Posts tagged Tennessee
Op-Ed: Why autoworkers in thriving S.C. should resist unionization efforts
August 26, 2024 // South Carolina has emerged as a critical player in the automotive industry, with major manufacturers establishing significant operations across the state. This success is a testament to our pro-business environment, which includes favorable labor laws, competitive wages, and a low cost of doing business. The South Carolina legislature has worked hard to create an environment that is fueling job creation and economic growth.
Nissan workers in Mississippi consider another union campaign: VW ‘proved it can be done’
August 8, 2024 // “We were the forefathers of everything that came to be,” said Rahmeel Nash, a paint body technician at Nissan who has been at the plant for 21 years. But when it came time for Nissan workers to vote in 2017, they rejected unionizing. The final tally wasn’t close — nearly two to one against it. Nissan technician Morris Mock said one reason they lost was because of the UAW itself. The union was in the early days of a corruption scandal, one that eventually led to two presidents going to jail for embezzling. Beyond that, there were deeply entrenched anti-union attitudes in the state. Even local pastors came to speak to workers, calling the company the savior of Mississippi, Mock said.
Memphis union workers prepare to strike ahead of AT&T negotiation deadline
August 5, 2024 // Last month, CWA members voted to authorize union leaders to call a strike at AT&T Southeast if the current contract was permitted to expire before AT&T had reached a fair agreement with its union employees. Union workers are expected to hold strike watch parties in the final hours of negotiations before the current union contract expires at 11:59 p.m.
17 states allege Biden opens path to unionize foreign farmworkers
July 17, 2024 // The Department of Labor denies the allegation, saying the rule merely gives foreign farmworkers the right to protect wages and working conditions through "concerted activities" and "self-advocacy." The AGs accuse the department of hiding "behind linguistic smoke and mirrors." "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck," the motion for a preliminary injunction reads.
UAW President Faces Allegations of Demanding Benefits for Domestic Partner
July 10, 2024 // The filing states that Barofsky is investigating whether Fain’s decision in May to remove UAW Vice President Rich Boyer from his role as the union’s top negotiator with Chrysler parent Stellantis was in retaliation for Boyer’s alleged “refusal to accede to demands” to take actions that “would have benefitted [the president’s] domestic partner and her sister.” Those actions would have amounted to “financial misconduct” Boyer later claimed, according to a separate document Barofsky’s office filed Monday. The 55-year-old Fain is currently engaged, according to the UAW website.
Freelancers sue over new rules on independent contractors
July 8, 2024 // “It really coerces a lot of companies to try to put people, put workers in the employee box just so that they can be sure that they have their bases covered,” says Wen Fa, an attorney and vice president of legal affairs at the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a nonprofit think tank that advocates for individual rights and free market public policies. “Ultimately, what we’re fighting for is the right to freelance.” Fa is representing Margaret Littman and Jennifer Chesak — Nashville-based freelance writers and authors whose bylines collectively include The Washington Post, Men’s Health, National Geographic, and Condé Nast Traveler.
As UAW ‘is being watched with a microscope,’ new investigation puts Fain in crosshairs
July 1, 2024 // The Free Press has made numerous requests — none granted — over the years, including following the release of the latest status report, to interview the monitor, Neil Barofsky, a former assistant U.S. attorney and current partner in the Chicago law firm Jenner & Block. The consent decree stemming from the union's corruption scandal sets in place a six-year term of oversight by the monitor. Barofsky’s appointment was OK’d by U.S. District Court Judge David Lawson in May 2021. The monitor’s charge is broad, with the consent decree giving him “the authority and duty to remove fraud, corruption, illegal behavior, dishonesty and unethical practices from the UAW and its constituent entities.” The oversight by the independent monitor means that internal divisions and disagreements in addition to specific actions are much more likely to be brought to light. Masters described the situation as a fishbowl.
OPINION: UAW loses at Mercedes, but are they done with Alabama?
June 18, 2024 // The question for the UAW is where to turn next in their campaign to organize Southern auto plants. Speculation has focused on Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, or even another crack at other factories in Alabama. But it’s not at all clear that the union has much support in any of these locations. It’s also unlikely that any of the potential target companies will sign a neutrality agreement, but rather will make sure workers have both sides of the story. So, while the UAW puts on a brave face and claims that Southern autoworkers will “Stand Up!” ꟷ it appears that what workers are standing up against is the UAW.
Op-Ed: The Supreme Court Ruling in the Starbucks Case Proves the Law Won’t Save Labor
June 17, 2024 // As a union organizer and Starbucks worker, I’ve seen the effects of corporate retaliation up close. In December 2020, I took a job at the Elmwood Avenue Starbucks in Buffalo, with the goal of unionizing my workplace. A year later, our store voted to become the first unionized corporate Starbucks location in the United States, sparking a wave of organizing across the company. In response to our union campaign, Starbucks unleashed a union-busting effort that began with managers and executives swarming our stores in Buffalo and escalated to firings (including my own), store closings, and the withholding of new benefits, like seniority pay and credit card tipping, from unionized stores nationwide.