Posts tagged Union Contracts
City Workers Losing Patience With Slow Crawl to Union Contracts
January 31, 2023 // Most city employees are now working under expired labor contracts that lapsed as far back as 2020 — frustrating rank-and-file union members whose anticipated pay raises are tied up in an escalating battle over proposed changes to retired colleagues’ health coverage. Nearly all of the city’s roughly 300,000 unionized staff are working under expired collective bargaining agreements. They include members of the city’s largest public sector unions, District Council 37 (DC37) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Administrative workers, school crossing guards, teachers, police detectives, sanitation workers and health technicians are among those eager to bargain for raises as well as potential new benefits, such as flexibility to work remotely.
Appeals panel: Chicago must force telecom companies to hire union labor to upgrade their equipment on city-owned poles
January 6, 2023 // A state appeals panel has ruled a labor union can force the city of Chicago to require telecommunications companies to hire union workers to install 5G antennas on city-owned utility poles. After Chicago officials allowed nonunion contractors to install modern cellular service antennas on light and traffic poles, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 9 filed a grievance alleging a violation of its multiproject labor agreement with the city. An arbitrator ruled in favor of the union. But after the city challenged that ruling, Cook County Circuit Judge Anna Loftus vacated the award in June 2021.
Opinion: Workers have almost no say over what union bosses do — even their votes don’t count
December 6, 2022 // Unfortunately, as a practical matter, federal law prohibits unionized workers who are dissatisfied with how an “exclusive union bargaining agent” is handling their careers from decertifying it except for a small fraction of the time. For example, under the so-called “contract bar,” once a multiyear union contract is ratified, decertification efforts are forbidden for up to three years, except during a 30-day window beginning 90 days before the contract expires.
Railroad Strike Threat Shows How Unions’ Rigid Rules Often Hurt Workers
October 6, 2022 // Railroad companies would almost certainly have raised compensation to maintain the workforce they needed, but they’ve been locked in by union contracts that prevent them from increasing workers’ pay—or any other benefits—until a new contract is reached. The lack of flexibility to respond quickly to changing circumstances and conditions has almost certainly hampered railroad companies’ ability to find workers throughout the pandemic.
Are Labor Unions Effective?
September 1, 2022 // Critics of labor unions maintain that union contracts are anti-employer and make it more difficult for a company to fire an unproductive employee. They also believe that unions can increase long-term costs for employers, which can decrease competitiveness. 8 For example, many claim that unions are responsible for the decline of the U.S. auto industry. Foreign automakers entered the U.S. auto market in the 1970s and hired non-union workers to build vehicles. 9 Due to the savings in labor costs, they could afford to sell their vehicles for less than U.S. manufacturers. This made it much harder for the unionized big three automakers to produce competitive cars at affordable prices, and they lost significant market share.
SPECIAL NOTICE FOR CALIFORNIA BASED EMPLOYEES OF ALBERTSONS, VONS, PAVILIONS AND RALPHS STORES
April 1, 2022 // ou have the right to go to work during a strike without suffering union discipline, but ONLY if you are a non-member or resign your union membership first. Union officials can (and often do) fine union members who work during a strike. Resigning union membership BEFORE you return to work during a strike is the only way to avoid these union fines and discipline. For more information, visit: Union Discipline and Employee Rights.
Boston, unions discussing hybrid work options
March 17, 2022 // “The City and its labor partners had a discussion about implementing hybrid work models through collective bargaining,” a city spokesman said in a statement to the Herald on Friday evening.
The Jobs Report Came in Strong. Don’t Celebrate Yet.
February 7, 2022 // The Biden administration is celebrating the better-than-expected 467,000 January job-creation numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the new data put the Federal Reserve even further behind in fighting inflation, potentially setting up a 50 basis point increase in March, rather than the 25 basis point increase markets are primed for. That could send equities further down.
Health-Care Strike Risk Runs High as Hundreds of Labor Deals End
January 26, 2022 // At least 207,000 health-care workers are covered by the more than 400 labor agreements set to expire this year, according to an analysis of federal disclosures and contract settlement data compiled by Bloomberg Law.