Posts tagged vacation
Push to mandate two weeks of paid vacation for workers
March 25, 2024 // Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Greg Casar (D-Texas.) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas.) are co-sponsors of the bill. Democratic lawmakers joined by union leaders held a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to garner support. “Those who are most in need of time off are the ones who can least afford to take it unpaid,” Political Director with UNITE-HERE, Susan Valentine said. She emphasized that denying workers the basic benefit of paid time off perpetuates inequality.
Starbucks increases US hourly wages and adds other benefits for non-union workers
November 9, 2023 // Starbucks said it is also shortening the time hourly employees must work before accruing vacation days from one year to 90 days. That benefit is also only available to workers at non-unionized stores. The company also announced a new North American barista championship open to employees in the U.S. and Canada. The company said program also won't be available to employees at unionized stores since it involves prize money and travel. Starbucks’ actions go against a September ruling by an administrative law judge for the NLRB, who ruled that the company acted illegally last fall when it raised pay only for non-union workers. Starbucks has appealed that ruling, saying NLRB’s standards don’t allow employers to make unilateral changes in the wages or benefits of unionized employees.
No-Show Workers Add Wrinkle to Stellantis Union Contract Talks
September 14, 2023 // The auto giant has a hard time getting some US factory workers to show up for their shifts. They just don’t align on how to solve it. Stellantis has made fixing absenteeism a priority in contract talks with the UAW for its 43,000 unionized workers. The absentee rate at its US plants was 23% last year, according to a copy of the company’s initial contract proposal reviewed by Bloomberg. Absent workers led to $217 million in lost sales in 2021 and 2022, the company estimated.
Op-ed: Workers Rights Won by Unions, From the 8-Hour Workday to Overtime Pay
September 11, 2023 // The overall proportion of unionized workers in the United States remains relatively low, with only one in every 10 workers in the country belonging to a union. But whether you're a union worker or not, you may benefit from policies for which unions have fought long and hard — and they continue to fight. Labor organizing has helped secure everyday benefits that many of us now take for granted. And these efforts have shown people what kind of protections they can hope to secure in the workplace.
Staten Island Ferry workers union agrees on $103 million labor contract with NYC after 13-year delay
September 5, 2023 // After 13 years without one, the Staten Island Ferry workers’ union has reached a deal with Mayor Eric Adams’ administration on a labor contract that ensures retroactive raises and establishes new scheduling and vacation protocols. The deal, announced by Adams on Monday, ensures salary increases of at least 38% for all Staten Island Ferry captains, assistant captains, mates and engineers, as calculated from the retroactive Nov. 7, 2010 start date of the contract through the Jan. 4, 2027, end date. The contract will cost city taxpayers a total of $103 million. Renee Campion, Adams’ Labor Relations commissioner, explained the wage structure means Staten Island Ferry mates will earn $124,400 annually at the end of the contract if they’ve been on the payroll since 2010. By comparison, a Staten Island Ferry mate earned $51,000 in 2010.
Wabtec sues union, seeks injunction aimed at conduct of striking workers on picket line
August 3, 2023 // Since the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America went on strike on June 22, according to Wabtec's motion, the striking workers have, among other things, used racist and homophobic slurs against non-striking employees entering and leaving the plant, damaged employees' personal vehicles, blocked the plant's gates and subjected the plant to two phoned-in bomb threats. Wabtec sued the UE in asking for the injunction. "Wabtec has made consistent efforts to address the Union's unlawful and dangerous picket activity with the Union and its counsel, but the activity has persisted and most recently escalated, amounting to an unlawful seizure of the Wabtec facility," according to Wabtec's motion.
‘Employees come second’: Why California’s legislative staffers hope to unionize
July 21, 2023 // Unlike other state workers, legislative staff are banned from unionizing to advocate for better working conditions. That could soon change under a bill making its way through the State Capitol. Assembly Bill 1, authored by Assembly member Tina McKinnor (D—Inglewood), would provide a framework for legislative staff to form a union. California’s over 200,000 other public employees are able to unionize. But legislative staff are notably excluded from the law, the Dills Act, that established those rights in the 1970s. AB 1 is the fifth attempt in recent years to change that.
UPS Teamsters strike threat lingers, here’s how a strike could impact non-union workers
July 14, 2023 // Non-union workers are likely to see additional workload expectations in the event of a strike. Management, supervisors and other clerical staff that may not be covered by the Teamsters contract "could be told to keep the packages moving" while the union members walk the picket lines, Morris said. Clark said UPS could try and lean on the non-union workers to keep the company afloat during a strike.
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.