Posts tagged Unite Here
Tech Layoffs Threaten Unions’ Plan to Draw White-Collar Workers
January 18, 2023 // Some 500 technology companies have axed nearly 100,000 workers since last October, according to Layoffs.fyi, a public database of tech layoffs. Amazon this month announced it would cut 18,000 jobs, and on the same day, cloud computing company Salesforce and the online video-sharing service Vimeo said they would slash 10% and 11% of their staffs, respectively. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, said in November it would eliminate 11,000 jobs—about 13% of its staff. Those reductions in force don’t bode well for unions that have increasingly funneled resources into tech organizing, which was, until recently, seen as an ever-growing pool of potential members. The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, last year raised membership fees for the first time in two decades, hoping to raise $10 million a year for new organizing. Union leaders this month flocked to Las Vegas for the CES technology conference, set on understanding how the latest innovations in artificial intelligence could disrupt their industries.
Yale grad students vote to unionize after decadeslong push
January 11, 2023 // Graduate students across the U.S., both at public and private institutions, have pushed in recent years to organize and bargain collectively. Columbia University, another Ivy League school, in 2018 agreed to begin contract negotiations with a union representing its graduate student teaching and research assistants, ending a long battle in which the university denied them the right to unionize.
Workers at Eeva in Kensington have unionized
January 11, 2023 // Local 80, Philly’s food-service union, celebrated another victory this weekend as it welcomed its latest member: Eeva, the Kensington bakery/restaurant from the owners of ReAnimator Coffee. It is the first independent restaurant in the city to unionize. “The management team at Eeva intends to voluntarily recognize the Eeva staff union,” Eeva’s owners, Mark Corpus, Greg Dunn and Mark Capriotti, said in a statement to The Inquirer on Monday.
Common Roots employees respond to its abrupt closure after unionization attempt
January 4, 2023 // Dan Schwartzman made the shock announcement Wednesday that he was immediately closing his cafe after 15 years in business, citing challenging financial conditions both before and during the pandemic, but also his staff's plans to form a union.
First Orlando, Now Vegas: Convention-Center Labor Strikes Authorized
December 14, 2022 // For event planners seeking to avoid a similar labor crisis that could derail their events, veteran events-industry attorney Joshua L. Grimes, Esq., of Grimes Law Office in Philadelphia, offers these thoughts: “If your event is coming up soon, I think it’s appropriate to ask the host facility specifically how they intend to handle things if the union members strike. The answer given to groups is usually, ‘Don't worry, we're going to take care of it.’ But without a labor agreement in place, I would say it's reasonable to ask the in-house catering company for a detailed backup plan. And if a group does not have confidence in what it hears, the group could demand the right to bring in its own caterer” or to use other options such as food trucks. Further, “due diligence requires that a group not wait until a few days before the event to start asking questions. There's a legal doctrine called ‘anticipatory breach’ that says a group may not need to wait until the last minute to see if foodservice can be provided at an acceptable level of quality. If it's clear that the in-house caterer won't be able to perform its contractual obligations, the group may be able to cancel the foodservice contract before the event starts and proceed to make alternate arrangements to get F&B for its guests” at an acceptable level of both product quality and service quality.
What’s next for staffer unions on the Hill?
November 1, 2022 // Staff for another five members — all Democrats — have filed petitions with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to hold elections. Since the initial eight offices filed petitions when they were first allowed to in July, only two more have done so — staff for Reps. Dina Titus of Nevada and Sean Casten of Illinois. If all form unions, around 100 House staffers out of 9,100 will be represented by the Congressional Workers Union.
College cafeteria workers organize with support from Catholic Labor Network
October 25, 2022 // On behalf of workers at Loyola, Unite Here has asked Sodexo to enter into a card check neutrality agreement; if accepted, the company would pledge to recognize the union automatically if a certain number of signed union authorization cards are collected. The letter to Sodexo prepared by the Catholic Labor Network and the Interreligious Network for Worker Solidarity affirms it is up to workers, not their employer, to make decisions around union membership. "We call on Sodexo to treat workers with the dignity they deserve," it reads. Fr. Ty Hullinger, a pastor in Baltimore, signed the letter and attended the September listening session organized by the Catholic Labor Network. Ignatian Solidarity Network, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development
Sodexo workers from 2 airlines at Austin airport plan to unionize
October 12, 2022 // “We’re excited to see Sodexo workers at the Austin airport stand up for themselves and we support their call for a fair process to decide on a union,” UNITE HERE Local 23 organizer Aileen Bazan said in the release. “Hospitality workers in Texas know there’s no better time than now to demand respect for the work we do.” UNITE HERE said it represents other food service workers at AUS from HMS Host, Delaware North and LSG Sky Chefs. The group’s union workers receive regular wage increases, affordable healthcare and other benefits with their union contract, the group said.
Waymo workers form union in the latest push to organize Silicon Valley
October 12, 2022 // The cafeteria workers at the Mountain View-based company cite the high cost of living in the Bay Area and the lack of strong benefits while working for one of the world's most valuable companies. Waymo is owned by Google parent company, Alphabet. The workers are employed by Sodexo, which contracts service work for Google and other companies. Organizers say they have a majority of union cards signed from the roughly two dozen-person bargaining unit.
Short-staffed hotels are hiring robots — and labor unions are pushing back
July 6, 2022 // A handful of hotels across the US – from the Mandarin Oriental in Boston to a Holiday Inn Express in Redwood City, Calif. – have begun turning to robots to provide guest services usually performed by human employees. Labor unions don’t find the idea of robots working at a hotel funny, much less robot jokes. Organizers fear the budding army of automatons, which currently numbers at least 200 nationwide, is threatening to grow and replace dues-paying members. The issue is bubbling up in the hospitality industry even as it has lately sparked division in other sectors amid a nationwide labor shortage. That includes talks between port operators and West Coast dock workers whose labor contract expired on July 1. army of automatons, Relay Robotics, American Hotel & Lodging Association, Vaughn Davis, Dream Hollywood, Bear Robotics, Luma Hotel, non-union hotels, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Boston, Hawaii, Rich Maroko,