Posts tagged pay and benefits
As Alabama coal miners strike nears end, a look at why it started, and how it failed
March 2, 2023 // After 700 days, hundreds of striking coal miners in Brookwood, Alabama will be returning to work soon — but without the better contract that they’ve been fighting to get. The United Mine Workers of America, the union at the center of the purported longest strike in Alabama’s history, asked Warrior Met Coal to allow the miners to return to work at the company’s four locations starting Thursday. The decision was announced in a Feb. 16 press release. “The status quo is not good for our members and their families,” said UMWA president Cecil Roberts in the statement. “I sincerely hope that Warrior Met leadership will accept this offer, get our members back to work, engage in good faith bargaining and finally sit down face-to-face with us to resolve this dispute for the betterment of all concerned.”
Starbucks could be forced to bargain with workers who rejected union
January 25, 2023 // A U.S. labor board official is seeking a rare order requiring Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) to collectively bargain with workers at a Florida store, even after they voted against unionizing by a nearly two-to-one margin. The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board's Tampa, Florida office filed a complaint on Tuesday claiming unlawful threats, retaliation and surveillance by Starbucks managers were so severe that holding a new election at the store would be futile.
Union membership grows the fastest of any state in Tennessee over the past two years
January 24, 2023 // The number of Tennessee workers belonging to labor unions has grown over the past two years at the fastest rate of any state in the country. Fueled by a growth in unionized government employees, building trades and autoworkers, union membership in Tennessee jumped by more than 39% from the pandemic low in 2020 to reach 163,000 members last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For all its gains, however, organized labor still represents only a fraction of workers in Tennessee, especially in the private sector. Last year, 5.5% of all workers across Tennessee were union members, or only about half of the 10.1% share of workers nationwide who belong to a labor union, according to the statistics bureau.
EDITORIAL: Starbucks strike unveils the downside of unions
November 18, 2022 // Colorado’s Democratic legislature and governor aren’t likely to consider a right-to-work law. In recent years, they have expanded options for public sector unionization, a move to counter plummeting private sector membership. Voters rejected a right-to-work ballot measure in 2012. Over 10-plus years, dynamics have changed. Voters have twice chosen to lower income taxes for employees, so they may be open to protecting them from compulsory and coercive unions. When union contracts can’t keep up with market forces, they burden their members — as acknowledged on Thursday. Under these circumstances, the law should free all workers, public and private, from compulsory membership and dues. Maybe it is time to try the ballot again, in a serious effort to protect employees and their and their jobs.