Posts tagged safety
OPINION: L.A. Teacher’s Fight With Union Appealed To Supreme Court
April 23, 2024 // Laird refused to dismiss his lawsuit, and with good reason. Because his case is about more than the return of his money. In fact, Laird is donating the entire amount he received from UTLA to a nonprofit group that helps disadvantaged students in the Los Angeles area. When judges at both the lower court level and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the union, the Freedom Foundation filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in. Glenn Laird’s case is about a judicial acknowledgment and vindication of his First Amendment rights by a federal judge. As long as unions can cut checks using their members’ dues dollars to make lawsuits disappear, judges will never have the opportunity to rule on the actual constitutional issues, rendering the First Amendment and Janus decision meaningless. “Hopefully the Supreme Court will find my case worthy of making a ruling,” concluded Laird. “Janus set the stage, but now we need to build on that precedent so unions and lower court judges don’t continue to ignore the Supremes.”
Players’ union head blames quicker pitch clock after series of pitcher elbow injuries
April 9, 2024 // Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, Atlanta’s Spencer Strider, the New York Yankees’ Jonathan Loáisiga, Miami’s Eury Pérez and Oakland’s Trevor Gott are among the pitchers diagnosed with elbow injuries. “This statement ignores the empirical evidence and much more significant long-term trend, over multiple decades, of velocity and spin increases that are highly correlated with arm injuries,” Major League Baseball said in a responding statement. MLB said it is undergoing a research study into causes of increased injuries. It cited an analysis by Johns Hopkins that “found no evidence to support that the introduction of the pitch clock has increased injuries” and “no evidence that pitchers who worked quickly … or sped up their pace were more likely to sustain an injury than those who did not.”
Thousands of Santa Clara Co. nurses walk off the job in 3-day strike
April 4, 2024 // Santa Clara County nurses from the Registered Nurses Professional Association are holding the first strike in the union's history.
Barnes & Noble workers plan union drive at largest US bookstore chain
April 1, 2024 // In a statement, Daunt disputed claims of delays at the negotiating table. He claimed he was in agreement with workers on “the fundamentals” of their demands – but warned of “potential upsides and downsides” to a union. Barnes & Noble has some 600 stores across the US, and Daunt – who became CEO in 2019 – has worked to turn around the business, which had spent years in decline. It is owned by the investment giant Elliott Management, which also owns Britain’s Waterstones, which is also run by Daunt. “Our purpose for unionizing is to get some recognition for the dignity of workers,” said Sepple. “And having sat at the table and currently in negotiations with Barnes & Noble, it is disappointing that Barnes & Noble has not treated this as if that dignity is deserved.”
The Medieval Times Union Campaign Is Over
March 14, 2024 // Workers at the California castle went on an unfair labor practice strike last February, saying the company was refusing to bargain in good faith. The strike was meant to pressure Medieval Times into reaching a contract. The company flew in replacement knights — “scabs,” in union parlance — to fill in for those who’d walked off. Zapcic said it was hurtful to watch so many customers — including one she remembers with his union logo tattooed on his neck — crossing their picket line each night.
Va. governor vetoes bill requiring two crew members on trains, federal guidance pending
March 13, 2024 // In 2016, the railroad administration stated that the “FRA cannot provide reliable or conclusive statistical data to suggest whether one-person crew operations are generally safer or less safe than multiple-person crew operations.” New York-based consulting firm Oliver Wyman studied accident reporting data spanning a period from 2006 to 2019 for 28 railroads in Europe and concluded in a 2021 report there was “no evidence that railroads operating with two-person crews are statistically safer than railroads operating with one-person crews.”
Different kind of union campaign targets Waffle House
February 22, 2024 // The Waffle House campaign does follow several years of growing union action, some of it successful, including high-profile national contracts with American automakers, the film industry, American Airlines and Kaiser Permanente, as well as Georgia wins among grad students at Emory, truck drivers at Georgia Tech, bus-maker Bluebird, and about a half-dozen Starbucks locations. There have been failures, too, including rejection of a union at a hip Athens brewery. At the same time, legislators in Georgia — where laws already tilt against unions — are now pushing a bill that would further crimp efforts at organizing.
REI SoHo workers unionized in 2022, but still don’t have a contract. This play tells their story
February 21, 2024 // Neill first put on the play, called Foot Wears House, for her coworkers and fellow union members, through a reading at RWDSU’s office. Now, it will be open to the public with a reading at Hudson Park Library on February 24, once again starring members of the REI Soho union. The reading is supported by Working Theater, which is focused on stories for and about working people, and is free to the public, with the option for donations to the REI Union Hardship Fund.
Denver Art Museum workers will form union to combat wage, safety concerns
January 16, 2024 // Denver Art Museum officials confirmed that they received a request this morning for voluntary recognition of a union from “some members of its staff.” “The museum is aware that unionization among museums has been occurring more frequently in the US and is open to working with its employees to explore the best path forward,” wrote communications manager Andy Sinclair. “If unionization is the path they choose, the museum will work within that system.
Unionised employees at Barnes & Noble flagship store stage walk out over economic concerns
January 4, 2024 // According to the union, the employees were protesting "the company’s failure to return on economic portions of the contract amid their highest sales season". They were joined by other union and community members, who supported their walkout "demanding the company bargain in good faith". The majority (97%) of workers at the flagship store voted to join the union on 7th June 2023, and there are now five unionised Barnes & Noble stores across the US, as well as one Barnes & Noble College Booksellers store.