Workplace Issues Today

On Tuesday, Korean prosecutors told Yonhap News they are seeking an arrest warrant for former Samsung vice president over allegations of his involvement in a scheme to interfere with union organizing at one of the company’s subsidiaries. The former VP was only identified by his last name, Kang, is being prosecuted for events dating back to 2013. At the time, Kang was the head of Samsung Group's Future Strategy Office, the decision making body for labor issues. According to Yonhap, the tech giant is Korea’s wealthiest conglomerate and has a reputation for having a “no labor union” policy.

See Yonhap staff, Yonhap, Aug 17 2018

A union representing Air France workers warned the carrier’s incoming CEO Ben Smith they will go on strike unless pay demands are satisfied. Smith will leave his current position as Air Canada’s chief of operations in the next month, succeeding Jean-Marc Janaillac who quit after failing to end a series of strikes that crippled the French airline. In addition to the strike threat, Smith faces competitive challenges after Air France shares recently fell two percent.

See Phil Serafino and Frederic Tomesco, Bloomberg Business, Aug 17 2018

Activists aligned with the Service Employees International Union are calling for Trump NLRB appointees John Ring and William Emanuel to recuse themselves from a dispute over whether McDonald’s employees were fired for supporting “Fight for $15”. Ring (R) and Emanuel (R) have both previously worked as attorneys at the management-side labor law firm that is representing McDonald’s in the case. Conflict of interest issues already led the labor board to throw out a major ruling in February, after the inspector general found Emmanuel failed to recuse himself in a separate case. The Board did not comment on the recuesal request. On Tuesday, General Counsel Peter Rob issued a filing for the Board to approve the McDonald’s settlement, saying that the judge who ruled against it had overstepped her role.

See Josh Eidelson, Bloomberg, Aug 15 2018

Two Wisconsin Democrats closely affiliated with labor unions are competing for the congressional seat left by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R). The primary race closely reflects major election themes across the country. There’s discussion of unions’ role in wage increases, and debate over right-to-work legislation as Missouri voters shot down a similar law last week. In a statement to Bloomberg Law, ILR’s director of labor education research Kate Bronfenbrenner said: “It’s like everything that’s been happening in Wisconsin and in the country is right there.” Democrats are hoping to turn the area around after the retirement of Paul Ryan. The two Democratic candidates are Randy Bryce and Cathy Myers, and five Republicans are also running in the August 14th primary.

See Andrew Wallender, Bloomberg BNA, Aug 13 2018

Teamsters at the sanitation company Republic Services walked off the job Friday, claiming the company is violating labor law. The union members held a midnight picket where they voiced concerns about outsourcing and unaffordable healthcare coverage. The strike comes after a recent $190 million dollar corporate tax-cut Republic received. Teamsters Local 728 says that the company is violating federal labor law by hiring subcontractors for mechanic work. One-hundred and twenty drivers, mechanics, and dispatchers went on strike to protest the outsourcing.

See WGCL Digital Team, CBS 46, WGCL-TV, Aug 13 2018

Teamsters union locals approved new contracts with UPS for some 250,000 members on Thursday. The proposed five-year contracts still need to be ratified by voters next month. The agreements cover drivers, package sorters, loaders, operations and dock workers across the country. The negotiations have been controversial among some employees, who fear the creation of a new category of “hybrid drivers” would undermine demand for full-time drivers, who make a higher hourly wage. Teamsters package division director Denis Taylor told the press that there is strong support for the tentative agreement among local union leaders, and that the contracts provide members with large wage gains and great opportunities for part-time workers to gain full-time employment.

See Kelly Yamanouchi, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug 10 2018

The Trump Administration recently selected former National Right to Work Foundation attorney Geoffrey MacLeay to serve as policy adviser for the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). Prior to his new appointment, MacLeay most recently worked as a professional staff for Republicans on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. There, he called for stricter OLMS oversight of labor organizing centers. The office is responsible for overseeing annual reports filed by labor unions detailing how their membership dues are spent. MacLeay’s appointment may signal the administration’s response to pressure from conservatives to take a tougher stance on the labor movement. The National Right to Work Foundation and White House labor policy adviser James Sherk reportedly called for an OMLS leader who would impose stricter standards for the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act by requiring worker centers to file more detailed spending disclosures.

See Ben Penn and Josh Eidelson, Bloomberg Law, Aug 8 2018

More than 400,000 tea farm workers in east India staged a three-day strike on Tuesday, demanding a 50-cent pay raise. The current minimum wage for these workers is approximately $2.46. Two-dozen labor unions are supporting the strike which spans hundreds of tea gardens in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. The workers harvest eponymous tea for export around the world. The unions are hoping to disrupt production around the ongoing monsoon, which is peak production season for the tea gardens.

See Thousands of Indian tea workers strike for 50 cent pay rise, Channel News Asia, AFP/aa, Aug 8 2018

Last week, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) challenged three executive orders issued by the Trump administration designed to weaken federal labor unions. The AFGE also challenged a contract that was unilaterally imposed by the Department of Education. The FLRA found reason to believe the Education Department was engaged in bad-faith bargaining, and a Regional Director said there is probable cause to bring unfair labor charges against the department. These developments are a good sign for federal labor unions, who have been grappling with significant setbacks in recent months.

See Charles Tiefer, Forbes, Aug 7 2018

The New York State Nurses Association reached an agreement with Westchester County for forty-three nurses working in the local community college, county jail, public health, and social services. The six-year contract is set to run between 2016-2021, and grants the nurses a 2.5 percent raise in 2018,2018, and 2021, and a 3 percent raise in 2020. The county contends with eight nurses unions, one of which has been working without a contract for seven years. County Executive George Latimer says that he is hoping to finalize an agreement in September with the Civil Service Employees Association in order to close the gap after years of drawn-out offers and counteroffers.

See Mark Lungariello, loud.com, Rockland/Westchester Journal News, Aug 3 2018

The SEIU reached an agreement with an Oregon state employee who sued the union in April, seeking back pay for obligatory union dues. The employee, Debora Nearman, is a systems analyst with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, and opposed paying dues on political and religious grounds. Her settlement is the first of its’ kind to be reached after the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which ruled unions cannot require all employees in a given bargaining unit to pay fair-share dues. Nearman will receive about $3,000 in collective bargaining fees that she paid to the SEIU over the last two years. The National Right to Work Foundation is handling some 200 similar cases across the country.

See Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Aug 1 2018

The Swedish Air Pilots’ Association has given notice to Ryanair that they will go on strike August 10. A Belgium union has advised their pilots to do the same, after years of tension between Ryanair management and its’ members. The discount airline has only recognized pilot unions since December of 2017, after a series of work stoppages highlighted tensions in their workforce. In late July, Ryanair’s Spanish and Portuguese pilots went on strike, leading to the cancellation of six-hundred flights. Pilots in Ireland are preparing to stage their fourth strike in the last month. Yesterday, the airline announced that it had agreed to 9 out of the 11 demands, and invited the union for talks on August 4.

See Helen Massy-Beresford, Air Transport World, Aug 1 2018

The powerful union representing Hyundai Motor workers in South Korea is beginning to show signs of weakening. Last year, workers went on strike for twenty four days, only to be stuck in negotiations for months following to secure the workers’ smallest raise in nearly a decade. This week, after just a two-day strike the union reached an agreement with management that secured an even smaller wage increase than last year. The relatively small gains may be a sign that the union is losing power due to falling profits, growing criticism, the near bankruptcy of GM Korea, and potential U.S. tariffs. The deal was ratified by union members last Thursday, right before the company released its second-worst quarterly net profit report since 2012.

See Hyunjoo Jin, Reuters, Jul 30 2018

Betsy DeVos’ Education Department has been accused of engaging in bad faith bargaining by federal labor mediators, according to a statement from the American Federation of Government Employees on Tuesday. The conflict stems from a new set of work rules that the Education Department allegedly imposed on its employees illegally, curtailing their protections and fair access to union representation. Union officials say that the anti-union work rules are reflective of wide-reaching executive orders and that other federal agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration have had similar rules imposed on them. According to the FLRA, the Education Department imposed a “collective bargaining agreement” in February that they said was reflective of both sides’ final offers, after nearly a year of negotiations came to an impasse.

See Erica L. Green, The New York Times, Jul 25 2018

The NLRB has announced that it plans to seek $2.2 million from Wendy McCraw, owner of the Santa Barbra News-Press, for grievances against her employees over a 12-year period. The multi-millionaire illegally hired nonunion temporary workers and freelancers, illegally fired two employees, and illegally suspended employees’ merit-based pay. McCraw was also ordered to pay the Teamsters $183,000 in expenses incurred during fruitless contract negotiations between 2007 and 2012.

See Melinda Burns and Dawn Hobbs, edhat Santa Barbara, Jul 25 2018

Lifetime Brands, the parent corporation of brands including KitchenAid and Mikasa, was ordered by a New Jersey District Court judge to reinstate two employees that it allegedly fired for union organizing activities. The temporary injunction was issued last Tuesday by Judge Brian Martinotti. The company was ordered to stop firing or discriminating against employees who support unionization, stop interrogating employees over their views on unionization, and to stop incentivizing employees with promotions to half their union activities.

See Samantha Marcus, New Jersey.com, Jul 23 2018

Verizon has agreed to extend a 2016 contract for some 34,000 employees for another four years. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers agreed to pay raises totaling 11% over the four year contract extension. The original contract was settled in 2016 following a seven-week strike. Both sides were able to avoid the possibility of similarly contentious negotiations next year by extending the contract.

See Aaron Pressman, Fortune, Jul 20 2018

On Tuesday, administrative law judge Lauren Esposito rejected a proposed settlement that would have allowed McDonalds to avoid being labeled a “joint employer”, and therefore absolved of all responsibility in labor-law violations at it’s franchises. Esposito wrote in her opinion that the scope of the grievances involved in the case, which has been ongoing since 2012, would not be remedied by the proposed settlement. McDonalds said that they feel it is fair and reasonable, and the company may appeal the decision to the republican-controlled NLRB. In the proposed settlement, the company agreed to pay between $20 and $50,000 to every employee who claimed they were fired for participating in the national “fight-for-fifteen” movement. This case is an important test of how a 2015 NLRB ruling that made it easier to find a company liable for labor law violations by contractors would apply to franchises.

See Daniel Wiessner, Reuters, Jul 18 2018

The Teamsters and UPS have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract for workers in the Fright trucking division. Some 11,000 employees will be covered under the new contract. Details of the contract have not been released, but they must be ratified by the union’s membership before it can take effect. Last month, the company reached a separate agreement on a contract for 260,000 employees in the UPS small-package operation. That contract is one of the largest collective bargaining agreements in the country, and includes pay raises for existing workers as well as a provision that UPS must review any technology changes like the use of drones with the union.

See Jennifer Smith, The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal, Jul 18 2018

Late last Wednesday, the House Committee on Appropriations approved legislation to restrict discretionary spending by the Labor Department and the NLRB. In a 30-22 decision, the House Committee voted to approve legislation for the Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services departments in fiscal year 2019. The proposal would decrease the discretionary spending by the DOL by $88 million. NLRB funding would be reduced by $12.8 million. The Full House will be the next to vote on the proposal. Both House and Senate leaders are seeking to pass multiple appropriations bills this summer, and on June 28, Senate lawmakers approved a version of the Labor-HHS bill. The Senate’s bill differs in agency funding levels and policy riders. If both bills are passed, the House and the Senate will need to find a middle ground before the August recess in order for the legislation to take effect in the fiscal year 2019.

See Tyrone Richardson, Bloomberg Business, Jul 16 2018

The NLRB recently made a new development in the ongoing workplace safety investigation at Tesla. The Board discovered new evidence in a July 4 filing that alleges CEO Elon Musk held a meeting in mid-2017 to solicit employee feedback about workplace safety. According to the revised complaint, Musk implicitly promised employees that he would remedy their safety complaints if they halted union organizing activity. Tesla workers reportedly work 12-hour shifts regularly and there have been multiple publicized accounts of employees collapsing on the factory floor while their co-workers continue to toil as they are carried out on a stretcher. Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk made history this year after launching several private space missions through his program SpaceX.

See Luke Stangel, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Jul 13 2018

Some 1,000 Amazon employees at the San Fernando warehouse in Spain will take part in a three-day walkout next week on July 16, 17, and 18. The strike is scheduled to disrupt Amazon Prime Day, one of the company’s most important days of the year. More than 60% of the country’s Amazon workforce will be participating in the walkout. They are protesting recent wage cuts and restrictions on time off, as well as poor working conditions.

See Telesur, Reuters, Jul 13 2018

Workers at Exxon Mobil’s research facility in Hunterdon County, New Jersey have voted 57-14 to stage a walkout against the oil giant. The workers are represented by the Independent Laboratory Employees’ Union, who filed two unfair labor practice complaints in April and June amid contract negotiations. The union accuses Exxon of bargaining in bad faith and retaliating against union workers after an arbitrator ordered the company to stop hiring contract workers to fill union positions. There are roughly 150 unionized workers at the facility, including research technicians, mechanics, and others.

See Anthony Salamone, The Morning Call, Jul 11 2018

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld an NLRB ruling that said In-N-Out Burger was not allowed to ban employees from wearing small pins that read “Fight for $15”. The California-based burger chain requires its employees to follow a detailed dress code that prohibits any kind of pins and stickers. The NLRB’s general counsel found this rule to be in violation of federal labor law. On appeal, an administrative law judge rejected the company’s argument that their interest in maintaining a unique brand image and concern for food and safety qualified as “special circumstances”.

See John Council, Law.com, Jul 9 2018

New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) introduced legislation this week in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus vs. AFSCME, which stripped public sector labor unions of the right to collect fair-share dues to cover collective bargaining costs. The proposed legislation would allow unions to include collective bargaining costs in contracts with government agencies to replace fair share dues that last week’s SCOUTS decision banned. Under the plan, public employees would forgo pay raises to subsidize collective bargaining fees. The Albany-based conservative think tank Empire Center obtained a copy of Gottfried’s proposal that was reportedly distributed it to state lawmakers across New York. Writing for the center’s blog, Ken Girardin denounced the proposal, calling it a “terrible policy” that would inevitably lead to tax payer’s getting stuck with union bargaining costs. Gottfried responded to the criticism by refuting the underlying assumption that Unions have close allies in state government who are easily influenced, citing the fact that Unions often go for years without a contract because they cannot reach an agreement with the public employer.

See Libby Torres, The Gothamist, Jul 6 2018

On July 5, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act into law, establishing collective bargaining for private-sector employees. The following decade, opponents of the Act introduced hundreds of bills to repeal or amend the law. Every single attempt failed until the Taft-Hartley Act was passed in 1947 by a Republican-controlled Congress, restricting the activities and power of unions. The Republican Party fervently opposed FLSA from its inception, and conservative groups like the American Liberty League were very vocal about their efforts to repeal these so-called socialist efforts. In addition to encouraging employers not to comply with the Act, opponents supported the widespread filing of injunctions in order to keep the NLRB from functioning effectively. These efforts were eventually put to an end in 1937 when the Supreme Court upheld the act’s constitutionality in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. Some labor groups, notably the American Federation of Labor (AFL), also opposed the NLRB for different reasons. The AFL alleged that the Board favored the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) when it chose plant-wide elections to be the standard rather than electing by individual craft units, which the AFL favored. The NLRB eventually compromised several years later under pressure from Congress, allowing craft unions to seek separate representation of specialized worker groups while another union campaigned to certify an inclusive unit at the same place of employment. This year’s anniversary arrived at a dubious time for organized labor, just a week following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which dealt a massive blow to public-sector unions, and just months after the ban on so-called “micro-unit” organizing, which is exactly what the CIO fought so hard to secure more than a half-century ago.

See Andrew Glass, Politico, Jul 6 2018

On June 29, the NLRB ruled that Harley-Davidson Motor Co. broke the law when it failed to notify the International Association of Machinists (IAM) before offering employees’ incentives to resign their jobs. Although a collective bargaining agreement grants the company authority to lay off employees on the basis of seniority without negotiating with the union, the IAM never agreed to give up its right to bargain over the company’s decision to offer employees $15,000 severance packages. The current contract between the IAM Lodge 175 and Harley Davidson is locked in until 2022 and allows the company to make layoffs without consulting the union if it’s on the basis of seniority. In 2016, the company decided to reduce its unionized production and maintained employees by 102 workers at it’s York, PA plant. The board found that in August 2016, the company had illegally announced that they could reduce the number of workers laid off if some employees accepted a $15,000 offer to leave. While an administrative law judge initially sided with Harley Davidson on the issue, the NLRB disagreed, saying that the incentive payments were a mandatory subject of bargaining under the NLRA because they encompass wages and terms and conditions of employment. Harley Davidson has been ordered to bargain with Lodge 175 before implementing any changes relating to the aforementioned conditions.

See Lawrence E. Dubé, Bloomberg, Jul 2 2018

Former Trump Taj Mahal employees received settlement checks on Thursday for a labor dispute dating back to 2014. The one million dollar settlement was reached between UNITE HERE Local 54 and the hotel casino’s former owner, Trump Entertainment Group. The settlement was divided equally among 944 employees, who received $850 each. The workers went on strike for 102 days in 2014, and the casino filed for bankruptcy in September of that year. In October, a motion was filed by Trump Taj Mahal seeking to reject the former employees’ contract terms, which the bankruptcy court agreed to. That prompted members of Local 54 to file numerous unfair labor practice charges against the casino, which the NLRB found to have merit. Keith Fullmer, former bartender of 16 years for the establishment, said that the settlement was especially satisfying because it came directly out of billionaire owner Carl Icahn’s pocket.

See David Danzis , Press of Atlantic City, Jun 29 2018

Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A filed an election petition with the NLRB on Wednesday after Marty Needleman and other management refused to respond to a request for voluntary recognition. The nonprofit provides legal services has provided bankruptcy, housing, foreclosure, and community economic development since 1968. Some areas of concern driving the unionization effort include insufficient training resources, overwhelming workloads, and a lack of transparency in managerial decisions. If successful, the nonprofit will become the second legal services provider in Brooklyn.

See Rob Abruzzese, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jun 29 2018

The Argentine General Confederation of Labor (CGT), which represents roughly three million workers, called for another nation-wide strike on Monday to protest President Mauricio Macri’s economic policies and speak out against an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Several other labor unions including the Central Union joined the CGT in the strike, which completely halted transportation across the country as well as closed banks, public schools, and gas stations. The strike was a response to an agreement that secured a $50 billion line of credit from the IMF in exchange for implementing market-friendly reforms that incentivize agribusiness while imposing austerity measures which disproportionately hurt the working class. Argentine workers have been grappling with high inflation and the resulting reductions in real wages, in combination with massive public sector layoffs as part of the austerity measures. This is the third general strike that’s been held since the IMF agreement was reached.

See Telesur, Jun 27 2018

The UAW’s ongoing corruption investigation involving embezzlement by its former president of Local 3 in Detroit has led to a strong divide within the union’s leadership and its rank and file members. Current president Gary Jones will have to act quickly if he is to bridge the divide before the start of 2019 contract talks. Members are demanding transparency from their leaders, and union officials need to make serious reform to regain trust quickly. The UAW members’ skepticism can quickly turn into cynicism, which makes ratification of any agreement more difficult and strips bargaining power away from negotiators.

See Automotive News, Jun 25 2018

Johns Hopkins Hospital has been accused of illegally impeding unionization efforts by a group of nurses. National Nurses United has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the NLRB on the nurses’ behalf. The complaint alleges that management propagated an anti-union agenda, specifically by preventing nurses from visiting other units on their days off to discuss organizing efforts during their co-workers’ breaks. A spokeswoman for the hospital, Kim Hoppe, said on Monday that the administration is taking the allegations seriously and that they value all their nurses very highly. However, according to surgical nurse and union organizer Alex Laslett, she and other Johns Hopkins nurses are fighting to unionize in order to address issues including safe staffing, pay, benefits, and working conditions, which affect the quality of care that they are able to deliver.

See Morgan Eichensehr, Baltimore Business Journal, Jun 25 2018

Multiple unions representing more than 3,000 Rochester police and firefighters are speaking out against the city for what they say was a forced resignation of their labor relations manager, Amorette Miller. Union representatives say that they were able to make important changes during the course of Miller’s year-long term, attributing their success to her background in labor unions and sympathy to workers. Miller was trusted by union representatives and was able to work with them to reportedly settle a significant amount of grievances, cutting the number in half. The city says the decision to fire her was made with the taxpayers’ best interests in mind, and that they are currently working to fill the position. President Mike Mazzeo of the Rochester Police Locust club says the loss of Miller is only going to hurt citizens of Rochester and their families.

See Madison Marquardt , Spectrum News Rochester, Jun 22 2018

Over the last 26 years, Australia has been enjoying a period of economic growth. The country’s workers, however, have been grappling with lagging wages and growing job insecurity. Many policymakers cite disruptive technology, a lack of productivity growth, and a growing number of part-time workers as a few reasons. Some labor experts, however, like employment attorney Josh Bornstein, say a plunge in union membership is the main cause of Australia’s labor woes. Unlike Europe and the U.S., Australia was on the upswing during the devastating 08/09 crisis. An influx of commodity demands from China helped Australian workers fair much better than their counterparts in Europe and the U.S. a decade ago, but today the country’s manufacturing is declining, and union membership is at an all-time low. The decline of labor unions in Australia happened much more quickly than in the rest of the developed world. Today, less than fifteen percent of Australia’s workforce is unionized, compared to 40% in 1991. Meanwhile, in Britain, the rate has only dropped from thirty-seven to twenty-three percent in the same time period. While corporations are benefiting from stagnant wages, Australian families find it increasingly difficult to find economic stability.

See Swati Pandey, Reuters, Jun 21 2018

Since flight-line workers at a Boeing plant in South Carolina elected the International Association of Machinists in May, the corporation has refused to recognize the union. The election was certified by the NLRB last week, but the corporation is now appealing a decision that allowed the workers to vote in the first place. Boeing is arguing that the representation election was held for a small sub-section of workers at the plant, otherwise known as a micro unit. Micro-unit organizing was made illegal on the federal level in late 2017. However, the IAM contends that because the labor board certified the election, the company is breaking the law by refusing to start contract talks. A hearing on the issue was already held on March 21, and the NLRB concluded that the flight-line workers have distinct work rules, salaries, licensing requirements, and other unique characteristics that distinguish them from the rest of Boeing’s employees. After the labor board already certified the flight-line workers as a reasonable bargaining unit, Boeing tried unsuccessfully to delay the May 31st election.

See David Wren, The Post and Courier, Jun 18 2018

On the first day of the FIFA World Cup, Prime Minister of Russia Dimitry Medvedev announced that the retirement age will start a gradual rise starting next year, growing from 55 to 63 for women and from 60 to 65 for men. The pension reform proposal was officially submitted on June 16th to the State Duma’s Labor, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs Committee for consideration as legislation. After review, the initiative will be distributed to regional officials across the country. Lawmakers will have until fall to make a decision on whether or not to adopt the legislation. If a decision is failed to be made, that would result in a de facto reduction in pension benefits. Vladamir Putin has decidedly distanced himself from the discussion of pension reform, but Russia’s two largest labor unions have viciously criticized the government’s proposal to raise the retirement age.

See Alexander Filimonov, Meduza, Jun 18 2018

The Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have heeded President Trump’s call to oppose federal unions, with the HUD acting to evict union offices from agency facilities and the SSA planning to revise 21 points in the union contract. The Trump administration has proposed to freeze the pay of federal employees next year and cut retirement benefits by $143.5 billion over 10 years. His three recent executive orders have also proposed to slash “official time” used by union leaders to engage in activities for an entire bargaining unit, finds issue with collective bargaining agreements that make it difficult to hold low performers to a higher standard, and proposes being able to fire employees more quickly. The primary target has been the largest federal union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), although the National Treasury Employees Union was recently told it would need to begin paying rent for using department facilities in the Department of Health and Human Services. On Thursday, the AFGE requested a U.S. District Court preliminary injunction against the executive order cited by HUD.

See HUD, SSA follow Trump's lead in opposing federal union power, Joe Davidson, The Washington Post, Jun 15 2018

French state-owned railway company SNCF workers and CGT labour union members began striking in early April to protest French President Emmanuel Macron’s rail reforms; now, despite a continuing strike meant to derail rail traffic on 36 days over three months, Macron appears to be winning based on decreasing public support for the strike. Another poll shows that two-thirds of the public support Macron’s proposals to remove some employee benefits and cut the SNCF’s debt. Fewer employees are taking part in the strike, and many commuters have found other options to get to work or are working from home. While French union membership has held steady since the 1990s, union clout has declined and is no longer ideologically rigid. In addition to reducing some benefits, Macron’s reforms would convert the SNCF into a joint-stock company and reduce its monopoly on passenger traffic.

See Macron looks to prevail over striking rail workers in France, Luke Baker, Reuters, Jun 13 2018

Watchdog group China Labor Watch released a report critical of Amazon's working conditions at a Foxconn factory in Hengyang, China, accusing the retail giant of excessive overtime, inadequate safety training, excessive use of temporary staff, and uncompensated time. The nine month investigation found that workers had low wages, and worked long hours in order to maintain an adequate standard of living, with up to 100 hours in monthly overtime - in excess of China's 36 hour monthly limit. Workers were also required to be at work 10 minutes before they start, for which they are not compensated. Amazon responded by stating that they had completed an audit in March which found overtime and temporary worker violations, and had asked the Foxconn factory to rectify. Foxconn has faced heavy criticism in the past for worse working conditions in factories where Apple products were made, with the company having to install netting in order to prevent employee suicides.

See Report criticizes Amazon's working conditions at Foxconn factory in China, Spencer Soper, Bloomberg Business, Jun 11 2018

On Tuesday, the Culinary Union released a survey of more than ten thousand Las Vegas casino workers that revealed a striking fifty-nine percent of cocktail servers and twenty-seven percent of hotel housekeepers have been sexually harassed by guests on the job. The union represents fifty thousand workers across thirty-four hotel-casinos, and their contracts are due to expire on Thursday. Representatives say the results of the survey call for stronger protections against inappropriate guest behavior in the in the hotel workers’ next contract. Union members recently voted for the right to call a citywide strike, possibly as early as Friday.

See Eli Segall, Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 30 2018

On Friday, Trump signed a number of executive orders directive federal agencies to fire low-performing workers and negotiate better agreements with labor unions. Moreover, he wants to significantly reduce the amount of time that federal employees can spend on union activities while working. Federal labor unions say that the move was politically motivated and meant to be an attack on the merit system. President of the American Federation of Government Employees, J. David Cox, said that the plan is meant to get rid of Federal employees who may hold political views that diverge from Trump's.

See Gregory Korte, USA Today, May 25 2018

Teacher unions in Tunisia have won a number of labor disputes recently, signaling an increase in bargaining power for teachers across a range of education levels. On May eighth, the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research signed an agreement granting elementary school substitute teachers the same wage increase as their counterparts in secondary education. After the signing of the agreement, teachers canceled their plans to hold a nationwide two-day strike may ninth to tenth. On May fifth, the Syndicate of University Teachers and Researchers, a labor organization affiliated with the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), decided to not start work on drafting college exams despite reaching an agreement on March 12th with the Ministry of Higher Education and Science research. The university professors have been on strike since January, demanding salary increases. Some believe that the weak state of the economy has allowed unions to overpower state officials. Assistant secretary-general of the UGTT, Sami al-Tahiri, says that the accusations are unfounded.

See Hanen Jebli, Al-Monitor, May 25 2018

This week, McDonald’s employees in eight states filed ten sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A recent analysis of government data done by the Center for American Progress revealed that food service workers are three times more likely to file a harassment complaint as higher paid workers are. A different survey done by Hart Research Associates in 2016 showed that 40 percent of women fast-food workers said that they have had unwanted sexual encounters at the workplace, including groping and lewd comments. A charity called Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund was launched in January to help low-income workers report sexual harassment in the workplace. The fund has raised $21 million dollars from roughly 20,000 donors. Employees at independently owned franchises could be more at-risk of abuse, according to some employment lawyers. A large majority of some 14,000 U.S. McDonalds outlets are independently operated by franchisees.

See Danielle Paquette, The Washington Post, May 23 2018

On Monday, the Supreme Court said that companies are allowed to use arbitration clauses in employment contracts to keep workers from coming together and filing a law suit against a shared employer. Class action law suits have historically been an effective way for workers to exercise their rights and seek justice. Employers can now mandate that any grievance must be settled through arbitration. This decision comes at a time when the number of American workers who are unionized is at an 80-year low.

See Terri Gerstein and Sharon Block, New York Times, May 21 2018

The U.S. Department of Labor penalized 11 McDonald’s franchises in New Jersey, costing the franchisee S&P Enterprises, Inc. nearly nine thousand dollars for child labor violations. After an investigation conducted earlier this year, the Wage and Hour Division found violations in the number of hours employees under the age of 16 were allowed to work. The string of franchises employed sixteen minors during the time of the violations.

See Owen Proctor, NorthJersey.com, May 21 2018

On Monday, the Supreme Court denied Chastity Jones a chance to argue that the company she worked for who told her to get rid of her dreadlocks infringed on her rights. Jones, an African American woman, has been trying for nearly a decade to have her case heard and says that there is racial bias at play in such corporate grooming policies. In 2010 Catastrophe Management Solutions offered Jones a job, on the condition that she get rid of her dreadlocks. She filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission, who filed a lawsuit against the company in 2013. In 2014, an Alabama federal judge ruled that civil rights laws only apply to unalterable traits like race and sex. The decision was upheld in 2016 by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Jones says that if the Supreme Court was able to recognize the role stereotypes play in sex discrimination cases like Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, the same reasoning should apply in racial discrimination cases as well.

See Nadra Nittle, Racked, May 18 2018

According to research conducted by Human Rights Watch in 2017, tobacco farms in Zimbabwe regularly employ children between the ages of 12-17 during their harvest and processing seasons. Moreover, the organization reported that farm workers are often made to work long shifts with no overtime and sometimes forced to go months without pay. A boom in tobacco sales in the Global South and Asia is fueling the exploitation, and the Zimbabwe government is looking the other way as farmers do everything in their power to take advantage of the growing demand. Last November, Robert Mugabe was ousted as president and replaced with more business-friendly Emmerson Mnangagwa, who vowed to reform agricultural policy by relaxing the regulatory environment and returning control to local farmers. Pricing inequities in the marketplace which stem from non-transparent trading practices often leave tobacco farmers severely underpaid, compounding other factors that exacerbate the exploitation of child labor.

See Michelle Chen, The Nation, May 16 2018

In a complaint filed on behalf of 14,000 AT&T employees, the Communications Workers of America accused the company of withholding information about how they are spending its windfall from Trump’s tax overhaul. The union is currently in contract negotiations with AT&T and filed the complaint last Friday alleging that the company has put the Communications Workers at a disadvantage in contract talks by illegally withholding data. The telecom giant is one of roughly a dozen companies who have formal disclosure requests against them concerning their corporate gains from this year’s tax cuts and how much of that money is being dealt out to workers.

See Josh Eidelson, Dallas News, Bloomberg, May 16 2018

The Israeli National Labor Court ordered striking dockworkers to return to work after a three-day strike. An unusual court order was issued instructing police to round up union officials who failed to show up to court last Thursday. The striking workers were members of labor groups at state-owned ports in Haifa and Ashdod. Only 104 of the 116 employees at the Haifa port returned to work on Sunday, and according to management at the Ashdod Port, productivity there was between 15-20% lower than usual. The workers are protesting the introduction of privately owned ports which are due to open in the next few years. Unions are concerned that the competition from these Chinese and Dutch-owned enterprises will threaten jobs and wages at state facilities. The court imposed penalties in the amount of 20,000 shekels on each of the five union leaders at the Haifa Port and 80,000 shekels for each of the Ashdod committee heads, about $22,400.

See Tali Heruti-Sover, Haaretz, May 14 2018