California Governor Gavin Newsom July 30 signed a law authorizing the State Labor Commissioner to investigate and issue a citation or file a civil action against any employer found guilty of withholding or taking their workers’ tips. Up until now, employees were only able to pursue lengthy civil court actions to recuperate stolen gratuities even though the California Labor Code declared “[e]very gratuity” to be the “sole property” of the worker who received the tip. The state labor commission’s new enforcement power over tip theft will hopefully deter employers from violating the law and help workers avoid lengthy and draining litigation.
CONGRESS DROPS PART OF TRUMP TAX BILL THAT HAD ENDED FEDERAL WORKER PROTECTIONS
Yielding to pressure, the House and Senate have dropped a piece of Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law July 1 that would have stripped new federal workers of traditional job protections. The provision would have forced new federal employees to give up their traditional job protections or take a big cut in their pay. One union official called the measure to force federal workers to pay for their civil service job protections “criminal extortion.”
As of this writing, some 9,000 Philadelphia municipal workers are out on strike after their union, AFSCME District Council 33, and the city failed to reach agreement on a new contract. The workers involved include sanitation, police dispatch, street maintenance, and water services with “mountains of trash” piling up in city streets.
UFCW AND 2 BIG WESTERN GROCRERY CHAINS REACH AGREEMENT
Grocery workers, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, in Colorado and Southern California have reached tentative agreements with grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons, avoiding a strike. The union had authorized a strike in June. The agreement still has to be ratified by a vote of the union membership.
A faceoff is brewing in the retail grocery industry as union contracts with two giant chains, mainly in the west, expire this year. Seventy thousand workers at the Kroger and Albertson stores, represented by four locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers, are in negotiations with the chains.
They are Locals 7, 770, 324, and 3000. Local 7 was set to strike but postponed it for 100 days while negotiations proceeded. Sixty thousand more employees in other stores represented by UFCW locals have contracts expiring this year.
Local 7 and 770 were among those who led the successful fight to block the proposed merger between Albertson and Kroger in 2023. Eventually the national UFCW, attorneys from eight states, and the Federal Trade Commission came out against the merger which would have been the largest supermarket merger in American history, worth $25 billion. It was finally judged to be a violation of the anti-trust laws and was blocked in court.
https://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/icon.png500500Paul Beckerhttps://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spotlight_logo_.pngPaul Becker2025-06-03 17:14:452025-06-03 17:15:42UFCW, REPRESENTING 130,000 WORKERS, FACE CRUCIAL CONTRACT TALKS THIS YEAR
CALIFORNIA STRENGTHENS RULE PROTECTING WORKER TIPS
Labor BriefsCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom July 30 signed a law authorizing the State Labor Commissioner to investigate and issue a citation or file a civil action against any employer found guilty of withholding or taking their workers’ tips. Up until now, employees were only able to pursue lengthy civil court actions to recuperate stolen gratuities even though the California Labor Code declared “[e]very gratuity” to be the “sole property” of the worker who received the tip. The state labor commission’s new enforcement power over tip theft will hopefully deter employers from violating the law and help workers avoid lengthy and draining litigation.
On Labor, 8/1
JULY BITS AND PIECES
Labor BriefsCONGRESS DROPS PART OF TRUMP TAX BILL THAT HAD ENDED FEDERAL WORKER PROTECTIONS
Yielding to pressure, the House and Senate have dropped a piece of Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law July 1 that would have stripped new federal workers of traditional job protections. The provision would have forced new federal employees to give up their traditional job protections or take a big cut in their pay. One union official called the measure to force federal workers to pay for their civil service job protections “criminal extortion.”
Huffington Post, 5/22; Labor Press, 7/8
PHILLY CITY WORKERS STRIKE
As of this writing, some 9,000 Philadelphia municipal workers are out on strike after their union, AFSCME District Council 33, and the city failed to reach agreement on a new contract. The workers involved include sanitation, police dispatch, street maintenance, and water services with “mountains of trash” piling up in city streets.
On Labor, 7/6
UFCW AND 2 BIG WESTERN GROCRERY CHAINS REACH AGREEMENT
Grocery workers, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, in Colorado and Southern California have reached tentative agreements with grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons, avoiding a strike. The union had authorized a strike in June. The agreement still has to be ratified by a vote of the union membership.
On Labor, 7/6
UFCW, REPRESENTING 130,000 WORKERS, FACE CRUCIAL CONTRACT TALKS THIS YEAR
Labor BriefsA faceoff is brewing in the retail grocery industry as union contracts with two giant chains, mainly in the west, expire this year. Seventy thousand workers at the Kroger and Albertson stores, represented by four locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers, are in negotiations with the chains.
They are Locals 7, 770, 324, and 3000. Local 7 was set to strike but postponed it for 100 days while negotiations proceeded. Sixty thousand more employees in other stores represented by UFCW locals have contracts expiring this year.
Local 7 and 770 were among those who led the successful fight to block the proposed merger between Albertson and Kroger in 2023. Eventually the national UFCW, attorneys from eight states, and the Federal Trade Commission came out against the merger which would have been the largest supermarket merger in American history, worth $25 billion. It was finally judged to be a violation of the anti-trust laws and was blocked in court.
In These Times, Vol. 49, No. 4, 5/25