UAW/Big 3 automakers start talks. In mid-July, as the United Auto Workers started bargaining with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) before their current four-year agreement expires Sept. 14, the threat of plant closures was a key item in negotiations.
Early in the talks, the good news was that Ford CEO Jim Farley and GM CEO Mary Barra have signed off on multibillion dollar investments in U.S. factories where UAW members build combustion vehicles, and both have said they want to bring workers along as they shift toward electric vehicles (EVs), Reuters reported. The bad news, the news service added, was Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares warning that factories could be forced to close as more costly EVs take sales from combustion models.
The union released a new
5-minute video showing the impact the growing EV industry has on workers when corporations take the cheap route. UAW says U.S. communities deserve an EV industry that puts workers first and creates good, safe, union-wage jobs. UAW President Shawn Fain is defending all jobs by comparing Detroit automakers’ strong profits and immense pay packages for auto executives, and calling for substantial wage hikes for workers, and for restoring Cost Of Living adjustments and ending lower wages for new workers.
“This round of contract negotiations is going to be the defining fight of our generation,” Fain said. “We are going to win because we are united, and we are ready to act.”
Thousands of nurses and healthcare workers struck in last several weeks. Across the country, hospital and home healthcare workers went on strike in recent weeks: In Texas, more than 2,000 Texas Nurses Association members stopped work at Ascension Health Systems, protesting staff shortages and bureaucratic duties that delay patient treatment; in Oregon, more than 1,800 nurses and healthcare workers in the Oregon Nurses Association had a work stoppage at multiple Providence Healthcare facilities; in Florida, more than 10,000 healthcare workers with SEIU refused to work “voluntary” overtime at 19 HCA hospitals; and Connecticut, about 1,900 group-home workers also with SEIU were on strike, demanding the state pay them a living wage.
Labor leaders blast Supreme Court. Last month’s U.S. Supreme Court trifecta of right-wing rulings — voting 6-3 against affirmative action and student-debt relief, and for the right of businesses to discriminate against customers — drew fire from labor leaders. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said, “The Supreme Court opinion will not deter us from our continued efforts to achieve racial justice and equal opportunity in every facet of our society,” he said. “Our unions will continue to organize and use every tool at our disposal to ensure all workers have a fair shot at a better life.”
Commenting on the court’s rejection of President Biden’s student debt-relief program, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said, “Study after study has made it clear — student debt is stopping our economy and the workers who power it from reaching its full potential.”
Unions beat hedge funds’ TV takeover. In a big win against corporate greed and for journalism, the Communications Workers and allies defeated an effort by the hedge funds, Standard General and Apollo Global Management, which tried to take over the small, Virginia-based Tegna, a former arm of Gannett (the nation’s biggest newspaper chain), controlling stations in Denver, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and 32 other cities.
The win came when time ran out on the hedge funds’ deadline to Tegna to agree to the $8.6 billion takeover. The unions, plus consumer groups including Common Cause and the United Church of Christ challenged the takeover with the FCC over the impact on jobs, news coverage and consumer choice. FCC staffers kept asking questions until time ran out, forcing the hedge funds to pay Tegna $136 million as part of their offer’s agreement with the target company.
Labor Board frees gig workers to unionize. By a 3-1 party-line vote, the National Labor Relations Board freed millions of gig-economy workers, construction workers, home healthcare aides, and Uber and Lyft drivers by ruling they’re “employees” under labor law and thus can unionize and have worker rights.
The decision reversed a Trump-era ruling that expanded companies’ power to say workers are “independent contractors” — who can’t unionize or have labor rights.
“Employer misclassification of workers as independent contractors robs workers of labor rights and threatens their economic security,” said Economic Policy Institute President Heidi Shierholz, “allowing employers to exploit loopholes in labor law puts these workers at greater risk.
“Not just gig workers and journalists are harmed by employer misclassification,” she continued. “Nail salon workers, truck drivers, and construction workers are among the most impacted occupations.”
“Independent contractors cannot unionize and don’t have protections to get minimum wage or overtime pay, workers’ comp and jobless benefits, and must pay both the worker’s and the employer’s share of Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes.
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