Posts tagged Pension
The Growing Distance Between Unions and Union Workers
April 5, 2024 // In theory, a thriving labor movement aims at deploying such coup-style strategies after winning the favor of the workers that spearhead its success. But this is the direct opposite of what’s happening today. Rather than being buoyed by the wave of employees flooding its ranks, the labor movement is instead hemorrhaging members and attempting to forge ahead by pushing against the current of worker sentiment. Unions’ numbers are dwindling. Grassroots tactics are withering. The workers of the world just aren’t uniting the way that unions would like. The solution, for today’s unions, is to invert their playbook, putting corporate and regulatory capture ahead of the will of the worker. Instead of galvanizing worker sentiment to move policy and manage proxies, major unions have taken to exploiting regulations in order to drag employees along from the comfort of the director’s chair. But by winning a seat on the Starbucks board, each of the SOC’s nominees would have had to confront an ugly choice: Make decisions that favor union density at the expense of worker autonomy and shareholder value; or own up to the damage that coercive organizing tactics have done to the corporation’s and employees’ interests. They were smart to withdraw their bid.
Foxx, Good Bring DOL Chief Lawyer into Dead Teamsters Pension Overpayment Investigation
April 4, 2024 // “The Committee recognizes that, as Solicitor of Labor, you are the principal counsel to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who also serves as the acting chair of PBGC’s Board of Directors… The Committee is interested in what advice and legal interpretations you and SOL have provided to PBGC regarding its legal authority to recapture these overpayments from both before and after DOL’s publication of its statement.” The letter continues: “In addition, the Committee understands that SOL could play a role in how PBGC responds to inquiries from Congress and the public. Unfortunately, despite multiple inquiries, PBGC’s responses have been unacceptably incomplete. PBGC’s failure to provide full and forthright information is obstructing the Committee’s ability to consider H.R. 7135, the Ghost Handouts and Overpayments Stop Today Act (GHOST Act), or similar legislation to ensure PBGC meets its obligation to reclaim any overpayment it made in the SFA program.”
More SoCal hotel workers agree to new deal with Marriott, Hilton
December 18, 2023 // More than 1,700 housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers and front desk workers signed the deal, according to Unite Here Local 11, which said 20 high-end Southland hotels have now signed new contract agreements. Those employees work at the Irvine Marriott, W Hotel Westwood, SLS Beverly Hills, Westin LAX, Sheraton Grand DTLA, JW Marriott LA Live, Ritz-Carlton LA Live, Courtyard Marriott DTLA, Residence Inn DTLA and Hilton Irvine. - Language improvements, including historic Equal Justice language that, among other things, will help to provide access to union jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals and unprecedented protections for immigrant workers.
Strike ends for Mack Trucks workers after 39 days on the picket line
November 16, 2023 // Reggie Benjamin and his union brothers strike and walk a pickett line along Eisenhower Blvd. in Lower Swatara Township, Pa., Oct. 11, 2023. Benjamin is a Reman Technician working on assembly line transmissions and is from Lewisberry, Pa. Mark Pynes | pennlive.com Reggie Benjamin and his union brothers strike and walk a pickett line along Eisenhower Blvd. in Lower Swatara Township, Pa., Oct. 11, 2023. Benjamin is a Reman Technician working on assembly line transmissions and is from Lewisberry, Pa. Mark Pynes | pennlive.com © Mark Pynes | pennlive.com/pennlive.com/TNS The Mack Trucks employee strike has ended after more than a month of picketing. “After 39 days on strike, UAW members at Mack Trucks have voted by 93% to ratify their new contract with significant local improvements,” United Auto Workers said on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Wednesday evening. People Born Before 1969 Eligible For Walk-In Tubs People Born Before 1969 Eligible For Walk-In Tubs Ad profind.com Workers had been out demonstrating at the Mack Trucks plant along Commerce Drive in Lower Swatara Township and along Eisenhower Boulevard in Swatara Township as well as plants in the Lehigh Valley, Hagerstown, Maryland, and at distribution centers in Baltimore and Jacksonville, Florida. United Auto Worker Local 677 members strike along Eisenhower Blvd. in Lower Swatara Township, Pa., Oct. 11, 2023. Mark Pynes | pennlive.com United Auto Worker Local 677 members strike along Eisenhower Blvd. in Lower Swatara Township, Pa., Oct. 11, 2023. Mark Pynes | pennlive.com © Mark Pynes | pennlive.com/pennlive.com/TNS “UAW leadership has informed us that their members have ratified the new five-year agreement,” Mack Trucks said on its website. “The agreement guarantees significant wage growth and delivers excellent benefits for our employees and their families. At the same time, it will safeguard our competitiveness and allow us to continue making the necessary investments in our people, plants and products. We look forward to welcoming our employees back to our sites on Monday, November 20, for your usual shift.” Related video: Congressman Trone rallies UAW strikers at Mack Truck Plant in Hagerstown (WDVM Hagerstown) Maryland Congressman David Trone spent the morning at the Mack Current Time 0:14 / Duration 0:44 WDVM Hagerstown Congressman Trone rallies UAW strikers at Mack Truck Plant in Hagerstown 0 View on Watch View on Watch The vote for the new contract took place on Wednesday, after the United Auto Workers 677 negotiating committee said in a letter to its members that it met with the company and put formal requests across the table to address members’ needs but the company rejected all of the proposals. The negotiating committee did say that the company agreed to “some significant changes” since the strike began but that members would be voting on the same contract that was voted down in early October. The letter said that the negotiations were over and the contract would come up for a vote. Most notably, the letter warned of the repercussions of voting down the contract, which included possible lost of jobs, loss of insurance after Dec. 1 and a loss of a $3,500 ratification bonus.
Even the AFL-CIO has union troubles
October 20, 2023 // After staffers picketed in D.C. last week, and two days of talks this week, the AFL-CIO proposed a revised contract to the union on Tuesday. Their last deal expired back in February and the last proposal from the AFL-CIO, in September, was overwhelmingly rejected — 97% of members said no. A vote on the latest proposal is expected by early next week.
Big Three automakers idle thousands of workers as UAW strike rages on
October 4, 2023 // Ford Motor on Monday furloughed 330 workers in Chicago and Lima, Ohio, adding to the 600 workers the automaker laid off last month at an assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan. General Motors, which on Tuesday reported a 21% increase in sales for its third-quarter earnings, has laid off more than 2,100 workers across four states. Stellantis (the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram) has idled nearly 370 workers, Reuters reported, including 68 workers in Perrysburg, Ohio.
‘I want to work’: UAW members face financial turmoil amid strike, share frustrations
September 22, 2023 // "This doesn't just affect me," Mitchell said. "This plant runs the city. This is affecting other people because now our suppliers are out of work. And the way they said it works in Ohio is, if you are laid off because of a strike you can't get unemployment." Desia Clement, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, confirmed that workers involved in a labor dispute such as a strike may not be eligible for unemployment benefits, but noted that every claim is unique and decided on a case-by-case basis.
UAW’s Shawn Fain calls GM’s contract counteroffer ‘insulting’: What’s in it
September 8, 2023 // GM presented the counteroffer around 10 a.m. Thursday to UAW leaders. It comes just days after the UAW filed unfair labor practice charges against GM and Stellantis. The National Labor Relations Board is investigating those charges now and the outcome could impact a potential strike. "After refusing to bargain in good faith for the past six weeks, only after having federal labor board charges filed against them, GM has come to the table with an insulting proposal that doesn’t come close to an equitable agreement for America’s autoworkers," Fain said in a statement to the Free Press. In a letter to the employees midmorning, which GM provided to the Detroit Free Press, GM wrote, "Our offer includes well-deserved wage improvements that far exceed the 2019 agreement and reward you for your hard work. We still have work to do, but we wanted to make this offer to show our good faith efforts to keep the process moving." For all hourly employees, GM said it will recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday, giving a new total of 16 to 18 paid holidays per year. Ford declined to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday, Fain has said. GM hourly employees would also receive a $5,500 bonus for ratifying the contract, which matches Ford's offer.
Orange County’s Police Unions Are Increasingly Electing, Unseating Their Own Bosses
August 30, 2023 // But in both Anaheim and Santa Ana, the police unions account for some of the largest political spending on citywide elections. And in both cities, the result has been massive raises for police officers, despite concerns from some residents that such raises were fiscally irresponsible – forcing Anaheim residents to dip into their general fund reserves in 2020. At the county, big Sheriff Deputy raises created conditions where critical investments in public health couldn’t be made, an impact largely unnoticed by the public. Until the pandemic arrived.
Yellow closure affecting 800 Hoosier union truckers
August 21, 2023 // The nearly 100-year-old company was known for its “less-than-truckload” business model, meaning it delivered freight for multiple customers on the same truck. The company was significantly popular, growing to be one of “the Big Three” carriers in the country until trucking was deregulated in 1984. That meant nonunionized carriers could come to market, building competition for the big three.