Posts tagged Washington
Commentary: More Jobs, Fewer Workers: Is the Labor Market Strong or Weak?
November 5, 2024 // Even after factoring in the BLS’s acknowledgment that its reports overstated job gains by 818,000 from March 2023 to March 2024, there still appears to be about five times as many new jobs created over the past year as there are additional people working. While media reports and markets tend to focus on jobs reports, what matters most to the economy and to human flourishing is how many people are working. Currently only 60.2% of people ages 16 and over in the U.S. are working. This is a gap of about 2.6 million workers compared to pre-pandemic employment rates.
Striking Boeing workers boo after Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell criticizes Trump
October 20, 2024 // She was drowned out by booing from the crowd in addition to some inaudible remarks. "My point is this," the senator began again after being unable to speak over the disruption. "Everywhere in America we need more affordable housing." "When you first hear that audio clip, it appears that they're booing whatever Donald Trump had done. The exact opposite is true," IAM 751 union member Dan Zahlman said in an interview Tuesday with "The Jason Rantz Show" on KTTH Seattle.
Opinion: Why union workers are abandoning the Democratic Party
October 15, 2024 // Scott Sauritch, the president of United Steelworkers Local 2227, drew significant public attention recently when he told a writer for the New Yorkerthat despite being a longtime Democrat, he would be voting for Donald Trump in November. He also said that most of the current rank-and-file members of the union planned on doing the same. “I don’t care what you see on TV,” Sauritch said. “The grunts in the lunchroom love Trump.”
Boeing will lay off 10% of employees as a strike shuts down airplane production
October 14, 2024 // About 33,000 union machinists have been on strike since Sept. 14. Two days of talks this week failed to produce a deal, and Boeing filed an unfair-labor-practices charge against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. As it announced layoffs, Boeing also gave a preliminary report on its third-quarter financial results — and the news is not good for the company. Boeing said it burned through $1.3 billion in cash during the quarter and lost $9.97 per share. Industry analysts had been expecting the company to lose $1.61 per share in the quarter, according to a FactSet survey, but analysts were likely unaware of some large write-downs that Boeing announced Friday — a $2.6 billion charge related to delays of the 777X, $400 million for the 767, and $2 billion for defense and space programs including new Air Force One jets, a space capsule for NASA and a military refueling tanker.
Employer Free Speech on the Ballot in Alaska
October 10, 2024 // The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects such meetings, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized their legality and importance in helping employees gather information on potential union representation. As a result, even if the referendum were to pass, a court would likely find it unlawful. Alaska’s referendum also increases the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027 and provides at least 40 hours of paid sick leave to many workers.
Commentary: Labor unions are mobilizing in new and old industries alike
October 6, 2024 // How job security issues are addressed following this wave of strikes could set the tone for what other hospitality, manufacturing and transportation unions seek when their contracts are up for negotiation again.The Conversation
Boeing drama: Imagine if a recent proposal to pay striking workers UI benefits had become law
October 1, 2024 // Giving UI benefits to striking workers would create an imbalance between business and labor, make strikes more frequent and lengthy, increase costs and services for consumers and hurt other workers in the state who are told they can rely on unemployment benefits. Giving fund dollars to people choosing not to work should offend all Washington state workers. These union-favor bills failed to pass the finish line in the last moments of the 2024 session, but big labor promises the policy proposal will be back. I hope lawmakers aren’t into it, especially after being able to clearly see what a Boing strike could do to the fund.
Starbucks workers at Nashville location vote to unionize
September 27, 2024 // Starbucks Workers United said the location at Hillsboro Pike and Graybar Lane is joining a growing movement of more than 10,500 baristas working together to “win justice at work.”
Boeing Worker Side Hustles Could Drag Strike Out for Months
September 23, 2024 // But as workers stare down the embattled manufacturer for better pay and benefits, the 33,000 members of IAM District 751 have the full benefit of a tight labor market and gig economy that provides a quick transition into jobs that help make ends meet. That gives the union bargaining leverage, potentially frustrating Boeing’s effort to swiftly end a conflict that’s costing it an estimated $100 million each day. While the battle between one of the world’s largest exporters and its blue-collar workers may look like an uneven fight on its surface, Boeing finds itself in an increasingly untenable situation with its finances so dire that it can ill afford a drawn-out paralysis.
Government Unions are Down — But Not Out
September 10, 2024 // For nearly a decade, the Commonwealth Foundation has tracked state-by-state changes in labor laws. Every two years, the Commonwealth Foundation releases its research on the ever-changing legal landscape for public sector unions, assessing each state’s efforts to promote public employees’ rights or cave to unions’ entrenched influence. This fourth edition examines government unions’ attempts, following Janus, to hold onto and expand special legal privileges under state laws. The research also highlights the states reining in government unions’ power and influence by empowering workers.