Posts tagged wages
Toledo Art Museum Workers Move to Unionize
April 18, 2025 // Organizing under the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), some 100 workers will form the new union, which emerged after TMA’s glass technicians came together under Teamsters in 2007. The new unit will include staff from the visitor services, glass studio, research, education, curatorial, and library departments, among other eligible sectors, and is expected to grow upon selecting a representative.
CT Electric Boat workers OK strike option, as UAW President Fain tells company ‘clock is ticking’
April 17, 2025 // Among Local 571’s demands are record wage increases, pensions for all members, a cost-of-living adjustment, profit sharing and better health care benefits. In the meantime, Local 571 members are working under the terms of their expired agreement. Electric Boat officials were not immediately available for comment on Monday night. Company officials said in a statement last week that they had “presented our best and final offer” to the union in the previous week. They added that their offer “provides historic wage growth, a continuation of our premium benefits package and retirement enhancement for all employees.”
Commentary: Is bill a state-led worker’s board, or a gift to SEIU?
April 7, 2025 // A secret ballot election for unionization requires a certain percentage of the bargaining unit to sign so-called “showing of interest” cards. When an organization allegedly has resorted to forgery is tasked with gathering and submitting these cards, it calls the integrity of the process into question. SB 1138 and HB 3838 present themselves as measures to improve workforce standards for care providers, but they have but one purpose — growing SEIU 503’s membership and influence. By embedding the union into training programs, handing it access to personal contact information and placing itself in workforce oversight, SEIU is positioned to grow its ranks at the expense of worker autonomy.
UAW Leader Gets $275K Payday While Union Dips Further Into Red
April 3, 2025 // Given the fact that former UAW president Gary Jones pleaded guilty to using union money to pay for personal expenses and was sentenced to 28 months in prison in 2021, it’s no surprise that members are keeping a close eye on executive pay. In Fain’s case, while his gross salary was $229,514, total payments from the union, including official business disbursements, reached $274,407 in 2024. The next top earner within the UAW was Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock,who earned a salary of $224,861, with total payments amounting to $247,169. Vice Presidents Mike Booth, Rich Boyer, and Chuck Browning all received the same $211,001 in gross salaries, while the head of the union’s Stellantis department, Kevin Gotinsky, had a total salary of $177,942. As reported by the Detroit Free Press, the UAW’s membership grew from 370,239 in 2023 to 375,161 in 2024. This came thanks in part to its successful effort to unionize the VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but remains down from the 383,003 members it had in 2022.
Workers at Bay Area UC campuses join statewide strike over wages, conditions
April 3, 2025 // Workers at Bay Area UC campuses join statewide strike over wages, conditions sanfrancisco By Tim Fang Updated on: April 1, 2025 / 11:33 AM PDT / CBS San Francisco Workers at University of California campuses and medical facilities in the Bay Area joined thousands of employees statewide Tuesday in a one-day strike, claiming unfair labor practices. About 20,000 employees represented by the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) and nearly 40,000 workers with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees began their strike around 7 a.m. UC Berkeley, UCSF, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were among the Bay Area locations where workers were striking.
Tony’s Fresh Market workers vote against unionizing
April 1, 2025 // A large majority of workers at Tony’s Fresh Market voted against unionizing last week, dealing a major blow to organizers and Local 881 United Food and Commercial Workers, the union that sought to represent them. Nearly 2,000 workers at 21 Tony’s stores in Chicago and the suburbs were eligible to vote Mar. 25-27. Out of 1,720 ballots counted, 605 voted for unionizing while 1,115 voted against, according to results filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
Backgrounder: Executive Order: Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs
March 31, 2025 // The practice of “official time” is when unionized federal employees perform union-related activities, rather than their actual public service duties, while being paid by taxpayers. The Federal Unions EO requires that agencies, upon termination of an applicable collective bargaining agreement, reassign any workers who performed “official time” to positions where they perform solely agency business. It also contains language regarding existing grievance proceedings and allows for the head of each agency to submit a report to the President within 30 days highlighting any agency subdivisions that were not covered but should have been covered under the Federal Unions EO.
Los Angeles museum workers pushing to unionize
March 27, 2025 // Workers at Los Angeles County's Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits Tuesday announced efforts to unionize, citing what they call a need for better wages, safer working conditions and increased diversity. The Natural History Museum & Tar Pits Workers Union would represent almost 300 workers and include performers, engineers, educators, guest relations associates and more, according to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 36.
Bill would authorize two pensions for WA state employees
March 19, 2025 // Union-backed legislation under consideration by state lawmakers in Olympia could open the door for the state to fund union-run pensions for state workers in addition to the existing state-run pension system. If adopted, HB 1069 would allow unions representing state employees to collectively bargain over “supplemental” retirement benefits. Depending on the result of these negotiations, such supplemental benefits could be funded by the state/taxpayers, deductions from state employees’ wages, or some combination of the two.
Unionization effort fails at south Sacramento manufacturing plant
March 17, 2025 // Workers voted 838 to 538 against unionizing in an election Thursday. A Siemens spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning. The workers attempted to organize under the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 549 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, in a group called Siemens Workers United.