Posts tagged United Auto Workers
3,700 Detroit casino workers go on strike against MGM, MotorCity & Hollywood
October 17, 2023 // Those unions represent most of the workers at the three casinos, including dealers, cleaning staff, food and beverage workers, valets, engineers and more. 99% of the union voted in favor of striking if a deal was not reached. “Making the decision to strike is never easy, but it’s past time for the workers who keep Detroit’s casinos running to get their fair share,” said Nia Winston, President of UNITE HERE Local 24, the union of hospitality workers in Detroit. “The city’s big three casino operators are earning more than ever, and we’re prepared to stay out on strike until we get what we deserve.”
Detroit casino union employees overwhelmingly vote to authorize a strike
October 3, 2023 // Detroit casino union employees voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike Friday night. The Detroit Casino Council — which represents workers at MGM Grand Detroit, Hollywood at Greektown and MotorCity casinos — said 99% voted yes to authorize a strike if a new contract agreement isn't reached by mid-October when the current contract expires. Workers say they sacrificed raises and took on heavier workloads during the coronavirus pandemic after agreeing to a three-year contract extension in September 2020. DCC said workers deserve pay increases now that business is bouncing back.
Commentary: How popular are unions?
September 29, 2023 // So how popular are unions? People tend to support their existence and are sympathetic to the concerns of workers. But they don’t believe people should be forced to join and few are personally interested in joining one themselves.
Las Vegas hospitality workers authorize strike against hotels, casinos
September 28, 2023 // The union represents more than 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and is one of Nevada’s strongest political forces. More than 95 percent of workers voted to authorize a strike Tuesday, the union announced. More than 40,000 members are working without a contract as the union seeks better pay, benefits and working conditions in negotiations with top casino companies including, MGM International, Wynn and Caesars Entertainment. The union did not set a deadline for a walkout, but a full strike would effectively freeze all activity on the Las Vegas Strip, key to the city’s economy. The union represents nearly all nongaming workers at hotels and casinos, including housekeepers, waitstaff and kitchen staff.
Commentary: Leaked Messages From UAW Official Reveal a Big Cause of Unions’ Decline
September 28, 2023 // If union officials actually want to protect UAW jobs and improve workers’ compensation, then they have to want the Big Three American automakers to succeed and to grow. Considering that U.S. auto production is less than half of what it was two decades ago, success is likely going to require that the UAW work alongside—rather than against—U.S. automakers to help them become more competitive. To the extent that involves lobbying policymakers, the focus should be on getting the government out of the business of picking winners and losers by its subsidizing of more expensive electric vehicles that require 40% less labor while also seeking to ban gas-powered vehicles that Americans still overwhelmingly desire. And if unions across America want to increase their membership, they should appeal directly to workers by offering things they value instead of using their dues to get politicians to go against their interests by doing things like attacking secret ballot union elections, restricting employers’ ability to share important information with workers before union elections, and establishing a pathway to force an employer to bargain with a union even if workers don’t want to be represented by it.
Donald Trump: UAW negotiations ‘don’t mean as much as you think’
September 28, 2023 //
Illinois House Speaker pushes bill to allow the statehouse to unionize
September 28, 2023 // What they want: The Illinois workers say union representation would protect them when they want to speak up and allow them to bargain for better wages. With Welch behind the legislation, passage is all but assured in the Democratic-controlled House. Pritzker, who a few months backed the contract for AFSCME Council 31 state employees, has signaled he supports the legislative employees’ union efforts. That’s a far cry from California, which took five tries before it was able to pass legislation earlier this month to allow staffers to unionize.
UAW strike: What the media won’t tell you about the strike
September 21, 2023 // The Wall Street Journal reported that some in the UAW, including President Shawn Fain, pushed for a full strike, but “there was a simple financial calculation to consider: Such an option would rapidly drain the UAW’s $825 million fund that it uses to pay striking workers, likely depleting it within about two months.” In other words, the union itself doesn’t think it could hold out for long if it tried to shut all three companies. Hence the spin surrounding the current limited strike: UAW is trying to make a virtue out of necessity. In past negotiations, UAW has tried to secure a deal with one of the three automakers ahead of the others and then use that agreement as a template for bargaining with the other two. That UAW didn’t try that this time suggests the union feared it could not wrestle even one company to the ground.
Why it seems like everyone’s going on strike on Biden’s watch
September 19, 2023 // Biden was able to intervene directly in talks between railroads and rail workers since federal law gives the government a big say in that industry’s labor relations due to its economic importance. And his top Labor Department official was involved in a deal this year between West Coast ports and dockworkers. Here’s how the administration publicly stepped in — or didn’t — in some of organized labor’s most high-profile moments.