When a store employee helps you, and you go on to make your purchase from the same retailer’s website, should that employee receive a commission? The union representing clerks at the flagship Bloomingdale’s store in New York City says that they should, even if it isn’t clear on exactly how that would happen. [More]
unions
Activists Emphasize Walmart’s Crime Problem In TV Ads Airing In 4 Cities
By 12.7.16 — Updated: 12.16.16
A number of Walmart stores around the country have been called out for being the epicenters of disproportionate levels of criminal activity and calls to the police. Now a union-backed labor advocacy group is using this information against the nation’s largest retailer in an TV ad campaign highlighting Walmart’s alleged high crime rates — and its cost to local taxpayers. [More]
Hundreds Of O’Hare Airport Workers Vote To Strike Just In Time For Thanksgiving
By 11.18.16
Planning on flying into, out of, or through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for the Thanksgiving holiday? You should be prepared for some disruptions in travel, after hundreds of airport workers voted to go on strike over wages. [More]
Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Seattle’s Uber Drivers Union
By 8.10.16
Late last year, Seattle made it legal for drivers who work for ride-hailing services to organize in unions, even though this is technically against federal labor law. While that question still has to be resolved, and the law hasn’t actually gone into effect yet, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the city to suspend it. [More]
Southwest Airlines CEO Says He Won’t Be Leaving Despite Four Union Votes Of “No Confidence”
By 8.4.16
Days after the Southwest Airlines pilots union — and three other airline employee unions — took a vote of no confidence and called for the resignation of CEO Gary Kelly, blaming the head honcho for a massive technical glitch that canceled 700 flights and stranded thousands of passengers last week, the man in charge says he isn’t going anywhere. [More]
What The Big Verizon Worker Strike Means For Consumers
By 4.13.16
Tens of thousands of Verizon employees walked off the job this morning, when months of inconclusive contract negotiations between the company and the union representing those workers finally stalled out completely. [More]
After Supreme Court Split, Challengers To Public Union Fees Want Case Re-Heard
By 4.8.16
In March, an evenly divided U.S. Supreme Court issued a one-sentence non-decision in a controversial case involving compulsory fees for public unions. The challengers in that case have petitioned the court to re-hear arguments — after a ninth justice is eventually appointed. [More]
Split Supreme Court Allows Compulsory Public Union Fees To Stand
By 3.29.16
A high-profile Supreme Court case involving mandatory membership fees paid to public employee unions was expected to result in yet another controversial, narrow 5-4 decision by the nation’s highest court, but today, with only eight justices currently seated, an evenly divided SCOTUS issued a one-sentence non-decision that leaves things unchanged. [More]
Walmart Used Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin To Monitor Employees
By 11.25.15
As a growing number of Walmart employees began demanding higher wages, with some also calling for workers to unionize, the nation’s largest retailer hired one of the world’s largest defense contractors to follow the online activities of critical employees. [More]
Allegiant Air Pilots Once Again Raise Concerns With Airline’s Safety Practices
By 6.23.15
Pilots of Nevada-based budget carrier Allegiant Air are once again expressing their concerns that the airline’s bare minimum approach to maintenance and operations comes at the cost of passenger safety, this time in a letter to the company’s board of directors. [More]
T-Mobile Illegally Restricted Employees’ Right To Discuss Workplace Issues, Join Unions
By 3.19.15
A long-standing dispute between T-Mobile and an communication workers union came to an end Wednesday, with the wireless company on the losing side. [More]
West Coast Port Workers Have Contract, Backlog Will Take 2 Months To Clear
By 2.23.15
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association have come to an agreement over a new five-year contract for port workers. This ends their nine-month dispute and a slowdown of traffic at ports that has affected everyone from auto workers in Ohio to fast food fans in Venezuela. The U.S. Secretary of Labor stepped in to help the two sides come to an agreement, and now everyone is working hard to clear the backlog. [More]
Southwest Baggage Handlers Say Too Many Flights + More Passengers + Not Enough Planes = Delays
By 12.16.14
At more than a dozen airports around the country today, baggage handlers and other ground crew workers for Southwest Airlines are protesting their employer, claiming that the carrier is too focused on cramming as many people into the fewest planes possible. [More]
Starbucks Can’t Fire Pro-Union Worker For Cursing At Manager
By 6.18.14
When is it okay to for a Starbucks employee to use profanity within earshot of customers? You might say never, but a National Labor Relations Board has ruled that the coffee colossus was in the wrong for firing a worker for dropping some R-rated words when involved in pro-union protest. [More]
Longshoremen’s Port Strike Averted: The Flatscreen TVs Must Flow
By 12.28.12
Somewhere, fictional union local president Frank Sobotka of the port of Baltimore is very pleased. The International Longshoremen’s Association had threatened to go on an East Coast strike beginning this Sunday, preventing most nonperishable cargo sent across the Atlantic from reaching its destination and causing an economic containertastrophe. [More]
Disneyland Hotel Workers Face "Electronic Whip"
By 10.21.11
Above ground, Disneyland is a world of wonder and enchantment. But getting the bedsheets as tight as the smiles on the workers faces takes a lot of hard work, and it happens underground. [More]
Target Fires Employee Who Attempted To Unionize NY Store
By 8.16.11
Earlier this summer, employees at a Target store in the Long Island community of Valley Stream voted against forming a union, but the fallout from the push to unionize still lingers, as the employee behind the movement has recently been let go from her job at the store. [More]
Target Store Votes Against Unionization
By 6.20.11
Workers at a Target store in Valley Stream, N.Y. voted against unionization, but the union has vowed to try again, alleging the retailer illegally intimidated workers. [More]
