Posts tagged work stoppage
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.
OPINION: For Workers, Strikes Offer High Risk, Low Reward
September 30, 2024 // The only way to avoid union retaliation is cancelling membership entirely. Beyond the rank-and-file, consequences of union strikes impact consumers, too. Last year, the healthcare industry, for example, saw the largest work stoppage in United States history as 75,000 hospital employees across five states plus Washington, D.C. walked off the job
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.
Largest port on U.S. East Coast, New York/New Jersey, begins prepping for what could be first union strike since 1977
September 20, 2024 // The ILA represents over 85,000 port workers, and a strike would shut down five of the 10 busiest ports in North America, and a total of 36 ports along the East and Gulf Coasts. Close to half (43%-49%) of all monthly U.S. imports would be impacted, representing billions of dollars in trade, and logistics firms are preparing contingency plans last used during Covid and 2018 tariffs. Currently, there is an estimated $34 billion in freight in route to these ports on 147 ocean vessels.
A year after the strike is the UAW still winning?
September 19, 2024 // HSU: Yeah. And Ailsa, you know, people who closely follow the auto industry have told me, you know, it's a very cyclical industry. We saw car sales go through the roof during the pandemic, when people - when Americans were flush with cash. That was never going to last forever. And now the automakers are also in the middle of this really messy and costly transition to EVs. The UAW is really fighting for its place in that transition. It did make some progress in the last contract negotiations - for example, getting GM battery workers under the National Labor Agreement. BISAHA: Yeah. And along those lines, earlier this month, we had a thousand battery workers at a GM joint venture battery plant in Tennessee. They joined the UAW, too. HSU: Yeah. That was a big win for the UAW. But, you know, as for Stellantis, this week, the union filed federal labor charges against the company, really in an attempt to get Stellantis to follow through on its investment promises, including reopening that plant in Belvidere. You know, this is just not going to be an easy fight, and it's one that I expect will probably end up in court.
NY Times tech union’s bizarre demands to avert strike include four-day work week, ban on scents in break rooms
September 19, 2024 // Tech union workers at the New York Times have threatened to strike on Election Day over a bizarre list of demands that include pet bereavement leave, a four-day work week — and even a ban on scented products in break rooms, according to a report. The Times Tech Guild’s laundry list of demands during its protracted two-year battle for a contract has also included a call for unlimited sick time, job security for non-citizens who are in the United States on work visas in the event of layoffs and mandatory trigger warnings when discussing news events, Semafor reported.
US orders Starbucks to reopen 2 New York stores company shut down after workers unionized
September 18, 2024 // Last year, the NLRB called on Starbucks to reopen 23 stores that labor advocates say were shuttered in response to workers unionizing. The locations spanned multiple major US cities, including Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle, where Starbucks is headquartered, among others.
Half a century later, ILA returns to strike mode
September 13, 2024 // The ILA is one of the least aggressive unions when it comes to coastwide strikes, especially relative to its militant West Coast counterpart: the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), which orchestrated stoppages and slowdowns just last year to attain its desired contract. In many respects, then, the ILA is riding the wave of labor’s recent successes that were achieved through hard-line tactics. In August 2023, the Teamsters celebrated the ratification of a new agreement with UPS. A few months later, the United Auto Workers secured large pay raises and other benefits for its members after a 46-day strike against Ford, Stellantis and General Motors.
Union representing providers at DC’s Unity Health Care authorizes strike
September 9, 2024 // Emily Zucker, a family medicine physician at Unity Health Care, told WTOP in an interview that “at least 30 providers have quit this year alone,” adding that extra pressure is put on doctors who are expected to see 24 patients a day in visits that are scheduled for 20 minutes each. Zucker described the average patient at Unity as among the most vulnerable populations in the District. They have what she calls “lower health literacy and lots of complicated medical problems. So, a standard 20-minute visit is really not doing them justice for the health care that they need.”
Op-Ed: Why autoworkers in thriving S.C. should resist unionization efforts
August 26, 2024 // South Carolina has emerged as a critical player in the automotive industry, with major manufacturers establishing significant operations across the state. This success is a testament to our pro-business environment, which includes favorable labor laws, competitive wages, and a low cost of doing business. The South Carolina legislature has worked hard to create an environment that is fueling job creation and economic growth.