Posts tagged Senate
‘Good for Nobody’: The Biden Cabinet Pick Who Can’t Even Get a Vote
June 23, 2023 // But Su, who has long been championed by progressives and labor unions, has attracted the ire of business groups and the right, where deep-pocketed groups are putting pressure on senators to reject her nomination. Given that Manchin, Sinema, and Tester could face difficult elections next year, that pressure could be very persuasive. For Biden, the stakes are high. He has made a case for himself as the most pro-organized labor president in generations, and the Department of Labor is a key cabinet post for advancing his policies. If Su’s nomination withers, it could be a blow to his labor agenda. Beyond that, a failure to confirm Su would certainly be a hit to the perception of Biden’s juice on Capitol Hill. In his presidency so far, he has only withdrawn one Cabinet-level nominee, Neera Tanden, his initial pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget. It would also likely pour some cold water on progressives’ ambitions to expand their influence at the high echelons of the Biden administration.
Staff for U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia takes first step toward forming a union
June 19, 2023 // A staff member familiar with the effort said staffers are happy with Garcia’s leadership but wanted an avenue to secure standard work protections and to negotiate with managers, including Garcia’s longtime chief of staff, John Chapa Gorczynski. Garcia’s Washington-based deputy chief of staff, Courtney Broderick, and district deputy chief of staff, Chris McCarthy, are also included in office management.
Julie Su Pining for Labor Secretary
June 1, 2023 // The National Education Association, one of the largest unions in the nation, began placing ads in states with senators who have yet to commit to voting for Su if – and when – her nomination comes before the full Senate. Ads like these are running in Alaska (Murkowski, R), Arizona (Kelly, D, and Sinema I-ish), West Virginia (Manchin, D). None – along with Angus King (I) of Maine and John Tester (D) of Montana – have said for sure they will vote Su for sure. The NEA came out in favor of Su even before she was nominated, and unusual thing to do for the union, a union that – like its counterpart the AFT led by the egregious Randi Weingarten – pushed strongly to keep schools closed across the country during the pandemic.
Senate panel advances Biden Labor nominee Julie Su
April 26, 2023 // “Today’s party-line vote is another reminder that Julie Su is no Marty Walsh, who advanced in a bipartisan 18-4 vote only two years ago,” said Michael Layman, a top lobbyist at the International Franchise Association, in a statement following Wednesday’s vote. The AFL-CIO is fighting back, running ads in Arizona and D.C. backing Su’s efforts to counter wage theft in California. The ads tell viewers that workers are “tired of getting ripped off by big corporations.” The labor federation is also mobilizing its members to lobby senators. “We’re going to defend Julie against these baseless corporate special interests attacks,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told reporters last week. “Every senator, especially those that haven’t yet said that they’ll vote yes, needs to be aware of how much this confirmation means to working people’s lives.”
Julie Su Chastised by House Committee Chairwoman for Blowing Off Oversight Requests
April 20, 2023 // Congressional oversight involves conducting hearings with the heads of executive-branch departments, and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce is, understandably, interested in having the secretary of labor testify. But Julie Su is blowing the committee off. Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.) sent a letter to Su yesterday demanding that she appear before the committee on May 17. There’s a history of failing to respond to committee requests in a timely manner, Foxx writes. “During the week of March 27, Committee staff engaged with the Department to determine a time for you to appear before the Committee. However, despite offering dates that provided you with between nearly one month and nearly two months to prepare, we understand that you do not plan to make yourself available to the Committee before June,” the letter says.
Senate looks at labor laws which unions say interfere with workers’ right to organize
April 6, 2023 // These days, you know, a lot of union organizers are young and social media savvy, and they're speaking out loudly when they feel their labor rights have been violated. And also, under the Biden administration, the federal agency that enforces labor law has been pursuing a lot of these cases against employers.
Teachers unions critical of ‘Parents Bill of Rights’
March 31, 2023 // The Parents Bill of Rights Act, officially known as H.R. 5, proposed several education reforms, such as: Require more transparency in school curriculum and materials, such as books in classrooms and libraries, as well as how the school spends its budget Establish parental rights to know whether a school allows transgender girls to use restrooms or changing rooms, or play on sports teams that do not match their gender at birth Require schools to obtain parental consent to allow a student to use a different name, pronoun, or facility that do not match the student’s gender at birth The bill passed along mostly party lines by a 213-208 vote, as congressional Republicans currently have the majority in the lower chamber of Congress. AFT President Randi Weingarten, in a press release, claimed that the bill’s passage was an example of “divisive, performative politics.” Weingarten claimed that the bill would force school districts to “divert their limited resources from teaching, censor education, ban books, and harm children.” The union president said that the bill “has very little to do with actually helping students or parents” and that Congress should focus on “supporting our public schools.” NEA President Becky Pringle said the bill will not help public schools because congressional Republicans “would rather seek to stoke racial and social division and distract us from what will really help our students thrive: an inspiring, inclusive, and age-appropriate curriculum that prepares each and every one of them for their future.”
Starbucks union to greet new CEO Narasimhan with 100-cafe strike
March 22, 2023 // Unionized Starbucks Corp. baristas plan to welcome their new chief executive officer with strikes at about 100 cafes Wednesday, demanding that the company drop its alleged anti-union coercion. Striking baristas from Oregon and Washington state plan to converge for a midday protest outside Starbucks headquarters in Seattle. The work stoppage, which organizers said will involve stores in more than 40 US cities, is the union Starbucks Workers United’s latest effort to force a pivot by the coffee giant.
House Republicans’ attempt to block staffer unions may have missed mark
March 13, 2023 // The House began allowing members’ staff to form unions last year by adopting a resolution that authorized regulations from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. Republicans opposed the measure at the time, and after taking control of the House, they adopted a rule that said the “regulations adopted pursuant to [last year’s resolution] shall have no force or effect” during the current Congress. While that might seem to nullify aides’ ability to form new unions, the language is actually ineffective, said Kevin Mulshine, author of the Demand Progress Education Fund report and a former senior adviser and counsel at OCWR.