Posts tagged safety
Nearly 1,200 Boston hotel workers walk off the job in strike’s biggest wave
September 23, 2024 // The first wave of strikes began in Boston and eight other cities during the Labor Day weekend. To date, about 2,500 hotel workers from 12 Boston properties have walked off the job in three waves of three-day strikes. Workers from the first and second strike waves are employees of the Hilton Park Plaza, Hilton Boston Logan Airport, Hampton Inn & Homewood Suites at the Hilton Seaport, Fairmont Copley Plaza, The Dagny Boston, Moxy Boston Downtown, The Newbury Boston and the W Boston.
States are pushing back with anti-labor laws as union popularity grows, policy experts say
September 18, 2024 // Growing union organizing across the country has triggered an anti-labor legislative response in some states, but cities and counties are increasingly pushing back, a new report found. The report, released this month by the New York University Wagner Labor Initiative and Local Progress Impact Lab, a group for local elected officials focused on economic and racial justice issues, cites examples of localities all over the U.S. using commissions to document working conditions, creating roles for protecting workers in the heat and educating workers on their labor rights.
Labor Day: Workers on Their Jobs
August 28, 2024 // *Satisfaction with pay and benefits always trail satisfaction with workplace environments. Today, negative assessments of the economy as a whole may be depressing attitudes on some job characteristics. Still, in Gallup’s latest, only 13 percent were very dissatisfied with what they earned. *Employed Americans are reasonably confident of their own job security. Those numbers dipped to a low point in the Great Recession but have been more positive since.
J. D. Vance’s One-Track Mind for Railroad Regulation
August 17, 2024 // Ohio senator and GOP vice-presidential nominee J. D. Vance has something of a soft spot for unions, as evidenced by his co-sponsorship of the 2023 version of the Railway Safety Act. The legislation would mandate minimum two-member crews on freight trains, a requirement unions have long sought. Such a mandate wouldn’t make trains any safer but would damage the ability of the rail industry to pursue automation.
Walz will address union members in first solo campaign stop
August 13, 2024 // As Minnesota governor, Walz signed a variety of pro-worker laws supported by labor — most significantly paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave. He also supported laws that banned noncompete agreements, prohibited employers from holding mandatory meetings intended to persuade workers against unionizing, raised safety standards in warehouses and meatpacking plants, and expanded unemployment benefits to hourly school employees who do not work during the summer.
University of Illinois nurses authorize strike at UI Health on Chicago’s Near West Side
August 8, 2024 // More than 1,300 University of Illinois nurses cast ballots last week, with nearly 98% voting to authorize a strike, amid a stalemate with management at the bargaining table. The nurses' union, the Illinois Nurses Association, said they've seen a large rise in assaults on staff in the last four years. They are demanding safer working conditions, increased staffing, and higher pay. The union said they have offered a number of proposals in an effort to reach an agreement on a new contract, but management has responded to only a handful, and most of them have been rejected.
A union for Amazon warehouse workers elects a new leader in wake of Teamsters affiliation
August 1, 2024 // Only 5% of the 5,312 workers employed in the warehouse voted by mail-in ballot, said Arthur Schwartz, an attorney who represents the dissident group. Spence received 137 out of 247 votes cast, Schwartz said, defeating a current ALU officer named Claudia Ashterman and another prominent organizer named Michelle Valentin.
Commentary: What Does a Likely Harris-Trump Matchup Mean for Labor?
July 25, 2024 // Those in organized labor who publicly support Harris see her as likely to advance Biden’s agenda. The Biden-Harris administration also tapped outspoken pro-worker former officials from California to lead the U.S. Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, tasked with protecting workers.
Thousands of Colorado janitors vote to authorize strike: “Denver depends on us, and we need livable wages”
July 25, 2024 // "Anybody downtown or in these large commercial building areas, they're going to see and feel our membership," said Felix-Sowy. "The strike is going to affect those buildings and our members are going to be very strategic about which buildings they take out on strike, and where that impact is going to be felt."