Posts tagged unfair labor practices
LA County workers’ union sets strike for Oct. 10, while county calls it ‘unwarranted’
September 26, 2024 // A union representing 55,000 Los Angeles County workers announced on Tuesday, Sept. 24 that it has authorized a strike set for Oct. 10, unless county management comes back to the negotiating table. About 1,000 members of the SEIU 721 union came to the Board of Supervisors meeting to inform the county of its decision. Workers that would be affected by a strike are from numerous county departments, including: Children & Family Services, Mental Health, Public Health, Public Social Services, Parks & Recreation, Beaches & Harbors, LA County Library, Clerk/Registrar-Recorder, County Coroner and Unincorporated Street Services.
US orders Starbucks to reopen 2 New York stores company shut down after workers unionized
September 18, 2024 // Last year, the NLRB called on Starbucks to reopen 23 stores that labor advocates say were shuttered in response to workers unionizing. The locations spanned multiple major US cities, including Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle, where Starbucks is headquartered, among others.
For Many Students, Labor Organizing and Palestinian Solidarity Are One Movement
September 11, 2024 // The reverberations from May 1 are still being felt on Dartmouth’s campus. That day, undergraduates formed an encampment on the campus green and graduate student workers began a general strike—a carefully-planned, jointly-coordinated challenge to the college’s investments in Israel and their treatment of graduate workers. Both events were announced at a crowded “Labor for Liberation” rally, and the union and Palestine were explicitly linked as two halves of one action by the organizers. “It is through our unions that we can sever Dartmouth’s ties to the war machine,” said Danny Keane, a member of the Palestine caucus of the union, “and build a people’s university.”
‘Unprecedented’ lawsuit could roll back farmworker union wins from 2023 California law
August 25, 2024 // The Wonderful lawsuit is the latest legal challenge brought forth by employers against the ALRB and the state’s landmark 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act. This law was the first in the country to grant farmworkers the right to collective bargaining without retaliation, which farmworkers were not granted under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. The exclusion was rooted in racism because, at the time, many of those workers were Black.
Audubon staff union announces 3-day strike
August 23, 2024 // The Bird Union, represented by the Communications Workers of America Local 1180, plans to start a three-day strike Sept. 10, “in response to the nonprofit’s continued violation of workers’ rights under federal labor laws,” the union said. The planned strike marks the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute within the group, where management and staff union have struggled to finalize a collective bargaining agreement since employees unionized in 2021.
AT&T workers on strike over ‘unfair labor practices’
August 19, 2024 // She claimed AT&T is surface bargaining, meaning representatives don't have the authority to make decisions. "We need someone at the table who can actually call the shots and make a decision," Cain said. AT&T said the union's claims are "not grounded in fact." "We're disappointed that union leaders would call for a strike at this point in the negotiations, rather than directing their energies toward constructive discussions at the bargaining table. This action needlessly jeopardizes the wages and well-being of our employees," said an AT&T spokesperson in a statement.
Praise of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz written by nonunion staff during teachers strike
August 15, 2024 // In an internet post this week, the staffers accused NEA management of using people to take over the duties of union workers to compile an Aug. 6 endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of former NEA member Tim Walz as her running mate. The NEA has been stuck in a labor dispute with its staff union for months. Sent through Progressive Newswire, the press release includes the name and email address of NEA communications specialist Staci Maiers as a contact. She said management froze her out of the inbox last month after she helped organize a July 5 picket line that shut down the union’s annual assembly in Philadelphia.
SkyWest Airlines facing federal lawsuit over alleged ‘fake company union’
August 14, 2024 // SkyWest Airlines, the largest regional airline in North America, is facing legal action over an alleged “fake” company union that the airline operates and the allegedly retaliatory firings of flight attendants who were engaged in union organizing efforts. A lawsuit was filed by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) in October 2023. The US Department of Labor also filed a lawsuit last month against the company over the “company union”, alleging SkyWest Inflight Association (SIA) did not perform its legal duties as a representative agency and barred two employees from running in an election for leadership positions due to their support for an independent union at the airline.
Fred Meyer workers to vote on potential strike
August 14, 2024 // The union claims Fred Meyer refused to provide essential information for proper contract negotiations. It represents about 4,500 workers at affected Fred Meyer locations in the Pacific Northwest. The union said it filed a suit against what it said are multiple unfair labor practices.
Is It Really About Employee Voices? The National Labor Relations Board Continues its Union-Friendly Trend
August 7, 2024 // The new regulations also contain a revision that will affect construction companies. Under the NLRA, an employer cannot recognize and bargain with a union lest the union has demonstrated that it represents a majority of the employees (through cards or an election, as noted above). Section 8(f) of the NLRA provides a limited exception to this rule, and it applies solely to the construction industry. Under Section 8(f), a construction industry employer can enter into a "pre-hire" agreement with a union and negotiate employment terms regardless of whether the employees support the union. Prior to 2020, the Board allowed an employer and union to convert an "8(f) agreement" into a normal collective bargaining agreement simply by stating that the union had demonstrated majority support to the employer. That language was sufficient to block a decertification petition or petition from a rival union during the so-called "contract bar" period (the term of the labor agreement, up to three years). No evidence would be examined to attack the contract language – this provision was enough.