Posts tagged wage
What to know about the potential UPS Teamsters strike
July 10, 2023 // UPS is among the largest shipping companies in the U.S. According to Pitney Bowes, UPS shipped 5.2 billion U.S. parcels in 2022, representing nearly a quarter of all parcels shipped in the country. Should the UPS Teamsters go on strike, there's "no doubt" the economy would be impacted, from businesses to individual households, Thomas Goldsby, a professor in logistics at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville's Haslam College of Business, told ABC News. "You just don't take a player the size of UPS out of the market or largely out of the market without people having to take notice," Goldsby said.
How California’s Firefighter Union Could Get Guaranteed Raises, Forever
July 5, 2023 // “Firefighters are already among the best-paid government workers in the state,” said Will Swaim, president of California Policy Center, an advocacy group that is critical of California public employee unions. “No one else in California gets that deal,” he said. Michael Genest, the former finance director under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, also called promises of future raised “irresponsible.” “Governors and legislators always regret having made such promises when our budget goes out of balance,” he wrote in an email. “The wise move is to make decisions about the allocation of state revenues each year and even then to be careful not to spend more on anything than is prudent.”
Erie’s United Electrical Workers Strike at Wabtec
June 26, 2023 // On June 10, Wabtec offered workers what was described as their "last, best, and final offer" in the ongoing contract negotiations. On June 22, the membership voted not to ratify it. Wabtec executives expressed disappointment in a letter, stating that it is an "unfortunate decision" that the labor would "engage in a strike at this time rather than return to the bargaining table." They added that a walkout benefited no one and argued that they had "repeatedly informed the UE" that the Erie plant's labor costs were burdening and their work rules too restrictive. "UE members have rejected these terms," the company continued, "and are striking in support of Union proposals that would significantly increase our wage and benefit costs, further limit operational flexibility, and create an on-going risk of disruption in our manufacturing operations." Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no mention by the company of the costs of Wabtec executives as a burden. According to the AFL-CIO, Wabtec CEO Rafael Santana received over $11 million in compensation in 2021 alone. Explained in another way, $11 million is equivalent to nearly 150 employees earning $75,000 each. For additional context, as described by the Economic Policy Institute, the CEO-to-worker compensation disparity has increased significantly over the decades: 15-to-1 in 1965, 44-to-1 in 1989, to now hundreds of times more today (between 200 to 300).
Local labor unions show their solidarity during writers strike
June 12, 2023 // Local labor unions, in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America, gathered in front of the production studio that's under construction at the corner of Niagara and West Ferry. Organizers say there are no stories to tell without writers. "The potential has always been here, and now with the realization of places like this, and the idea that local crews are available and things of that nature, millions upon millions of dollars can come into the area," Writers Guild screenwriter Jeff Wilbur told 2 On Your Side.
PNC Park ushers, ticket takers, ticket sellers go on strike, announce plans to picket outside Pirates’ next home game
April 19, 2023 // The Pittsburgh Stadium Independent Employees Union, or PSIEU, announced on Sunday that the Pirates' latest contract offer was rejected and that a strike vote was accepted. The union represents ushers, ticket takers, and ticket sellers at PNC Park. PSIEU says that workers will picket outside the Pirates' next home game on Thursday when the team takes on the Cincinnati Reds.
OP-ED: LAUSD’s unions could support policies to help all Californians
March 14, 2023 // According to the SEIU, the average annual salary for the 30,000 LAUSD service workers they represent is $25,000. But that includes all service workers, from part-time to full-time. About 75% of the members work fewer than eight hours per day, and with school in session only 180 days, or 36 weeks per year, even many of the workers with “full-time hours” are off for up to 16 weeks per year. Union representatives themselves acknowledge LAUSD’s reliance on a part-time workforce. But it raises an uncomfortable question that applies to teachers as well: If K-12 schools in California operate for the equivalent of just 36 full weeks per year, is it reasonable for people working in these schools to expect to earn enough to cover a full year of expenses? Similarly, if some of the service jobs require a worker for only a few hours each day, how can the district’s taxpayers afford to pay them for a full day?
Some US Caterpillar workers plan possible strike once contract expires
March 2, 2023 // Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) said on Wednesday it had reached a tentative agreement with a union that represents workers at four of its facilities, dodging a possible walkout at a time when companies across the United States are dealing with widespread labor shortages. The construction equipment maker's new six-year agreement, which needs to be put to a vote by employees, comes after some union workers had threatened a strike as they negotiated wage increases, improved safety measures and better healthcare benefits.
Portland city laborers rally outside Portland City Hall ahead of planned strike
January 30, 2023 // More than 600 Portland workers in the wastewater, parks and transportation fields plan to strike on Feb. 2, starting at midnight. The groups of workers planning to go on strike, according to the union, include: About 280 Bureau of Transportation workers, from concrete finishers to asphalt rakers to utility workers About 200 Parks & Recreation workers, from park technicians and turf technicians to horticulturalists and park rangers About 100 Bureau of Environmental Services workers, namely sewage and wastewater employees Other city employees, including fleet and vehicle workers
CNH Industrial union workers at two U.S. plants reject proposed contract
January 9, 2023 // The union did not disclose how many workers at the two plants rejected the four-year deal, which included wage increases of 25% to 38% according to CNH on Sunday. Still, union members said the proposed contract failed to provide enough of a raise to combat inflation, additional vacation days or better healthcare coverage.
Will offshore wind bring “good-paying, union jobs”? Texas workers aren’t so sure
October 25, 2022 // The Biden administration is gearing up to turn the Gulf of Mexico, long a hub for offshore oil and gas drilling, into a new city of skyscraping offshore wind turbines. Opening up the Gulf to wind development is part of President Joe Biden's goal to employ "tens of thousands of workers" to establish 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. But in Texas, workers are worried that the new industry will continue the low-wage, unsafe, exploitative conditions that pervade the construction and offshore oil industries there. For the past year, a coalition of Texas labor unions, along with their allies in Congress and in the environmental movement, have been lobbying the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, to make sure that doesn't happen.