Posts tagged staffing
This New Labor Rule Could Be Trouble for McDonald’s
October 5, 2023 // McDonald’s and other franchise companies have made it clear they believe the stakes are high. The “reality is that our business model is under attack,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said of possible joint-employer regulations in a speech at a franchising industry conference in Las Vegas earlier this year, in remarks he also published on LinkedIn. Changes by the NLRB, he said, would transform franchisees “from independent small-business owners to employees of the parent brands.” Heightened joint-employer liability could hurt the franchise model in two main ways, according to the International Franchise Association. One possibility, along the lines of what Kempczinski described, is that a franchisor would exert more control over the franchisees. That undercuts one of franchisors’ big selling points to potential franchisees—that they’re offering a path to running their own business, with all of the freedoms that provides. It could also add compliance costs, and potentially, legal and liability expenses. Those increased costs are also a frequent worry for franchisees, says restaurant consultant John Gordon, principal at Pacific Management Consulting Group. Franchisees typically pay franchisors a percentage of their sales, and their profit comes after those fees and their operating expenses. Franchisees are “justifiably afraid of the franchisor passing costs onto them that weren’t part of the franchise agreement,” he says, and wary of joint-employer liability for that reason.
Nebraska unions gain more workers since contract renegotiations
September 20, 2023 //
Why Wells Fargo is the only big bank where workers are trying to unionize
September 18, 2023 // Bank workers first started organizing informally over concerns about sales pressure back in 2015 — before the fake account scandal broke to the public. Workers reached out to the Committee for Better Banks, an organizing group, which put them in touch with CWA, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and members of Congress, Weiner said.
Will Starbucks’ union-busting stifle a union rebirth in the US?
August 28, 2023 // Many baristas say one Starbucks strategy in particular has discouraged workers from unionizing. In May 2022, Schultz announced that Starbucks would give certain raises and benefits to workers at its more than 9,000 non-union stores, but not offer those raises and benefits to its unionized workers. Starbucks insists it would be illegal to impose any raises or benefits on its unionized stores without first negotiating about them, but the NLRB’s general counsel asserts that this policy constitutes unlawful discrimination against Starbucks’ unionized workers. Under this policy, Starbucks has given its non-union workers, but not its unionized ones, a more relaxed dress code, increased training, faster sick leave accrual and, most important, credit card tipping. (Workers at the first few Starbucks stores to unionize had asked early on for credit card tipping.)
Op-Ed: Biden Pushes Electric Vehicles, Which Kill Union Jobs
August 26, 2023 // A gasoline-powered car has about 2,000 moving parts in its powertrains, whereas a Tesla has 17. That means electric vehicles require one-third fewer workers to assemble than conventional vehicles—and none of the workers who make engines or engine parts. As UAW research director Jennifer Kelly has explained, the “workers who are making engines and transmissions today” will see their jobs “eliminated when we make a transition to electric vehicles.”
Federal worker complaints rise with union activity in Minnesota
August 22, 2023 // National Labor Relations Board complaints this year in Minnesota and nationally are already above full 2021 and 2022 levels. Organizers expect even more in 2024.
Nurses who planned to strike for 2 days at Joliet hospital will be locked out for 4
August 21, 2023 // St. Joseph nurses will be locked out Tuesday through Saturday, during which time the nurses will hold a picket line. The hospital’s operator Ascension has not responded to a request for comment. A statement on its website explains that when hiring nurse replacements for the two-day strike, staffing agencies, by contract, require four days of work.
TV Staff Minimum Remains Key Sticking Point, but Some in WGA Privately Grumble: ‘Nobody Asked for This’
August 17, 2023 // Another writer added: “All the showrunners that want a staff should be given a staff. I don’t think it’s important to force those few that don’t want a staff to have a staff.” The WGA proposed in the spring that TV shows should hire a minimum of six to 12 writers, depending on the number of episodes in a season. At its meeting on Tuesday, they agreed to reduce that ask by one writer — but would not forgo the basic structure. Several showrunners told Variety they did not want to be forced to hire writers who are not needed. In its worst form, they say, that would amount to “featherbedding,” an illegal labor practice in which employers are required by union rules to hire workers who do no work.
San Jose city workers plan 3-day strike next week
August 9, 2023 // The strike will take place from August 15-17. "We are committed to negotiating a deal that's fair to everyone -- our workers and our residents who rely on the essential services our city provides," said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan in a statement. "But the hard truth is, this money has to come from somewhere. If my council colleagues want to go beyond our last, best and final offer of a 5% raise next year, they will have to identify which core city services they are willing to cut."