Workplace Issues Today

Missouri voters shot down a legislative proposal that would have significantly suppressed union power on Tuesday. The proposal would have barred private-sector unions from collecting mandatory fair-share dues to cover bargaining expenses, similar to what the Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME did for public sector unions. A number of states have passed right-to-work laws, but Missouri voters had a rare opportunity to weigh in directly on the matter, and rejected the proposal by a 2-1 margin. The bill was introduced by former Governor Eric Greitens, although he left office amid a scandal before his bill was approved by the legislature in early 2017.

See Noam Scheiber, New York Times, 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

In a new court filing, the National Right to Work Foundation is demanding that SEIU Local 1000 reimburse some 40,000 current and former state employees because of the union’s allegedly overburdensome “opt-out” procedures that the organization claims caused employees to pay more than necessary in fees. The SEIU could be facing a penalty to the tune of more $100 million if the Right to Work Foundation’s request is approved by the courts. The recent filing was prompted by the recent Janus vs. SEIU supreme court decision, which ruled that public-sector unions cannot collect fair-share dues from employees who do not wish to be members of the union.

See ADAM ASHTON, Sacramento Bee, 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

Last week, the Office of Personnel Management delivered guidance to federal agencies on how they should implement three executive orders that were issued by the President on May 25th. The executive orders are designed to completely upend the way that agencies and unions have cooperated for decades. Agencies have been instructed to (1) seek collective bargaining agreements that weaken unions as soon as possible, (2) rush civil service procedures, and (3) curtail official time, which allows union leaders to be paid by the government for representing all employees within a bargaining unit for certain management dealings, regardless of whether or not they pay dues. The guidance, which was issued by OPM Director Jeff Pon on July 5, also sets Monday as the day that agencies must stop allowing unions free use of office or meeting spaces, reserved parking spaces, phones, computers, and computer systems. Federal agencies have been instructed to move quickly and forcibly to implement the workforce orders, and any failure to do so must be explained to the OPM. The orders will affect around 1.2 million federal workers, more than half of the government’s nonpostal, nonmilitary unionized workforce. Opposition to the orders is growing, however, and a federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments against Trump’s anti-union drive later this month.

See Joe Davidson, The Washington Post, 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

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

CEO Russell Judd of Mercy hospitals in Bakersfield, California was blocked from attempting to cut off his employees from public employee pensions and replace them with 401(k)-like retirement plans. A provision of the state budget bill that is currently pending approval by Governor Jerry Brown and that was backed by SEIU Local 521, barred Judd from shifting Mercy hospital employees and other Kern County Hospital Authority workers onto private retirement plans. Unions lobbied to get several other pro-labor provisions included in the bill. Governor Brown received the bill on June 20 and has until July 2 to sign or veto it.

See Adam Ashton, The Sacramento Bee, 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

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union in South Africa plans to ask the country's top gold producers to consider a $950 monthly minimum wage for miners in upcoming negotiations - an increase that can put that "can put the worker in a better place", said the president of the second largest union for producers AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Sibanye Gold Ltd. and Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. The union will also ask for increased benefits that include severance pay and longer maternity leaves, as well as replacing the shift system with a five-day work week. Gold mines in South Africa involve the most labor intensive work in the world, due to the mines' depth and age. With an unemployment rate of 27%, jobs cuts create political pressure even as mine owners struggle to cut costs.

See South Africa labor group seeks $950 monthly minimum wage for gold miners , Paul Burkhardt, Ntando Thukwana, and Odwa Mjo , 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

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

Dozens of farmworkers rallied on the steps of the New York State Capitol on Tuesday, urging the Senate’s Agricultural Committee to pass the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act. Politicians and representatives from a number of unions including the Hispanic Federation and the New York Civil Liberties Union delivered speeches at the rally. The Act would guarantee agricultural workers one day a week off and overtime pay. If passed into law, the Act will also require that supervisors report injuries to employers and provide employees with workers’ compensation forms. In January, New York Supreme Court Justice Richard McNally dismissed a lawsuit brought by the NYCLU and two other advocacy groups seeking to secure collective bargaining rights for farm workers. Similar attempts to extend protections to agricultural workers in the past have routinely been denied.

See Madison Iszler, Times Union, 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

Walmart has admitted to taking illegal action against pro-union employees in some of it’s California stores. After a prolonged lawsuit, the retail giant signed an agreement last month with the workers’ advocacy group, Our Walmart, acknowledging that their 2010 dress code banning union buttons was a violation of national labor law. The company also admitted to taking disciplinary action against six workers who participated in a peaceful protest in 2012. An administrative law judge ruled against Walmart on these counts in 2016, but the company appealed the decision which allowed them to avoid rescinding the disciplinary actions and dress code until April of this year. Walmart must now post notices in its Placerville and Richmond stores about the reformed dress code.

See Matthew Boyle and Jef Feeley, Bloomberg, May 11 2018

Graduate students at George Washington University held an eight hour sit-in on Thursday morning for the second time in two weeks. GW Graduate Students United members delivered a letter to the school’s president and provost at 9:30 requesting that they agree to hold a third-party election that would allow the students to establish a collective bargaining unit. The unionization efforts began last fall in response to low pay and poor health care plans. More than 20 students participated in the first hour-long sit in two weeks ago, which prompted Provost Forrest Maltzman to meet with leaders of the graduate students union. Maltzman reportedly walked out of the meeting early, causing more than 50 students to protest outside of Rice Hall earlier in the month. Both the Student Association and the GW Faculty association have expressed support for the unionization drive.

See Dani Grace, The GW Hatchet, May 11 2018

Despite having generally positive labor relations, United Airlines is opposing unionization efforts by some 2,700 catering workers. In January, Unite Here submitted a list of signatures representing 76% of the corporations’ catering employees, more than enough to meet the NLRB’s 50% threshold to hold a representation election. In March, the airline challenged the validity of the signature list. On March 29, the National Mediation Board announced it would launch an investigation into the union’s card-check drive. Unite Here claims that United had been attacking the unionization effort by suspending worker-organizers in Houston and Newark, and posting anti-union messages in work areas. United released a prepared statement refuting the allegations, maintaining that Unite Here’s organization campaign was deliberately confusing employees and misrepresenting the situation. As of May 9, the National Mediation Board has not released a conclusive statement on their investigation.

See Ted Reed, Forbes, May 9 2018

The Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents more than 30,000 employees across LA, has called for a 24-hour strike on May 15. The union and school district have been unable to agree on contract terms after more than a year of bargaining. Executive director Max Arias says that some 125 special education assistants had their hours cut without the Union’s knowledge and that there have been efforts by the administration in at least one school to interfere with the strike vote. More than 94% of the 11,000 school bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants, teacher assistants, health aides and cafeteria workers who voted were in favor of the strike.

See Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times, May 7 2018

Tronc Media, the parent company of both the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune, among other news outlets, agreed on Sunday that they will recognize the Tribune’s recently elected labor union. The corporation has historically been strongly against unions and initially refused to recognize the Newspaper Guild after they were elected by journalists last week by an 85% margin. Organizers have expressed concern about noncompetitive pay, uneven compensation between women and employees of color compared to their white and male counterparts, as well as a lack of journalistic freedom.

See David Folkenflik, NPR, May 7 2018

French protesters have raised more than one million euros to support striking workers on Friday. Rail workers began periodic strikes over a month ago to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s overhaul of the national labor code. The movement has been running a crowd-funding campaign online that has attracted an impressive amount of attention. Internet polls reveal that a majority of people in France support the Société nationale des chemins de fer Francis’ reform plan.

See Reuters, May 4 2018

A bi-partisan group of senators is urging the Federal Labor Relations Authority to stop efforts to close the regional Boston office until Congress can contribute an opinion. The group is lead by U.S. Sen. Edward Markey. On Tuesday, they sent a letter stating their concerns to FLRA chairman Colleen Duffy Kiko. It included 11 different signatures from senators across the Northeast.

See U.S. News, Associate Press, May 2 2018