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While many unions were quick to endorse Ms. Harris after President Biden dropped out and gave her his backing, the U.A.W. Both Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have ties to organized labor. Mr. Biden became the first sitting president to join a picket line when he visited striking autoworkers in Michigan last year, and Ms. Harris also joined workers during a strike against General Motors when she served in the Senate. A protest movement against Mr. Biden in Michigan’s Democratic primary earned significant support — a worrying sign for Democratic hopes of winning the state in November. The union also represents tens of thousands of graduate students and other academic workers, many of whom have been outspoken in their opposition to the war in Gaza.

Persons: Harris, Biden, Biden’s, —, Mr, “, Ms Organizations: Democrats, General Motors, Senate, Mr, Democratic Locations: Israel, Gaza, ”, Michigan

☆ U.A.W. Holds Off on Endorsing Harris
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The union, which has been a close ally of President Biden, noted in a statement after his withdrawal from the race that Ms. Harris had “walked the picket line with us” during a 2019 strike at General Motors. Ms. Harris, it said, “along with President Biden has brought work and jobs back to communities like Lordstown, Ohio, and Belvidere, Illinois,” where auto plants had been shuttered. But the U.A.W. During an interview on MSNBC on Monday, the union’s president, Shawn Fain, said the union’s board would discuss the endorsement over the next few days and that it was seeking input from its members. A person familiar with the board’s discussions said that the U.A.W.

Persons: Kamala Harris’s, President Biden, Harris, “, Biden, Shawn Fain Organizations: Democratic, United Automobile Workers, General Motors, MSNBC Locations: Lordstown , Ohio, Belvidere , Illinois, Gaza, Israel

☆ Biden Cancels Speech to Teachers After Union’s Staff Strikes
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A strike by the staff of the nation’s largest teachers’ union has prompted President Biden to cancel a speech on Sunday in Philadelphia, where he was scheduled to address thousands of delegates to the union’s annual convention. The strike has shut down the last three days of the four-day convention, as delegates declined to cross a picket line. “President Biden is a fierce supporter of unions and he won’t cross a picket line,” a statement from his campaign said, adding that the president was still planning to travel to Pennsylvania over the weekend. The National Education Association has about 2.5 million members nationwide, not including retirees, according to a recent government filing. The staff union says it represents more than 350 employees assigned to the union’s headquarters in Washington.

Persons: Biden, N.E.A, Biden’s, “ Organizations: National Education Association Locations: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Washington

☆ Amazon Is Fined Nearly $6 Million Over Warehouse Work Quotas
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A California labor regulator said on Tuesday that it had fined Amazon nearly $6 million for thousands of violations of a safety law that took effect in 2022. The measure, known as the Warehouse Quotas Law, lets employees request written explanations of any productivity quotas that apply to them, as well as explanations of any discipline they may face in failing to meet the quotas. The state labor commissioner’s office said Amazon violated the law more than 59,000 times at two Southern California warehouses between October and March. The system that Amazon used in the two warehouses “is exactly the kind of system that the Warehouse Quotas Law was put in place to prevent,” the labor commissioner, Lilia García-Brower, said in a statement.

Persons: Lilia García, Brower Organizations: Amazon Locations: California, Southern California

☆ Is Your Law Firm Using A.I.? Tell Us How.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Law firms are increasingly relying on generative artificial intelligence to produce research and draft documents. We’d like to hear from lawyers working with generative A.I., including contract lawyers who have been brought on for assignments related to A.I. Your answers may help us better understand the use of A.I. We won’t publish your name or any part of your submission without contacting you first. If you prefer to share tips or thoughts confidentially, you can do so here.

☆ Amazon Argues Labor Board Is Unconstitutional
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The company’s lawyers repeatedly denied in their filing that Amazon had broken the law. Then, under a section titled “Other Defenses,” they argued that “the structure of the N.L.R.B. The claims it made in the filing echo arguments that lawyers for SpaceX made in a federal lawsuit last month, after the labor board issued a complaint accusing the company of illegally firing eight employees for criticizing Mr. Musk. SpaceX sued in Texas, but a federal judge there on Thursday granted the board’s motion to transfer the case to California, where the company’s headquarters are located. was settled nearly 90 years ago by the Supreme Court.”

Persons: Jennifer A ., “, ” Wilma Liebman, Barack Obama, ” Organizations: Amazon, United, Constitution, SpaceX, Supreme Locations: ”, Texas, California, Jennifer A . Abruzzo

☆ Why Doctors and Pharmacists Are in Revolt
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The breaking point came when the height of the pandemic passed, but conditions barely improved, according to many workers. Although health systems had promised to add staffing, many found themselves running deficits amid inflation and a shortage of doctors and nurses. Dr. Quee, the union president, said that inquiries from doctors were up more than threefold since the second group of Allina doctors unionized last month — and that as a result, the Doctors Council was hiring more organizers. “Two days ago, pharmacists called me from Florida,” she said. “We’ve never done pharmacists before.”In September, Dr. Smith, who long ago shifted from CVS district manager to frontline pharmacist, took on an additional role: labor organizer.

Persons: Sharif, “, unionizing, Quee, ”, “ We’ve, Smith Organizations: Doctors, CVS, renegades Locations: Allina, Florida, Kansas City, Mo

☆ U.A.W. Strike Gains Could Reverberate Far Beyond Autos
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even before the strike ended, unions at other companies appeared to be doing just that. In an interview in late September, David Pryzbylski, a lawyer who represents employers, said union officials in two separate contract negotiations had invoked the U.A.W. “Outside the U.A.W., it’s putting wind in their sails,” Mr. Pryzbylski said. The element of strategy that the U.A.W. brought to its strike may also prove instructive to other workers and unions.

Persons: David Pryzbylski, Mr, Pryzbylski, “, Peter Olney Organizations: U.S . Chamber, Warehouse Union

☆ Why the U.A.W.’s President Has Taken a Hard Line
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Shawn Fain sought the presidency of the United Automobile Workers union last year, he ran on a platform that promised: “No corruption. The platform helped propel Mr. Fain to the top job — where he has led a mounting wave of walkouts in recent weeks to demand more favorable contract terms. It was devised by a group called Unite All Workers for Democracy, which was officially formed in 2020 as a caucus — essentially, a political party within the union. The group set out to topple the ruling party, known as the Administration Caucus, which had run the union for more than 70 years. In 2022, Unite All Workers hashed out its party line, recruited candidates and ramped up a campaign operation to elect them.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Fain, Fain’s, — Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Detroit, All Workers for Democracy, Administration Caucus, Workers

Altogether, about 45,000 workers at Ford, G.M. and Stellantis are on strike across the country, including 8,700 workers at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant in Louisville, the company’s largest, and almost 10,000 others at Ford factories in Illinois and Michigan. The tentative deal with Ford could increase pressure on the other companies to reach an agreement with the union. In the past, once the union reached a deal with one automaker, tentative agreements with the others quickly followed. Last week, Ford’s executive chairman, William C. Ford Jr., said the union’s demands risked damaging the ability of Detroit automakers to compete against nonunion companies like Tesla and foreign rivals.

Persons: Shawn Fain, William C, Ford Jr, ”, “ Organizations: Ford, Detroit automakers, Toyota, Honda Locations: Ford’s Kentucky, Louisville, Illinois, Michigan

☆ Strike Is a High-Stakes Gamble for Autoworkers and the Labor Movement
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since the start of the pandemic, labor unions have enjoyed something of a renaissance. They have made inroads into previously nonunion companies like Starbucks and Amazon, and won unusually strong contracts for hundreds of thousands of workers. Last year, public approval for unions reached its highest level since the Lyndon Johnson presidency. Strikes by railroad workers and UPS employees, which had the potential to rattle the U.S. economy, were averted at the last minute. The strike by the United Automobile Workers, whose members walked off the job at three plants on Friday, is shaping up to be such a test.

Persons: Lyndon Johnson, haven’t, ’, Ram — Organizations: United Automobile Workers, —, Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: Southern California, U.S

☆ Standoff Over Electric Vehicle Workers Poses Risk for Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden has been highly attuned to the politics of electric vehicles, helping to enact billions in subsidies to create new manufacturing jobs and going out of his way to court the United Automobile Workers union. The union, under its new president, Shawn Fain, wants workers who make electric vehicle components like batteries to benefit from the better pay and labor standards that the roughly 150,000 U.A.W. The Detroit automakers counter that these workers are typically employed in joint ventures with foreign manufacturers that the U.S. automakers don’t wholly control. The companies say that even if they could raise wages for battery workers to the rate set under their national U.A.W. contract, doing so could make them uncompetitive with nonunion rivals, like Tesla.

Persons: Biden, Ram —, Shawn Fain, Tesla Organizations: United Automobile Workers, —, Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Jeep, Detroit automakers, U.S, don’t

☆ Labor Department Proposes Vast Expansion of Overtime Eligibility
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a move that could affect millions of workers, the Biden administration announced Wednesday that it was proposing to substantially increase the cutoff below which most salaried workers automatically receive time-and-a-half overtime pay. Under the proposed rule, issued by the Labor Department, the cutoff for receiving overtime pay after 40 hours a week would rise to about $55,000 a year from about $35,500, a level that was set during the Trump administration. About 3.6 million salaried workers who fall between the current cutoff and the new one would effectively gain overtime pay eligibility under the proposed rule, the department said. Some employers may choose to raise workers’ pay above $55,000 to avoid paying overtime. Julie Su, the department’s acting secretary, said in a statement that the rule “would help restore workers’ economic security by giving millions more salaried workers the right to overtime protections.”

Persons: Biden, Trump, Julie Su Organizations: Labor Department

☆ UPS Employees Approve New Contract, Averting Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Averting a strike that could have shaken the U.S. economy, the union representing more than 300,000 United Parcel Service employees announced Tuesday that its members had ratified a new labor agreement with the shipping giant. The union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said that its UPS members approved the five-year contract with more than 86 percent support. The Teamsters have said that the agreement includes wage gains of at least $7.50 an hour for current employees over its five-year term. It also raises the minimum pay for part-time workers to $21 an hour from under $17, and raises the top rate for full-time delivery drivers to about $49 on average. Under the previous contract, which expired on Aug. 1, full-time drivers made an average of about $42 an hour after four years on the job.

Organizations: United Parcel Service, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, UPS, Teamsters Locations: U.S

☆ From Detroit to Hollywood, New Union Leaders Take a Harder Line
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Shawn Fain is not a typical president of the United Automobile Workers union. Mr. Fain recently declined a symbolic handshake with the chief executives of the major Detroit automakers, a gesture that traditionally kicks off contract negotiations. He is seeking an ambitious 40 percent wage increase for rank-and-file members — in line, he says, with the pay gains of those corporate leaders over the past four years. Mr. Fain, who won his position in March, is the first president in the union’s history, dating back nearly 90 years, to be elected directly by its members. The change took place after a major corruption scandal engulfed two of his predecessors and several more union officials.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Fain, “, ’ ”, Shana Shaw, ‘ It’s, ’ Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Detroit, Chrysler, General Motors Locations: Stellantis, Missouri

☆ UPS Announces Contract Accord With Teamsters to Head Off Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

United Parcel Service announced Tuesday that it had reached a tentative deal on a five-year contract with the union representing more than 325,000 of its U.S. workers, a key step in averting a potential strike when the current agreement expires on Aug. 1. “Together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees and to UPS and our customers,” Carol Tomé, the company’s chief executive, said in a statement. “This agreement continues to reward UPS’s full- and part-time employees with industry-leading pay and benefits while retaining the flexibility we need to stay competitive.”The union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, reported in June that its UPS members had voted to authorize a strike, with 97 percent of those who took part in the vote endorsing the move. The tentative agreement will now go before the membership for ratification. UPS handles about one-quarter of the tens of millions of packages that are shipped daily in the United States, and a strike could dent economic activity, particularly the e-commerce industry.

Persons: ” Carol Tomé Organizations: Parcel Service, Teamsters, UPS, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Locations: United States

Elon Musk said he was about to make one of the most visible changes to Twitter since he took control of the social media company last fall: replacing its widely recognized bird logo. In a tweet early Sunday morning Eastern time, Mr. Musk said that “soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”He added shortly after, “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight,” it would “go live worldwide tomorrow.”“X” is a term for what Mr. Musk has described as an “everything app” that could combine social media, instant messaging and payment services, akin to the popular Chinese app WeChat.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, “, adieu Organizations: Twitter

☆ UPS Contract Talks Go Down to the Wire as a Possible Strike Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

UPS’s adjusted net income rose more than 70 percent between 2019 and last year, to over $11 billion. The contract talks broke down on July 5 in vituperation. The company noted that many part-timers graduated to jobs as full-time drivers, which pay $42 an hour on average after four years. In television interviews and at rallies, the Teamsters president, Sean O’Brien, has emphasized what the union calls “part-time poverty” jobs. He has frequently been joined by leaders of other unions and politicians, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat.

Persons: Sean O’Brien, “, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez Organizations: Teamsters, UPS, New York Democrat Locations: vituperation

☆ How TV Writing Became a Dead-End Job
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the six years he worked on “The Mentalist,” beginning in 2009, Jordan Harper’s job was far more than a writing gig. But by 2018, when he worked on “Hightown,” a drama for Starz, the business of television writing had changed substantially. The job of overseeing the filming and editing fell largely to the showrunner, the writer-producer in charge of a series. “On a show like ‘The Mentalist,’ we’d all go to set,” Mr. Harper said. They say the new approach requires more frequent job changes, making their work less steady, and has lowered writers’ earnings.

Persons: Jordan, “, ’, Mr, Harper Organizations: CBS, Starz

☆ Amazon Union Dissidents, in Challenge to Leader, Move to Force Vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Friday, the reform caucus sent the union’s leadership a letter laying out its proposal to hold prompt elections, saying it would go to court Monday if the leadership didn’t embrace the proposal. The group said in its letter that enacting the proposal could “mean the difference between an A.L.U. which is strong, effective, and a beacon of democracy in the labor movement” and “an A.L.U. which, in the end, became exactly what Amazon warned workers it would become: a business that takes away the workers’ voices.”Mr. Smalls said in his text that the union leadership had worked closely with its law firm to ensure that its actions were legal, as well as with the U.S. Labor Department. Jeanne Mirer, a lawyer for the union, wrote to a lawyer for the reform caucus that the lawsuit was frivolous and based on falsehoods.

Persons: Connor Spence, Brett Daniels, Brima, ” Mr, Smalls, Jeanne Mirer, Spence, ” Organizations: Amazon, U.S . Labor Department Locations: Staten

☆ You’re Now a ‘Manager.’ Forget About Overtime Pay.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Noam Scheiber | More About Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“There were shortages of people who had kids at home,” said Catherine Ruckelshaus, the general counsel of the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group. “I would almost say there’s never been a time when those workers are more empowered,” he said. (Pay for all workers grew much faster than pay for managers from 2019 to 2021, though pay for managers grew slightly faster last year.) Experts say the denial of overtime pay is part of a broader strategy to drive down labor costs in recent decades by staffing stores with as few workers as possible. If an employee did not show up for an afternoon shift, she typically had to stay late to cover.

Persons: ”, Catherine Ruckelshaus, “, Ed Egee, there’s, Deirdre Aaron, Ms, Palliser, Panera Organizations: National Employment Law, National Retail Federation, Labor Department

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