Posts tagged United Steelworkers
Philly workers got organized in 2023. Look back on this year’s strikes, walkouts, and union campaigns.
December 30, 2023 // As worker organizing activity heated up toward the end of 2022, with new unions and strikes grabbing headlines through the fall, labor leaders predicted 2023 would be an even bigger year for employees seizing on their leverage.
Labor unions are still giving Democrats climate headaches
December 6, 2023 // The United Steelworkers, whose members operate oil refineries around the state, has endorsed a 12-year transition roadmap developed by economists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which proposes California spend $470 million annually to support workers laid off from fossil fuel jobs. In October, USW joined a new labor coalition, including chapters from United Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, that released policy priorities including wage replacement, healthcare coverage, retraining and relocation support for displaced workers.
Overwhelming Majority of Bethlehem, PA, Hygrade Metal Workers Vote to Remove Steelworkers Union Bosses
November 13, 2023 // “Steelworkers union officials didn’t stand up for our interests, yet they still had control over our workplace and were taking our dues money,” commented Soto. “My coworkers threw big support behind the petition, and now we have freed ourselves from the Steelworkers, as is our right under federal law.”
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.
OSHA Prepares to Join Administration-Wide Effort to Aid Unions
June 20, 2023 // OSHA has indicated it will push a labor agenda with an anticipated rulemaking that would allow union officials to join OSHA officials during walk-around inspections at non-union locations.
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.