Posts tagged seniority
New Jersey employers face evolving union negotiations
August 11, 2026 // New Jersey’s worker-protection laws add further complexity. “When worker-protection laws are enacted or amended in New Jersey, they add layers to collective bargaining,” Gonzalez said. “There’s no requirement to bargain over a law’s implementation, but where statutes are ambiguous, employers must negotiate the gaps.” She pointed to CREAMMA [the state’s Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act] as an example. “The law prohibits adverse action based on cannabis use outside of work,” she noted. “But unionized employers still need to address how drug testing, safety policies, and fitness-for-duty standards interact with the CBA.” Benefits like paid sick leave and NJ WARN Act severance can also stack on top of contractual obligations. “That dual obligation can catch employers off guard if they are not planning for it at the bargaining table,” she detailed.
Op-ed:Will Swaim: California schools turn to child sacrifice
August 7, 2026 // This was no accident. Sacrificing their younger union members in order to boost the pay of the older members is a key part of the union playbook – and the predictable outcome of state law commonly known as “LIFO,” or “last in, first out.” It’s buried in California Education Code section 44955, a single phrase that lays out the order of layoffs in any financial crisis: “employees shall be terminated in the inverse of the order in which they were employed.” Many younger teachers say they did not know about LIFO. “We’re pretty shocked,” said a two-year Los Angeles teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity. She said the general feeling among young teachers is “betrayal.” “We supported the bargaining team throughout this process – stood out in the rain to protest and rallied online support for the new contract,” she said. “No one, not even once, told me this could happen.”
Writers Guild West Staffers to Lose Health Coverage Soon Amid Strike
April 1, 2026 // WGA West staffers can be covered by the Producer-Writers Guild of America (PWGA) Health Plan, the same plan that is offered to the Hollywood union’s members. Staffers accrue coverage on a month-to-month basis as long as they work 31 hours per week the previous month. Staffers unionized with the Writers Guild Staff Union (WGSU), who have been out on strike since Feb. 17, say they learned on Tuesday that they will lose eligibility starting Wednesday.
Sudden removal of materials likely triggered Alton Steel plant closure, union officials say
February 1, 2026 // New details emerged Thursday regarding the abrupt mass layoffs at Alton Steel, where union leaders say the sudden removal of inventory by a contractor over the weekend triggered the mill’s collapse. According to Scott Hall, president of the United Steelworkers Local 3643, a scrap provider entered the facility during a snowstorm on Saturday and began loading up materials.
SRM Glasgow drivers vote to unionize, join Teamsters Local 89
January 7, 2026 // Teamsters Local 89 has misrepresented both the facts and SRM Concrete’s record and has been dishonest with employees regarding the Company’s intentions and practices. Allegations of intimidation, retaliation, or unlawful conduct by SRM Concrete are categorically false and will be addressed, and disproven, through the appropriate legal channels. Unfortunately, the Teamsters objected to the Company’s lawful efforts to provide employees with accurate information, attempting to prevent employees from learning the facts.
Los Angeles Times Journalists Ratify New Labor Contract, Averting Strike
December 4, 2025 // The deal offers members thousands of dollars in raises. Employees at the Times will receive $3,000 in wage increases in the first year of the contract, $2,750 in the second year and $2,500 in the third year. Those who work at Times Community News will receive $5,000 raises in the first year of the deal and $4,000 in the second and third years. The contract also enshrines Juneteenth as a holiday, codifies protections around employees using their chosen names and pronouns and asserts that the paper must respond when members face online harassment. The deal requires that management disclose any mandatory drug testing in job postings and creates union-covered “per diem” positions (a move intended to limit the use of non-union freelancers and temporary workers).
Rhode Island’s New Workplace Laws: Menopause Protections, “Captive Audience” Meeting Ban, Minimum Wage Hikes, and More
August 5, 2025 // Under the new law, employers in the state with at least four or more employees: must, upon request, make reasonable accommodations for a current or prospective employee’s condition related to menopause or a related medical condition (including, but not limited to, vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats), unless the accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the employer; are prohibited from denying employment opportunities based on a woman’s need for such accommodations;
Pa. Worker Sues Union, State Over Mishandled Promotion
June 13, 2025 // Veteran state employee Todd Burns was in line for a well-deserved promotion until state officials allegedly violated his employment contract to promote someone less qualified but who had close ties to management. Burns turned to his union for help, only for AFSCME, Council 13, to refuse to defend the contract, despite his many years as a dues-paying member. Now, Burns is suing his union for violating state law by failing to provide him with fair representation and his employer, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), for breaking his employment contract.
MVH nurses speak out against unionizing efforts
June 4, 2025 // But some at Miami Valley Hospital say they are happy with the current management. Three clinical nurses from MVH reached out to 2 NEWS, saying they believe a union would cause them to lose more than they would gain. They say their fellow nurses should consider the consequences of this decision on the entire staff if union terms were negotiated.
Commentary: Teachers Need to Ditch Their Union
April 16, 2025 // The California Teachers Association, which considers itself “the co-equal fourth branch of government,” per former Democratic State Senate leader Dom Perata, is no better. As the Freedom Foundation notes, the union reports its political expenditures under three separate filings: The Issues Political Action Committee (PAC); The Association for Better Citizenship (ABC); and, The Independent Expenditure Committee (IEC).