Posts tagged Wage disparity
UAW, Blue Cross leaders reach tentative ‘verbal agreement’ that could end 77-day strike
November 29, 2023 // Phone calls between BCBSM CEO Daniel Loepp and UAW President Shawn Fain over the past several weeks produced a "verbal agreement" between the two leaders towards the establishment of a collective bargaining agreement, Blue Cross said late Tuesday. The tentative agreement includes "significant general wage increases," a $6,500 ratification bonus for Blue Cross Blue Shield employees and a $5,000 ratification bonus for employees of BCBSM's Blue Care Network HMO, according to the UAW." Over the years, we have lost so much work. They've taken our work and given it to outside contractors," Gates said in mid-September when the BCBSM employees went on strike. "At one point we were over 4,000, 5,000 people (in the union) across the state. Now we have 1,300 people. So we're tired of bleeding. We're tired of them taking our work.
Striketober Is Back As Workers Fight To Close The Wage Gap
October 4, 2022 // Strike Activity Heats As Workers Grapple With Covid Inequities Workers have long been frustrated by a wide range of issues–from low wages to poor working conditions, but Covid brought these problems into sharp relief. Workers who interact with customers in person, from medical staff to restaurant workers, realized that while companies considered them essential, they also considered them expendable. As the immediate horrors of Covid fade into the rearview, the way workers were treated has left a permanent scar. The combination of a lack of basic benefits (like healthcare), poor working conditions, unfair labor practices and the extreme wealth disparity between business owners and workers has triggered action—which is now showing up in worker walkouts, says Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.