Posts tagged pay and benefits
Texas sees surge in union membership, defying state’s anti-union history
August 14, 2024 // In total, there are about 586,000 union workers in Texas, a fraction of the millions who work here. And yet, the increase is somewhat remarkable given the state's long history of hostility toward unions. And nationwide, union membership dipped during the same time. Texas is one of 26 so-called right-to-work states. Texas lawmakers first passed that law in 1993. The law allows for workers the option to not pay unions due and the right to work in a unionized workplace without being a part of the union itself. And more recently, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a law aimed at stopping local governments from enacting progressive-leaning worker protections and other policies.
Sports’ Next Big Labor Movement
June 10, 2024 // Harry Marino led the charge to unionize minor league baseball players, eventually securing massive pay and benefit increases. Now he is turning his attention to a larger project: organizing non-union sports workers from coaches to stadium workers. He joins the show to explain what worked with the minor leagues and how he intends to build on that success with this next project under his new organization, Sports Solidarity.
ATLANTA SKY BATTLE AS FLIGHT ATTENDANTS RALLY FOR BETTER PAY AND UNIONIZATION AT DELTA’S DOORSTEP
May 22, 2024 // Delta Air Lines maintains a stubborn stand against the tide of unionization, holding firm on the belief that direct relationships with employees outpace union-led dialogue. This has been their mantra for over two decades, a period throughout which the airline claims superiority in employee communication and improvement implementation.
California’s Early-Career Doctors Unionize, Demand Fair Pay and Conditions
April 9, 2024 // Increased pay, overtime compensation, housing stipends and more manageable schedules are at stake. Unions representing residents have bargained for fertility benefits to support delayed family planning. Dr. Berneen Bal, a third-year psychiatry resident at Kaiser’s Oakland Medical Center, said some colleagues have even traveled out of state where it’s cheaper to freeze eggs. “As more residencies have unionized, it’s put greater criticism on this training structure that we’ve all just accepted for so long,” Bal said.
COMMENTARY: Good news: 2023 won’t mark a union revival
January 3, 2024 // The decline of union membership has been remarkably steady over the last four decades. Since 2000, the year-to-year change in the unionization rate has been positive only six times, and those small gains have quickly been reversed. Moreover, the latest data show that unionization is increasingly concentrated in the government sector, especially local services such as K-12 education and public safety. Only 6% of private sector workers are union members.
PHILADELPHIA: SEPTA must negotiate contracts with nearly all its labor unions amid looming financial crisis
September 18, 2023 // The authority projects an annual operating deficit of $240 million beginning next July 1 as the last of its federal pandemic aid is spent, a situation dubbed the “fiscal cliff” that afflicts most transit systems in the United States. Riders have not returned in pre-COVID 19 numbers, and changing travel patterns have accelerated in the last three years. SEPTA and the state’s other public transit agencies are pushing for the legislature to adopt a measure that would give them a greater share of the sales tax to support operations. Uncertainty about finances makes it difficult to say “yes” to increased pay and benefits for TWU Local 234, which represents operators of buses, trolleys, and transit trains, SEPTA CEO Leslie S. Richards said Tuesday during a hearing of the state House Transportation Committee at the agency’s headquarters.
Blandin Paper Strike Ends After Union Ratifies New Contract Agreement
August 14, 2023 // The previous contract expired June 30, and 166 employees represented by Teamsters Local 346 went on strike on July 15. UPM Blandin general manager Scott Juidici said in a statement that the agreement helps position the mill for the future and that he is looking forward to “restarting operations in a safe and efficient manner.” Jeff Oveson, the president of Teamsters Local 346, tells Lakeland News that members narrowly accepted the offer. He says no one wins in a strike, but they feel like they “did well.”
Trader Joe’s staff walkout at Hadley store, local unions join in protest
July 3, 2023 // The union representing up to 15,000 workers employed at 65 major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties said that their members are on strike. The union promised whatever action they take would include a peaceful sit-in at Los Angeles International Airport. Contract agreements are unresolved with the remaining hotels, which include the Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott LA Live, the Beverly Hilton, Fairmont Miramar, Anaheim Hilton, and Four Seasons Regent Beverly Wilshire.
Insider Reaches Strike Resolution With $65,000 Minimum Salary
June 15, 2023 // Kayla Cobb Wed, June 14, 2023 at 2:14 PM CDT·3 min read Insider and its union have reached a resolution. “We have a tentative agreement on a contract that will give our members more money and job protections and resolve our ULP,” a tweet from the Insider Union account reads. The strike is now over and workers will return to the office tomorrow. “Insider is pleased to have reached an agreement with its newsroom union on a Collective Bargaining Agreement. The CBA formalizes many of the company’s existing practices, policies and benefits, including top of the market competitive pay, freedom to work from anywhere in the U.S., 16 weeks of parental leave and many successful DEI initiatives. With this contract, we will continue to offer pay and benefits at the high-end of our industry,” a spokesperson for Insider told TheWrap. This tentative agreement on a new contract includes a $65,000 minimum salary for employees, on par with such publications as The New York Times. It also includes a just cause clause, a layoff moratorium through the end of the year, raises of over 10% during the term of the contract and over $400,000 in healthcare reimbursements. It also includes $2,200 in tax-free cash for employees to spend on mental health and prescriptions as well as a revised raise structure.
340,000 UPS workers are voting whether to authorize a massive strike
June 8, 2023 // The vote results will be announced next week on June 16, the union said. Strike authorization votes are routine during contract negotiations, and almost always pass. A nationwide UPS strike would be the largest work stoppage in US history. The union represents more than half of UPS’s total global employee base – 340,000 UPS Teamsters – which includes drivers and package sorters. Voting will occur in person both at local union halls and at the gates of UPS facilities, according to the Teamsters.