Starbucks Fired Over 20 U.S. Union Leaders in Recent Months
by Michael Sainato
May 19, 2022
Introduction:
(The Guardian) Starbucks has fired over 20 union leaders around the US over the past several months as union organizing campaigns have spread across the country, the Guardian can reveal.
The news comes as Starbucks workers have filed petitions for union elections at more than 250 stores, spanning 35 states in the US. Starbucks’ chief executive, Howard Schultz, has led a campaign against the union movement calling it “some outside force that’s going to dictate or disrupt who we are and what we do”.
The US’s top labor regulator, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), has issued complaints against Starbucks over many of the firings, demanding reinstatement and backpay for seven fired workers in Memphis, Tennessee, three fired workers in Overland, Kansas, six fired workers in Buffalo, New York, and three fired workers in Arizona. These cases will go before an administrative law judge unless a settlement is reached before those hearings.
The NLRB has accused Starbucks of more than 200 violations of federal labor laws over the course of union organizing campaigns since late 2021. NLRB regional offices have issued complaints in regards to 45 cases against Starbucks, according to the NLRB. Starbucks also incited more legal concerns over recently announcing the rollout of new benefits for all employees, but exempting workers at unionized stores. Workers at several Starbucks stores have held strikes in protest of the company’s behavior toward union organizing.
A Group of Activision Blizzard Workers Vote to Unionize
by Amanda Silberling
May 23, 2022
Introduction:
(TechCrunch) Ater months of organizing, the quality assurance testers at Raven Software, a division of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, have voted to unionize. This marks the first union at a major gaming company in the U.S.
Administered through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the vote passed 19-3 and two ballots were challenged, so a total of 24 out of 28 eligible workers voted.
These workers announced their intent to unionize in December, just days after Microsoft announced its plans to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, which would be one of the largest tech acquisitions in history. But as the news of the pending acquisition went public, these quality assurance (QA) testers — who mostly work on Call of Duty — had been on strike for about five weeks, protesting the layoffs of 12 contractors.
“On December 3, about a third of my department was informed that their contracts were going to be terminated early. And this was coming off of a five-week stretch of overtime, consistent work,” Raven Software QA tester Onah Rongstad told TechCrunch at the time, explaining the intent to organize. “We realized in that moment that our day-to-day work and our crucial role in the games industry as QA was not being taken into consideration.”
This five-week stretch of overtime work that Rongstad describes is referred to as “crunch” in the gaming industry, which has been often cited as a huge cause of burnout and stress for gaming workers. The union, which goes by the name Game Workers Alliance and is represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), can now attempt to bargain with their employer to instate rules that circumvent “crunch” or unexpected layoffs.
caltrek wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 2:30 pmStarbucks Fired Over 20 U.S. Union Leaders in Recent Months
by Michael Sainato
May 19, 2022
Introduction:
(The Guardian) Starbucks has fired over 20 union leaders around the US over the past several months as union organizing campaigns have spread across the country, the Guardian can reveal.
The news comes as Starbucks workers have filed petitions for union elections at more than 250 stores, spanning 35 states in the US. Starbucks’ chief executive, Howard Schultz, has led a campaign against the union movement calling it “some outside force that’s going to dictate or disrupt who we are and what we do”.
The US’s top labor regulator, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), has issued complaints against Starbucks over many of the firings, demanding reinstatement and backpay for seven fired workers in Memphis, Tennessee, three fired workers in Overland, Kansas, six fired workers in Buffalo, New York, and three fired workers in Arizona. These cases will go before an administrative law judge unless a settlement is reached before those hearings.
The NLRB has accused Starbucks of more than 200 violations of federal labor laws over the course of union organizing campaigns since late 2021. NLRB regional offices have issued complaints in regards to 45 cases against Starbucks, according to the NLRB. Starbucks also incited more legal concerns over recently announcing the rollout of new benefits for all employees, but exempting workers at unionized stores. Workers at several Starbucks stores have held strikes in protest of the company’s behavior toward union organizing.
OSHA Settles With Meatpacking Plant to Address Workers’ Repetitive Motion Injuries
by Madison McVan
May 19, 2022
Introduction:
(Investigate Midwest) One of the U.S.'s most productive pork processing plants is being forced to restructure part of its workspace to prevent the repetitive motion injuries that plague meatpacking workers.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Seaboard Foods in Guymon, Oklahoma, for making its workers repeatedly lift 50-to-90-pound boxes onto conveyor belts, exposing them to possible shoulder and lower back disorders.
The citation came in December, and OSHA and Seaboard reached a settlement last week. The settlement reduced the company’s original fine, but it compels them to make changes to consider employees’ health, according to a copy of the settlement Investigate Midwest obtained.
It marks the federal agency’s first citation for ergonomic safety issues in several years.
Current and former Seaboard employees told Investigate Midwest last year that they developed injuries from the repetitive motions of their jobs. When they sought medical treatment and time off, they were often denied accommodations, punished or fired, they said.
Trader Joe’s Grocery Store Workers in Hadley Push for Union Vote
by Chris McLaughlin
Updated May 27, 2022
Introduction:
(MassLive) Workers at the Trader Joe’s grocery store in Hadley announced in an open letter to the company’s CEO their intent to push for unionization citing stagnated wages and a desire for better pay, benefits and workplace conditions.
The letter, dated on May 14, is addressed to Trader Joe’s CEO Dan Bane, based in Monrovia, California, and was posted through the workers’ social media pages under the name “Trader Joe’s United.”
In it the workers say that they believe a union is a “necessary” next step for the Hadley location, adding that two years ago in March 2020 that Bane had mailed the employees arguing against unionization who said unions were attempting to “drive discontent” in the company’s stores.
In that same message two years ago, Bane said that unions were “falsely” claiming only they will protect the pay and benefits employees “currently enjoy” through joining one, according to the letter.
The Hadley store’s crew added in their letter that since that message from Bane, that the company has continued to “slash our benefits as our wages stagnate and our safety concerns go unaddressed.”
After noting recent organizing efforts at Raven Software, Starbucks, Trader Joe's, and Amazon, former Department of Labor head Robert Reich presents reasons for an uptick in organizing efforts (see below).
Why Unions are Coming to the New Economy
May 24, 2022
1. Part of the reason for the upsurge is the so-called “labor shortage” which — as I’ve stressed — is actually a shortage of jobs paying living wages. At least for now, workers have bargaining leverage to demand better pay.
2. Another part is related to the pandemic and its psychological effect on many workers who have begun asking themselves why they’ve settled for lousy jobs and often unsafe working conditions, especially when corporations are scoring record profits and CEOs of big firms are taking home record multiples of the typical workers’ wages. More than at any other time in the last three decades, workers are telling employers “you can take this job and shove it.”
3. A third part of the revival of unions relates to America’s retreat from globalization. Four decades ago, when corporations began to move (or threaten to move) their operations offshore to hire lower-wage workers, American blue-collar workers lost their bargaining clout. Unions went into retreat. But starting with Trump and continuing with Biden — along with global supply bottlenecks that are now convincing corporations to bring suppliers home — outsourcing is in sharp decline. (Yesterday, Biden announced an agreement that he hopes represents the future of trade policy, known as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which focuses on increased cooperation in areas like clean energy and internet policy rather than opening markets.)
4. A fourth reason: More college graduates are now in blue-collar jobs, many leading unionizing efforts.
5. A fifth reason is a new appreciation of the importance of power in driving wages, and the fraudulence of the economic idea that “you’re paid what you’re worth.”
Reich goes on to note the huge inequality in compensation between corporate executives and workers, as well as inequality between Wall Street bankers and others.
U.S. Department of Labor Fines Santa Maria Farms for Withholding Wages and Benefits by Joshua Nelson
Update May 25, 2022
Introduction:
(Santa Maria Times) Three Santa Maria farms were ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor to pay more than $250,000 in back pay and fines after a series of investigations discovered they did not follow requirements of the H-2A program, including failing to issue wages and provide transportation to nearly 600 workers.
The H-2A visa program allows farmers to hire seasonal laborers from outside the United States. Through that program, the nearly 3,000 H-2A workers in Santa Barbara County are entitled to payment for inbound transportation from their home countries, daily meals and free housing, among other protections.
Adams Bros. Farming, Boavista Farms and Profresco Inc. in Santa Maria and SARC Inc. in Nipomo were required to pay $223,228 in back wages and $33,888 in fines upon the conclusion of the Labor Department’s investigations which ran from April 2020 to February 2022.
Under federal law, employers are required to maintain strict records, which the Department of Labor can audit, among other investigative techniques.
“Employers that benefit from the H-2A guest worker program must be aware of all their responsibilities,” said Ruben Rosalez, Wage and Hour Division regional administrator in San Francisco. “Agricultural workers employed under the H-2A program must be paid as their contracts require and be provided with what they need to live and work safely while contributing critical labor to California’s agriculture industry.”
'It's War,' Says Amazon Labor Union After Company Fires Top Organizer by Jake Johnson
June 10, 2022
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) "They f***** with the wrong uncle."
That was how Amazon Labor Union (ALU) president Christian Smalls responded Thursday after the e-commerce behemoth's management reportedly fired Pasquale "Uncle Pat" Cioffi, an organizer credited with convincing hundreds of hesitant employees to support the unionization effort at the JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York.
"Amazon fired our beloved Uncle Pat today!" Smalls, a former Amazon employee who was fired after organizing against the company's lax coronavirus safety measures, wrote on social media. "They retaliated against him for organizing ever since our last rally... At our last rally he stated he flipped 500 people and ever since those remarks the company targeted him."
In a Twitter thread late Thursday, ALU noted that Cioffi, a former dockworker who was employed at Amazon for two years, was "instrumental in the JFK8 victory, and is one of our most influential and outspoken supporters."
"He was fired for arguing with a manager about mistreatment of workers," the union wrote. "What they did to Pat is unjustifiable. It's clearly motivated by anti-union animus and they're only going forward because they believe it's more cost-effective to fire him and deal with the backlash than it is to allow to him to continue organizing during our contract campaign."
Sanders and Gillibrand Call on Amazon to Recognize Historic Union Victory June 11, 2022
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) Friday sent a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy urging him to drop the company’s objections to the historic union election on Staten Island before a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) hearing on Monday and finally recognize the Amazon Labor Union.
“If Amazon can afford to spend $10 billion in stock buybacks to enrich its wealthy shareholders and executives—including the second richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos—it can afford a unionized workforce,” the senators wrote. “If Amazon can spend over $4 million in a single year on union-busting and $213 million on your compensation, it can afford a workforce that can collectively bargain for better wages, better benefits, safer working conditions, and reliable schedules…We strongly urge you to respect the will of Amazon workers by dropping your objections, recognizing the Amazon Labor Union and negotiating in good faith before the NLRB hearing on June 13th. It is time for Amazon to end its blatant disregard of labor law and treat workers with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
Since the workers on Staten Island became the first-ever Amazon warehouse to successfully vote to form a union in the United States, Amazon has refused to negotiate a first contract, refused to recognize that the union exists, and filed 25 objections to the election – despite the NLRB certifying the victory.
Starbucks Union Says Howard Schultz Broke the Law During New York Times Interview by Dave Jamieson
June 11, 2022
Introduction:
(Huffington Post) The union that represents Starbucks workers at roughly 150 stores has accused CEO Howard Schultz of violating labor law during a public interview with The New York Times this week, and has filed charges against the company at the National Labor Relations Board.
Starbuck Workers United says that in a conversation with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the Times’ DealBook D.C. policy forum on Thursday, Schultz threatened to refuse to bargain in good faith with the union. The charge hinges on comments Schultz made while discussing the coffee chain’s relationship with its workers in the context of the union campaign.
“We have to demonstrate to our people they can trust us,” Schultz said, which prompted Sorkin to ask if he could ever envision “doing that and embracing the union as part of it?”
Schultz flatly answered, “No.”
Both the union and the employer are required to engage in meaningful dialogue when they negotiate a contract. The union says Schultz’s remark suggests he doesn’t intend to do so, and that it sends a message to employees that unionizing would be “futile.” Conveying futility to workers is also considered an unfair labor practice under collective bargaining law.
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
'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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
