Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from May 3rd to May 10th New Campaigns Campaign Updates Mercedes replaced their CEO ahead of the union election, in a bid to follow Governor Ivey’s new tact of playing nice. Meanwhile “Pastor” Matthew Wilson, Tuscaloosa city councilor, is apparently being asked…
Author: Joe Harrison
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Boss Watch: 4/26 – 5/3
Illegal activities of Southern Bosses for the weeks between Friday, April 26 and Friday, May 3 South Carolina Killers A major East Coast ship repair and servicing company’s failure to make safety its #1 priority, a promise made on its website, has led to another employee fatality — the fourth in five years — a…
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Rank-and-File Teamsters React to State of UPS Contract Negotiations
It’s been an eventful several weeks for both UPS and the Teamsters union as the two entities have been embroiled in a showdown over contract negotiations, with the current contract set to expire by the end of the month, now only a handful of days away. As we reported last week, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien…
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Federal Government Finally Moves to Combat Skyrocketing Black Lung Cases Among Coal Miners
After years of workers, labor activists, journalists, and unions campaigning to raise awareness, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has proposed a federal amendment that would greatly improve overall safety and protections for mineworkers particularly in relation to Black Lung disease, an often fatal affliction that hits miners who have been exposed to respirable…
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Railroad Workers Challenge Union Leadership, Recount Underway
Back in April, The Valley Labor Report hosts Jacob Morrison and Adam Keller had the opportunity to interview two railroad union candidates seeking to challenge the current leadership in an upcoming election; both running for different leadership positions in the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District Lodge 19, which is devoted to the rail workers,…
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Negotiations resume after Teamsters make major announcements on UPS over weekend, only to fall apart again on the deadline
The conflict between UPS Corporate and UPS workers who are members of the Teamsters Union has been in the spotlight for the last few weeks as tensions continued to rise with no relief in sight, ultimately prompting the Teamsters to greenlight the use of a strike in the event that corporate did not come to…
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Breaking Down the Aerojet Union Loss in Huntsville
MADISON COUNTY, Alabama — We reported last week that workers at the Aerojet Rocketdyne facility here in Huntsville were gearing up for a union election, with supporters hopeful that they would secure a victory and organize with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW). However, they were met with an unpleasant shock when…
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NLRB Confirms Warrior Met Broke the Law – So What?
The historic nearly two-year coal miner strike that took place in Brookwood, Alabama, between 2021 and 2023 may be in the “rearview mirror,” but the overall fight between the company and its workers is far from over, with Warrior Met engaging in retaliatory actions against targeted workers who were involved in the strike, even after…
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Why Huntsville Workers Want to Unionize Aerojet Rocketdyne
MADISON COUNTY, Alabama — Workers at the Aerojet Rocketdyne facility in Huntsville, Alabama, have made an important decision to unionize, and after putting in their petition, an election will be held on Wednesday, June 28, during which workers will vote on whether or not to organize. As per the “About Us” on their website, “Aerojet…
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‘Totally unnecessary political theater’: The Debt Limit is unconstitutional
Over this past weekend, President Joe Biden finalized the debt limit deal by signing a bill that suspends the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, avoiding what could have been a historic catastrophe had a default occurred within just two days. The end of this “debt limit showdown” comes after weeks of the Republican Party effectively…
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Debt Limit Charades: Republicans’ “fluff-cutting” will leave hundreds of thousands of American families cut off and helpless
For the last several weeks, the Nation has been fixated on one particular issue that has covered headlines and news tickers and dominated media discussions: the debt limit. Once again, we Americans found ourselves wondering: Is this it? Is America finally about to crash and burn? I think most of us have probably lost count…
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DOL report finds that disability accommodations have high impact for workers with disability at virtually no cost to employers
The U.S. Department of Labor recently put out a report detailing how they found that nearly half of accommodations for disabled workers have no cost… and yet a very high impact (that is, when employers actually accommodate). The department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy published this report via their Job Accommodation Network (JAN) service, titled…