Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalFast-Food Worker Had Right to Stage 'Solo Strike
A Papa John’s Pizza worker who took time off to participate in a Fight for $15 convention and related protests was unlawfully fired for engaging in a “solo strike,” the National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice concluded in a memorandum released June 14.
The memorandum illustrates that an employee who leaves work in what appears to be a purely personal protest may have federal labor law protection if the worker is aiding or supporting a labor union.
RoHoHo Inc., a franchisee that operates Papa John’s restaurants in South Carolina, argued it lawfully discharged the employee, who failed to report to work after management denied a request for time off. Company policy generally required employees to give seven days’ notice of such requests, and the employee failed to comply with that requirement.
Associate General Counsel Jayme L. Sophir wrote that the employee’s participation in Fight for $15 activities was protected by the National Labor Relations Act because the worker was supporting the Southern Workers Organizing Committee, a labor union.
https://www.bna.com/fastfood-worker-right-n73014476522/
Seizing on wave of collective action, AFL-CIO launches nationwide ad campaign
Washington – In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court is set to decide a case called Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, which threatens to take away the freedom of working people to join together and negotiate for better wages and working conditions.
The far-right conservative majority on the high court is widely expected to rule against AFSCME and, in so doing, impose “right-to-work” conditions on all public-sector employees.
In response to Janus and federal and state-level attacks on working people, the AFL-CIO has launched a major, nationwide print and digital ad campaign calling on working people to join together in the face of continued corporate assaults on the freedom to join together in a union.
An open letter to working people, penned by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, ran in USA Today, the Washington Post and regional newspapers in nine states, including Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Massachusetts.
https://labortribune.com/seizing-on-wave-of-collective-action-afl-cio-launches-nationwide-ad-campaign-calling-on-working-people-to-organize/
We Are MO launches first ad to expose motivation behind Proposition A (RTW): Lowering Missouri wages
Jefferson City, Missouri – We Are MO launched a statewide television ad last week exposing the hard truth behind Proposition A: it will lower Missouri wages and expand the pay gap between CEOs and the average worker.
We Are MO is a coalition of families, workers and small business owners that gathered over 310,000 signatures in every Missouri congressional district to place Proposition A, a repeal of Missouri’s so-called “right-to-work” law, on the August ballot.
“Missourians need to know that Proposition A will lower wages and benefits for Missouri families, while expanding the gap between wealthy CEOs and the average worker,” said Erin Schrimpf, We Are MO spokesperson. “Proposition A is not what it seems and these ads expose its threat to lower wages and cost us jobs. Missourians who want to protect their pay need to show up at the polls on Aug. 7 and vote no on Proposition A.”
The ad, which can be viewed on the Labor Tribune website at www.labortribune.com, features a worker from Oklahoma talking about losing his job of 36 years after that state passed a similar “right-to-work” measure. Since then, Oklahoma has lost tens of thousands of jobs and wages have decreased.
https://labortribune.com/we-are-mo-launches-first-ad-to-expose-motivation-behind-proposition-a-rtw-lowering-missouri-wages/
Pregnancy Discrimination Is Rampant Inside America's Biggest Companies
By NATALIE KITROEFF and JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG JUNE 15, 2018
American companies have spent years trying to become more welcoming to women. They have rolled out generous parental leave policies, designed cushy lactation rooms and plowed millions of dollars into programs aimed at retaining mothers.
But these advances haven’t changed a simple fact: Whether women work at Walmart or on Wall Street, getting pregnant is often the moment they are knocked off the professional ladder.
Throughout the American workplace, pregnancy discrimination remains widespread. It can start as soon as a woman is showing, and it often lasts through her early years as a mother.
The New York Times reviewed thousands of pages of court and public records and interviewed dozens of women, their lawyers and government officials. A clear pattern emerged. Many of the country’s largest and most prestigious companies still systematically sideline pregnant women. They pass them over for promotions and raises. They fire them when they complain.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/15/business/pregnancy-discrimination.html
Union: Health workers fired amid organizing bid
By Matt Murphy
State House News Service
BOSTON -- As many as 20 employees of Whittier Street Health Center in Roxbury were fired Thursday, according to a major state health care workers union that characterized the downsizing as retribution for their support of efforts to unionize professionals at the health center.
1199 SEIU United Health Care Workers East Executive Vice President Tim Foley said the dismissals come just days before a vote is scheduled to be held to determine whether professionals at the health center, including doctors, nurses and counselors, will unionize.
The union now plans to rally outside Whittier Street on Friday morning to draw attention to the labor dispute, and will move ahead with the June 20 election as planned.
"I've never seen anything like this," Foley told the News Service on Thursday afternoon.
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_31946991/union-health-workers-fired-amid-organizing-bid
New effort to strengthen the bargaining power of NC employee unions
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- It looked and sounded like an old-fashioned union rally in Durham Thursday night - which grabs your attention considering unions don't have a lot of political power in North Carolina.
This was an effort to turn that around.
In this sometimes raucous and pro-union crowd Bertha and Earl Bradley listened closely. This mother and son both work at Wendy's restaurants in Durham.
"$9.25 an hour," Earl Bradley revealed about his hourly wage.
http://abc11.com/community-events/new-effort-to-strengthen-the-bargaining-power-of-nc-employee-unions/3604095/
Janitors' union rallies supporters to 'Fight for 15' as workers prepare for contract talks
Hundreds of janitors and supporters gathered in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue Thursday afternoon to kick off a labor campaign seeking a $15 minimum wage ahead of contract negotiations.
Many wore purple shirts and held purple signs that said "One Detroit" and "Fight for 15" in a rally organized by the Service Employees International Union Local 1. Many of the 1,700 janitors in the union are making $9.25-$12.45 per hour, which organizers say is not enough to make ends meet.
The current three-year contract with janitorial service companies is set to expire July 31. Negotiations are scheduled to begin June 20 and members are willing to strike if they do not get what they want, SEIU Local 1 Communications Director Izabela Miltko-Ivkovich said.
The top three union contractors in downtown Detroit are Detroit-based Professional Building Maintenance LLC, Southfield-based GDI Omni Inc. and New York City-based ABM Industries Inc., Miltko-Ivkovich said.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20180615/news/663666/janitors-union-rallies-supporters-to-fight-for-15-as-workers-prepare
Teamsters union backs Canada in tariff tiff with Trump
The Teamsters union, one of the largest labor groups in North America, is backing its Canadian members in a push to end the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by President Trump.
"The implementation of these tariffs and the inevitable retaliatory tariffs by Canada will immediately harm workers in both nations," the Teamsters said in a statement, echoing the concerns of corporate executives and economists who fear the White House's protectionist policies will ignite a trade war.
The duties of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum were imposed on some of the closest U.S. allies – Mexico, Canada, and Europe – in late May, spurring prompt retaliation. When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters after the Group of 7 gathering that his country, while polite, wouldn't be pushed around, members of the Trump administration took it a personal insult and accused him of backstabbing.
The international Teamsters organization is joining "our Canadian brothers and sisters in calling for an end to the personal attacks on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a permanent exemption of tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel," according to a statement Thursday.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/teamsters-union-backs-canada-in-tariff-tiff-with-trump
Illinois board moves forward with union employee pay raises
SPRINGFIELD (AP) – The Illinois Labor Relations Board is moving forward with certain salary increases for unionized state workers.
About 15,000 union members are eligible for the step increases, which are automatic raises workers receive sometime during the first decade of their careers.
The board rejected a request from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration to hold another hearing about the issue before money is paid out, the State Journal-Register reported. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees called the administration’s move a stalling tactic.
“Our union will keep doing everything possible to make sure that employees are placed on the correct step and made whole for the increases they’ve been denied,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said in a statement.
http://www.saukvalley.com/2018/06/14/illinois-board-moves-forward-with-union-employee-pay-raises/a8ri0ph/
Union protesters seeking higher wages for resort workers march on Disneyland gates
Disneyland Resort workers staged another protest Thursday, the same day Anaheim officials announced an initiative to raise some workers’ wages has enough signatures to appear on the fall ballot.
The ballot measure backed by resort workers’ unions would raise the minimum wage at the resort and hotels that receive tax subsidies from Anaheim.
About 150 workers marched to Disneyland’s gates banging drums and chanting, “They make the money; we make the magic,” as park visitors watched with curiosity or bewilderment.
“We want Disney to realize that we’re asking for fair wages, the ability to have a good job and be able to support ourselves,” said custodian Martin Gonzales, 51. He has worked for Disney for 17 years.
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/06/14/union-protesters-seeking-higher-wages-for-resort-workers-march-on-disneyland-gates/
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