Labor News — 12/3/2022
After a long break, Labor News is back! The last few months have been eventful, with big wins and painful setbacks. We’re proud of all we’ve done together this year, and we’re looking forward to building on our collective successes in the new year.
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Unions Power Historic Victories in Texas Gulf Coast Elections
Working people in the Texas Gulf Coast celebrated historic victories in elections in Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Brazoria County, with victories powered by a historic labor Get Out The Vote effort.
In Harris County, County Judge Lina Hidalgo won with a 15,000 vote margin, along with Commissioner Adrian Garcia and Commissioner-elect Lesley Briones. Fort Bend County Judge KP George won with the highest margin of any candidate in the county, and will be joined by Commissioner-elect Dexter McCoy. And Scott Feuless won a seat on the Brazoria County Drainage District #4 to establish a new pro-worker majority.
Texas Supreme Court hears Houston case on firefighter pay, collective bargaining rights
More than four years after Houston voters approved a measure that would grant firefighters equal pay with police officers, the legal battle to decide the referendum’s fate landed Tuesday in the hands of the Supreme Court of Texas.
The state’s highest justices heard oral arguments regarding Proposition B, the charter amendment pushed by the firefighters’ union and approved by voters in 2018. It would grant firefighters pay parity with police officers of a similar rank and seniority.
The Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation has taken a strong position in support of the Houston firefighters. President Lacy Wolf said: “Because no negotiations have taken place since 2017, Houston firefighters have suffered through stagnant pay and benefits, greatly harming working families at the fire department but also greatly harming all of Houston as experienced, capable firefighters leave for better working conditions in other jurisdictions.”
Effective union advocacy opens up new opportunities to advance pro-worker policies in Harris County
The new 4–1 majority on Harris County Commissioners Court was elected with critical support from the labor movement; union canvassers knocked on over 125,000 doors and made over 2.2 million calls reaching out to voters in support of Lina Hidalgo, Adrian Garcia and Lesley Briones.
“It wasn’t about electing a Democratic majority. It was about electing a pro-worker majority and expanding the pro-worker majority,” said Jay Malone, political director of the labor federation. “So, we now have four votes for really critical policies that will expand access to good, safe jobs in Harris County.”
Malone named several policy goals on labor’s wish list for the next four years: worker safety protections, county jobs that pay a living wage, affordable child care, affordable housing and a right to counsel program that guarantees defendants access to legal representation in eviction cases.
“The mandate that the commissioners received from voters is a mandate to think expansively about what government can do to make people’s lives better,” Malone said. “It’s changing the way that we do drainage so that it’s equitable, and it’s reaching people in all corners of the county instead of just the rich and well connected.”
Workers at Wortham CenterHall vote unanimously to unionize with IATSE Local 51
In mid November, workers at the Wortham Center Operating Company voted unanimously to join the International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees (IATSE) Local 51.
This is just the latest organizing victory for IATSE, and an important one in the effort to organize Houston’s theater industry, which is the second largest in the country.
Workers at two additional Houston-area Starbucks file for union elections
Following the union victory earlier this fall in Upper Kirby, workers at two additional Starbucks in Houston filed for elections last month. The stores are located at 6400 Fannin in the Medical Center and at Rock Creek in Kingwood.
In mid-November, workers and allies at the Upper Kirby location picked as part of the nationwide ‘Red Cup Rebellion’ to demand Starbucks come to the table and negotiate.
“There’s a lot of planning and a lot of money spent on promoting this day to get business to come in,” Starbucks barista and union leader Josh Deleon said. “Union stores throughout the country have agreed to go on strike today to draw attention to the fact that the company has yet to negotiate a contract with any store that has won their union.”
Congress votes to impose contract on railroad workers, rejects paid leave
On Thursday, Congress voted to impose a contract on 120,000 freight railroad workers and preemptively break the first national rail stoppage in thirty years. The move ends three years of negotiations, mediation, and federal intervention under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), the federal law that governs railroad workers.
In a statement, railroad union SMART TD, whose members voted not to accept the deal, said, “The Senators who opposed the measure all have paid sick days, as do their staff. Apparently, they believe the nation’s rail workers are “essential” to the American economy and supply chain, but not essential enough to deserve the same protection as them when becoming ill. By voting against that measure, these Senators made no illusions that they side with the decision that is most economically beneficial to their deep-pocketed corporate donors.”
That sentiment was echoed by SMART TD Local 1892, which represents rail workers in the Houston area, with President Robert Maldonado saying he was, “deeply disappointed in all elected officials, including the President.”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said, “Rail workers keep America’s economy moving, yet rail companies treat workers as essential one minute and disposable the next. The unwillingness of wealthy corporations to provide workers with basic dignity on the job got us to this point. “
Fort Worth Newsguild journalists launch strike to fight for better wages and working conditions
On Monday morning, journalists at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram launched an unfair labor practice strike after McClathy, the newspaper’s owner, refused to bargain in good faith over wages, severance and layoffs.
In November 2020, the Fort Worth NewsGuild was recognized by McClatchy. Nearly two years later, its members continue to fight for a fair contract at the bargaining table.
During the strike, Guild members are missing wages and management has cut off their health insurance coverage.
Click here to donate to the Fort Worth NewsGuild Strike Fund
48,000 University of California system academic workers currently on strike
Across the prestigious University of California system, tens of thousands of workers walked off the job in mid-November for the nation’s largest strike of 2022, and the largest strike of academic workers in U.S. history.
From UC Davis down to UC San Diego, the four participating bargaining units — teaching assistants, student researchers, postdoctoral scholars, and academic researchers — are demanding that university administration bargain in good faith.
In the midst of record high inflation and a statewide housing crisis, workers are demanding a living wage, sustainable transit benefits, job security, and increased support for working parents and international scholars.
Check out FairUCNow.org/Support for ways you can help.
Kansas City KIPP teachers win union, as growing number of charter school educators seek to unionize
Last month, St. Louis KIPP teachers won their union, becoming the first district to unionize in the state and the latest educators to organize in response to the low wages and poor working conditions in charter schools.
Charter schools in Texas pay teachers nearly $5,000 less per year than traditional public schools, and have twice the rate of turnover. The growing dissatisfaction with wages and working conditions has led an increasing number of charter teachers and paraprofessionals to organize, with K-12 educators at a KIPP charter school in Columbus, OH filing last week to join the Ohio Federation of Teachers and charter teachers in Chicago launching multiple work actions over the past few years.
Housing advocates worry about Civil Rights protections in Texas disaster standoff
Civil rights and housing advocates are worried about the Biden administration’s willingness to enforce civil rights laws, because of how the Department of Housing and Urban Development has handled a dispute with Texas over billions of dollars in disaster recovery money.
The heart of the dispute is the way in which Texas is distributing money it is receiving from the federal government through a branch of the Community Development Block Grant program. Texas is set to receive $4 billion in response to 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, one of the most damaging storms to ever hit the United States. The money at stake is specifically designated to help mitigate damage from future disasters in economically distressed areas.
But after complaints from advocates, HUD determined that Texas violated federal civil rights laws when it picked projects to get the money.
Austin passes long-sought wage theft ordinance
Earlier this week, the Austin City Council voted to adopt an ordinance amending the city’s business regulation and permit requirements, establishing wage theft standards in the city. The move also allows for action against a city contractor if they violate contracts.
In the ordinance, wage theft is described as any action by an employer that secures the performance of a service and agrees to provide compensation for it, but after the service is rendered, fails to make the full payment.
The move followed a successful campaign led by Workers Defense Project, Central Texas Building and Construction Trades Council, LIUNA Local 1095, Equal Justice Center, and Central South Carpenters Regional Council.
NLRB General Counsel urges precedent change In Buffalo Starbucks case
The National Labor Relations Board should overrule board precedents on anti-union meetings as well as employers’ bargaining obligations before a union secures its first contract, the board’s general counsel argued in a 232-page brief outlining Starbucks’ alleged labor violations in Buffalo, New York.
NLRB union calls for increased funding, highlights risk to agency if budget doesn’t rise
After many years of pleading for funding increases, the NLRB has announced that the agency will have to begin furloughing employees if they don’t get more funding basically immediately.
“We have a huge target on our backs,” said Michael Bilik, an NLRB attorney and legislative co-chair for the National Labor Relations Board. “It’s been a top priority of Republicans to prevent us from getting a single dollar of an increase.”
Last week the NLRBU posted a Twitter thread raising the prospect of furloughing employees in the not-to-distant future, due to the crunch of rising costs — plus President Joe Biden’s 4.6 percent raise for much of the federal workforce — into a flat budget. Headcount at the NLRB has shrunk by hundreds, down to about 1,200 since its last budget increase.
LaborLab releases study on massive underreporting of anti-union activities in violation of Federal law
Labor Lab came out with a great new report on LM-20 non-compliance, i.e. the extent to which union-busters and those who hire them break the law by not reporting on their activities in a timely fashion. More than 80% of LM-20 filings were delinquent in 2021 and 2022, in case you were looking for another way in which the deck is stacked against workers trying to organize.
Under federal law, anti-union “persuaders” are required to disclose certain activities on a form Form LM-20 in a timely manner to the Department of Labor. According to a first-of-its-kind analysis conducted by LaborLab of LM-20 filings since January 1, 2021, over 82% of anti-union persuaders violate the timeliness requirement, giving them an unfair and illegal advantage over workers attempting to form unions. The longer it takes the consultant to file, the more workers remain in the dark about who is making often erroneous and misleading statements about the union.
We need leaders in elected office who are ready to fight for working people. Ready to fight?
