, “workers in VFX classifications historically have not.” Added VFX coordinator Bella Huffman: “Turnaround times don’t apply to us, protected hours don’t apply to us, and pay equity doesn’t apply to us. Visual effects must become a sustainable and safe department for everyone who’s suffered far too long and for all newcomers who need to know they won’t be exploited.”
Opinion: TALKING TRANSPORTATION: Union Power and the Potential Strike at Metro-North
August 8, 2023 // The union, which represents car inspectors, coach cleaners and mechanics has been without a contract since 2019 and says MTA management is dragging its heels on a new contract. The union has entered mediation through the Railroad Labor Act but says the first round did not go well. Under New York State law the union does have the right to strike and that would pretty much halt train service. But the effect of that might be far less in these post-COVID times as we’ve all learned how to WFH (work from home). This labor unrest comes as the MTA admits it paid $1.3 billion in overtime last year. About 1100 of its employees doubled their salaries with OT. There are mechanics and MTA cops taking home over $300,000 due to extra duty. Under their contracts, available overtime must first be offered to the most senior (and highest paid) staffers so those veterans, closest to retirement, are raking it in.
San Jose city employees prepare for possible strike
July 13, 2023 // The strike school will start at 5:30 p.m. at San Jose First Methodist Church located on Fifth Street, across from the San Jose City Hall. Those attending include 911 dispatchers, library workers, public airport staff, water treatment center staff and union workers who maintain the city’s streets.
Workers at Georgia school bus manufacturer Blue Bird begin voting to form a union
July 10, 2023 // Organized labor represents an even smaller portion of Georgia workers, with only 4.4% of workers unionized. That’s the eighth-lowest union rate in the country, which is part of a belt of southern and western states where workers and employers have long resisted unionization. Union organizers at Blue Bird have filed formal complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the company’s anti-union campaign exceeded legal limits and unduly threatened and harassed employees.
In Advance of Senate HELP Markup, AFP Leads Coalition Urging Senators to Reject PRO Act
June 21, 2023 // Instead of supporting these bills that prioritize top-down government mandates and the preferences of union leadership over the needs of America’s workers, we call on lawmakers to defend and expand choice and flexibility for workers so that they are best able to address the challenges of and maximize opportunities in the 21st century economy. We strongly urge you to reject the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, the Healthy Families Act, and the Paycheck Fairness Act, and we look forward to working with you to pursue a path forward that puts workers, not special interests, first.
Workers on Strike at IFF in Memphis, Tenn.
June 6, 2023 // The Local 390G BCTGM members produce soy protein products which are used by companies including Nestle, Nestle Purina and Abbott Nutrition to manufacture baby formula, pet foods, soy-based nutritional powders and other food and beverage products.
Workers at Georgia School Bus Maker Blue Bird Begin Voting on Whether to Unionize
May 12, 2023 // Georgia workers at one of the nation's largest school bus manufacturers will begin voting Thursday on whether they want to be represented by a labor union — a chance for organized labor to make gains on the stony soil of the Deep South. More than 1,400 employees at Blue Bird Corp.'s two factories and warehouse in Fort Valley will be voting through Friday on whether they want to unionize under the banner of the United Steelworkers. That union represents more than 850,000 workers nationwide in a variety of industries.
Why baseball’s next unionization effort could come from MLB front offices: ‘We’re not protected at all’
May 8, 2023 // The lawsuit invoked the Curt Flood Act, a 1998 piece of antitrust reform named after the player who sued MLB to end the reserve clause. Judge Gardephe did not find the case convincing enough to transform the Wyckoff and Cox suit into the front-office employee equivalent of Flood's historic triumph; instead, he reinforced that teams were behaving within their rights set forth by MLB's antitrust exemption. "Because scouts' work has a direct and critical effect on the selection of players who will participate in the games that the public will watch," Gardephe opined, "their role cannot be characterized as 'wholly collateral' or 'incidental' to the business of professional baseball."
Audit: Widespread fraud, abuse of ‘extra pay’ in Chicago Public Schools
January 10, 2023 // "At one school, colleagues punched in a teacher’s ID number on days when the teacher stayed home from summer school," the report stated. In another example, one school district employee received nearly $150,000 in extra pay and other forms of supplemental pay over four years while clocked in at his school while casino records indicate he was visiting a casino. That same employee was paid for working two different types of supplemental pay jobs simultaneously.