Posts tagged unions
Is Gen Z the reason behind growing support for unions?
September 21, 2023 // Austin Johnson, 21, works at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne. He has a long family history with Ford. His mom works at the plant and his grandfather and great-grandfather worked for Ford. Johnson, who was worked for Ford for two years, walked out last week after contract negotiations failed and his union local was called to strike. "I am a tier two employee. I want to get rid of tiers and completely cancel that, and that's why I am here and striking for," he said.
Nebraska unions gain more workers since contract renegotiations
September 20, 2023 //
Op-ed: Workplace Democracy Dies in Darkness at the NLRB
September 19, 2023 // A current unionization campaign shows the threat. After losing an April election at a New York City store, the Trader Joe’s United union claimed that management tainted the election. How? By informing their employees about the company’s views on unionization and putting limits on posting union flyers on bulletin boards and break-room tables. The union wants the NLRB to force Trader Joe’s to bargain, yet regardless of whether that happens, unions will take advantage of Cemex and launch a new wave of organizing campaigns, even ones they’d normally lose. The Cemex decision should be seen for what it really is: A blatant handout to unions — and a blatant assault on workers and job creators. The best answer to the NLRB ruling is the Employee Rights Act, which, among other things, would permanently ban card check and protect workers’ right to a secret ballot. Workers would get a second election instead of being forced into an unwanted union. Businesses and workers are also likely to challenge the NLRB in federal court. They deserve to succeed. If unions want to represent workers, they should win a vote in a free and fair election.
PHILADELPHIA: SEPTA must negotiate contracts with nearly all its labor unions amid looming financial crisis
September 18, 2023 // The authority projects an annual operating deficit of $240 million beginning next July 1 as the last of its federal pandemic aid is spent, a situation dubbed the “fiscal cliff” that afflicts most transit systems in the United States. Riders have not returned in pre-COVID 19 numbers, and changing travel patterns have accelerated in the last three years. SEPTA and the state’s other public transit agencies are pushing for the legislature to adopt a measure that would give them a greater share of the sales tax to support operations. Uncertainty about finances makes it difficult to say “yes” to increased pay and benefits for TWU Local 234, which represents operators of buses, trolleys, and transit trains, SEPTA CEO Leslie S. Richards said Tuesday during a hearing of the state House Transportation Committee at the agency’s headquarters.
Florida unions struggle to reenroll members
September 17, 2023 // Recertification elections required by the new law would be the first time most union members have a direct say in who their representative is. Already, dozens of unions are expected to face recertification elections under the new requirements. AFFT reported that at least 42 Florida teachers unions are below the threshold, not including local unions like AFSCME Local 199 and CWA Local 3179.
Unions seek gains in hostile territory: ‘If you change the South, you change America’
September 15, 2023 // The Union of Southern Service Workers, an SEIU-backed group, is organizing low-wage workers from across the service industry. The National Domestic Workers Alliance, a non-union membership organization, is mapping blue-leaning Southern jurisdictions, such as Miami-Dade County, that could be open to enacting a floor of labor standards for homecare. That effort has already led to the passage of “Bill of Rights” legislation in 10 states and four cities. And the Southern Workers Assembly, an advocacy group for both union and non-union workers, is trying to educate and organize workplaces across the region.
Marvel VFX Workers Unanimously Vote to Unionize With IATSE
September 15, 2023 //
‘Union Joe’ Can’t Do Much To Stop Major Auto Strike
September 14, 2023 // The UAW has also expressed reservations over Biden’s push for electric vehicles, believing that they are not as high quality as the current unionized autoworker jobs, presenting a political challenge of balancing the union’s desires with his climate goals, according to Bloomberg. The union has yet to endorse Biden in his 2024 presidential campaign. The Biden administration cannot step in to prevent a strike as it did in negotiations between four rail unions and rail companies in December 2022, after Congress used its special authority over railroad labor to force contracts on unionized workers. The new contracts were absent of key demands like paid sick leave and other “quality of life” requests. The rail industry is under the jurisdiction of the Railway Labor Act, enacted in 1926, which regulates labor relations in the industry and enables Congress to force contracts on rail workers. The auto industry is not covered under the same type of regulations, meaning Biden lacks the power to intervene forcefully as he has in the past.
As L.A. City Hall staffers consider unionizing, competing unions seek to woo them
September 12, 2023 // The city work force, like the vast majority of the public sector work force across California, is heavily unionized. Staffers for elected officials, however, have long been at-will employees — they can be hired without dealing with civil service requirements, but also lack the protections that a civil service job confers. That’s the norm for staffers to elected officials across the country. But the City Hall effort is far from an outlier.
Right-to-work was key to pandemic recovery
September 11, 2023 // Workers themselves have more flexibility to switch jobs, move within companies, and start businesses, all of which have economic as well as personal benefits. Job creators find it easier to expand and hire more people, and other companies are more likely to move from out-of-state, creating more jobs. These benefits have been clear for decades. Right-to-work states see more jobs created, faster-growing wages, and higher personal income growth than states that force workers to pay unions they don’t support. The pandemic clarified the need for this policy like never before, as government lockdowns, economic mandates, and supply-chain issues caused countless businesses to cut jobs or even shut down for good. Workers and job creators needed all the help they could get, and right-to-work was a huge source of relief. In fact, it still is, with some of the pandemic’s negative effects still lingering.