Posts tagged United Steelworkers
Opinion: Workers have almost no say over what union bosses do — even their votes don’t count
December 6, 2022 // Unfortunately, as a practical matter, federal law prohibits unionized workers who are dissatisfied with how an “exclusive union bargaining agent” is handling their careers from decertifying it except for a small fraction of the time. For example, under the so-called “contract bar,” once a multiyear union contract is ratified, decertification efforts are forbidden for up to three years, except during a 30-day window beginning 90 days before the contract expires.
A new union is born in the South
December 1, 2022 // USSW workers and staff are bullish on their new union, believing that its fusion of labor and human rights organizing will help them secure livable wages, stronger safety protections, control over their work schedules, and new respect for the African Americans and Latinos who make up the majority of their members. They are encouraged by the growing public approval for labor unions and the increase in worker protest during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among essential or frontline workers. They are also building off of nine years of organizing through Raise Up — the Southern expression of the Fight for $15 and a Union and an affiliate of the sprawling Service Employees International Union. Raise Up veterans like Gas and Smalls, and the Durham, North Carolina-based Ieisha Franceis and Jamila Allen, will be critical to the USSW's success. Beginning in September 2020 and continuing over the next year, Franceis and Allen led three walkouts that forced their employer, Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, to agree to their demands for raises, paid leave for employees in quarantine, and new sanitation procedures. Franceis was initially hesitant about striking, but she trusted the much younger and more soft-spoken Allen, who had been meeting with Raise Up organizers for a year and gently prodding her coworkers to take collective action.
NLRB Rejects USW Union Boss Attempt to Impose Contract Workers Voted Down to Block Election to Remove Union
November 30, 2022 // Steelworkers union officials attempted to wield anti-worker “contract bar” to trap workers in union they oppose, using union contract workers twice rejected With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Kerry Hunsberger and her coworkers at Latrobe Specialty Metals Company have scored a victory in their effort to vote United Steelworkers (USW) union officials out of their facility. Hunsberger and her coworkers are challenging USW officials’ secret “ratification” of a union contract that workers had overwhelmingly voted down twice, and union officials’ contention that the employees should be barred from exercising their right to oust the union because of that contract. A decision from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Director in Pittsburgh now orders a union “decertification election” to be held among Hunsberger and her colleagues on December 6. In August, Hunsberger submitted to the NLRB a petition backed by the requisite number of her colleagues to trigger such a vote, but USW union bosses dragged their feet and argued that a non-statutory NLRB policy, the so-called “contract bar,” should block the employees’ right to vote because a contract was in place.
Food Company Employees File Charges Alleging Union Dues are Being Illegally Deducted from their Paychecks
November 4, 2022 // Employees at Buitoni Food Company have filed charges against their employer and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9555 after union dues deductions resumed despite the workers having revoked their authorization for such payments to be taken out of their paychecks. The federal Unfair Labor Practice charges were filed with National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 5 with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys. The charging workers, Steven Ricketts and Donald Hale, each hand-delivered letters to both USW union officials and to their employer formally resigning their union memberships and revoking their dues check-off authorizations. Because Virginia is one of 27 states with a Right to Work law, union membership and dues payments must be voluntary and cannot be required as a condition of employment. In states without Right to Work laws, workers can legally be fired if they refuse to pay union dues or fees.
Burlington Gold Bond Building Products Employees Decisively Vote Out Steelworkers Union Bosses
October 19, 2022 // Vote to remove union comes as Pennsylvania employees fight legal battle against Steelworkers officials who trapped them under union power and disregarded votes
Oil Refinery Employee Wins Back Illegally Seized Union Dues
October 14, 2022 // In March, Mr. Hoffman asked HF Sinclair to stop the union dues deduction from his paycheck. After HF Sinclair received Mr. Hoffman’s revocation, it complied with his request. On June 7, Mr. Hoffman exercised his legal right to resign his membership from the United Steelworkers union. Later that month, HF Sinclair resumed the deduction of dues from Mr. Hoffman’s paycheck without his consent—a blatant violation of the National Labor Relations Act. Not only does the union contract between HF Sinclair and the United Steelworkers indicate only union members are required to pay dues, it also contains an unlawful provision restricting when employees can resign their membership. Even though he has received back the money taken from him, Mr. Hoffman continues to challenge United Steelworkers union officials with the aid of National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. Because union officials refuse to admit wrongdoing, Mr. Hoffman is pushing for removal of the illegal provision restricting the right to resign membership in the union, and a notice to be posted to notify his coworkers that may not be aware of their rights.
Labor unions run full court press in favor of Democrats $739B Inflation Reduction Act
August 9, 2022 // Labor union bosses have praised the legislation as a big win for their members. The AFL-CIO is particularly pleased with the hundreds of billions of dollars the bill directs to climate-related initiatives. "These provisions dramatically lower the cost of clean energy, positioning the U.S. to make deep carbon emissions reductions while preserving and creating millions of jobs, with an especially big boost to manufacturing," said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. "Importantly for fairness and diversity, it pushes investment to fossil fuel and underserved communities. While the 'union bonus' incentives we advocated for were not included, the bill retains provisions that strengthen prevailing wage, apprenticeship and domestic content standards throughout."
Former NKY worker at Duro Hilex Poly tells state official that steelworkers union forced her to be a member
July 7, 2022 // The complaint notes that Local 832 officials are illegally demanding both union membership and full dues payment from workers as a condition of staying employed, a clear violation of the Commonwealth’s Right to Work law that makes union membership and financial support strictly voluntary. The employee, Melva Hernandez, is receiving free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. She maintains that the company deducted dues money illegally from her paycheck for the union as the result of a forced unionism contract provision that cannot lawfully be enforced in Kentucky. Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet Secretary, Melva Hernandez, Kentucky Labor Cabinet, USW Local 832 President Tara Purnhagen,
Northern KY Worker Asks State Official to Prosecute Steelworkers Union for Violating Kentucky Right to Work Law
July 1, 2022 // After Hernandez tendered her resignation to Purnhagen, “Ms. Purnhagen scolded and harassed me, accusing me of trying to convince my fellow co-workers to drop their union memberships,” Hernandez’s complaint says. Purnhagen also forbade Hernandez from discussing with her coworkers reasons to refrain from union membership. “As of today’s filing, the company and the union have not reimbursed me for the money seized in union dues in violation of Kentucky law,” the complaint says. Kentucky’s Right to Work law, Kentucky Labor Cabinet, USW Local 832 President Tara Purnhagen, Kentucky Labor Cabinet Secretary,
Top Five Labor Law Developments for May 2022
June 17, 2022 // Geodis Logistics, Video game testers, No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act,