Posts tagged United Steelworkers
United Steelworkers Boss Brian Gerald Sentenced For Crimes
October 16, 2023 // On September 20, 2023, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Brian Gerald, former Financial Secretary of the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 13-189 (located in Bogalusa, La.), was sentenced to six months of home confinement and 60 months of probation. He was also ordered to pay $112,594 in restitution ($60,000 due within 60 days of the judgment) and a $100 special assessment. On April 24, 2023, Gerald pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a labor union, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Dallas-New Orleans District Office.
Federal worker complaints rise with union activity in Minnesota
August 22, 2023 // National Labor Relations Board complaints this year in Minnesota and nationally are already above full 2021 and 2022 levels. Organizers expect even more in 2024.
Commentary: Nation’s Largest Teachers Union Doubles Down on Its Progressive Agenda
August 21, 2023 // Pringle turned her attention to Florida. "We have come here to Florida—our nation's ground zero for shameful, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic rhetoric and dangerous actions," Pringle said. "We stand ready to lift up and protect our colleagues and their students. Right here in Florida, we will preserve and strengthen a democracy that was steeped in the power of 'We the People'!" Didn't Pringle know that the people of Florida had an election in 2020 and reelected Governor Ron DeSantis by a 20-point margin? And with 56 percent of Hispanic voters turning out for the Republican candidate? Pringle didn't get that memo, but it didn't stop her. "In this moment when voting rights hang in the balance and reproductive rights remain at risk, we are required to fight for fair and free elections and a woman's right to control her own body," she said. "NEA, this is that moment. With the residue of the pandemic lingering and with our psyches still fragile, we must try to make sense of all we have lost and all that we have learned."
Hundreds Of Northshore Mining Workers Join United Steelworkers Union
July 21, 2023 // The union said in a statement Tuesday that Northshore Mining was the last remaining taconite mine on the Iron Range without a union. Roughly 400 workers mine taconite in Babbitt and make iron ore pellets in Silver Bay.
Workers at Georgia school bus manufacturer Blue Bird begin voting to form a union
July 10, 2023 // Organized labor represents an even smaller portion of Georgia workers, with only 4.4% of workers unionized. That’s the eighth-lowest union rate in the country, which is part of a belt of southern and western states where workers and employers have long resisted unionization. Union organizers at Blue Bird have filed formal complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the company’s anti-union campaign exceeded legal limits and unduly threatened and harassed employees.
Corrupt Cappuccinos? Unions Looking to Organize Coffee Shops Aren’t Giving Workers the Whole Story
June 19, 2023 // If union leaders are sometimes keeping money for themselves, they don’t seem to be spreading the wealth. In 2020, UFCW Local 400 issued a statement that workers should be prepared to strike against the supermarket chain Kroger. But hidden in the details of the statement was the fact that the national headquarters of the union would only pay workers $100 a week after the first eight days of striking. By the end of 2020, the union paid nearly double for hotels ($1,003,755) than on strike benefits for workers ($574,173). While UFCW Local 400 members would have struggled financially if a strike took place, the union had nearly $90 million in on hand cash by the end of 2020.
Workers at Georgia School Bus Maker Blue Bird Begin Voting on Whether to Unionize
May 12, 2023 // Georgia workers at one of the nation's largest school bus manufacturers will begin voting Thursday on whether they want to be represented by a labor union — a chance for organized labor to make gains on the stony soil of the Deep South. More than 1,400 employees at Blue Bird Corp.'s two factories and warehouse in Fort Valley will be voting through Friday on whether they want to unionize under the banner of the United Steelworkers. That union represents more than 850,000 workers nationwide in a variety of industries.
Union Members Strike Continental Cement over Unfair Labor Practices
February 23, 2023 //
Complaints filed from union over Tecnocap layoffs
February 15, 2023 // Union-represented employees of Tecnocap are seeking what they call “fair treatment” from the company. The United Steelworkers announced the employees will hold a peaceful rally just outside the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling Saturday afternoon. Earlier this week, Tecnocap laid off 51 employees, all of them members of United Steelworkers Local 152M. The union in response has filed complaints of unfair labor practice against the company, saying they refused to negotiate contracts with the union. More than 50 charges have already been filed by the union against Tecnocap.
Northwestern Pennsylvania Metal Employees Finally Free from “Representation” of Unpopular Steelworkers Union Bosses
January 31, 2023 // With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Kerry Hunsberger and her coworkers at Latrobe Specialty Metals Company have successfully freed themselves from the unwanted “representation” of United Steelworkers (USW) union officials. Hunsberger and her coworkers voted to remove USW officials from their facility in December, following USW officials’ claim that no vote should occur because union officials secretly “ratified” a union contract that workers had overwhelmingly voted down twice. USW officials outrageously argued before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that their covert signing of a tentative contract triggered a non-statutory policy known as the “contract bar” that prevented Hunsberger and her coworkers from voting the union out. However, Hunsberger’s Foundation-provided attorneys successfully defeated this union maneuver in November, which cleared the way for the vote to proceed. The “contract bar” is a non-statutory NLRB policy that arbitrarily immunizes unions from being “decertified” for up to three years after union officials and management conclude a contract.