Labor Rights News Thread

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caltrek
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Labor and Industries Creates Rules to Protect Outdoor Workers Through Hot and Smokey Conditions
by Jessica Perez
June 7, 2022

Introduction:
(NBC Right Now) Washington - As summer quickly approaches, outdoor workers will experience hot weather conditions and possibly wildfire smoke. The Department of Labor and Industries decided to take action to try to protect these workers throughout the summer.

Starting on June 15 and going through September, employers will be required to follow the rules set in place for temperatures 89 degrees or higher. The requirements include providing enough water for workers to drink one quart every hour, 10 minute breaks every two hours, and enough shade for all workers on break at any given time.

In a press release, the United Farm Workers Foundation PNW Energy Relief Organizer Briseida Chavez said heat standards save lives.

"They also help create better working conditions for workers who already face a life of difficult working conditions. It is vital that the standards are enforced in the workplace, otherwise, workers will continue to risk their lives and succumb to heat illness that can easily be prevented."

Employers will also be required to follow wildfire smoke requirements. If the Air Quality Index is at 69, they must reduce, reschedule or relocate work. The employer must also provide an area with filtered air and reduce the work intensity or increase breaks.
Read more here: https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/labor ... bfab.html
Don't mourn, organize.

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Apple store approves union, the first in the U.S.
Source: Washington Post
Apple workers in Towson, Md., voted to join a union Saturday, becoming the only of the tech giant’s U.S. retail stores to do so.The vote means workers at the store plan to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers once a contract is ratified. This vote is part of an organizing wave sweeping the nation as workers increasingly band together to demand higher pay, better benefits and more negotiating leverage with their employers during the pandemic.

In New York, the first Amazon warehouse voted to form a union this spring. Dozens of Starbucks stores across the country have unionized, and labor movements have pushed into outdoor retailer REI and video-game maker Raven Software. Workers in at least two other Apple stores are trying to organize, including at a store in New York and one in Atlanta, where workers became the first location to file documents with the National Labor Relations Board.

But the Communications Workers of America withdrew its request for an election there last month, saying in a statement that Apple’s “repeated violations of the National Labor Relations Act have made a free and fair election impossible.” At the time, the organizing group sent a message to workers at the store, saying it would reset and “continue this fight.”

Several companies, including Amazon and Apple, have been accused this year of “union busting” or employing tactics to discourage or intimidate workers from joining unions. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Apple Store employees in New York said this year that some workers were taken aside by managers and given a speech about the pitfalls of unionization there. In meetings, managers warned that unionization would mean the loss of benefits, such as the ability to do stints at Apple’s corporate headquarters.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... nion-vote/
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Amazon bars off-duty warehouse workers from its buildings
Source: AP

By HALELUYA HADERO

Amazon is barring off-duty warehouse workers from the company’s facilities, a move organizers say can hamper union drives.

Under the policy shared with workers on Amazon’s internal app, employees are barred from accessing buildings or other working areas on their scheduled days off, and before or after their shifts.

An Amazon spokesperson said the policy does not prohibit off-duty employees from engaging their co-workers in “non-working areas” outside the company’s buildings.

“There’s nothing more important than the safety of our employees and the physical security of our buildings,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said. “This policy regarding building access applies to building interiors and working areas. It does not limit employee access to non-working areas outside of our facilities.”



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news- ... 4a2d70d0d4
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caltrek
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Unionized Employees are Leading the Fight for Safer Workplaces
by Tom Conway
July 8, 2022

Extract::
(Alternet)) Workers forming unions at Amazon and Starbucks, among other companies, want better wages and benefits. But they’re also fighting for the workplace protections union workers enjoy every day.

Amazon’s production quotas resulted in a shocking injury rate of 6.8 per 100 warehouse workers in 2021. That was more than double the overall warehouse industry rate and 20 percent higher than Amazon’s 2020 record, according to an analysis of data the company provided to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Driving for Amazon is also perilous. About 20 percent of drivers suffered injuries last year, up 40 percent from 2020, with many of these workers reporting that they felt pressured to take unnecessary risks, like forgoing seat belts and skipping breaks, to meet the company’s relentless delivery schedules.

Unions fight against all of this. They enable workers to hold employers accountable. That’s why Amazon and other companies pull every trick in the book to try to keep workers from organizing.

“We talk. We come up with solutions,” (Chad) Baker (USW Local trustee and safety representative) said of Local 1458 members. “It’s kind of hard for the company to disagree with us when we’re all saying the same thing. That commands respect. One of the biggest pluses we have is not being able to be run over.”
Read more here: https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/unio ... kplaces/
Don't mourn, organize.

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Scandinavian Airlines Crippled by Summer Pilot Strike
by Lasse Sørensen
July 6, 2022

Introduction:
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (Courthouse News) — Two hundred flight mechanics working in Denmark for Scandinavian Airline Systems are planning to join a devastating strike in solidarity with airline pilots on Thursday.

“It takes two to tango. Here, SAS did not want to dance at all. They only wanted a conflict. SAS’s management must take 100% of the blame,” said Keld Bækkelund Hansen, negotiator at Dansk Metal, a union representing pilots and mechanics of the airline, according to Danish broadcaster DR1.

Passengers might be at risk for more canceled flights, Hansen said.

But SAS spokesperson Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji said throwing flight mechanics into the strike will not have such an impact.

“We have found a solution so SAS Connect can continue flying even with the mechanics going on strike,” Kaoukji said. “Of course, it will have an impact on the planes that are grounded [in Denmark] and needs maintenance on a regular basis. When pilots return, we won’t be able to use these flights straight away.”
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/scandin ... strike/
Don't mourn, organize.

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Trucker protests stall cargo movement at California's No. 3 seaport
Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES, July 20 (Reuters) - Protests on Wednesday against a new California labor law that makes it harder for independent truckers to operate ground operations at the state's third-busiest seaport to a virtual halt, crimping a major artery in the fragile U.S. supply chain. SSA Marine, which manages the largest terminal at the Port of Oakland, in the San Francisco Bay Area, closed operations due to the independent trucker protest, port spokesman Robert Bernardo said.

The other marine terminals are effectively shut down for trucks, said Bernardo, adding that some vessel labor operations are under way. SSA and Everport terminal managers sent International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) dock workers home for safety reasons, a source familiar with the situation said Wednesday. TraPac on its website said its terminal would be closed for the first shift because protests were interfering with the entrance gate. Terminal representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The law, AB5, also known as the "gig worker" law, sets tougher standards for classifying workers as independent contractors.Trucking industry legal challenges delayed enactment of the law for more than two years, but the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case on June 30, clearing the way for it to go forward. read more

Backers, including the Teamsters and the ILWU, say AB5 aims to clamp down on labor abuses and push companies to hire drivers as employees - a move that would open the door for them to join unions and collectively bargain with employers. Independent truckers say they prefer the freedom of contract work and worry that the law will shoulder them with hefty costs that will wipe out their income.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trucke ... 022-07-20/
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Starbucks Workers Notch 200th Union Win
Updated July 22, 2022

Introduction:
(More Perfect Union) Starbucks workers are brewing up unions across the country.

Workers at 316 stores in 36 states have filed to unionize. Dozens of elections are underway or coming up despite Starbucks’ aggressive anti-union campaign.

So far, 200 Starbucks stores in 32 states have won union elections. Just 39 stores have lost an election.

The historic organizing drive was inspired by workers at a Buffalo, N.Y., store who were the first to successfully unionize in December 2021.

We’re tracking every Starbucks location where workers have announced plans to unionize, plus the dates of upcoming votes and election results. Check out the database and map (in the linked article) below.
Read more here: https://perfectunion.us/map-where-are- ... nizing/
Don't mourn, organize.

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'This Victory Is Historic': Massachusetts Trader Joe's Becomes First to Unionize
by Brett Wilkins
July 28, 2022

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Workers at a Massachusetts Trader Joe's on Thursday voted to become the first of the supermarket chain's more than 500 locations to unionize, a historic development that comes amid a nationwide labor organizing wave.

Employees at the Trader Joe's in Hadley, a suburb of Springfield, voted 45-31 to form a union, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
"WE WON!!! Today, Trader Joe's Hadley became the first unionized Trader Joe's location, ever," the new union, Trader Joe's United, tweeted. "This victory is historic, but not a surprise. Since the moment we announced our campaign, a majority of the crew have enthusiastically supported our union, and despite the company's best efforts to bust us, our majority has never wavered."

Gabrielle, who works at the Hadley store, explained that she was voting for a union because "our crew needs to be represented by an entity that is solely dedicated to our best interests."

"Our worker-led union ensures that we are protected and properly compensated—on our terms," she added.
Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022 ... -unionize
Don't mourn, organize.

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weatheriscool wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 4:47 pm Amazon bars off-duty warehouse workers from its buildings
Source: AP

By HALELUYA HADERO

Amazon is barring off-duty warehouse workers from the company’s facilities, a move organizers say can hamper union drives.

Under the policy shared with workers on Amazon’s internal app, employees are barred from accessing buildings or other working areas on their scheduled days off, and before or after their shifts.

An Amazon spokesperson said the policy does not prohibit off-duty employees from engaging their co-workers in “non-working areas” outside the company’s buildings.

“There’s nothing more important than the safety of our employees and the physical security of our buildings,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said. “This policy regarding building access applies to building interiors and working areas. It does not limit employee access to non-working areas outside of our facilities.”
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news- ... 4a2d70d0d4
Speaking of Amazon, even though not in the US, this is currently happening in the UK.

Wildcat walkouts over pay at UK Amazon warehouses
Workers have launched a spree of wildcat walkouts across Amazon warehouses in the UK. The action has been sparked by the trillion-dollar company’s imposition of an insulting pay award.

At Amazon’s Tilbury warehouse in Essex, one of the largest in Europe, around 800 workers on the Wednesday night shift walked off the job after hearing they would receive a 35 pence pay rise (around 3 percent), from £11.10 to £11.45 an hour for Tier 1 workers and £11.35 to £11.70 for workers with more than 3 years at the company.

Image

Workers staged a sit-in at the canteen, discussing demands for a £2.00-£3.00 increase. They jeered when a supervisor told them to go back to their stations, “You wanted to make a point; you made it. Every level in Amazon is aware of the situation.”

When the supervisor claimed, “Staying in the canteen is probably not very safe with so many people,” there were boos and cries of “We’re used to it!” Told their action was “not going to change anything,” the strikers responded, “You’re losing money,” with one saying, “The cost of living is going up and up.”

The next day, the Bank of England announced inflation will hit 13 percent in Britain, meaning Amazon is enforcing a de facto 10 percent pay cut to already pitiful wages.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/0 ... e-a05.html
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Starbucks asks labor board to halt union votes temporarily
Source: AP

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
Starbucks on Monday asked the National Labor Relations Board to temporarily suspend all union elections at its U.S. stores, citing allegations from a board employee that regional NLRB officials improperly coordinated with union organizers.

In a letter to the board chairman and other officials, Starbucks said the unnamed career NLRB employee informed the company about the activity, which happened in the board’s St. Louis office in the spring while it was overseeing a union election at a Starbucks store in Overland Park, Kansas.

The store is one of 314 U.S. Starbucks locations where workers have petitioned the NLRB to hold union elections since late last year. More than 220 of those stores have voted to unionize. The company opposes the unionization effort.

The Seattle coffee giant alleges that St. Louis labor board officials made special arrangements for pro-union workers to vote in person at its office when they did not receive mail-in ballots, even though Starbucks and the union had agreed that store elections would be handled by mail-in ballot.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/elections-na ... 0f2344f806
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