Posts tagged TESLA
ESG Is a Front for Labor
July 24, 2023 // House Republicans have declared July “ESG month,” planning hearings and bills to push back against politicized environmental, social, and governance investing. Yet so far, lawmakers have almost exclusively focused on environmental issues. Republicans should also pay attention to the “S” in ESG, which labor unions are using to advance their agenda at the expense of workers, their own members, and even taxpayers — a problem that President Biden has significantly worsened. The 2023 proxy season, which started in January and ended in June, shows the union campaign in action. Union funds and their allies, such as the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and like-minded investment managers, introduced many ESG-focused shareholder proposals designed to accelerate unionization. Consider Apple, which was targeted by five New York City pension funds, multiple investment managers, and the SEIU Master Trust Pension Plan, among others.
Sean O’Brien’s summer of the strike
June 26, 2023 // It’s the spark for the combative spirit that permeates Teamsters headquarters, where a whiteboard charts a long-term battle plan on a timeline — “practice picketing,” “CAT trainings” (for “contract action teams”), “identify strike teams” … and finally, on the July 31 spot that marks the end of the current contract: “STRIKE.” Why strike now? As O’Brien himself acknowledged in his Senate testimony, UPS already offers the most plum jobs in the logistics industry, with driver salaries starting at $93,000. But O’Brien argues that the pandemic gave UPS workers the greatest leverage they’ve had in decades. In 2020, union members risked their health to keep packages moving. UPS’s profits surged and have remained high, with customers still hooked on the online shopping habits they adopted during the lockdowns. “Our members are fed up” and remain convinced, he said, that “the only concern that was being addressed was UPS’s bottom line and their balance sheet.” No better time, O’Brien reasons, for workers to go to the mat to demand wages beginning at $20 an hour, tighter safety provisions and an end to the two-tier employment system ushered in by the last contract.
Prominent auto analyst on UAW contract talks: ‘I think we’re going to see a strike’
June 22, 2023 // Auto analysts at Bank of America feel confident in the likelihood of a United Auto Workers strike of at least one of the Detroit automakers later this year — and they expect the union to secure wage and benefit improvements that result in 25% to 30% higher labor costs for the companies over the four years of the contract. That's according to comments made Wednesday by John Murphy, managing director and lead U.S. auto analyst in equity research at Bank of America, during the financial institution's annual "Car Wars" presentation. The event was hosted by the Automotive Press Association. John Murphy, managing director and lead U.S. auto analyst in equity research at Bank of America, expects UAW members to be on the picket lines this September against at least one of the Detroit Three automakers. “I think we’re going to see a strike on Sept. 15," said Murphy. The UAW's current contracts with Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV expire Sept. 14. Talks on a new agreement are slated to start this summer. Murphy said he's highly confident in at least one strike happening, and that the chances of a subsequent strike at one of the other automakers is "much higher than normal."
Commute no more: US employees embrace telework
June 12, 2023 // Teleworking has become "part of a cluster of benefits and options that companies can choose to offer workers," said Nela Richardson from ADP. For potential employees, "it's a choice of whether or not you are willing to negotiate that or look for that in your job search," she added. But what employees really want, according to Richardson, is the flexibility to choose when they work. "It's not necessarily (that) I want to work from home, I want to be surrounded by dirty dishes and unmade beds,"she said. "It's the fact that I can choose what hours I work."
Senate looks at labor laws which unions say interfere with workers’ right to organize
April 6, 2023 // These days, you know, a lot of union organizers are young and social media savvy, and they're speaking out loudly when they feel their labor rights have been violated. And also, under the Biden administration, the federal agency that enforces labor law has been pursuing a lot of these cases against employers.
Planned Parenthood affiliate fires two union leaders, disciplines entire bargaining team
April 3, 2023 // The discipline stems from an allegation that confidential information about the organization was shared in the union’s private group chat. Planned Parenthood managers apparently obtained a copy of the union’s private group chat. The workers’ alleged breach of confidentiality had nothing to do with patient data, but rather about a previous employee’s termination and an effort by management to limit workers wearing union T-shirts on the job. The violations happened months ago, and the union hoped to keep the inner turmoil under wraps to avoid embroiling a revered progressive institution in a public spectacle when it’s confronting new abortion restrictions across the country.
Op-ed: Why Employers Forcing a Return to Office is Leading to More Worker Power and Unionization
February 23, 2023 // It's important to recognize that this turn to worker power is happening in the context of massive layoffs by tech companies, which are becoming less willing to offer perks like remote work to their workforce. In fact, there's evidence that some companies such as Twitter are using return-to-office mandates to get workers to quit voluntarily, to avoid paying severance. Employers are increasingly getting the upper hand, as workers who feel anxious about the economy are reluctant to make demands for more remote work. However, such strategies may well backfire against employers in the long term if they spur increases in labor union organizing; even though individual employees might be anxious about their jobs, together they can press their case, especially given an unemployment rate of 3.4%, the lowest in over 50 years. And even tech workers are finding new jobs in three months or so, pointing to the strength of the labor market despite some shift toward employer power.
Union campaign at Tesla marks second attempt to organize workers
February 21, 2023 //
Tesla Workers Reportedly Fired After Trying to Unionize
February 17, 2023 // The move comes just a day after a worker organizing committee, known as Tesla Workers United, notified Musk by email of their intent to unionize. The group is comprised of 25 Tesla employees that process and mark data for Tesla’s Autopilot driver assist system. Tesla Workers United and the larger Workers United union are working in partnership as they attempt to organize Tesla’s Buffalo operation. If the latter name sounds familiar, it’s because the organization recently helped unionize hundreds of Starbucks locations. The group hopes to unionize employees tagging Autopilot data as well as a further 1,000 manufacturing staff at the facility. According to the union, one of the fired employees was a member of the organizing committee, while several others that were fired had been involved in discussions around unionization
Tesla workers trying to unionize are turning to the group that launched Starbucks’ nationwide union wave
February 16, 2023 // The Buffalo factory has about 2,000 employees, about 800 of whom work for the company’s Autopilot division, the technology that allows Tesla’s cars to maneuver controls automatically. The remainder of the workers are part of manufacturing or other functions, according to the Wall Street Journal. Since December 2021, when Starbucks workers first organized in Buffalo, over 250 more stores have voted in favor of unionizing. The company has adopted a hardline stance towards its unions. Starbucks has yet to agree to or sign any contracts with its unions, even though it has said it’s open to discussions. With executives pushing back and negotiations faltering, the unionization effort in the world’s largest coffeehouse chain has begun to slow in recent months with a softer pace of contract bargaining.