Posts tagged Texas
Huge shipping company shuts down and files Chapter 7 bankruptcy
July 10, 2024 // A review of the Texas Workforce Commission website shows that U.S. Logistics Solutions did not file a 60-day notice to employees that's required under the Worker Adjustments and Retraining Notification Act for companies with more than 100 employees. Failure to file the notice led a former employee on June 24 to file a class-action adversary proceeding complaint in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court against the debtor. The Charlotte, N.C.-based private equity firm in a statement said that all of the shipping company's employees had received their final paychecks, according to FreightWaves.
District Court Blocks Implementation of Overtime Final Rule for State Employees in Texas
July 8, 2024 // For now, however, the rule is in effect. As of July 1, 2024, the minimum salary threshold of the overtime pay regulations is set at $43,888, while the threshold for highly compensated employees is now $132,964. The next round of increases is scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2025. Additionally, in another case challenging the rule, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas rejected software company Flint Avenue’s request for an injunction to block implementation of the rule nationwide. The court ruled that the company had not shown it would face irreparable harm if the rule went into effect, so it was not entitled to a preliminary injunction. The Northern District’s decision does not impact the Eastern District’s order, however.
Independent contractor classification still murky under new DOL rule
July 8, 2024 // Bill Webb, executive director for the Coalition for Independent Truckers, is skeptical. “To me, it’s just another one of those deaths by 1000 cuts for the independent contractor model,” he said. He believes this year’s November election will be crucial in retaining the current model. “(The DOL rule) does clearly change from a true AB5 model to something a little muddier,
OPINION: Republicans Don’t Need to Embrace Union Leaders to Win Union Workers
July 1, 2024 // Republicans should appeal directly to union members with commonsense policies. Working-class Americans are among the hardest hit by Bidenomics and its painful inflation. Republicans should reach them with policies that will reduce the cost of living and increase job opportunities. The GOP should simultaneously and forcefully oppose the union-backed demands with a message of spending restraint. Additionally, the GOP should extend the 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2025 — spurring a new era of job creation and wage growth.
Biden Administration Unveils Historic Rules for High-Paying Clean Energy Jobs The White House
June 19, 2024 // Clean energy projects that meet the requirements of these final rules will receive a fivefold increase for clean energy tax credits for deployment of wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, and other clean energy technologies, as well as for projects receiving allocations under the Section 48C Advanced Energy Projects credit., providing a significant incentive for project developers to pay prevailing wages to workers for construction, alteration, and repair of clean energy projects and to hire registered apprentices to earn while they learn by working on those projects. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su also published a blog highlighting the use of Project Labor Agreements as a best practice for large construction projects and a tool to help project developers comply with the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Project Labor Agreements, or pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that set the terms and conditions for employment on a construction project, help workers and developers alike by providing strong worker and wage protections while ensuring a reliable supply of skilled workers to help deliver projects on time and on budget.
17 state AGs sue Biden admin for allowing foreign farmworkers to unionize
June 14, 2024 // A group of 17 state attorneys general, led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration this week over a rule that allows temporary farm workers in the country on H-2A visas the power to unionize. Federal law bans American farm workers from collective bargaining. “Once again, Joe Biden is putting America last,” Kobach said in a statement. “He’s giving political benefits to foreign workers while American workers struggle in Biden’s horrible economy. I stand with American workers.”
Austin Pets Alive workers vote to unionize, creating the largest animal shelter union in the U.S.
June 12, 2024 // Despite the vote, APA workers have a long road ahead. Because Texas is a “right to work” state, APA workers might have more difficulty getting everything they want out of a contract. In a “right-to-work” state, employees can choose whether or not they want to join a union, but once the union is certified it represents every employee in a union-covered position, even those who choose not to be members and don’t pay dues. As KUT has previously reported, “this is thought to weaken a union's power because it doesn't always receive every employee's full support.”
Dockworkers Cancel Bargaining, Threaten Strike at U.S. Seaports
June 11, 2024 // Automation has been a flashpoint for longshore labor talks on both coasts. Daggett has vowed to stem the tide of automated machinery being used to lift, carry and stack containers on docks around the world. In a speech last year he accused the Biden administration of standing by while foreign-owned carriers use the machinery “to eliminate good paying American jobs.” People familiar with the negotiations say most issues specific to local ports have been resolved, but some issues, such as automation, are unresolved.
Former fire union president arrested for trying to scare highest-ranking female firefighter out of applying for chief
June 6, 2024 // Under Steele, the fire union successfully rallied voters in 2018 to put limits on the city manager’s pay and tenure and to give the union the unilateral power to call for binding arbitration during contract negotiations. However, that victory soon backfired on firefighters. After the union invoked its new power in 2019, a panel of arbitrators handed down a contract that fell short of what firefighters had hoped and for which the union is still trying to make up ground in its latest negotiations. Steele retired from SAFD as a battalion chief in August 2021, leaving the union at the same time. He is free on bond after being booked into the Hays County Jail Friday.
Molson Coors reaches agreement with workers on new contract, ending months-long strike
May 24, 2024 // The Fort Worth brewery, located at 7001 South Freeway, opened in 1969 and became the home of Miller Lite in 1975. According to the Molson Coors website, 520 employees work at the Fort Worth brewery. Molson Coors is among the largest beverage companies in the world, and products produced at the Fort Worth site include Miller Lite, Coors Light, Yuengling, PBR and Topo Chico.