Alabama Senate bill would punish companies that voluntarily recognize unions
A bill filed in the Alabama Senate last week would prevent companies that voluntarily recognize an employee union or hold a non-secret ballot process to receive state economic incentives.
SB 231, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, says that employers who voluntarily grant a union; “voluntarily disclose an employee’s personal contact information to a labor organization, or third party acting on behalf of a labor organization, without the employee’s prior written consent, unless otherwise required by state or federal law;” or require subcontractors to participate in either activity will not be eligible for economic development incentives. Employers who did so would also have to pay back incentives already received.
Orr said Tuesday the bill was inspired by unionization efforts at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, outside of Tuscaloosa.
“We saw the situation in Tuscaloosa and I think it’s good policy to have the private vote matter to make sure that the employees whether they’re for or against a union that their ballot is cast in a private manner,” he said. “They can keep their votes to themselves and not be coerced or bullied one way or the other, for pro or con.”
weatheriscool wrote: ↑Wed Mar 27, 2024 5:27 pm
Alabama Senate bill would punish companies that voluntarily recognize unions
A bill filed in the Alabama Senate last week would prevent companies that voluntarily recognize an employee union or hold a non-secret ballot process to receive state economic incentives.
SB 231, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, says that employers who voluntarily grant a union; “voluntarily disclose an employee’s personal contact information to a labor organization, or third party acting on behalf of a labor organization, without the employee’s prior written consent, unless otherwise required by state or federal law;” or require subcontractors to participate in either activity will not be eligible for economic development incentives. Employers who did so would also have to pay back incentives already received.
Orr said Tuesday the bill was inspired by unionization efforts at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, outside of Tuscaloosa.
“We saw the situation in Tuscaloosa and I think it’s good policy to have the private vote matter to make sure that the employees whether they’re for or against a union that their ballot is cast in a private manner,” he said. “They can keep their votes to themselves and not be coerced or bullied one way or the other, for pro or con.”
California’s New Fast Food $20 Minimum Wage by Kim Kelly
April 1 ,2024
Introduction:
(Fast Company) On April 1, 2024, California’s new $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers went into effect. The wage hike will impact workers at about 3,000 fast-food locations across the state, and comes as a result of years of lobbying, protests, and strikes by the Fight for $15 and a Union movement. Labor advocates have hailed the new law as an important step toward winning all workers a true living wage, while some business owners have complained that the new law will cost them too much and force them to lay off workers. Here’s everything you need to know.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES ASSEMBLY BILL 1228 DO?
This bill (which was signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom on September 28, 2023) raises the hourly minimum-wage rate for many of the state’s fast-food workers, with some exceptions, to $20. It also established a Fast Food Council within the state’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), which is made up of fast-food workers, industry representatives, and government officials. The council is empowered to develop new health and safety rules and standards for the industry and will give workers the opportunity to make their own voices heard.
The law targets fast-food workers specifically because it is the direct result of labor actions in 2022, when thousands of fast-food workers at hundreds of locations across California went on strike to demand the passage of the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, which would have raised the minimum wage and created a fast food council. After fast-food industry owners pushed for a ballot referendum and filed a lawsuit to block enforcement of the law, AB 1228 arose as a negotiated compromise between labor and capital.
In February, fast-food workers announced the formation of the California Fast Food Workers Union (CAFFWU), the first-ever statewide fast-food workers union. The new union will operate as part of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which also backs the Fight for $15 and a Union campaign, and work with the Fast Food Council to fight for racial and economic justice for California’s thousands of fast-food workers.
The city Office of Labor Standards announced today that it has settled with Chipotle over alleged labor-law violations at eight area restaurants. We confirmed with the city that the West Seattle location (opened nine years ago at 4730 California SW) is one of them. First, from the city announcement, here are the basics:
The Office of Labor Standards (OLS) investigated Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. for alleged violations of the Secure Scheduling and Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) Ordinances throughout Chipotle’s eight operations in Seattle.
Why the UAW Is Standing Up with Mexican Auto Workers by Brandon Mancilla
March 29, 2024
Introduction:
(Labor Notes) The United Auto Workers announced February 23 that it will provide material support to Mexican auto workers organizing in the independent union movement. As a member of the UAW Executive Board, I’m proud that our union understands how the futures of auto workers in the United States and Mexico are tied together.
Our Mexico solidarity project is about empowering our membership to win strong contracts and protecting our jobs in the United States—and it’s also about ensuring justice for workers across the border.
The auto industry is not nationally bound, and neither should the labor movement be. For every record contract there will come the threat of moving production to Mexico, where a partnership between the companies and the corrupt company unions keep wages low—a whipsaw that oppresses workers on both sides of the border.
The irony of free trade is that even with expanded production, Mexico still imports most of the vehicles sold to its own people. Meanwhile 75 percent of Mexican-made vehicles are shipped to the U.S., and they do not cost any less because they’re produced with cheaper labor.
LOW-WAGE ZONES
The North American Free Trade Agreement completely changed the makeup of the continent’s auto industry, integrating cross-border supply chains in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. That integration has facilitated growth and profitability for the bosses in the three countries, while hurting auto workers regardless of nationality.
UAW Wins Big at Volkswagen in Tennessee by Bob Bussell
April 20, 2024
Introduction:
(The Conversation) A decisive majority of the Volkswagen workers employed at a factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee cast their ballots in favor of joining the United Auto Workers union, the German automaker announced on April 19, 2024.
Persuading any Southern autoworkers to join a union had long been one of the U.S. labor movement’s most enduring challenges, despite persistent efforts by the UAW to organize this workforce.
To be sure, the UAW already has members employed by Ford and General Motors at facilities in Kentucky, Texas, Missouri and Mississippi.
However, the union had previously tried and largely failed to organize workers at foreign-owned companies, including Volkswagen and Nissan, in Southern states – where about 30% of all U.S. automotive jobs are located. It was the UAW’s third election at the same factory since 2014. The prior two ended in narrow losses.
The victory follows the UAW’s most successful strike in a generation against Detroit’s Big Three automakers, through which it won higher pay and better benefits for its members in 2023.
Biden adminstration finalizes rule to grant overtime for millions more salaried workers
Source: AP
Updated 5:47 PM EDT, April 23, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — The Biden administration has finalized a new rule set to make millions of more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay in the U.S.
The move marks the largest expansion in federal overtime eligibility seen in decades. Starting July 1, employers will be required pay overtime to salaried workers who make less than $43,888 a year in certain executive, administrative and professional roles, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That cap will then rise to $58,656 by the start of 2025.
“Too often, lower-paid salaried workers are doing the same job as their hourly counterparts but are spending more time away from their families for no additional pay. That is unacceptable,” acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su said in a prepared statement. She added that the administration was “following through on our promise to raise the bar.”
Tuesday’s news marks a significant jump from the current overtime eligibility threshold of $35,568, which was set under the Trump administration in 2019 — just three years after a more generous Obama-era effort was ultimately scuttled in court after facing pushback from some business leaders and Republican politicians.
Tennessee company fined nearly $650K for illegally hiring minors to clean slaughterhouses
Source: USA Today
Published 10:53 p.m. ET May 6, 2024
A Tennessee-based cleaning company has agreed to pay nearly $650,000 in civil penalties after federal investigators found the company employed at least 24 children at two slaughtering and meat packing facilities, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday.
A federal court in Iowa approved a consent order and judgment Monday with Fayette Janitorial Service LLC, which requires the company to pay $649,304 in civil penalties, the Labor Department said in a news release. The company must also hire a third-party to implement company policies to prevent the illegal employment of children and create a program for reporting concerns about child labor violations.
The Labor Department obtained a preliminary injunction against Fayette Janitorial in late February after an investigation discovered that the company employed at least 24 children, including children as young as 13 years old, on overnight sanitation shifts at two slaughtering and meat packing facilities in Sioux City, Iowa, and Accomac, Virginia.
Under U.S. law, children under the age 18 are prohibited from being employed in dangerous occupations such as meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, rendering and packing operations. According to the Labor Department, Fayette Janitorial had minors "clean dangerous kill floor equipment such as head splitters, jaw pullers, meat bandsaws, and neck clippers."
'We'll Be Back,' Says UAW Chief Shawn Fain After 'Tough Loss' in Alabama by Jessica Corbett
May 7, 2024
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Workers at a pair of Mercedes-Benz plants near Tuscaloosa, Alabama narrowly voted against joining the United Auto Workers this week, according to a preliminary tally on Friday.
As of press time, the UAW webpage had the National Labor Relations Board tally at 2,045 in favor of joining the union (45%) and 2,642 opposed (56%).
Voting at the large facility in Vance and the battery plant in Woodstock kicked off Monday and wrapped up Friday morning. Speaking to reporters Friday evening, UAW president Shawn Fain said that it was "obviously not the result we wanted" but "we'll be back in Vance."
"These courageous workers reached out to us because they wanted justice," Fain said of the Mercedes employees. "They led us. They led this fight, and that's what this is all about—and what happens next is up to them."
"Justice isn't just about one vote or one campaign, it's about getting a voice and getting your fair share," he continued, noting that "workers won serious gains in this campaign."
Retired New York City Teachers Rise and Run by Jenny Brown
May 20, 2024
Introduction:
(Labor Notes) They’ve really stepped in it. The incumbent Unity Caucus that runs the huge teachers union in New York City is facing a challenge from the Retiree Advocate slate who hope to take leadership of the powerful 70,000-person retiree chapter within the union. Ballots were mailed May 10 and will be counted June 14.
The rallying issue has been the United Federation of Teachers’ collusion with the city to put municipal retirees, including retired teachers, into a for-profit Medicare Advantage plan run by Aetna. The plan would replace their traditional Medicare, which is provided premium-free along with a cost-free wraparound.
Leaders of the UFT and AFSCME’s District Council 37, who dominate the city’s Municipal Labor Committee, tried to railroad the plan through in 2021, crushing objections from 26 smaller unions in the 102-union bargaining bloc. They hoped to fill a $600 million funding gap, but the plan went awry when retirees exposed it.
The fight has mobilized retirees across the city, from firefighters to sanitation workers to teachers. Courts and the city council have refused to approve the change, and for three years the city has appealed court decisions, with the support of the dominant MLC unions. The plan has not been implemented, and appeals continue.
RUBBER STAMP?
In the teachers union, these events have caused a sea change. Retirees are full UFT members and can vote in leadership elections. In the past, their substantial vote went to incumbents. “Retired teachers are used as a reliable rubber stamp for Unity Caucus,” said Bennett Fischer, who is running for Chapter Leader of the Retired Teacher Chapter. “Now they have a big worry on their minds.”
Accusing Mercedes of 'Wanton Lawlessness,' UAW Seeks New Alabama Vote by Jessica Corbett
May 24, 2024
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) The United Auto Workers on Friday formally challenged last week's election loss at a pair of Mercedes-Benz facilities in Alabama, accusing the company of engaging in "an unprecedented, illegal anti-union campaign" and requesting a new vote.
"All these workers ever wanted was a fair shot at having a voice on the job and a say in their working conditions," the UAW said in a statement. "And that's what we're asking for here. Let's get a vote at Mercedes in Alabama where the company isn't allowed to fire people, isn't allowed to intimidate people, and isn't allowed to break the law and their own corporate code, and let the workers decide."
Of the more than 5,000 employees at the two Mercedes-Benz United States International (MBUSI) plants, 2,045 (45%) voted to join the UAW and 2,642 (56%) voted against it. After the ballots were counted, union president Shawn Fain said that it was "obviously not the result we wanted" but "we'll be back."
The UAW complaint to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accusing MBUSI of "wanton lawlessness" echoes the union and workers' previous allegations that the company engaged in illegal union-busting at the Vance and Woodstock facilities, which led to ongoing reviews from U.S. and German authorities.
On January 11, 2024, employees of MBUSI publicly announced that they were exploring forming a union with the UAW at MBUSI's facilities," says the new complaint, according to Alabama Reflector. "Almost immediately thereafter, both prior to and during the election period, the employer engaged in a relentless anti-union campaign marked with unlawful discipline, unlawful captive audience meetings, and a general goal of coercing and intimidating employees who were attempting to exercise their Section 7 rights."
Biden's Dealmaker: How Julie Su Helped Broker a Union Contract in Hostile South by Emily Peck
May 30, 2024
Introduction:
(Axios) Acting Labor Department secretary Julie Su just helped secure a labor contract for more than 1,500 newly unionized workers at a school bus manufacturer in Georgia — a region typically hostile to unionization.
Why it matters: The contract at Blue Bird Corp., ratified last week, shows how the administration's pro-labor stance, along with the money pouring in from its signature legislation, is changing how some U.S. businesses operate.
The big picture: Su's been actively involved in several key labor negotiations over the past few years — from West Coast port workers to health care employees at Kaiser Permanente to the UAW's talks last year.
• This contract is smaller. Blue Bird Corp. is a 97-year-old publicly traded company lately focused on electric vehicles, as the bipartisan infrastructure law has boosted demand.
• The White House says the deal demonstrates that the transition to a green economy doesn't have to come at workers' expense. Former President Trump told striking autoworkers last year that the EV transition amounted to "a government assassination of your jobs."
• "We have to make sure we have a future of clean air and a future of good union jobs," Su tells Axios in an exclusive interview.
In One of the Most Dangerous Workplaces in West Virginia, a Poultry Giant has Profited from Immigrant Labor for Decades by Allen Siegler
June 10, 2024
Introduction:
(Investigate Midwet) MOOREFIELD, West Virginia — On a rainy afternoon in 2020, Pilgrim’s Pride’s West Virginia chicken factory was dirty.
The slaughterhouse has sharp metal hooks, deboning knives and conveyor belts. The machinery butchers over a million live birds every week and is constantly covered with animal grime.
That day, dozens of sanitation workers, many of them Hispanic and many of them immigrants, were washing the machines in the plant owned by Hardy County’s largest employer. A Puerto Rican man was kneeling to clean a conveyor belt when it unexpectedly turned on.
The machine latched on to his work jacket, and pulled. The man cried ou“It was really bad, something ugly,” said Marco, a man from Mexico also cleaning the slaughterhouse that day.t in agony.
“It was really bad, something ugly,” said Marco, a man from Mexico also cleaning the slaughterhouse that day.
East Coast Dockworkers Halt Labor Talks Amid Looming Strike Threat June 10, 2024
Entire article less photograph:
(SupplyChainBrain) The International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) says that it has halted labor talks, in protest over the use of automated machinery at a handful of ports.
The ILA — representing more than 40,000 East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers — and the United Maritime Alliance (USMX) were scheduled to start negotiations on June 11. But the ILA called off the talks when it found out that an autonomous system was being used by Maersk and its terminal operator APM Terminals to process trucks at the Port of Mobile, Alabama, among other unnamed ports. The ILA claims that the use of the so-called "auto gate" system violates its existing agreement with the USMX, and that it will not pick up labor talks again until the issue is resolved.
“There’s no point trying to negotiate a new agreement with USMX when one of its major companies continues to violate our current agreement with the sole aim of eliminating ILA jobs through automation,” ILA chief negotiator Harold Daggett said in a June 10 news release.
Although the USMX has declined to comment on the situation, APM Terminals has asserted that it is "in full compliance" with the union's contract, according to the The Wall Street Journal.
Automation has long been a sticking point for dockworker unions on both coasts in the U.S., over worries that the proliferation of the technology could threaten jobs. In the meantime, the ILA and USMX have until September 30 to reach a new labor agreement, and if they don't, Daggett has previously stated that the ILA would go on strike.
Supreme Court Ruling in Starbucks Case Curbs Labor Regulation
Source: New York Times
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks on Thursday in a challenge against a labor ruling by a federal judge, making it more difficult for a key federal agency to intervene when a company is accused of illegally suppressing labor organizing.
Eight justices backed the majority opinion, which was written by Justice Clarence Thomas. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a separate opinion concurring with parts of the majority opinion, dissenting from other portions and agreeing with the overall judgment.
The ruling came in a case brought by Starbucks over the firing of seven workers in Memphis who were trying to unionize a store in 2022. The company said it had fired them for allowing a television crew into a closed store, while the workers said that they were fired for their unionization efforts and that the company didn’t typically enforce the rules they were accused of violating.
After the firings, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint saying that Starbucks had acted because the workers had “joined or assisted the union and engaged in concerted activities, and to discourage employees from engaging in these activities.” Separately, lawyers for the board asked a federal judge in Tennessee for an injunction reinstating the workers, and the judge issued the order in August 2022.
Amazon fined $5.9 million for breaking labor law in California
The company is among the first to run afoul of a union-backed law aimed at protecting warehouse workers from aggressive productivity quotas.
By Caroline O'Donovan
Updated June 18, 2024 at 3:30 p.m. EDT | Published June 18, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
California labor officials fined Amazon $5.9 million for violating a state law aimed at preventing warehouse workers from being pushed to work so quickly that their health and safety are at risk, according to citations issued in May.
It’s the largest fine the California Labor Commissioner’s Office has levied under the Warehouse Quota Law, which went into effect in 2022 and limits quotas for “work that must be performed at a specified speed or the worker suffers discipline,” the commission’s officer said in a news release Tuesday.
California investigated two Amazon facilities near Los Angeles and in May found that the company failed to “provide written notice of quotas to which each employee is subject,” according to a copy of the citation shared with The Washington Post by the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, a nonprofit that advocates for improving working conditions at warehouses. The labor agency levied fines of $1.2 million at one Redland, Calif., Amazon facility, and $4.7 million at another in Moreno Valley.
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Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the United States, has long been criticized for the pace of work in its fulfillment centers and delivery stations. It is under investigation by federal labor regulators, a congressional committee and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York regarding its workplace injury rate. … “We disagree with the allegations made in the citations and have appealed," Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel stated in an email. “The truth is, we don’t have fixed quotas.”
