Posts tagged Virginia
American Federation of Government Employees Works to Unionize Defense Department Employees in Europe
August 14, 2023 // AFGE has established a new at-large local known as Local 14 under District 14. While District 14 primarily covers federal employees in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C., it also extends its membership to European federal employees and already has a few smaller locals in Europe. The goal is to establish more locals in Europe based on profession and locality. The new at-large local is open to federal employees throughout Europe, regardless of agency, who are not yet represented by an AFGE local. The hope is to eventually represent around 10,000 employees under Local 14. Currently, AFGE has about 100 dues-paying at-large members within the new local. While these members receive representation in labor disputes, collective bargaining can only occur once the union is recognized through FLRA elections. AFGE needs 30% of the workforce to express interest in holding elections before collective bargaining can take place.
Overwhelming Majority of Union Kitchen Workers File Petition Seeking to Remove UFCW Union
July 17, 2023 // Silva and her coworkers’ effort comes amid union boss-ordered pickets and boycotts against Union Kitchen Grocery locations, which have inflamed tensions among workers and raised questions about union officials’ motives. In some instances, reportedly union picketers have endangered workers by blocking exits, requiring the intervention of police. “The vast majority of the workers at Union Kitchen are sick and tired of the UFCW’s picketing, harassment of employees, and constant disruptions of our day-to-day work life,” Silva said. “If the union cares at all about what we want, they will respect our wishes and immediately disclaim their interest in representing workers who have overwhelmingly rejected them.”
MGM National Harbor Employees Vote in Favor of Unionization
July 6, 2023 // Such employee initiatives are part of a broader push towards better treatment for workers in the hospitality industry. Quebec recently saw casino staff begin an indefinite general strike, protesting over inadequate compensation. Unionized employees at Encore Boston Harbor casino also proved the value of forming a united front, protecting the rights of over 1,400 workers during tense negotiations with Wynn Resorts. MGM National Harbor staff joining the Teamsters highlights their determination to have a collective voice and negotiate for their rights. The success of this unionization effort and other similar initiatives carry broader implications for the labor movement in the hospitality sector, hopefully setting an example for others in the industry. The MGM parking ambassadors may inspire others to consider similar initiatives, driving positive change and promoting fair worker treatment.
City Councilor hopes CAT union will help solve driver shortage
June 6, 2023 // Payne said he hopes this union will inspire other city workers like Parks and Recreation to think about unionizing too.
Union membership declines in New York, other states
April 25, 2023 // A recent report by The74Million noted that overall union membership declined or barely increased in several states, despite growth in public-sector jobs in 2022. Because of the rapid public-sector job growth, public unions had a net increase of about 83,000 new members nationwide, maintaining membership rates at 33%. Most of the public-sector union membership rate growth was in California, which added 250,000 new government jobs and resulted in over 111,000 new union members. But other states did not follow California’s lead. The report said, “21 states and the District of Columbia lost 284,517 members, for a net decline of 28,021 outside of California. New York and Minnesota were the biggest losers.”
Virginia is battleground in baristas’ organizing fight
April 18, 2023 // The biggest morale boost for Richmond Starbucks barista Tyler Hofmann is when customers make up names like “union solidarity” to identify their orders. “It gets printed out and [employees] have to call out union stuff in the café,” he said. That opens up an opportunity for discussion about workers’ ongoing grievances against the specialty coffee giant. Hofmann is working at Starbucks again after having been fired last May in what his union and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) claimed was illegal retaliation for his organizing efforts at the Richmond store. A private settlement was reached between the company and the regional board of the Workers United union, according to the NLRB, and Hofmann was reinstated.
Op-Ed: The Chicago Teachers Union now runs the mayor’s office
April 13, 2023 // CTU leadership’s brand of union politics has little to do with students and teacher representation and more to do with an expansive political agenda that includes defunding the police, hiking taxes (on “the rich,” broadly), and pumping more city resources into the Chicago Public Schools system, where classroom spending is way up and student outcomes way down since the Caucus of Rank and File Educators rose to power. Since 2010, CTU has drawn the blueprint for how to seize control over America’s largest cities. The union runs the schools, holding as hostage Chicago kids and families whenever union bosses are unhappy with management. They also donate to the bulk of the Chicago City Council, having contributed financially to 34 of Chicago’s 50 current aldermen. But their reach expands beyond the city to politicians in the Illinois statehouse. In total, CTU since 2010 has spent at least $19 million on politics in Illinois, including over $2.5 million to Illinois Senate and House candidates.
Op-Ed: Loudoun County teachers deserve all the facts
April 11, 2023 // NEA president, Becky Pringle, makes over half-a-million dollars each year, and VEA Executive Director, Brenda Pike, has a total compensation of $225,861, which is nearly five times higher than the average teacher salary in Virginia. Loudoun officials have estimated the school district will spend over $3 million annually to fund administrative positions that earn more than two times the starting teacher salary. The teachers and school staff members are not winners in this scenario. As I see in heavily unionized states, today’s model of collective bargaining for public employees reeks of a Ponzi scheme with all the money going to the top and very little benefit trickling back down to local teachers.
Column: The PRO Act will disempower Virginia workers
March 28, 2023 // Under the guise of transparency, the PRO Act would mandate employers to partake in “notice-posting” and codify the National Labor Relations Board’s 2014 Election Rule that gives them access to workers names, addresses, job locations, phone numbers and email addresses in a searchable electronic format. Unions having unfettered access to information like this would be a major privacy violation and lead to worker intimidation for refusal to comply. It’s unacceptable for labor unions to meddle in affairs like this.
Opinion: Loudoun County School Board Should Be Wary of LEA’s Collective Bargaining Push
March 20, 2023 // In states like Illinois and Michigan, collective bargaining allows teachers to show up for work intoxicated and avoid discipline. In Connecticut, collective bargaining made it possible for a state hospital employee to fatally abuse a patient and then get his job back …caring for more vulnerable people. New York holds perhaps the most chilling example of the harm that befalls students and the community subject to collective bargaining: a union used taxpayer dollars to protect a teacher who admitted to repeatedly sexually abusing students. Collective bargaining locks public employees into multi-year contracts that ensure limited job advancement, teachers are taken out of the classroom to do union business on the taxpayer’s dime, and individual freedom is stifled. After all, when you are represented by a union, you give away your voice and your power to that union.