NILRR Weekly News Clips April 19, 2013
www.nilrr.org, April 14th, 2013
UAW seeks toehold in South with Tennessee Volkswagen plan Writing in George Mason University’[…]
www.nilrr.org, April 12th, 2013
House Makes History Regarding Right To Work Legislation As the account linked above s[…]
www.nilrr.org, April 5th, 2013
Tell Albany: It’s Time to Raise New York’s Minimum Wage | Raise … Personal income, per capita per[…]
Washington Examiner Online, April 14, 2013
While he has had success in winning organized labor support lately, New Jersey’s bombastic Republican governor Chris Christie showed recently that he hasn’t changed his thinking on teacher unions. The Newark…
Vindy.com, April 14, 2013
Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment to make Ohio a “right to work†state have collected about a quarter of the signatures needed to place the issue before voters.
St. Louis Public Radio, April 12, 2013
“Right-to-work is a problem that exists across the country,” Pruitt said. “It’s trying to rear its ugly head up here in Missouri, (and) we’re gonna find a way to fight it back.â€
Union Labor Report Online, April 12, 2013
In Michigan’s unionized construction industry, construction union bosses have been scrambling to negotiate new (or extended) long-term contracts that avoid the state’s new Right-to-Work law. In several cases, these contracts extend for as many as ten years–to 2023. More shockingly, in several cases, union bosses have agree to freeze their members’ wages in exchange for continued union dues.
Washington Examiner Online, April 6, 2013
According a Labor Department filing made last week, membership at Wisconsin’s American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 40 — one of AFSCME’s four branches in the state — has gone from the 31,730 it reported in 2011, to 29,777 in 2012, to just 20,488 now. That’s a drop of more than 11,000 — about a third — in just two years. The council represents city and county employees outside of Milwaukee County and child care workers across Wisconsin.
World Socialist Website, April 16, 2013
Detroit’s emergency manager Kevyn Orr told Detroit firefighters he will impose a new contract on them starting July 1, when the current labor agreement expires. The details of the contract have not been revealed, but it is expected to include further cuts to the working conditions, wages, safety, health benefits, seniority and pensions of the city’s 900 firefighters.
Forbes Magazine Online, April 16, 2013
But it seems Mr. King’s repeated appeals to transitional union solidarity have finally borne fruit. In March 2013 IG Metall President Berthold Huber dispatched a letter addressed to the VW Tennessee workers, urging them to accept a UAW presence. Huber made clear his organization’s (new) position:
The Truth About PLA’s, April 15, 2013
Today New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoed legislation (S. 2425) expanding the ability of public entities in New Jersey to mandate discriminatory and costly project labor agreements (PLAs) onto taxpayer-funded contracts to rebuild New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy.
Examiner Online, April 16, 2013
Organized labor has a small presence in Virginia, a state with strong right-to-work laws. McAuliffe supports the state’s anti-union law, but labor groups are sticking with him out of concern that, as governor, Cuccinelli would further curb union representation and public employee benefits.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online, April 16, 2013
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says any push to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state could be years away.
Courthouse News Service, April 17, 2013
When the union ignored those orders, Leighton held them in contempt and ordered them to pay $250,000 in compensatory damages to EGT, BNSF Railway, local law enforcement agencies and the NLRB.
Arguing before a three-judge panel last week, the longshoremen did not challenge the contempt finding, but said there was no evidence that the contempt conduct caused actual damages.
Emily Maglio, representing the union, called the damages an “extraordinary remedy.” She said the lower court failed to look at all the evidence before awarding the money.
Courthouse State News Online, April 18, 2013
In its 2011-2013 state budget, the Legislature prohibited municipal employers from bargaining collectively over the “design and selection” of health care coverage for public employees, including “the impact of the design and selection of the health care coverage plans on the wages, hours, and conditions of employment.”