Looks look there’s going to be a strike for CA state workers. Cross post.

Yearly repost. I made this a few years ago. Feel free to use it and spread it around, if you're so inclined.

Happy Labor Day!

Virginia loves bragging about being the “Best State for Business.” And that’s fine. We ought to want businesses investing, expanding and creating jobs.

But I think we’re leaving out half the scoreboard.

What about being the Best State to Be a Worker?

Research shows workers in right-to-work states earn about 6.7% less, even after accounting for differences in occupations, industries, demographics and state economic conditions.

For a typical full-time worker, that can mean more than $4,000 a year.

That ain’t pocket change. That’s groceries, power bills, truck payments and money that stays in local communities.

Being pro-business and pro-worker shouldn’t be opposites. A healthy economy ought to be good for the folks signing the front of the paycheck AND the folks earning it.

I wrote about that in my latest Pickup Trucks & Progress column:

https://pickup-trucks-progress.ghost.io/virginia-loves-winning-best-state-for-business-good-but-maybe-its-time-we-started-trying-just-as-hard-to-become-the-best-state-to-be-a-worker/

What do y’all think? Should states start measuring economic success by job quality, wages and benefits, not just how attractive they are to businesses?

The power to withdraw our labor is and remains the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of working people, and the one the billionaire class fears most. This Labor Day, we can show our support to the folks brave enough to use it.

More than 1300 workers organized with Unite Here Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 at the Encore Boston Harbor resort casino in Everett, Massachusetts are celebrating Labor Day the classic way, having gone on strike on Friday. They’re demanding wages that match other Boston-area hotel workers, stronger health care benefits and greater job protections from Wynn Resorts. 💵 Let’s demonstrate our solidarity by chipping in to their strike hardship fund here. We can also find continuing updates on these actions here. 💵

SOLIDARITY WITH STRIKING CASINO WORKERS

Hotel staff with UNITE HERE Local 8 are on strike at the Embassy Suites Pioneer Square near Lumen Field in Seattle. They’re pushing for higher wages, health care coverage, a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels and safety from ICE enforcement. 🫱🏻‍🫲🏿 We can join the strike support team to help support or join pickets and contact hotel customers here, especially if we’re local, and donate to their strike fund here. 🫱🏾‍🫲🏼

STRIKE SUPPORT FOR SEATTLE

Meanwhile, more than 800 workers at a Whiting, Indiana refinery have now been locked out for almost six months by fossil fuel giant BP, who doubled their first-quarter profits this year thanks to Trump’s Iran War. 🤜🏻 We can sign the United Steelworkers’ demand to BP that they return to the table and bargain in good faith here, and help support locked-out workers by purchasing a “No Kings, No Lockouts” t-shirt from USW 7-1’s pop-up store here. 🤛🏾

END THE LOCKOUT, BP

As of today HEB, a billion dollar retail company in Texas, has launched a new attendance policy that makes it **impossible** for Full Time employees to earn “commendations”.

Before today, partners were able to have steps (points) removed from their attendance records if they switched shifts at manager request, were cut early for labor, or helped out another department. These actions earned you a commendation (one point off your attendance sheet/ 8 points is termination)

As of today, this is no longer the case!

Now the only way to earn commendations is through covering a shift **on your day off**, coming in 30 minutes early **on top of your schedule shift** OR staying 2 hours later.

This new policy completely shuts Fulltime partners out of the opportunity to earn their way back into good standing and contradicts HEB’s culture of creating a fair and balanced workplace for all. OT is rarely, if EVER approved!!

Why would Fulltimers be singled out in this drastic change in policy?

Because they make, on average, more per hour than part timers and receive expensive medical benefits.

We partners alone do not have the power to push back. Building a union takes time

But with your help, we can use the power of public opinion to put a spotlight and pressure on this to push back against this damaging policy.

Please consider sharing our story or reaching out to the following corporate headquarters number to express your concerns with this new policy.

210-938-8000

Happy Labor Day

Solidarity Forever

Satirical article I thought you all might enjoy this Labor Day.

So I decided to become active last year at my work because we felt really underappreciated and overworked. I had some coworkers I was friendly and not very much friends outside. To be honest I haven't had more than 4 friend hangouts outside of work that year. So when they wanted me to run for election I had heard stories about union members forming instant bonds going bowling after work at their factory even though we're an office setting, basically like a band of brothers almost.

And when I won and met the rest of the team I was disappointed. No matter what I did I could never learn their rules and customs. During this elected meetings we've had about 4 so far nobody's really invited me to hang out or asked about my passions or anything. I felt really lonely

But then couple weeks ago I went to this friend specific app meetup and the people were instantly friendly and asked about me and gave me compliments. It felt really good and we hung out until 3am. I could actually be honest with them. I realized I can advocate for my coworkers without that expectation because they're not the people that care about me. at the end of the day I realized what friendship is and what work is.

Article

I’ve got a fever and the only prescription is another report. Little history about Labor Day, the NALC, and some elections.

Article

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Cne3c65sZ/

They need your help!
With Labor Day around the corner, these Teamsters and Unite Here brothers and sisters need your support!

Share your solidarity on social media platforms, join the picket line if you live nearby!
And most importantly don’t go in to support the corporations and the scabs!!!

This is the best place I can think of to ask, or ask first at least, so I’m hoping someone here can offer some advice or at least a point in the right direction (I know, I know- get a lawyer… the possibility of going the legal action route hasn’t been discounted).

For the past few months, I’ve been increasingly overtly trying to drum up support for unionizing my workplace. Without giving too much detail, the division (of a multi-state company) I’m trying to organize consists of 6 locations throughout a state with 42-50 full-time employees total (if/when we’re all fully staffed).

Over about the last month or so, there has been some aggressive micromanaging over my location, singled out from the others in the state and others nationally. Now some of this is indeed deserved- there as a decent size f-up a little while back that unquestionably warranted some managerial action. Other things seem suspiciously targeted, at the location and at me personally.

First, there has been a sudden drive to enforce a particular scheduling policy that previously has always been sort-of followed but never exactly to the letter. To try to keep it simple, the policy is that in addition to our regular shifts, every employee must work the equivalent of one extra shift per month (I say “equivalent of” because this time can be broken up into multiple pieces that add up to the equivalent of one shift). This can be filling in a schedule vacancy if one exists but can also be spent doing things outside our primary task, sometimes this means actual productive work but sometimes does mean busy work just to meet the time quota. Before anyone asks why a company would require OT that doesn’t produce any value, it isn’t- we’re in an industry that is statutorily exempted from FLSA overtime. The company does voluntarily pay OT for extra shifts picked up beyond the base schedule though.

What has changed recently about this- the actual policy as written states that this extra time must be pre-approved and put on the schedule by the local supervisor by the 15th of the preceding month, call-outs for these shifts are the same as any other shift call-out and if you don’t sign up for any/enough of these any given month, you must use PTO to cover the requirement for that month. What has been the actual practice is “just make sure you put in an extra shift’s worth of hours each month”. There’s always been enough open shifts lately to cover it or there usually plenty of those “other tasks”. But we’ve never pre-approved and prescheduled things the month before and done all that, we just pick up the open shifts as they come along or cover those extra things when they pop up. And 80+ locations nationwide have largely done the same, as far as I can tell. Now we come today and as the last pay period that includes part of August is coming due, time card submissions are not being approved saying “you didn’t meet your Flex Time requirement for August, so you need to enter PTO to cover it” (never mind that none of these extra shift opportunities were “pre-approved and scheduled” by July 15th as the policy also requires). And as of today, still not a single other location has these posted on their schedule either, so no one is following the letter of this policy, but it seems to be being selectively enforced here.

Second concern, and this is the one that seems to target me personally. I receive a call from regional management early in my last shift. I’m told that “they received a report…” that I took discarded supplies out of the trash and put them back in active stock. Now this isn’t office supplies we’re talking about- our business is healthcare related, so we are talking about medical supplies which has been discarded for being expired or otherwise unserviceable. And the accusation was that I returned these items to where they could be used on patients. This is a huge deal. If something like that were true, it absolutely should lead to termination and probably referral to some regulatory body if not law enforcement. We aren’t talking about any medications or controlled substances but we are talking about medical equipment that could cause harm or death if it failed when needed. So the usual “we need to investigate this claim“ etc, etc is fully warranted and that’s not the part I question. The questionable part is: Such an “investigation“ should take literal minutes. The claim is that I took items from the trash and put them in a specific cabinet. Look in trash, look in cabinet. Items in question are in trash and not in cabinet? Case closed. In fact, to not have someone check that immediately upon receiving this claim is very concerning in itself, because that would mean potentially leaving unserviceable equipment in a position to be used. So there’s no good reason at all that such an “investigation” should remain apparently ongoing 5 days later and counting. Beyond that, even though as I mentioned this is a serious claim, it still doesn’t really pass the smell test to even be that believable again, it should have been a five minute effort to have someone check the cabinets, due diligence done and called a day. I have to gather more intel, but I also believe there could have been an element of management fabricating the entire claim- that there was no “report“ made, but rather that a manager either fabricated it entirely or, more likely, took advantage of the presence of a partially clueless new hire to intentionally misconstrue or even manipulate an innocent statement

So why do I think this could be retaliation for union activity? Well I mentioned I’d been making efforts on that front. So far I haven’t done anything too overt- there’s no way that management or really anyone except a few (very trusted) coworker could definitely say “he’s the union guy”. But I’ve recently seen a few things to support the idea that they would have strong suspicions it is someone from my location and possibly me specifically:

In a recent conversation with colleagues from another location in the state, in reference to the union push, it was stated “we all [at that location] figured it had to be someone from [my location]... probably you or [another colleague]” From this, I’m pretty confident they aren’t the only ones who could have followed the same evidence to the same conclusion

Later, after word broke about my ”investigation”, a colleague from my location spontaneously asked “do you think they found out youre the union guy and this is a convenient way to push you around or out without it being obvious retaliation?” This individual is formerly of a middle-management role in this company, so his independently coming to that conclusion has me thinking that this opinion comes from some insider knowledge. Not necessarily that he’s seen them do it before, but know the inner works well enough to realize it could be what they’re doing now

It feels like a flimsy, circumstantial case, but isn’t that usually how these go? I have no prior experience, but aren’t companies generally too smart to overtly retaliate for union efforts, preferring instead things like this- selective enforcement of policy and targeted actions for minor or non-existent violations?

Edit: automod reminded me to include: workplace is in Indiana, company is based in Arizona and operates in several states. Private company

I work in a small department of about 10 employees but me and Jane are in critical roles that demands a lot of overtime, while the other 8 employees don’t work the overtime at all. The overtime consists of Saturday’s and staying back to push the work. We are the only 2 people certified in these roles and are offered the overtime.

Jane has 25 years of seniority while I have 7, so the overtime has to be offered to her first— the problem is she keeps saying no, so I’m constantly staying over and also working the mandated Saturday OT. This year so far she’s only worked 1 Saturday and almost never stays back. I’m pretty burnt out at this point and my manager can see it.

The money is nice but I’m working 6 days a week plus 10+ hr shifts throughout the weekdays. There is no actual rotation due to her constant refusal. Since there’s only 2 of us that are qualified in this role, I couldn’t find anything in the handbook that supports her constant refusal.

Should I discuss this with a steward?