Posts tagged White House
Ports strike would leave Walmart, Ikea, Home Depot with few import options, union warns
September 29, 2024 // These companies are among the leading importers at the 14 major ports that an ILA strike would impact, according to ImportGenius. Overall, between 43%-49% of all U.S. imports and billions of dollars in trade monthly are at stake as the union moves closer to the Oct. 1 deadline for a new contract, over which talks between the union and ports management broke down in June and have not resumed. Cruise operations at ports would continue. “To stop trade entering the U.S. on such a large-scale, even for short period of time, is highly-damaging to the economy so government intervention will be needed to bring the matter to a resolution for the good of the nation,” warned Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at Xeneta. “A strike lasting just one week will impact schedules for ships leaving the Far East on voyages to the U.S. in late December and throughout January.”
US Steel Deal ‘Doomed,’ Says Union ‘Steadfast’ in Opposition
September 13, 2024 // United Steelworkers union says it will not be bullied into accepting Nippon Steel Corp.’s last-ditch efforts to win over workers for its takeover of United States Steel Corp., calling the $14.1 billion acquisition a “doomed deal” and pledging to fight any foreign ownership of the company.
Commentary: The Rise of “Pro-Labor” Conservatism
September 9, 2024 // Yet O’Brien’s move has attracted the attention of commentators from both sides of the political spectrum who see it as a bellwether. It is what conservative commentator Sohrab Ahmari has called a “brave gambit” and veteran labor reporter Steven Greenhouse dubbed a “huge gamble.” “A glacier of hostility has divided the GOP from organized labor for two generations,” Ahmari wrote in Compact. But the Teamsters president “took a pickaxe to that glacier” by speaking at the RNC. Ahmari attributes the rise of this strain of pro-labor, anti-union conservatism to Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), a MAGA firebrand who has come out as perhaps the lone GOP senator to oppose right to work legislation, the anti-union laws on the books in 28 states.
Biden to sign executive order on labor standards during Michigan visit
September 6, 2024 // The White House touted Friday’s order as the latest step from Biden to prioritize workers and labor standards. The administration cited his creation of a Made in America office, a White House task force on worker organizing, a government rule to protect workers from extreme heat on the job and federal investments in apprenticeships. Biden’s trip to Michigan comes as he is increasing his travel, with a focus on his commitment to labor unions and his administration’s investments in communities across the country.
Dockworkers along the East Coast are threatening to strike in October
August 14, 2024 // Full-time registered longshore workers on the West Coast, which had its own share of unrest last year, earned an average of nearly $200,000 a year in 2022, according to an estimate from the shippers — some of the best-paid industrial workers in the world. Their numbers have dwindled as the industry moves to automation. That's been a sticking point in negotiations, as we previously explained.
Lawmakers Should Not Let a Lame Duck Pack the NLRB
July 28, 2024 // For instance, on her watch, Chair McFerran has allowed workplace discrimination to be weaponized for pro-union activities. This decision has subjected workers to traumatizing harassment, while simultaneously barring employers from intervening. According to a report by the Institute for the American Worker, McFerran’s NLRB has used Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to excuse “racist rhetoric, sexist harassment, and vulgarity in the workplace, as long as it takes place in the context of ‘union activity.’”
‘Betrayed’: Unions, White House irate over Teamsters president’s RNC speech
July 18, 2024 // President Biden secured a pension bailout that restored retirement accounts for about 350,000 Teamsters members, appointed staunchly pro-labor allies to the National Labor Relations Board and instituted labor requirements for federal contracts. The backlash against O’Brien’s speech reflects the high stakes of the 2024 presidential election for the nation’s labor movement, which fears Trump will undo these policies.
Biden Administration Unveils Historic Rules for High-Paying Clean Energy Jobs The White House
June 19, 2024 // Clean energy projects that meet the requirements of these final rules will receive a fivefold increase for clean energy tax credits for deployment of wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, and other clean energy technologies, as well as for projects receiving allocations under the Section 48C Advanced Energy Projects credit., providing a significant incentive for project developers to pay prevailing wages to workers for construction, alteration, and repair of clean energy projects and to hire registered apprentices to earn while they learn by working on those projects. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su also published a blog highlighting the use of Project Labor Agreements as a best practice for large construction projects and a tool to help project developers comply with the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Project Labor Agreements, or pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that set the terms and conditions for employment on a construction project, help workers and developers alike by providing strong worker and wage protections while ensuring a reliable supply of skilled workers to help deliver projects on time and on budget.
Union push pits the United Farm Workers against a major California agricultural business
May 10, 2024 // The 2022 law lets the workers unionize by collecting a majority of signatures without holding an election at a polling place — a move proponents said would protect workers from union busting and employers said lacked safeguards to prevent fraud. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom reluctantly approved the changes with a nudge from the White House after farmworkers led a weekslong march to the state Capitol. Farmworkers in California are overwhelmingly Latino and among the state’s poorest and most vulnerable residents. Many are seasonal workers, which makes it tough to organize a job site, and many lack legal status in the United States. The new law could lead to a rise in union influence and a resurgence of the UFW, which represented at its peak tens of thousands of farmworkers but has seen its numbers dwindle, said Christian Paiz, a professor of ethnic studies at University of California, Berkeley.
Biden Grants Micron $6.1 Billion for New US Chip Factories
April 25, 2024 // Micron is expected to build two new chip manufacturing plants in Clay, New York as part of the funding deal. It will also build a third in Boise, Idaho, where it already has a substantial presence. Micron will also receive state tax breaks from New York as it builds the new plants. The three plants will likely create 20,000 direct jobs as well as another 50,000 indirect jobs as the plants begin construction, according to the release. Micron is also supporting apprenticeships at the new plants, supports worker union organization, and is entering into project labor agreements (PLAs), a type of construction-specific collective bargaining agreement, for the plants.