The Weekly Download

“In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Jody Calemine, director of advocacy at the AFL-CIO, and Karla Walter, director of the American Worker Project at the Center for American Progress, to discuss Project 2025's labor proposals. Watch now to hear about how the proposal would affect American workers, unions, and the labor movement if President Trump is re-elected in 2024.”

“I will admit to feeling a profound sense of sadness when President Biden announced he would end his re-election campaign. I had the privilege of working with Biden in two administrations. Everything I saw confirmed that he is a good man. He could be tough, but always with the purpose of accomplishing an important goal. After administering a tongue-lashing to me in an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act implementation meeting with my deputy-secretary peers, Biden walked over to me and offered an encouraging word and a “we need to get this done” command. I have a picture of that encounter hanging in my home office.”

“Today marks the 15-year anniversary of the last increase to the federal minimum wage in 2009, when it rose from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. Since then, the minimum wage’s purchasing power has only declined as price levels have risen over time. As of 2024, the minimum wage is worth nearly 30 percent less than it was 15 years ago and nearly 40 percent less than its peak value in 1968. This has gone on for so long that the value of a full-time job paying $7.25 per hour is no longer enough to comfortably surpass the extremely low bar of keeping someone out of poverty, as defined by the already outdated and insufficient federal poverty guideline….November 2024’s election will provide even more opportunities for progress, as Arizona, Alaska, and Oklahoma will all likely have questions on the ballot on whether or not their state minimum wages should increase. Voters in these states should take advantage of this chance to give workers a much-needed raise.”

“The IAFF has secured over $1 million in damages to members wrongly denied overtime payments by their municipalities. ‘These outcomes highlight the IAFF’s commitment and care to defending fair labor practices and protecting its members’ rights,’ said IAFF General Counsel Peter Leff.”

“Three years ago, the Supreme Court decided Cedar Point Nursery and held that a California regulation granting union organizers limited access to farm owner property constitutes a taking. As a result, in order for California to continue enforcing this Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) regulation and guaranteeing union organizers access to farm property, the state must now compensate farm owners for that access. In other writing, one of us has argued that Cedar Point was wrongly decided on its own terms. Other commentators have discussed what compensation is due to the farm owners for the grant of access rights required by the regulation: Lee Anne Fennell suggests it could be less than five dollars per grower annually, while Niko Bowie contends it could be much higher, reflecting the potential decrease in profits that might follow a successful union campaign.”

“A federal judge has rejected a tree-trimming company’s bid to block the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ban on noncompete agreements from taking effect. The FTC issued a rule in April that would ban all new noncompete agreements and require companies to let current and past employees know they won’t enforce existing agreements, carving out an exception for senior executives covered by existing noncompetes. Around 18 percent of the U.S. workforce, or 30 million people, are covered by noncompete agreements, according to FTC estimates. The agreements span experience and industries, from fast food workers to physical therapists to CEOs.”

“On July 9, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit told the National Labor Relations Board’s to reconsider the standard for whether abusive or inappropriate speech is protected under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. In so doing, the Fifth Circuit vacated the National Labor Relations Board’s decision in Lion Elastomers, LLC (Lion II), 372 NLRB No. 83 (2023), and reinstated the standard in General Motors, LLC (GM), 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020).”

“Discussion about adopting policies to support sectoral bargaining -- a type of collective bargaining that provides union contract coverage for most or all workers in a particular sector -- has been growing in think tank and academic circles and with some leading Democratic politicians. The push for sectoral bargaining has been driven in large part because sectoral bargaining leads to much greater union contract coverage compared to purely workplace-level bargaining systems. This means more workers receive higher wages and benefits and society has lower racial and gender pay gaps as well as less economic inequality.”

“July 17 (Reuters) - Unions are filing petitions to hold elections and winning them at rates not seen in decades, according to data released by the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, likely a reflection of the agency's adoption of policies favored by unions during the Biden administration. The board in a release said it has already received more than 2,600 union election petitions during the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, surpassing the total for the full previous fiscal year. NLRB regional offices have seen a 32% increase in the number of petitions filed compared with this time last year, the agency said.”

“World of Warcraft workers have voted to unionize the popular video-game franchise, expanding organized labor’s new foothold at Microsoft Corp. by around 500 employees. An arbitrator overseeing an election at the company determined that a majority of the Warcraft team’s employees have supported the Communications Workers of America, the union said.”

“Many workers, especially low-wage workers, aren’t getting key benefits they want—such as paid leave and predictable schedules—because lawmakers are letting companies and employers get away with anti-worker practices.”

“United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain applauded the teachers union for helping to push for a ‘mass movement’ for workers' rights. At the American Federation of Teachers' annual convention in Houston on Wednesday, the AFT's 1.8 million members got a round of applause from one of the country's top union leaders—United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, who has called on the U.S. labor movement to join a nationwide strike in 2028.”

“Video game actors are inching closer to a walkout as performers union SAG-AFTRA and the top video game companies struggle to reach a deal on contract terms related to artificial intelligence. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced over the weekend that its national board has granted its national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the authority to call a strike if the union cannot obtain a settlement with the companies. The announcement comes nearly a year after more than 30,000 union members voted 98% in favor of authorizing a strike while bargaining for a new Interactive Media Agreement. The contract expired in November 2022 and covers about 2,600 performers doing voice and motion-capture work in the video game industry.”

“About 13,500 unionized hotel workers in four U.S. cities plan strike authorization votes next month as contract talks with Marriott International (MAR.O), opens new tab, Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT.N), opens new tab and Hyatt Hotels Corp (H.N), opens new tab stall, the union said. UNITE HERE, a union representing workers in hotels, casinos and airports across the U.S. and Canada, said the votes will begin the first week in August in Boston, San Francisco, Honolulu and Providence, Rhode Island. ‘We are getting ready,’ said Elena Duran, a server at Marriott's Palace Hotel in San Francisco. ‘Seeing the proposals from the hotels, people are not happy.’ Workers at 125 hotels in the four cities have sought significant pay raises in new contracts to replace ones that have expired or will expire soon. They are also seeking better healthcare and pension plans and are looking for hotel operators to reverse pandemic-era staff and service cuts like daily room cleaning.”

“Wentzville, MO – UAW Local 282 members at Lear Group here are on strike for better health and safety conditions on the job for the second time in two years. The 460 employees, who make seats for Chevy vans and Colorados, hit the strike line at midnight on Sunday, said Local 282 President Bill Hugeback. By Monday morning, the strike had halted production at the nearby GM Wentzville Assembly plant, which ran out of Lear-made seats.”

“Disneyland and its employees said they had reached a tentative contract deal, averting what could have been the first major work stoppage at the Anaheim theme park in 40 years. Members of the Master Services Council — an alliance of unions representing custodians, ride operators, candy makers, merchandise clerks and other Disneyland employees — on Friday voted 99% in support of a walkout. On Wednesday, the unions’ bargaining committee said it had reached an agreement with Walt Disney Co.”

“American Airlines has struck an agreement with the union representing the company's flight attendants, avoiding a large-scale strike that had threatened the airline's profits. At the center of the deal is a proposed new contract for around 28,000 workers which includes increased pay levels, though further terms have not been made public.”

“​​The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it will increase minimum rest time between shifts for air traffic controllers after highly publicized close calls between planes that were following orders from controllers. The FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union representing the workers, agreed to a number of changes that will apply as schedules are negotiated for next year. ‘The science is clear that controller fatigue is a public safety issue, and it must be addressed,’ FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. He promised more measures to address tired controllers. Rich Santa, president of the controllers’ union, said the group has been raising concern about fatigue for years. He said the agreement ‘will begin to  provide relief to this understaffed workforce’.”

“The Palm Beach and Southwest Florida News Guild have reached a tentative agreement for their first collective bargaining agreement with Gannett after nearly four years of negotiations. The agreements will benefit workers at The Palm Beach Post, The Palm Beach Daily News, The News-Press and The Naples Daily News.”

“Major labor unions that had been staunch President Biden backers are jumping to declare their support for Vice President Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee. The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest federation of labor unions, representing about 12.5 million members, announced they are endorsing Harris on Monday night.”

“The dissident Retiree Advocate caucus in the giant New York City teachers union won a decisive victory over the incumbents in the retiree chapter election June 14, winning 63 percent of the 27,000 votes cast. Turnout jumped compared to previous elections.”