Posts tagged Texas
Flight Attendant Fired Over Religious Beliefs at Behest of TWU Union and Southwest Airlines Wins Reinstatement
December 8, 2022 // With free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, former Southwest Airlines flight attendant Charlene Carter has again triumphed in her federal lawsuit charging Transport Workers Union (TWU) officials and Southwest with illegally firing her over her religious beliefs and opposition to the union’s political activity. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas this week ordered Southwest and the union to give Carter the maximum amount of compensatory and punitive damages permitted under federal law, plus back-pay, and other forms of relief that a jury originally awarded following Carter’s victory in a July trial.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram strike marks a major moment for Texas newsroom unions
December 6, 2022 // When 21 reporters from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram announced their intention to walk out Monday, it made headlines. But as the first open-ended newsroom strike in Texas history, it was also a big step for the state’s fledgling newsroom unionizing efforts. In addition to the Star-Telegram newsroom, reporters at the Dallas Morning News and Al Dia; and the Austin American-Statesman unionized as news guilds in the past two years. The Star-Telegram is owned by McClatchy, the Statesman by Gannett, and the Dallas Morning News and Al Dia are owned by DallasNews Corp. All three unions are in the process of negotiating contracts and all of them have cited pay issues as a major driver.
EL PASO: Educators at Casa Trail House Children’s Shelter File Petitions to Remove Unwanted Union ‘Representation’
November 9, 2022 // A teacher’s assistant at Southwest Key Programs Casa Trail House, a charity organization for immigrant children in Texas, has filed a petition to free her and her coworkers from unwanted so-called “representation” by union officials of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 351. Brenda Muñoz is receiving free representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys to navigate the decertification process before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Muñoz’s petition comes on the heels of another decertification effort by Southwest Key employee Maria Amaya, also filed with Foundation legal aid. Ms. Amaya is in a separate bargaining unit from Ms. Muñoz, although they both work for the same employer and both seek to eliminate unwanted IUOE union officials from their workplace.
Opinion: Hunter Tower: Teachers’ unions deserve no ‘amnesty’ for exploiting Covid fears
November 8, 2022 // “There’s no way that you’re going to have full-time schools for all the kids and all the teachers the way we used to have it,” Weingarten actually said in July 2020. A month later, when the American Academy of Pediatrics encouraged schools to reopen for classes in fall 2020, Weingarten opposed then-U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ efforts to reopen schools.
19 Republican governors oppose proposed Project Labor Agreement rule
October 31, 2022 // Nineteen Republican governors wrote a letter to President Joe Biden (D) on October 17, 2022, opposing a proposed federal rule to mandate the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for federal construction projects. The letter was signed by governors from Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. The proposed rule follows an executive order that was signed by Biden in February 2022 that aimed to require PLAs for large-scale construction projects. A group of Republican governors wrote a letter in April 2022 opposing the executive order, arguing that it granted a monopoly to unions and discouraged competition. The proposed rule would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the executive order and mandate the use of PLAs for federal construction contracts exceeding $35 million.
YouTube Music contractors vote to unionize
October 26, 2022 // The AWU-CWA says it "won't stop organizing until all Alphabet workers (full-time, temporary, vendor and contract workers) have dignity on the job, the pay and benefits we deserve, and a seat at the table."
Will offshore wind bring “good-paying, union jobs”? Texas workers aren’t so sure
October 25, 2022 // The Biden administration is gearing up to turn the Gulf of Mexico, long a hub for offshore oil and gas drilling, into a new city of skyscraping offshore wind turbines. Opening up the Gulf to wind development is part of President Joe Biden's goal to employ "tens of thousands of workers" to establish 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. But in Texas, workers are worried that the new industry will continue the low-wage, unsafe, exploitative conditions that pervade the construction and offshore oil industries there. For the past year, a coalition of Texas labor unions, along with their allies in Congress and in the environmental movement, have been lobbying the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, to make sure that doesn't happen.
Voodoo Doughnut workers unionize in second attempt
October 13, 2022 // The vote came after a previous union campaign in 2021 ended in a 9-9 tie, meaning a loss for the union. But after a year, the tide shifted. Union supporters changed tactics for the 2022 campaign in response to feedback from coworkers. Some workers wanted to minimize picketing and marching on the boss, both of which were part of the prior year effort.
Sodexo workers from 2 airlines at Austin airport plan to unionize
October 12, 2022 // “We’re excited to see Sodexo workers at the Austin airport stand up for themselves and we support their call for a fair process to decide on a union,” UNITE HERE Local 23 organizer Aileen Bazan said in the release. “Hospitality workers in Texas know there’s no better time than now to demand respect for the work we do.” UNITE HERE said it represents other food service workers at AUS from HMS Host, Delaware North and LSG Sky Chefs. The group’s union workers receive regular wage increases, affordable healthcare and other benefits with their union contract, the group said.
Via 313 Pizzeria workers vote to unionize
August 9, 2022 // Workers like Xochitl Stauffer said they have more bargaining leverage now that the labor market is tight. “Service work is the backbone of the country right now,” Stauffer said, “and because of COVID so many people have passed away and the labor market is really tight right now, so we have the leverage to ask for better pay, to ask for sick pay and be better respected as workers.” In January, workers alleged that restaurant management was endangering their health by not telling them about COVID-19 cases.