Posts tagged Strikes
How inflation is fueling a nationwide labor movement
September 16, 2022 // “Widespread underlying inflation is still not under control, and Americans are paying far too much for everyday goods and services,” Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said Tuesday. “While the White House celebrates the mislabeled ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ today, economic data show that food costs rose 11.4 percent over the past year, the largest 12-month increase since May 1979.” The Labor Department announced Wednesday that wholesale inflation was up 8.7 percent, a decrease from 9.8 percent in July, but still high. Since most economists attribute the current inflation more to supply than demand factors affecting the economy, this number also suggests that the inflationary pressures affecting the labor market are set to continue.
COMMENTARY America’s seeing a historic surge in worker organizing. Here’s how to sustain it
September 7, 2022 // Likewise, strikes by public-sector workers in the 1960s produced state-level statutes endorsing collective bargaining. Similar policy changes will be needed to sustain contemporary worker efforts, both by fixing the basics of existing labor law to ensure that workers who want collective bargaining are successful in achieving contracts, and by opening up labor law to new forms of worker voice in workplace affairs and corporate governance. But legal changes won’t lead the process. As in the past, policymakers will respond to pressure for change coming from the workforce, a broad base of public interest groups, and ultimately some in the business community.
Workers United says it will waive bargaining rights over some Starbucks benefits
August 4, 2022 // In addition to the benefits Starbucks announced in early May, the company said later that month it would also cover travel expenses for workers seeking gender affirming healthcare or abortions. sip-ins, Workers United International President Lynne Fox, 15-day long strike in Boston,
PRO ACT WOULD CAUSE MORE SUPPLY CHAIN, WORKFORCE CHAOS
July 6, 2022 // The problem with the President’s position on the PRO Act is that it cuts completely against his mission to ensure supply chain resilience. Specifically, the PRO Act would allow for secondary activity including picketing, strikes, and boycotts directed at neutral third parties that are not involved in a labor dispute. For example, the Teamsters could picket and block shipments to a retail warehouse because they want to organize a trucking company. Allowing secondary activity aimed at a neutral retailer would cause significant economic impact throughout the supply chain where multiple businesses including retailers, suppliers and distributors work together to get goods to consumers. ILWU, PMA
The history of right to work, 75 years later
June 27, 2022 // “Right to Work is on the move,” Mix said despite Big Labor’s efforts. Five states passed Right to Work laws over the past decade and the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in a NRWLDF-won case in 2018, he notes. In Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court held that forcing any public sector worker to pay union dues as a condition of employment violated their First Amendment rights. Mix and others are urging Congress to instead to pass the National Right to Work Act, which would eliminate forced union dues powers from federal law and provide Right to Work protections for employees nationwide.
Workers Are Beating Big Bosses, but Organized Labor Can’t Keep Up
April 27, 2022 // Worker-led unions are transformational, while organized labor has become transactional.
SPECIAL NOTICE FOR CALIFORNIA BASED EMPLOYEES OF ALBERTSONS, VONS, PAVILIONS AND RALPHS STORES
April 1, 2022 // ou have the right to go to work during a strike without suffering union discipline, but ONLY if you are a non-member or resign your union membership first. Union officials can (and often do) fine union members who work during a strike. Resigning union membership BEFORE you return to work during a strike is the only way to avoid these union fines and discipline. For more information, visit: Union Discipline and Employee Rights.
Illinois: AMENDMENT 1 WOULD CEMENT STRIKES AS GO-TO WEAPON FOR CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION
March 10, 2022 // The Chicago Teachers Union has gone on strike five times and walked out on students at least three other times since it got the right to strike in 1984. Gaining greater power through Amendment 1 would embolden militant union tactics.
ILR School tracks scope of 2021 US labor unrest
February 26, 2022 // The most common demands of the 140,000 striking American workers in 2021 involved health and safety protocols, pay and health care benefits, according to the Cornell ILR Labor Action Tracker 2021 annual report.
QUICK-TO-STRIKE LEADERS NEED TO BE REPLACED, CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION MEMBERS SAY
January 26, 2022 // The Members First Caucus said the current Chicago Teachers Union leaders see “work stoppages and strikes as the first step, and not the last one.” They want less political activism and more focus on delivering for members and students.