Posts tagged unionized
OPINION Unionized academic workers go on strike, for what?
June 4, 2024 // The union, which states on its website that it “will not negotiate on behalf of encampment organizers,” has filed multiple complaints against the University of California with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) since the beginning of May, when the university called in law enforcement to break down the “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” at UCLA. By then the initial 30 tents had grown into a massive, self-barricaded site that attracted angry counter-protesters in a violent overnight clash. The union’s complaint listed “workplace demands” that included the “right to opt out of participation in military-funded research,” and the “disclosure and divestment of University funds from Israel’s war effort.” The UAW local also complained that a new discipline policy of an “applicable review process” for employees who are arrested or cited was imposed without “notice or opportunity to bargain.” Further, the union wants the university to “make whole” any employees who were reported for criminal activity by paying their civil fines, attorney fees, bail and damage expenses.
Planned Parenthood Northern California Workers Unionize With SEIU Local 1021
April 17, 2024 // “It’s been really something that has been a long time coming; we’ve been waiting for it with bated breath,” said Debbie Nguyen, a Planned Parenthood Northern California clinician in Oakland. “We’ve been going back and forth with them to work on getting recognized for months now.” A federal mediator confirmed that a supermajority of Planned Parenthood Northern California workers — 77% — had voted to join SEIU Local 1021 during Friday’s “card check,” in which employees who are part of a bargaining unit sign “cards” that state and authorize their wish for union representation.
Unionized Science Museum workers await contract as cultural nonprofits face changing labor market
April 1, 2024 // Inspired in part by pandemic-era lay-offs, as well as record inflation, Twin Cities labor movements have seen an uptick in mobilization. Janitors, school teachers, university graduate students, plow truck operators, firefighters, nurses, rideshare drivers and coffeeshop baristas have all recently taken their arguments for better pay and working conditions to the public picket line, or threatened to. Museums have had a lower-profile in those labor efforts, but workers at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis and Science Museum all have unionized in the past four years with the goal of collective bargaining for employee-friendly contracts. Most of the Science Museum’s workers were laid off and sent home when the pandemic forced closures in March 2020, only to be gradually called back months later into a climate marked by social distancing and general uncertainty. Hazard pay for frontline staff in visitor services disappeared after a few months. Workers rallied and got it back.
After unionized strippers accused club owner of violating deal, federal labor board intervenes
April 1, 2024 // Star Garden reopened in August, after a 15-month tussle during which club management fired more than a dozen dancers, contested the results of a union election held by strippers, filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors. Soon after Star Garden reopened, dancers told The Times that drink prices had ratcheted up, the bar had gone cashless and removed its ATM and management was discouraging customers from tipping with cash. Dancers accused Star Garden management of introducing arbitrary rules and implementing high drink prices and cover fees in bad faith in an effort to deter customers, demoralize dancers and weaken resolve in contract negotiations. Union attorneys filed multiple unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB alleging club owners were engaging in bad faith bargaining and arbitrarily disciplining employees, among other claims.
Commentary: Biden’s FTC Seeks To Protect Union Workers Through M&A Challenge
March 25, 2024 // For Kroger and Albertsons, the FTC claims that the companies aggressively compete with one another to hire and retain grocery workers, principally through collective bargaining negotiations with unions. The FTC claims that this competition results in higher wages, better benefits, and improved working conditions for employees. The proposed acquisition would eliminate or greatly curtail this competition, threatening the ability of hundreds of thousands of grocery store workers to secure stronger contracts with improved wages and benefits.
Unions using ESG to control workers — and drain Americans’ retirement savings
March 21, 2024 // They’re pushing board nominees and shareholder proposals that aim to force more workers into union membership, even when workers don’t want it. The Biden administration has smoothed the path for this underhanded strategy, and not only does it threaten workers, it endangers millions of Americans’ retirement savings. A new Institute for the American Worker report shines a light on labor unions’ reliance on ESG.
Snow day puts Lamont, CT employee unions at odds over telework
February 16, 2024 // Hybrid employees who were scheduled to work remotely during Tuesday’s storm were required to do so, the coalition says. But SEBAC also said hybrid employees who were scheduled to work on-site Tuesday should not have been compelled to work remotely or otherwise expend accrued time off. Those employees, the coalition says, must be treated like all staff who normally work on-site all the time. Those on-site workers effectively received Tuesday as a paid day off.
Democrat Party’s Embrace of Union Tactics Emboldens Corruption
February 9, 2024 // The Biden administration’s green-lighting of Big Labor’s thuggish tactics has only served to exacerbate union corruption. In 2023, the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) conducted 155 criminal investigations into union activity, handing down 39 indictments and 57 convictions. Union crimes the OLMS prosecuted include petty theft, embezzlement, racketeering, and falsifying records.
San Francisco set to approve millions in raises while facing deficit
January 5, 2024 // The San Francisco Unified School District is set to approve raises for its non-unionized employees amidst projected deficits of hundreds of millions of dollars for the upcoming fiscal years. The school district in December announced it had approved "historic" raises for its unionized employees. Now, the school board has been recommended it approve the same raises for its non-unionized employees at its Jan. 9 board meeting, according to reports. The across-the-board raises for all employees are budgeted to cost $88 million in 2024. The district is estimating a deficit of $194.4 million for the upcoming fiscal year of 2024-25 and a $420.5 million deficit for the fiscal year 2025-26.