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☆ Could the Union Victory at VW Set Off a Wave?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

By voting to join the United Automobile Workers, Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have given the union something it has never had: a factory-wide foothold at a major foreign automaker in the South. The result, in an election that ended on Friday, will enable the union to bargain for better wages and benefits. Labor experts said success at VW might position the union to replicate its showing at other auto manufacturers throughout the South, the least unionized region of the country. Some argued that the win could help set off a rise in union membership at other companies that exceeds the uptick of the past few years, when unions won elections at Starbucks and Amazon locations. “It’s a big vote, symbolically and substantively,” said Jake Rosenfeld, a sociologist who studies labor at Washington University in St. Louis.

Persons: ”, Jake Rosenfeld, St . Louis Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Volkswagen, Labor, VW, Starbucks, Washington University Locations: Tennessee, St .

☆ Dartmouth men's basketball is the first college team to vote to unionize. But the fight over the future of college sports could just be beginning.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

By a vote of 13 to 2, the team voted to join the service employees union SEIU Local 560 — making them the first college athletes in US history to vote to join a labor union. Then, last month, the NLRB ruled that the Dartmouth players were employees of the school, clearing the way for the unionization vote. The Dartmouth vote also comes as the share of union members in the US reached a record low of just 10% in 2023. AdvertisementIn the short term, however, the impact of the Dartmouth vote could be limited. AdvertisementIf the NLRB's decision to recognize the Dartmouth players stands, it could establish a precedent that enables other teams to follow suit.

Persons: —, Dartmouth, Kaiser, There's, Victor Chen, Chen, Jake Rosenfeld, Louis, Trump, Rosenfeld, VCU's Chen, Matthew Johnson, Johnson, Barry Eidlin Organizations: Service, Dartmouth men's, Harvard, SEIU Local, National Labor Relations Board, Dartmouth, NLRB, Business, US, UAW, Hollywood, Kaiser Permanente, Virginia Commonwealth University, Washington University, NCAA, Northwestern football, Northwestern, Big, Associated Press, University of Southern, —, USA, Duke University, McGill University Locations: Dartmouth, St, University of Southern California, Angeles, Montreal

☆ Why strikes are working and which industries could be next
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

We asked experts why recent strikes have had success and which industries could be next. AdvertisementAdvertisementIf worker movements pick up in the months and years ahead, it shouldn't be a big surprise. At the same time, an aging US population is expected to increase the demand for healthcare workers. And if the economy remains strong, he said "previously untouchable" corporations like Amazon and Starbucks could see more worker movements and unionization. But in the near term, some labor movements will likely persist even if conditions aren't perfect.

Persons: —, that's, Matthew Johnson, Victor Chen, Johnson, COVID, Caroline Lucas, Dave Young, VCU's Chen, Biden —, Eunice Han, Duke's Johnson, Jake Rosenfeld Organizations: UAW, UPS, Hollywood, Healthcare, Service, Permanente, Workforce, Teamsters, Duke University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Kaiser Permanente, National Council of State, of Nursing, Coalition, Kaiser Permanente Unions, United Food, Commercial Workers, University of Utah, Research, Washington University

☆ UAW strike chaos isn't all good news for Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Tim Levin | Nora Naughton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Big gains in the UAW strike could bolster another organizing drive at Tesla. The UAW is looking to remake its reputation among auto workers. AdvertisementAdvertisementA new contract could spur union attempts elsewhereThe UAW strike comes amid a rejuvenated labor movement post-Covid, and after a summer jam-packed with union activism. About 54% of Americans support the UAW strike, according to a recent Morning Consult poll. AdvertisementAdvertisementOrganizing at Tesla still won't be easySome Tesla workers are in the early stages of forming a union, a UAW official told The New York Times.

Persons: —, Elon Musk's Tesla, they're, Arthur Wheaton, Tesla, Shawn Fain, paydays, Fain, Jake Rosenfeld, Louis, Kate Andrias, Andrias, Rosenfeld, Musk, backpay Organizations: UAW, Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, Service, General Motors, Ford, Elon, United Auto Workers, GM, Cornell University, Detroit, Washington University, Columbia University, New York Times, EV, National Labor Relations Board Locations: Wheaton, Illinois, Michigan, St, New York , California , Nevada, Texas

But in the last few years, increasing pay transparency has become a common cause for young workers, anti-discrimination advocates, and, increasingly, state legislators. But employers in states with transparency laws make up for it by imposing informal rules that prevent employees from talking about pay. If the "new norm" of salary transparency had supplanted the old taboo, then we'd expect a large majority to chafe under outdated restrictions against discussing pay. Strong support for managers in general appears to translate into strong support for managerial approaches to pay secrecy or transparency. If salary transparency is actually going to become the "new norm," it will clearly require more than our existing set of state laws.

☆ Salary Transparency Is Coming — so I Decided to Tell Everyone What I Make
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +37 min

But there's a glaring catch to my support for pay transparency: I haven't actually practiced it in my own life. To find out why, I decided to commemorate the dawning age of salary transparency by telling pretty much everyone in my life what I earn. Norway responded to pay transparency with yet another level of transparency, and that brought down the level of snooping.. Thanks to its nationwide experiment, Norway has been fertile ground for scholars trying to measure the consequences of extreme pay transparency. But I do believe that as more states implement pay-disclosure laws — and as Gen Z increasingly comes to dominate the workforce — salary transparency is going to become the new norm.

☆ Employees took advantage of the Great Resignation. Now employers are about to take revenge.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jake Rosenfeld | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The 2008 financial crisis spared no one — income gains halted for nearly everybody as the economy plunged into the worst recession in almost a century. A tight labor market is good for workersThe main culprit behind these gains in worker power has been the tight labor market. A tight labor market also means companies have to offer higher wages to attract new employees or get people to switch jobs. And the iconic coffee maker isn't the only big-name corporation to raise pay in the face of rising worker unrest. So without a contract to lock in economic gains, workers may have won a series of battles, but they risk losing the long-term war.

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