Entries by Paul Becker

UNION LEADERS URGE CAUTION IN JUDGING TRUMP PICK FOR LABOR SECRETARY

President-elect Donald Trump’s designated appointment of Congresswoman Lori Michelle Chavez-DeRemer as Secretary of Labor in his incoming administration has been hailed in some quarters as an act friendly to labor. Others, however, were saying, “not so fast.” Her labor-friendly bona fides come from the fact that she was only one of three Republicans in the […]

UNIONS FACE BIG ATTACKS FROM INCOMING TRUMP PRESIDENCY

by Paul Becker Labor leaders around the country are bracing for the onslaught against unions that they see coming in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential elections. Speaking of the election results, Lee Saunders, president  of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said, “This is going to impact the […]

NLRB REPORTS BIG SURGE IN UNION ELECTION FILINGS

Since 2021, the year President Biden took office, the number of union election petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board has skyrocketed, the board recently reported. In the last year alone, the requests have jumped 29 percent from nearly 2,600 to nearly 3,600. Under the law, if 30 percent of the workers in a […]

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OCTOBER BITS AND PIECES

DOCK WORKERS SUSPEND STRIKE After striking for just a few days, dock  workers at Atlantic and Gulf ports suspended their strike action until the end of the year unless negotiations between their union, the International Longshoreman’s Association, and the US Maritime Alliance, representing the shipping industry, reach a contract by then. (See item on Labor […]

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DOCK WORKERS STRIKE HITS EAST COAST & GULF PORTS

Dock workers at Eat Coast and Gulf ports walked off the job Sept 30 after weeks of negotiations failed to yield an agreement between the International Longshoreman’s Association and the US Maritime Alliance, representing the shipping industry. ILA members have been working under a six-year contract that expired Sept 30 and saw their real income […]

HAWAII HOSPITAL LOCKS OUT NURSES AFTER ONE-DAY STRIKE

In a brazen move to pressure nurses to accept a management offer, the management at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Hawaii locked out 600 nurses indefinitely beginning Sept. 14. The lockout began a day after the nurses held a one-day strike to protest the ongoing bullying tactics of the medical center in […]

BOEING WORKERS STRIKE AFTER REJECTING PROPOSED CONTRACT

By an overwhelming vote of 95 percent, thousands of workers at Boeing walked off the job Sept. 13, turning down a proposed contract that had been negotiated between the company and the union’s leaders. The strike by 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers affects workers on the West Coast that […]

SEPTEMBER BITS & PIECES

AT&T WORKERS STRIKE, CITING COMPANY’S STALLING TACTICS Accusing AT&T of deliberately delaying bargaining on a new contract, over 17,000 workers in nine southeastern states hit the bricks August 16 in a strike that has resulted in a tentative agreement. But the company has continued to stall on a final agreement. The strike involves technicians, customer […]