Posts tagged retaliation
Trader Joe’s challenges union vote at Louisville store
February 8, 2023 // Trader Joe’s is challenging last month’s vote by workers at its Louisville store to form a union, alleging that pro-union workers “created an atmosphere of fear and coercion and interfered with the laboratory conditions necessary to conduct a free and fair election.” The privately owned grocery store chain filed its objections Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board, according to a copy of the filing shared by the Trader Joe’s United, the union seeking to organize the Louisville store. Trader Joe’s’ Louisville workers voted 48-36 in favor of the union during the Jan. 26 election, according to Trader Joe’s United. If the tally holds up, it will become the third Trader Joe’s in the nation to unionize.
Two former high-profile SEIU staffers allege they were fired in retaliation for role in strike
February 7, 2023 // The terminated employees played high-profile roles in the strike — on the picket line, at the negotiating table, and on social media. They both say they were fired in retaliation for those roles. “Our terminations sent a message: don’t do too much, or there will be consequences,” said Jazmine Reyes, an SEIU communications specialist who lost her job along with Alex Sanchez, an SEIU organizing representative.
‘Hypocritical’: environmental groups blocking union efforts, US workers say
February 3, 2023 // Workers at some of the top environmental organizations in the US are calling out their managers as “incredibly hypocritical” as they argue the progressive non-profits are fighting workers’ efforts to unionize. A wave of unionization efforts has swept the non-profit sector as part of a renewed national enthusiasm for unionization. Shortly into the Covid-19 pandemic, workers at 350.org, Sunrise Movement, the National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Greenpeace USA, the Public Interest Network and the Center for Biological Diversity unionized.
Exclusive: New York Assembly staff goes public with union effort
January 19, 2023 // According to organizers, over 50 Assembly staffers have already signed cards, with nearly unanimous agreement from the card holders to go public. Organizers said that a lack of a central staff directory as well as inconsistencies between offices make it hard to peg the exact number of employees who would be eligible for the union, but they estimate that number to be between 700 and 800 staffers. Organizers chose to go public in part to help them reach more staffers that the lack of a directory has made difficult. The organizing committee itself is made up of legislative employees from around the state and who hold a variety of positions, from constituent services liaisons to chiefs of staff – a higher level position the Assembly plans to include in their bargaining unit unlike in the state Senate.
Biden OSHA Revives Union-, Worker-Friendly Inspection Rep Rule
January 19, 2023 // “It was a backdoor way to unionize, outside the bargaining process,” Conn said, adding that she’s not surprised the policy is seeing a revival considering the Biden administration’s pro-union stance. Who Gets Say This OSHA rule could clarify the role of union representatives during inspections, said Steve Sallman, director of safety and health for the United Steelworkers. Employers with union workforces generally understand that their employees can designate a union local member to participate in an inspection, Sallman said. But there have been problems when a national union office sends a staff member who isn’t an employee at the workplace to participate in an inspection, Sallman said. Employers have refused to let national union representatives into worksites, sometimes leading to OSHA seeking a court order to allow the participation.
Chicago saw a wave of new unions form in 2022. Getting to the bargaining table is the next challenge.
January 2, 2023 // But it’s not just Starbucks: In Chicago, museum workers at the Art Institute, faculty and staff members at its affiliated school and employees at the Newberry Library have all unionized this year. So have workers at Howard Brown Health, budtenders at Zen Leaf cannabis dispensaries and booksellers at Half Price Books in Niles. Baristas at four La Colombe Coffee Roaster locations filed for union elections in December. Thousands of graduate students at Northwestern and the University of Chicago filed petitions within two weeks of each other in November. For the hundreds of newly unionized workers in Chicago, the hard work has only just begun; now they must negotiate a first contract with their employers. Labor leaders see a contract as the gold standard for protecting workers’ rights and securing gains in areas like pay and benefits. But the process can take years.
UAW Region 1 director violated election rule related to retaliation, monitor finds
November 4, 2022 // The head of a key UAW region violated an election rule prohibiting retaliation against a union member seeking international office when he denied his opponent a pass to this summer’s UAW convention in Detroit, according to a copy of a letter obtained by the Free Press. The letter, dated Saturday, said that UAW Region 1 Director James Harris waived his right to a hearing and “acknowledged that he inappropriately denied” a request for a pass by LaShawn English, his opponent in the UAW’s first direct election of top union leaders. Ballots for the election were mailed out beginning in mid-October, ahead of the Nov. 28 deadline to have them returned. The monitor notified Harris on Oct. 14 after concluding an investigation into the matter and issued a "formal admonishment to Director Harris for this conduct" on Saturday, according to the letter.
Starbucks workers hold strikes in at least 17 states amid union drive
August 12, 2022 // Workers at Starbucks have held over 55 different strikes in at least 17 states in the US in recent months over the company’s aggressive opposition to a wave of unionization. According to an estimate by Starbucks Workers United, the strikes have cost Starbucks over $375,000 in lost revenue. The union created a $1m strike fund in June 2022 to support Starbucks workers through their strikes and several relief funds have been established for strikes and to support workers who have lost their jobs. Sam Amato, Mason Boykin, Jordie Adams,
Union claims Starbucks illegally closing cafe to retaliate, Bloomberg reports
June 6, 2022 // The union is asking the agency to seek a federal court injunction to quickly prevent or reverse the store closure.
Labor Board Seeks Unionization at Starbucks Where Union Lost Election
May 23, 2022 // The National Labor Relations Board is seeking to order Starbucks to recognize a union at a Buffalo-area store where the union lost an initial vote last year.