Posts tagged wages
Marquette students hold campus protest in support of teachers union
May 1, 2025 // On Marquette's campus Tuesday, a group of students held a protest in support of a teachers union. Last year, school officials did not officially recognize a vote to unionize by College of Arts and Science faculty. Students protesting say they want fair wages for their teachers.
Trump’s tariffs hurt the working class. Why are some unions on board?
April 28, 2025 // “In truth, our trade deals were not really trade deals; they were investment deals. Their goal was not to promote America’s exports — it was to make it easier for global corporations to move capital offshore and ship goods back to America,” Richard Trumka, the former president of AFL-CIO, said in 2015. “The logical outcome was trade deficits and falling wages, and that’s exactly what we got.” For unions, tariffs were a part of the answer to failures of free trade along with other protectionist policies. But to free trade proponents, tariffs represent a break from consensus and threaten to break down trade relations across the globe.
Reforms to Mitigate the Wage Effects of Employer Health Coverage
April 28, 2025 // Congress also should go beyond redistribution and reform ESI to slow premium growth in future years. While ESI has many positive characteristics, individual employers struggle to control costs. Even large employers lack the scale to change how medical services are delivered to patients, and many companies do not want to upset their workers with more restrictive health coverage than is the norm among their competitors. The solution to this collective action problem is to establish rules for all ESI plans that push the entire market toward more cost discipline. For instance, ESI coverage should incentivize strong price competition by sharing savings with plan enrollees who select lower-priced suppliers of services. Employers also should offer to their workers at least one health plan which meets strict criteria for high-quality and low-cost care.
Many commuters left stranded as Martz Gold Line workers go on strike
April 25, 2025 // More than 80 ATU 689 union members took to the picket lines today to strike and protest against their employer’s reported unfair labor practices. The Martz workers say they are grossly underpaid compared to their other transit counterparts. By how much we don’t know. Picketing wrapped up early on Thursday but said they’ll be back Friday morning at 4 a.m.
LETTER: Congress must reject proposed job-killing labor legislation
April 20, 2025 // However, a new threat to Kansas business owners has emerged in the form of a legislative framework that the Institute for the American Worker has dubbed the “PRO Act Lite,” modeled after the failed policies of Senator Bernie Sanders and other progressive lawmakers. While it may come with a new label, the substance remains the same. This proposal would drive up labor costs, stifle economic opportunity, and make it significantly harder for employers to create jobs.
NJ Transit engineers threaten strike after rejecting labor deal
April 18, 2025 // "Our number one issue is wages. New Jersey Transit engineers are among the lowest paid in the entire country," said BLET Chairman Tim Haas. "We are significantly behind passenger railroad engineers working in this same market—that is, the New York City area. We're far behind Metro-North, Long Island Railroad, Amtrak, PATH—all these other agencies where the New Jersey Transit engineers are leaving to go and work."
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.