Posts tagged unfair labor practices
Thousands of UC patient care, service workers to strike Wednesday, Thursday
November 21, 2024 // "The University's proposals include $700 million in economic increases for AFSCME members and a direct response to what AFSCME had asked for — the greater of a $25 an hour minimum wage or a 5% across-the-board raise," according to the UC. "Our proposals would increase AFSCME members' pay by an average 26% over the five-year contract. We have also proposed $75 or $100 monthly credits for AFSCME members to offset employee premium increases." University officials said the union in May stopped responding to or acknowledging the university's proposals and declared an impasse
Teachers Union Staff Faced An Unexpected Labor Adversary—The Union That Employs Them
November 21, 2024 // A lockout is a tactic that bosses and corporations use to suppress their employees, it’s not something a union should be doing to another union. As the largest union in the country, we need to be modeling the practices of joint labor management collaboration. This culture that we create in our organization is so important. Every single district is watching what’s happening because these are some of the tactics that they will use. That is one of my biggest fears. NEA has normalized this practice of locking out staff, and it has gone on for four weeks.
Starbucks Barista Asks Labor Board to Overturn Regional Official’s Decision to Continue Blocking Vote to Remove Union
November 21, 2024 // Smith’s appeal challenges the regional NLRB’s refusal to reinstate her decertification petition, which it is still stonewalling despite the resolution of SBWU union officials’ charges against Starbucks that were ostensibly the justification for blocking the workers’ petition for a vote to remove the union. Smith argues that the decision is inconsistent not only with the Board’s past reasons for holding up the petition, but also with workers’ right under federal labor law to promptly have an election to remove a union they do not want.
Could AI be used to replace striking workers?
November 19, 2024 // Some of the striking workers handle software and data analysis. It wasn’t clear if, without them, the paper’s website would be able to handle what was an expected influx of election-related traffic. Aravind Srinivas, CEO of AI company Perplexity, responded on X to Sulzberger’s statements, saying that his company was “on standby to help ensure your essential coverage is available to all through the election.” The tech workers’ strike ended after a week (though without a contract resolution), and there were no reported website outages. But the offer from Srinivas struck many as a way to undercut the union’s power and compromise workers’ ability to fight for better labor conditions. Replies to his comment called him a “scab” (a term for someone who crosses a picket line and replaces striking workers).
Amazon ordered to let workers vote on unionizing — for the 3rd time
November 7, 2024 // Amazon says it plans to appeal the ruling. "This decision is wrong on the facts and the law," Spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis said in a statement. She criticized the labor board and the union for "trying to force a third vote instead of accepting the facts and the will of our team members."
Grindr Implemented Return-to-Office Policy to Retaliate Against Workers for Unionizing, NLRB Says
November 6, 2024 // The labor agency issued a new complaint against Grindr over the policy, which led to about half of the dating platform's employees leaving the company.
Opinion: Help! We’re Trapped in a Trader Joe’s Union
October 28, 2024 // But the union hasn’t been what many of our co-workers expected. The officers basically selected themselves. They then delayed negotiations with Trader Joe’s while forfeiting our annual bonus retirement contribution. Amid growing discontent in the store, the two of us attended a bargaining session in February 2023, which the union president invited all crew members to join. We were shocked at what we saw. We thought the union would focus on things that matter, like wages and benefits. Instead, union representatives negotiated over things like “pronoun pins,” which the company already provides. They demanded that Trader Joe’s cover abortion and “gender-affirming care.” The company’s response: The health plan already covers that.
CVS workers picket across Southern California as strike continues
October 21, 2024 // The union said the strike is supposed to last a few days, but workers could walk out again if the company doesn’t meet demands. CVS has laid off thousands of corporate workers in recent months amid a restructure at the top. The UFCW said while seven Southern California stores are currently on strike, more could join if a second walk out is approved in the coming days and weeks.
Boeing will lay off 10% of employees as a strike shuts down airplane production
October 14, 2024 // About 33,000 union machinists have been on strike since Sept. 14. Two days of talks this week failed to produce a deal, and Boeing filed an unfair-labor-practices charge against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. As it announced layoffs, Boeing also gave a preliminary report on its third-quarter financial results — and the news is not good for the company. Boeing said it burned through $1.3 billion in cash during the quarter and lost $9.97 per share. Industry analysts had been expecting the company to lose $1.61 per share in the quarter, according to a FactSet survey, but analysts were likely unaware of some large write-downs that Boeing announced Friday — a $2.6 billion charge related to delays of the 777X, $400 million for the 767, and $2 billion for defense and space programs including new Air Force One jets, a space capsule for NASA and a military refueling tanker.
Commentary: The NLRB’s “Laboratory Conditions” Are Overdue for Inspection
October 7, 2024 // In several lines of precedent since the passage of the 1947 Taft-Hartley amendments, courts have ignored or glossed over this textual problem and have allowed the NLRB to police campaign misconduct quite closely. Most relevant here is the doctrine first announced in General Shoe Corporation. The Shoe Workers Union objected to its election loss at a plant in Pulaski, Tennessee, and charged the employer with co-extensive unfair labor practices. The employer’s president was shown to have lectured employees personally about their union support. Finding that no unfair labor practice had been proven, the Board nevertheless set aside the Union’s loss,