Here’s what workers in the Southern U.S. and her Colonies were up to from November 10 – November 17:
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 60 filed a unit clarification petition regarding the 500 worker bargaining unit it represents at Big State Electric in San Antonio, TX. I’m not exactly sure what clarification is being sought – these petitions are generally used to expand or contract the unit. If I had to guess, I’d assume it’s an attempt to expand the unit based on the NLRB’s new joint employer rule, because the filing names Big States Electric but also subcontractors Labormax Staffing and FlexTech. Would love to learn more.
2 workers at Technica LLC in Ft Bliss, TX filed for a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 351
Here’s another one I’m having trouble deciphering – lots of kind unconventional filings this week. So an individual at Starbucks in Shavano Park, TX filed a petition to decertify Starbucks Workers United as the union representing the 22 workers there. Then, they withdrew that petition and the case was closed. Then, on the same day the previous case closed, they filed another decert petition. And that case is still open.
3 workers at Transdev in Auburn, AL filed for a union election with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 612
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1493 filed a unit clarification petition regarding the 200 person bargaining unit it represents at RATP Dev USA in Greensboro, NC. Here again, not exactly sure what clarification is being sought.
41 workers at Airport Aviation Services in San Juan, PR filed for a union election with Union Independiente de Trabajadores del Aereopuerto – Independent Union of Airport Workers
3 workers at the Harris County Democratic Party in Houston, TX filed for a union election with United Professional Organizers. According to the union, the petition for election was filed after the Harris County Democratic Party refused to grant voluntary recognition. After they filed for election, Harris County Democratic Party Chair Michael Patrick Doyle fired the campaign leader Vic without citing any cause. Michael Patrick Doyle is up for election as County Party Chair in March. The union election is scheduled for December 4.
Workers at Bimbo Bakery in Fort Worth, TX voted against unionization with the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 100, 0 to 5
Security guards at Omniplex in Herndon, VA voted in favor of unionization with the Protective Service Officers United 12 to 1
23 bus drivers at Durham School Services in Memphis, TN voted in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 667, 18 to 5
20 workers at Mlex US, a marketing company, in Washington DC withdrew their request for unionization with the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild Local 32035
Morgantown, WV Local 313 fire fighters are in line to receive holiday backpay dating to 2014 after the State Supreme Court ruled in their favor in a case where the firefighters alleged they were not being paid everything they were owed under state law during holidays. The case has been remanded back to Monongalia Circuit Court where the judge will oversee a process that determines how much the city owes 54 current and former fire fighters in damages and award accordingly.
700 Obamacare and Medicare Workers Stage Largest Federal Call Center Strike in History at Maximus Call Centers in Seven States
An Alabama prison guard, Jeremy Pelzer, is accused of encouraging prisoners to murder a prison strike organizer who is incarcerated in the Limestone Correctional Facility.
Editorial workers at Mississippi Today and Verite News New Orleans, organized into the Deep South Today Union, an affiliate of NABET-CWA recently began negotiations for a first contract with management after securing voluntary recognition in the summer. They say they are seeking higher, more equitable wages, greater transparency and job security.
UAW members at Mack Trucks have ratified the same national master agreement by 93% that they had previously rejected by 73%. This comes after the union says Mack Trucks declared they wouldn’t move any further, that the previous offer was a last, best, and final, and that if the workers didn’t ratify the agreement they would implement the contract and permanently replace strikers. The union also claims that they won significant changes in the local agreements.
BCTGM members who manufacture soy protein for IFF in Memphis, TN continue the strike they have been on since June.
Hyundai has joined the chorus of nonunion auto makers clamoring to respond to the UAW’s deals, with a promise to raise wages by 25% by 2028. The difference between this commitment and the UAW’s is that the UAW has a contract with the Big 3, but Hyundai can just as easily go back on this commitment between now and 2028. If and when they do this, it won’t receive nearly the same coverage as the promised wage gains. These details were not relayed in Alabama’s right wing propaganda outlet Yellowhammer News when they reported on Hyundai’s magnanimous announcement – in fact, their article on the announcement doesn’t even mention the UAW.
Starbucks Workers United claimed that last week saw their biggest labor action at the company yet, with some 5,000 workers striking at 200 stores including several in the south.
Like with the negotiations at UPS, the Teamsters have begun rolling out tentative agreements on specific issues at Anheuser-Busch. Last week, they announced they were able to get the company to restore retirement benefits for active and retired members and eliminate the two tier health insurance system currently in place where new employees pay hundreds of dollars more for insurance than tenured employees. Workers at Anheuser-Busch breweries in St. Louis, MO; Jacksonville, FL.; Houston, TX; Williamsburg, VA; and Cartersville, GA are members of the Teamsters union and are implicated in these negotiations.
You just said this one? A lawsuit has been filed against the Alabama department of corrections (ADoC) alleging a guard encouraged prisoners to murder an activist currently incarcerated at the Limestone correctional facility in Harvest, Alabama.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Georgia House Republicans are looking at full medicaid expansion
Democratic Florida State Representative Angie Nixon filed legislation to re-establish a state Department of Labor, which would finally empower a state agency to investigate and prosecute wage theft. She has filed this bill every year since 2020 without success or attention.
The same representative has also filed legislation to make landlords provide air conditions to tenants, which is somehow not already mandatory in Florida.
Chambers County Alabama is planning to close two area schools and merge them into one – two teachers were arrested at the school board meeting for protesting the plan.
The municipality of Portsmouth, VA voted to allow its employees to unionize last week after a campaign led primarily by IAFF affiliate – Portsmouth Professional Fire Fighters & Paramedics Union Local 539.
Republicans in the US Senate tried, and failed, to repeal Biden’s new student debt repayment plan which does not require payments of debtors whose income is below $60,000. The same Republicans support a repeal of the estate tax, which would give Elon Musk’s family a ~$100 billion tax break.
Republicans in the US House successfully passed amendments to funding bills out of committee that would cut salaries of OSHA and MSHA officials to $1, and would stop MSHA from implementing the same silica standard that exists in every other American workplace, which would doom thousands more miners to a painful death via Black Lung. The bill also cuts the already meager budget of OSHA by 15%, but that wasn’t enough for one Republican member who proposed to eliminate its budget entirely.
A new Senate report released shocking findings that nursing homes with higher staffing ratios provided better and safer care. Specifically, it found that nursing homes that do not meet the proposed minimum staffing standard are much more likely to have serious deficiencies that cause harm to residents and nursing homes with lower staffing levels are much more likely to have patient abuse. 4.5 percent of the nursing homes that already have adequate staffing to meet the CMS proposal have the abuse indicator in Nursing Home Compare. In contrast, 8.5 percent of homes that do not meet the proposed CMS standard have the abuse indicator in Nursing Home Compare.
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