Posts tagged veto
US labor unions fight to contain AI disruption
June 5, 2025 // The threat extends beyond manufacturing. The CEO of Anthropic, which created Claude as a competitor to ChatGPT, warned last week that generative AI could eliminate half of all low-skilled white-collar jobs, potentially driving unemployment rates up to 10-20 percent. "The potential displacement of workers and elimination of jobs is a significant concern not just for our members, but for the public in general," said Peter Finn of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, America's largest union.
CT Union Threatens Lamont Over Striking Worker Bill
June 4, 2025 // S.B. 8, which passed the Senate 24–11 on May 28 with Sen. Norm Needleman (D-Essex) abstaining, rewrites Section 31-236 of state law to allow striking workers to collect unemployment benefits after 14 days on the picket line — even if they volunteered to strike. Gov. Lamont vetoed a similar bill last year, and for good reason. This year, he’s again signaling opposition — but unions aren’t taking “no” for an answer.
Op-ed: Colorado workers should know their rights
May 22, 2025 // With the examples of Pueblo and Denver—and those in other states—in mind, Colorado employees would be wise to educate themselves on their rights under state and federal law regarding union membership and representation. With lawmakers determined to expand union power, it may be up to employees to ensure that union officials are also held accountable to the law.
CT Lawmakers Find the Line Between Governing and Union Organizing — and Cross It
May 19, 2025 // Standing alongside Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) and Rep. Nick Gauthier (D–Waterford), and Sen. MD Rahman (D-Manchester), Sen. Kushner made it crystal clear where her priorities lie — not in brokering solutions, but in prolonging standoffs. “We’ve been fighting for Senate Bill 8,” she told the crowd, referring to her legislation. She framed it to protect workers — but in reality, it’s designed to help unions hold the line longer by forcing employers to bankroll the strikes being waged against them. Describing the bill as a response to a supposedly broken federal labor system, she even falsely claiming that “we don’t even have a Federal Labor Board” — using that to justify why Connecticut needs to “do everything” to support strikers, including paying them not to work.
COLORADO: As expected, Gov. Polis vetoes bill changing unionization requirements
May 19, 2025 // Lawmakers passed the bill at the end of the legislative session after negotiations between labor leadership and the business community failed. Democrats were hoping Polis would have a change of heart. "I would think as the figurehead of the Democratic party," Rep. Jennifer Bacon, who sponsored the bill, said on the House floor last Monday. "He will do what Democrats ask him to do and what Democrats worked on. I have faith that he will do it. He will sign this bill." That didn't happen. In his veto letter, Polis said he was open to changing the law but thinks there should be a higher threshold when voting for dues deductions.
Gov. Jared Polis’ coming labor bill veto will strain Democrat’s labor ties — and set stage for ballot fight
May 15, 2025 // Polis has said that Colorado’s 81-year-old labor law has worked well and that he wants maximum employee input in negotiating union dues. He added Thursday that he wanted a deal that would bring stability to business-labor relations in the state, referring to fears that a change to the status quo would usher in a tug-of-war over competing ballot measures and legislation. Asked about Polis’ skeptical views of SB-5, Dougherty said those were concerns “that were not relayed to us when he was running for governor.”
Connecticut governor vetoes bill that could lead to $3 million in assistance to striking workers
June 14, 2024 // Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday vetoed a vaguely written bill to create a $3 million fund that could have financially helped striking workers in Connecticut. Calling it commendable to provide assistance to low-wage workers, as the bill was described on the final night of the 2024 legislative session, Lamont said he was concerned about how the legislation lacked clarity, financial accountability and oversight.
Biden vetoes bid to repeal US labor board rule on contract, franchise workers
May 3, 2024 // Matthew Haller, president and CEO of the International Franchise Association, said the rule would cause particular harm to underrepresented groups including minorities, women and veterans who have often turned to franchising as a path to business ownership. “President Biden claims to be a champion for small businesses, but today he turned his back on franchising," Haller said in a statement. The rule was set to take effect in February, but was delayed and ultimately blocked by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker in Tyler, Texas, in a lawsuit by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.
MAINE: Mills vetoes farm worker minimum wage hike
April 28, 2024 // "Small family farms will no longer be independent businesses, but will be subsidiaries of large producers contracting out production processes or out of business completely," Julie Ann Smith, the bureau's executive director, said in recent testimony. "You do not have masses of agricultural workers clamoring for unionization. But you have farmers pleading with you not to destroy their livelihoods." Lawmakers could vote to override Mills' objections when they reconvene in August, but the slim margin by which the package of bills was passed will make it difficult to garner the two-thirds majority needed to reverse the governor's decision. In 2022, lawmakers failed to muster enough votes to override Mills' veto of a similar farm worker package that had called for closing loopholes in state and federal labor laws for farm workers, who are not covered by Maine’s minimum wage and overtime regulations.
Va. governor vetoes bill requiring two crew members on trains, federal guidance pending
March 13, 2024 // In 2016, the railroad administration stated that the “FRA cannot provide reliable or conclusive statistical data to suggest whether one-person crew operations are generally safer or less safe than multiple-person crew operations.” New York-based consulting firm Oliver Wyman studied accident reporting data spanning a period from 2006 to 2019 for 28 railroads in Europe and concluded in a 2021 report there was “no evidence that railroads operating with two-person crews are statistically safer than railroads operating with one-person crews.”