Posts tagged paid sick days
Commentary: The tough fight to unionize Amazon
March 18, 2025 // Unionizing a gigantic 21st century warehouse with more than 4,000 workers is daunting. What economists call “the churn” of high worker turnover complicates solidarity-building. So does the heterogeneity of the work force at a place like RDU1 between its hip-hop princes, queer young Latinas and tractor-cap Trumpies along with migrants from more than thirty countries. The job’s grind makes mustering energy to raise labor’s flag tough too.
Gavin Newsom Wants to Curb a Labor Law That Cost Businesses $10 Billion
June 12, 2024 // Newsom’s office has brought together the state’s powerful California Chamber of Commerce with the California Labor Federation to hash out a compromise over the Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, people familiar with the negotiations said. The law has cost big and small businesses $10 billion over the past ten years, according to one study, and is viewed by labor advocates as a model of worker protection.The negotiators are in a race against time: June 27 is the deadline to strike a measure from Californians’ November ballot that would give voters the opportunity to repeal the law. The Chamber of Commerce is negotiating on behalf of a broad alliance, which includes the billionaire owner of the Wonderful Company, Stewart Resnick, car dealership owners, Walmart and McDonald’s Corp., along with small businesses across the state. The business coalition committed more than $31 million to entities backing the ballot measure, including the signature-gathering effort and an advertising blitz.
CenterPoint avoids strike after union workers vote to approve new contract
October 20, 2023 // Nearly 80% of Local 66 members voted in support of the new contract, and about 20% voted to authorize a strike, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, according to the newspaper. There were other issues leading up to Wednesday's vote, including proposed smaller pay increases, the proposed end to annual bonuses, and the disciplinary system for employee attendance. Allen said the approved contract will take away 3% of unionized employees' annual bonuses based on good attendance and driving records. The company removed a tiered disciplinary system for missing work, although, if work is missing, there will be no pay.
Who’s on strike and who’s close? Labor unions are flexing
August 8, 2023 // Recent decades suggest there won’t be a strike at more than one at once. UAW (United Auto Workers) typically picks one “target” at which to focus negotiations and possibly strike and then demand that the other two unionized automakers agree to the same “pattern” deal. That one really has the chance to hurt the Democrats since the union is very upset about the auto industry plans to shift to EVs (electric vehicles). They see EVs as a jobs killer because of so many fewer parts – it takes about one-third fewer jobs to build an EV than an internal combustion engine (ICE) car. And many of the EV jobs are at battery plants being built nationwide right now, but which are joint ventures between the automakers and foreign battery companies, and thus not guaranteed to be unionized. Even if those battery plants end up with a union, it’s not clear the joint venture will agree to UAW-level wages. The one UAW-represented plant in Ohio pays roughly half of what workers are paid at an engine or transmission plant owned by one of the Big Three (US automakers) and represented by the UAW.
‘Most Pro-Union President’ Runs Into Doubts in Labor Ranks
December 28, 2022 // Those who support more populist-minded policies say Mr. Biden has delivered in certain ways: enacting subsidies for domestic manufacturing and restrictions on trade with China and appointing regulators who have frequently gone to court to block large mergers.
RAIL WORKERS OUST UNION PRESIDENT WHO BACKED LABOR DEAL
December 20, 2022 // As members grew frustrated with the stalled negotiations process, Hall’s District 28 held a meeting where they voted to send a letter to Dennis Pierce “asking him to come down and, for lack of a better word, explain himself.” Pierce headed to Tucson in February of this year, and members weren’t satisfied with his responses. That’s when the district nominated Eddie Hall to run for BLET president.
Biden mends bridges with unions after rail dispute
December 12, 2022 // President Joe Biden has returned to the good graces of labor unions by announcing a $36 billion pension fund bailout that will prevent more than 350,000 truck drivers, warehouse workers, construction staff, and retirees from forfeiting their benefits. But Biden's intervention comes after he rankled the key Democratic constituency by urging Congress to enforce a tentative union dispute agreement between railroad companies and their employees in order to avoid a strike that would have crippled the economy before the holidays.
Rail workers warn of exodus after Congress forces through deal
December 8, 2022 // Railroad workers could leave the industry after Congress forced through a contract that does not provide them any paid sick days, an exodus that would ripple through an economy reliant on freight railroads to transport goods. The exit of thousands of train conductors and engineers would be felt by major corporations and U.S. consumers alike. It could slow the delivery of food, fuel and online orders while strangling already-shaky supply chains. Trillium Asset Management,
Railroad workers aren’t the only Americans without paid sick days
December 2, 2022 // While the vast majority of union members have paid sick days, the freight railroad workers do not. Among other demands, they have been threatening to strike in order to get paid sick days that are not in the current contracts. The railroads say that workers can use personal time if they need a sick day. But the unions argue that with current staffing levels and scheduling rules, it’s difficult for workers to have personal days approved, and they are likely to be penalized or even fired if they call in sick anyway.
Worry over rail strike prompts businesses to seek White House intervention
October 28, 2022 // Businesses are increasingly worried about the renewed threat of a railroad strike after two unions rejected their deals, and they want the Biden administration and Congress to be ready to intervene. A coalition of 322 business groups from a variety of industries signed off on a letter to President Joe Biden Thursday urging him to make sure the deals he helped broker last month get approved because a railroad strike would have dire consequences for the economy. All 12 rail unions must approve their agreements to prevent a strike next month.