Posts tagged Pramila Jayapal
American Federation of Teachers spends little on teachers, lots on staff
December 4, 2024 // The American Federation of Teachers’ recent federal filing showed just 36% of the national union’s spending was on representing teachers. More than two-thirds of its own employees made six-figure salaries.
Labor’s GOP flirtation heightens Democrats’ 2024 election nerves
June 20, 2024 // In February, the Teamsters made its first major donation to the RNC since 2004 after its president, Sean O'Brien, met with former President Trump the previous month. O'Brien has since requested speaking slots at both the Republican and Democratic conventions. Another sign of a potential shift: The United Auto Workers — a powerful force in battleground Michigan — waited until January to endorse Biden amid tensions over electric vehicles. The Biden administration has enacted policies strengthening unions, with the president also taking the unprecedented step of visiting a UAW picket line last September before winning the group's endorsement.
‘This is a problem’: Biden faces looming strikes that could rock economy
July 25, 2023 // Privately, some Democrats said the White House was caught off-guard by Fain’s ascension to the top of UAW. They described Biden’s team as currently being in an information-gathering mode about the union’s new leadership — a stark contrast from the close relationship it had enjoyed with former UAW president Ray Curry. Other Democrats said the White House was clearly aware of Fain’s criticism of how the Biden administration had doled out federal funds. But privately, some people in Biden’s orbit have continued to express worries that there’s distance between his agenda and a major union representing voters in a state key to his reelection. Biden’s senior staff has told allies “that the rhetoric from the new UAW leadership is concerning, this is a problem, and we’ve got to figure this out together,” according to a person familiar with the administration’s thinking.
Authorizing congressional unions won’t end Democrats’ labor troubles
May 17, 2022 // Earlier this year, after the Democrat-controlled Washington state Legislature quietly killed a pair of bills extending collective bargaining privileges to legislative aides, about 100 Democrat staffers staged an unprecedented sickout. Facing a PR nightmare, panicked Democrat leadership quickly reintroduced and passed legislation allowing staff to unionize and bargain, but not until 2024, after a new “Office of State Legislative Labor Relations” spends millions of taxpayer dollars trying to figure out how to make it work in practice.
Blacklisting Federal Contractors
May 4, 2022 // Congressional Democrats have taken a renewed interest in resurrecting a failed Obama-era executive order, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplace (EO 13672),” also known as “Blacklisting.” The stated goal of the Blacklisting executive order, and subsequent regulations, was to promote efficiency in government procurement by ensuring federal agencies contract only with “responsible” contractors who comply with federal and state workplace laws.