Posts tagged Sherrod Brown
Feds: Carpenters union gets $183M of stimulus to restore cut pensions
August 18, 2023 // The retirement plan covering nearly 5,400 Southwest Ohio union carpenters got a nearly $183 million government bailout on Tuesday, according to an announcement by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The money comes from a program aimed at shoring up pension plans, created as part of the broader stimulus package enacted in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. The money will benefit members of the Southwest Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Pension Plan, which in 2019, slashed pension benefits for thousands of members by an average of 18% to remain solvent. PBGC’s approval enables the plan to restore benefits previously suspended and to make payments to retirees to cover prior benefit suspensions, the federally chartered corporation said in a statement. The funding will enable the plan to pay retirement benefits without reduction for many years into the future.
Senate Democrats offer resolution to let staff organize
June 26, 2023 // Sen. Sherrod Brown and 19 of his Senate colleagues introduced a resolution Thursday that would extend legal protections to staffers who unionize. The group of pro-labor Democrats, plus Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, comes a year after the House adopted a resolution allowing its employees to organize. “Every worker should have a right to organize and have a voice in their workplace — and that is why I have spent my career fighting for the dignity of work,” Brown said in a statement. “With this resolution, we can finally secure the fundamental legal right of U.S. Senate staff to join together as union members to advocate for themselves and have a voice on the job.”
Opinion: Unions, Washington Lackeys Exploit Ohio Rail Tragedy to Fatten Coffers
June 7, 2023 // the unionistas are pushing for a permanent requirement that all carriers use a minimum of two-person crews. This, despite the fact that the ill-fated Norfolk-Southern train itself had not two but three crew members. Mandating two on a crew would have done nothing to avert the disaster. It’s not responsive to the challenge at hand. Moreover, the make-work provisions will not affect Norfolk-Southern-sized railroads. It will primarily hurt the smaller regional and short-line railroads, which are more likely to use a one-man crew.
Auto workers union and Sanders blast GM for wages at U.S. battery plant
May 2, 2023 // United Auto Workers (UAW) union President Shawn Fain and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday criticized a General Motors joint venture battery plant for paying workers much less than assembly plant employees even though it benefits from hefty U.S. government tax credits. Workers at the Warren, Ohio, joint venture Ultium Cells LLC plant start at $16.50 an hour rising to $20 an hour after seven years while union workers at a nearby Ohio GM assembly plant that closed in 2019 made $32 an hour or more.
Dems’ rail-strike challenge: Save the economy and your ties to unions
December 2, 2022 // Progressives pushed for paid sick leave in any agreement, and party leaders glided a two-step solution through the House. It may not survive the Senate buzzsaw.
Unions Are Making a Last-Ditch Effort to Expand Bargaining Rights for VA Medical Professionals
September 30, 2022 // Officials with multiple federal employee unions on Tuesday urged congressional leaders to call up legislation expanding collective bargaining rights for medical professionals at the Veterans Affairs Department for a vote.
Not one CEO of the 7 biggest U.S. banks responded “yes” when asked if they would be neutral with employee unionizing.
September 26, 2022 // “We will operate for our shareholders, our customers, our employees within what the law allows us to do.” When questioned by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) during a hearing from the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, not one CEO of the 7 biggest U.S. banks in America responded with “yes” when asked if they would remain neutral if their employees tried to unionize.
Biden’s personal recovery plan: Pump up unions, squeeze Big Business
May 13, 2022 // The president is hoping his political fate — and the Democrats’ standing among the white working class — can be saved by lifting up organized labor.
Does Democrats’ support for unions extend to their own employees?
April 22, 2022 // The CWU, a group of staffers that launched a union drive earlier this year, wants the House to vote on a resolution guaranteeing staffers protections as soon as next week. Currently, the Congressional Accountability Act allows staffers to organize, but doesn’t offer them any shield from retaliation, meaning staffers could be fired and blacklisted if they do so. Thus far, Pelosi’s office has not commented on when a floor vote could be scheduled on the resolution.
Some House Democrats Support Unions, Just Not in Their Own Offices
February 25, 2022 // Sixty-six members of the House of Representatives who co-sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) last year have yet to support a resolution by Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) that would create a legal framework for Hill staffers to unionize their offices in Congress.