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Labor Relations / Unions

Schwarzenegger vetoes child care worker negotiation bill

04/18/2008
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed S.B. 867, a state bill that would have allowed child care workers to organize for the purpose of negotiating with California agencies. Specifically, the bill would have allowed the workers to negotiate reimbursement rates and licensing issues with the state …

Court voids grocery worker retention ordinance

04/18/2008
A Superior Court judge recently voided a 2005 ordinance that required large supermarkets to retain workers following an ownership change …

House passes bill allowing guns in workplace parking lots

04/14/2008
The Florida House of Representatives passed a bill prohibiting employers from banning guns from their properties. HB 503 guarantees employees the right to keep legally owned guns locked inside their cars as long as they have permits to carry concealed weapons …

AAM strike wreaks financial havoc

04/10/2008
The ongoing strike that began in February by workers at five American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings (AAM) plants in Michigan and New York has led Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) to review AAM’s credit rating …

State’s lawyer says she was punished for union organizing

04/08/2008
Assistant Attorney General Amy Lawler says she was suspended for speaking out in favor of a union movement in the attorney general’s office. But Attorney General Lori Swanson’s administration says Lawler was put on leave in March only because she had failed to follow the proper channels in raising ethics concerns …

Airline merger in holding pattern

04/08/2008
A potential merger at Delta and Northwest airlines is on hold while pilots try to work out a seniority agreement. The proposed merger is complicated by the fact that Atlanta-based Delta has a younger work force than Northwest, which is based in Eagan …

Former Longview union official pleads guilty to embezzlement

04/07/2008
The former financial secretary and treasurer of Local 738 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, located in Longview, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $40,000 over a three-year period …

Government employees’ union treasurer admits to theft

04/01/2008
Brad Richard Harper, former treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1629 in Battle Creek, will serve 14 months in prison and pay more than $75,000 in restitution for making false statements in union financial reports …

Do nonunion employees have right to representation during disciplinary meetings?

04/01/2008
Q. I am working with my supervisory staff on how to deal with a difficult employee. He insists he has the right to be represented when his supervisor wants to discuss a performance problem. He recently asked to have another employee come with him for a meeting with his supervisor regarding his poor attendance. We are a nonunion company. Any suggestions? …

OSHA’s visit to Imperial Sugar too late, unions say

04/01/2008
OSHA has announced it will conduct combustible dust inspections at thousands of U.S. factories in the wake of an explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth that left 12 workers dead and dozens badly injured. A preliminary investigation revealed the Feb. 7 blast was caused by airborne sugar dust in a basement area …