Posts tagged union-busting
Southern Poverty Law Center workers vote to remove CEO after ‘inhumane’ layoffs
September 12, 2024 // Staffers claim June mass layoffs at civil rights non-profit was a union-busting tactic that ‘destroyed lives’
Workers Say Plant Eligible for $2 Billion in Public Funds Is Union-Busting
September 4, 2024 // Eos’s Pittsburgh-area battery plant got subsidies aimed at ‘good clean jobs.’ Its workers say they’re getting fired for unionizing.
Chef Ann Kim’s Korean American Restaurant Will Close Following Unionization
August 26, 2024 // Vestalia did not voluntarily recognize the union. Kim made her first public statement about the unionization push on June 9, writing on Instagram that she “firmly agree[s] that everyone deserves the right to a voice and a vote,” but that she felt Kim’s team could “come together” without a union. (The post has since been removed.) Later that month, food blogger Joe Rosenthal posted internal messages from Kim, her partner Conrad Leifur, and restaurant managers seemingly attempting to persuade staff to vote against unionizing.
Southern Poverty Law Center’s layoffs mostly affected unionized staff
June 27, 2024 // he Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the few nonprofit organizations providing pro bono legal counsel to immigrants across the southern U.S., laid off 78 workers on June 12, gutting a quarter of its workforce and dismantling programs that work directly with incarcerated immigrants. The decision has ignited frustration from workers who are accusing the organization of hypocrisy and abandoning its core mission. Among those dismissed were 61 union members and more than 20 supervisors, many of whom are people of color actively working in the Deep South—a region historically fraught with racial tensions and inequalities.
‘Fearful, divisive, scary’: Madison employer accused of union busting by employees for layoffs
June 3, 2024 // OPEIU Local 39 said the employer has retained the services of Littler Mendelson, a law firm known for helping companies like Starbucks avoid unions. The losses of OPEIU representation at ACU has alarmed the workers as declines in union membership are correlated with wage stagnation and rising income inequality. Nationally, union density has declined from 20 percent of all wage and salary workers in 1983, to 10 percent as of 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Apple Store in New Jersey Votes Against Unionizing
May 13, 2024 // Neither unionized Apple store has yet reached a contract with the company. Employees at the location in Towson, Maryland, who organized with the International Association of Machinists, voted Saturday to authorize a potential strike over what the union alleges has been a refusal by Apple to fairly negotiate. Outstanding issues driving the possible work stoppage include work-life balance, unpredictable scheduling and pay, the IAM said in an emailed statement. A date when workers could walk out “will be determined,” the union said.
Trader Joe’s in Chicago files to unionize
April 11, 2024 // The Tribune reports that the Trader Joe’s filed for a union election on Monday, and needs 140 “yes” votes in order to establish the union. The workers there are not affiliated with an established union and instead are organizing independently under the name Trader Joe’s United. One worker at the store told the Tribune that she makes $22.50 an hour and receives 75-cent raises twice a year. Trader Joe’s spokesperson Nakia Rohde told the Tribune that its workers receive annual raises of approximately 7%.
PLAYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS WARN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED ON UNION BUSTING
March 7, 2024 // The AFL-CIO Sports Council, which launched in 2022 to assist athletes in unionizing, released the statement Monday. The warning doesn’t mention any specific consequence that could arise. However, players in those leagues could refuse to conduct interviews with SI writers and podcasters, decline to attend SI parties and otherwise boycott creation of SI content. For the storied publication, which for decades influenced the sports industry like no other, a loss of access to players and their unions would make reporting more difficult, and it would both diminish and delegitimize the SI brand.
REI SoHo workers unionized in 2022, but still don’t have a contract. This play tells their story
February 21, 2024 // Neill first put on the play, called Foot Wears House, for her coworkers and fellow union members, through a reading at RWDSU’s office. Now, it will be open to the public with a reading at Hudson Park Library on February 24, once again starring members of the REI Soho union. The reading is supported by Working Theater, which is focused on stories for and about working people, and is free to the public, with the option for donations to the REI Union Hardship Fund.