Posts tagged termination
NY reaches tentative deal to end prison strike by suspending anti-solitary confinement law
March 2, 2025 // A law restricting the use of solitary confinement in New York’s prisons would remain partly suspended for 90 days if corrections officers accept a tentative agreement the state reached with their union to end an ongoing wildcat strike. There will be no departmental discipline for any of the thousands of corrections officers if they return to work by Saturday, according to a memo the governor released. The agreement also includes provisions to reduce mandated overtime, increase the overtime pay rate and temporarily hire retired corrections officers to assist in transporting incarcerated people.
DOGE will use AI to assess the responses of federal workers who were told to justify their jobs via email
February 27, 2025 // A coalition of unions and groups that have been fighting the Trump administration's mass layoffs of probationary workers charge the effort was unlawful. They amended their lawsuit against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management over the weekend to add a claim involving the OPM email directing workers to justify their workweek.
Eaton Employee Forces IAM Union Bosses to Abandon Illegal Termination & Fine Threats
February 24, 2025 // Robert Jacobs, an employee of power management firm Eaton Corporation at its Troy, Illinois, facility, has forced International Association of Machinists (IAM) union officials to back off their threats to fire him unless he paid hundreds in illegal fees they imposed on him after he exercised his right to end his union membership. Jacobs filed federal charges in January challenging the union’s so-called “reinstatement fee” threats at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He received free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Hochul calls up National Guard over prison strikes
February 19, 2025 // "The illegal and unlawful actions being taken by a number of correction officers must end immediately," Hochul said in a statement. "We will not allow these individuals to jeopardize the safety of their colleagues, incarcerated people, and the residents of communities surrounding our correctional facilities." New York correctional officers have been on strike at several upstate facilities since Monday, though union officials say the job action wasn't sanctioned. The work stoppages — which are illegal under New York law — come in response to a lockdown last week when rioting inmates injured three guards and simmering complaints about understaffing and mandatory overtime in state prisons.
US Forest Service to Terminate 3,400 Workers, Union Leader Says
February 14, 2025 // President Donald Trump directed agency heads Feb. 11 to “undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force” that focus on firing workers who “perform functions not mandated by statute,” including “diversity, equity and inclusion programs.”
For federal employees, remote work ought to be exception, not rule
February 9, 2025 // But the public sector is a different ballgame. Whereas most private sector employees can be fired at any time and for any reason, the process for firing federal workers is intentionally onerous. Federal employees' right to "due process" means that employers must give them a 30-day advance notice and explanation of alleged misconduct before a termination can go into effect. Federal employees then have the right to appeal the firing to an independent agency, retain independent counsel, file a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, and then be reinstated with back pay and benefits should the appeal succeed.
Unionization of 1199SEIU’s own staff exposes internal tensions
November 22, 2024 // The in-house staff union has a formal unfair labor practice charge pending with the National Labor Relations Board over Hemmings’ termination. A second pending charge alleges that 1199SEIU officers were unlawfully polling employees to gauge their support for the in-house staff union. Another accuses 1199SEIU of changing a policy around paid leave and remote work, in violation of “status quo” protections for employees.
Why the protests at American Dream? Workers try to unionize, clash with employers
September 19, 2024 // They’re cleaning staff trying to organize and join part of the union 32BJ Service Employees International Union, and they’ve been protesting the treatment of several of their fellow workers at American Dream. Among their grievances, 32BJ alleged that two people working at the mall as cleaning staff — Jose Terán and Luis Verela — were fired because of their union organizing efforts by HSA Cleaning, a company the mall contracted for cleaning services.
Donald Trump Calls Tesla CEO Elon Musk ‘Greatest Cutter’ For Terminating Workers Who Want To Unionize
August 14, 2024 // “You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump said in a 3-hour-long Spaces event with the billionaire entrepreneur. “I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you just say: ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike- I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike. And you say, ‘That's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone.” The former President was seemingly referring to the termination of about 30 Tesla employees early last year in what was allegedly a response to unionizing efforts at its facility in Buffalo, New York.
VA, AFGE reach ‘historic’ settlement to reinstate, compensate thousands of wrongfully fired feds
August 4, 2023 // The department said it expects the total cost of the settlement agreement with AFGE to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The exact amount, though, could take years to determine, depending on how many former employees ultimately choose to return to their VA jobs. The settlement comes years after AFGE, which represents more than 291,000 VA employees, filed a grievance against the department in 2018. The union said the agency’s implementation of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which aimed to speed up the firing process for poor-performing VA employees, violated their collective bargaining agreement.