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☆ Amazon reinstates Bessemer, Alabama warehouse worker and union face Jennifer Bates
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —An Amazon worker and union organizer has been given her job back after she appealed her firing by the e-commerce giant earlier this month. Amazon on Thursday confirmed that it had reinstated Jennifer Bates — who became the face of the effort to unionize an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama — following its appeals process. Bates had received notice of her termination from Amazon in early June. Amazon workers at a New York warehouse voted to form the company’s first US union last year, although Amazon has since refused to recognize the union or come to the bargaining table. Other efforts to unionize Amazon facilities, including one across the street from the New York warehouse, have failed.

Persons: Jennifer Bates —, Bates, I’m, ” Bates, Mary Kate Paradis, –, Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: New, New York CNN, Amazon, Wholesale, Department Store Union, CNN, National Labor Relations Board Locations: New York, Bessemer , Alabama, United States

☆ Opinion | There Is One Group the Roberts Court Really Doesn’t Like
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Jamelle Bouie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Glacier’s non-unionized workers were able to remove the concrete before the trucks were significantly damaged, but the company sued the Teamsters in state court anyway for damages relating to lost revenue from the wrecked concrete. The Washington State Supreme Court dismissed the suit on the grounds that the dispute was “pre-empted by the National Labor Relations Act.”The Supreme Court took Glacier’s appeal. Under Garmon, employers must first receive a favorable ruling from the National Labor Relations Board if they want to sue a union for striking in state court. Tossing Garmon would bring labor law much closer to its pre-N.L.R.A. “They are employees whose collective and peaceful decision to withhold their labor is protected by the N.L.R.A.

Persons: Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Ketanji Brown Jackson, ”, “ Organizations: Teamsters, Washington, Court, National Labor Relations, Washington State, National Labor Relations Board, “ Workers Locations: Washington, San Diego

☆ Amazon fires Alabama warehouse worker who led union push
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

And I’ve given every fiber of my soul into organizing Amazon these past three years,” Bates said in a statement Friday. Amazon workers at a New York warehouse voted to form the company’s first US union last year, though Amazon has since refused to recognize the union or come to the bargaining table. Other efforts to unionize Amazon facilities, including one across the street from the New York warehouse, have failed. The closely-watched union election at the Bessemer facility ended with the results too close to call due to hundreds of challenged ballots. “Amazon’s behavior must not go unchallenged, and workers in Bessemer, Alabama must have their rights protected under the law.”

Persons: Jennifer Bates, “, I’ve, ” Bates, ”, Bates “, Bates, ” Mary Kate Paradis, we’ve, Stuart Appelbaum, Appelbaum, ” Appelbaum Organizations: CNN, Wholesale, Department Store Union, Amazon, National Labor Relations Board Locations: Alabama, Bessemer , Alabama, United States, New York, Amazon

☆ Noncompete clauses 'chill' worker rights and are usually illegal, NLRB lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Noncompete clauses likely violate federal labor law, NLRB's general counsel wrote Tuesday. Criticism from across the aisleWorker advocates have long maintained that noncompete clauses are an unjust infringement on liberty that reduces employees' earning potential. But noncompete clauses have also attracted critics on the right. The criticism from both sides of the political spectrum comes as noncompete clauses have expanded from high-salary workers in fields such as technology and finance to lower-wage professions, such as fast food. That proposed rule, which will be subject to a legal challenge if and when it is finalized, came after the White House encouraged the commission to tackle noncompete clauses, framing them as a barrier to healthy competition and wage growth.

Persons: NLRB's, —, Joe Biden, Jennifer Abruzzo, Biden, Najah Farley, John Lettieri, Insider's Juliana Kaplan Organizations: Workers, Service, Companies, National Labor Relations Board, National Labor Relations Act, Worker, National Employment Law, American Enterprise Institute, Federal Trade Commission, House Locations: Abruzzo, California , Massachusetts, Illinois

USC, the NCAA and the Pac-12 Conference, which is also named in the complaint, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. The board in December had said it found merit to charges filed by a group of USC players seeking to be treated as employees, and said it would issue a complaint absent a settlement. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 struck down the NCAA's limits on non-cash compensation for athletes, such as scholarships and paid internships. Several states including California have passed laws letting college athletes profit from their name, image and likeness rights. The USC case is the first filed by the board since its top lawyer, in a 2021 memo, asserted that college athletes should be classified as employees because they provide services that generate profits controlled by their schools.

☆ Dancers at a topless bar in LA are set to become the first unionized strippers in the US in a decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Employees at Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood California voted to unionize. Employees including dancers, entertainers, and DJs want to be represented by the Actors Equity Association. They will become the first union of strippers in the US in a decade. "I'm excited that all of my beautiful coworkers will finally have a seat at the table and a voice to discuss safety and other issues," Sinder, a Star Garden dancer told CNN. Insider reached out to Star Garden, the NLRB, Actors Equity Association, and Stripper Strike Noho but did not immediately hear back outside of regular working hours.

☆ First union of strippers in a decade expected to form this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Natasha Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Strippers from the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood have unanimously won their union election, in a 17-0 vote, creating the first union of strippers in the United States in about a decade. The ballots were opened at 11 am PT today by the National Labor Relations Board in Los Angeles. The ballots were impounded in November after the strippers voted, due to the club challenging most ballots at the time. Since announcing on Tuesday that the dancers and the club had come to an agreement, the NLRB scheduled the opening of the ballots Thursday. “We’re hopeful that we could send some shockwaves through the industry,” said Velveeta, one of the strippers, who spoke to CNN on Tuesday evening.

☆ Color of Change, pioneering racial-justice nonprofit, is plagued by allegations of sexual assault and bullying, ineffective leadership, and deep layoffs say sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Sean Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Misconduct by senior leadership was often ignored or glossed over, and choas led to high turnover. But behind the scenes, some staff members say the organization has been wracked with internal turmoil, ineffective leadership, and deep layoffs. Many sources said allegations of misconduct by senior leadership seemed to be ignored or glossed over, and a chaotic environment led to high turnover. The following day, Color of Change eliminated another 12 positions, and again, many of them were part of the union. (Color of Change did not report executive salaries on its 2020 tax filings and has not released its 2021 returns.)

☆ Strippers and California Club Reach Accord on Union After Long Fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Noam Scheiber | Ava Sasani | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“We felt like we could help them,” Ms. Shindle said in an interview during last fall’s mail-in election. Some said the physical space was often hazardous, including exposed nails and holes onstage and broken glass on the floor. Lilith and other dancers asked not to be identified by their legal names for fear of being harassed or stalked. Another dancer, who uses the name Velveeta, said the club put dancers at risk by allowing customers to linger after hours. “Customers will be there watching us cash out, seeing the cash we’re taking with us,” she said.

☆ First strippers’ union in a decade is expected to form this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Natasha Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The negotiation is expected following a settlement hearing with union attorneys. When ballots are officially opened later this week, the strippers are expected to overwhelmingly win the union election, forming the first known union of strippers in the United States since the nation’s only unionized strip club, the Lusty Lady, closed in San Francisco in 2013. But with stipulation from the National Labor Relations Board and involved parties, the Star Garden owners will seek to dismiss its bankruptcy case, so that it can reopen in 30 to 60 days. Velveeta, a stripper, addresses the crowd attending a rally in support of strippers from the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar on August 19, 2022 in North Hollywood. “Every worker who wants a union deserves a union.

☆ Google is downsizing its contract workforce that supports YouTube, shortly after one contractor team's union victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Workers in Austin recently formed a collective bargaining group with the Alphabet Workers Union. The move comes shortly after a group of Cognizant workers supporting YouTube Music voted 41-0 in favor of unionizing with the Alphabet Workers Union, which is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, a larger trade union. The cuts did not impact the YouTube Music team, which helps curate themed playlists and review song metadata. The Cognizant team supporting YouTube TV had been in early talks to form their own union following the group at YouTube Music, according to three workers there. Cognizant also confirmed in an email that its contract supporting YouTube TV is ending.

☆ Misclassifying employees as gig workers creates 'a race to the bottom' for businesses, Biden's top labor and antitrust regulators say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Businesses have an incentive to misclassify workers as contractors to undermine their competitors, according to the DOJ Antitrust Division. It's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to those called "gig workers" — freelancers, contractors, on-call workers, and temp agency workers, who for decades have increasingly replaced full-time employees as independent contractors. Not so for gig workers. In 2018, 20% of workers were contract workers, and 65% of part-time workers and over half of contract workers went without benefits, according to NPR. "Our goals are the same," Abruzzo said, as NLRB and DOJ Antitrust want to end "misclassification and employment structures that cause vertical constraints on competition."

Judges and the National Labor Relations Board have found the company violated federal labor law in several other cases. The Memphis store is one of nearly 300 Starbucks cafes in the United States to unionize since late 2021. More than 540 complaints have been filed with the labor board accusing Starbucks of illegal labor practices such as firing union supporters, spying on workers and closing stores during labor campaigns. Starbucks has argued that the Memphis workers were fired for violating company safety policies and has said it respects the unionization process. Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United, the union waging the nationwide campaign, did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

☆ GC Agenda: May 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Practical Law The Journal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

Clawback Listing StandardsPublic companies should be aware that proposed NYSE and Nasdaq clawback listing standards may be in place earlier than expected. Organizations may use biometric data in a variety of ways, including when:tracking employee time; restricting access to physical and digital assets; monitoring consumer shopping behavior; and integrating biometric data into consumer products and services. Consider whether the organization’s current policies and procedures meet applicable biometric data handling requirements, including notice, consent, retention, storage, and security obligations. Review applicable laws and obligations when contracting with service providers that handle biometric data and continuously monitor their performance. In February 2023, the NYSE and Nasdaq filed proposed new listing standards, which contemplated that they could become effective as early as April 27, 2023.

The Democrat-led board in a 3-1 decision said it was reverting back to a decades-old "setting specific" test for determining when workers' abusive conduct is still protected by federal labor law. Lion claimed the worker's conduct was so offensive that the firing was warranted, but the board disagreed and ordered the company to reinstate him. In a statement, NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran said the General Motors decision broke with decades of court precedent and failed to adequately consider the rights of workers. The board since at least the 1970s had analyzed on a case-by-case basis whether offensive conduct made in the course of a workplace dispute is protected. The case is Lion Elastomers LLC, National Labor Relations Board, No.

☆ Employee Monitoring and Surveillance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +50 min

Ensuring Employee Safety and Systems SecurityEmployers may use electronic workplace monitoring and surveillance to protect their:Worksites. Potential Liability for Electronic Workplace Monitoring and SurveillanceEmployers that engage in electronic workplace monitoring and surveillance must comply with various federal and state laws, including:The Wiretap Act. Best Practices for Electronic Workplace Monitoring and SurveillanceTo avoid violating relevant state and federal laws, before conducting workplace monitoring and surveillance, employers should:Consider the purpose and appropriate scope of their monitoring and surveillance activities and what methods will help them achieve their objectives. Determine the Purpose of Workplace Monitoring and SurveillanceBefore conducting any workplace monitoring or surveillance, best practice is for employers to identify the purpose and goals of these activities to:Ensure that there is a legitimate business purpose for the planned monitoring and surveillance activities. Determine the scope of monitoring and surveillance necessary to accomplish the business purpose, and conduct only the minimum monitoring and surveillance necessary to meet that business need.

☆ Earnings playbook: The second half of the season kicks off with Apple, Ford and a pharma giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

What history shows: Data from Bespoke Investment Group shows Pfizer beats earnings expectations 87% of the time. Ford Motor is set to report earnings after the close, followed by a call at 5 p.m. What history shows: Ford earnings outperform earnings expectations 69% of the time, per Bespoke. AMD is set to report earnings after the close, with management scheduled to hold a conference call at 5 p.m. Friday Warner Bros Discovery is set to report earnings before the open, followed by a conference call at 8 a.m.

☆ Tesla broke U.S. labor law by silencing workers, official rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Daniel Wiessner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc supervisors at a Florida service center violated U.S. labor law by telling employees not to discuss pay and other working conditions or bring complaints to higher level managers, a U.S. labor board official has ruled. The judge ordered Tesla to cease and desist from violating workers’ rights and to post notice of the violations in the service center and email it to employees. Tesla had argued that it had quickly repudiated the managers’ comments by posting a notice in the service center that Tesla policy allowed workers to discuss their pay. The judge said that attempting to silence employees violated their fundamental right under U.S. labor law to band together to advocate for better working conditions. The company is also appealing an NLRB decision that said it unlawfully barred factory workers from wearing union t-shirts.

☆ YouTube Music contractors won a historic union election, which means Google could have to negotiate with a labor group for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Contact workers who support YouTube Music won their union election 41-0. Contract workers who support YouTube Music have won their union election and will now prepare to bargain for a labor contract. The Alphabet Workers Union launched in 2021 and represents both full-time workers employed directly by Google as well as its large contract workforce. Some Google contractors can command high salaries, while many — like those at Cognizant — make as little as $19 an hour. The YouTube Music contractors initially began organizing to seek a guaranteed work-from-home policy, saying that it's too expensive to live in Austin on the wages offered.

☆ Ben & Jerry's workers in flagship Vermont store file for union election
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ben and Jerry's workers at the ice cream company's flagship store in Burlington, Vermont, are filing for a union election Monday. Workers at the Burlington store have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for an election. That union, Workers United, has won union elections at hundreds of Starbucks locations across the country at a rapid pace. If the Burlington workers approve a unionization vote, their store would be the first Ben & Jerry's location in the U.S. to do so. Ben & Jerry's has even sued its parent company, Unilever , when its actions came into conflict with Ben & Jerry's stated social mission.

☆ YouTube TV contractors in early stages of organizing say they're being held in 'captive meetings' to discourage unionizing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

YouTube TV contractors are in the early stages of making a push towards unionization. The YouTube TV contractors' efforts follow that of their colleagues in YouTube Music. In response, Cognizant held two "captive meetings" with the YouTube TV team in the past two weeks to dissuade them from organizing, contractors say. Contractors working for Cognizant say they've been told they should not take these new signs down. In the past year, more than 300 Starbucks locations organized under the Starbucks Workers Union.

☆ Should you sign that severance package? Here are 5 things to consider first.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Some employees being laid off by Big Tech companies can expect generous severance packages. Employees should consider their options before signing a severance agreement, they said. Here are five things to consider when signing your severance agreement, according to labor lawyers:1. Consider what you are willing to give up in exchange for the severance paymentWhen employees accept a severance package, they're asked to give up something in exchange — like their ability to sue the company. "We have been receiving a lot of calls from workers laid off by tech companies," she said.

The CWA in a statement said Activision's conduct showed a clear pattern of disregard for workers' legal rights. "In spite of Activision Blizzard's anti-union efforts, workers continue to organize, speak out about their working conditions and win union campaigns," the union said. Activision has said its social media policy is lawful and does not bar employees from exercising their rights under U.S. labor law. Small groups of workers at Activision subsidiaries in New York and Wisconsin have voted to join the CWA in recent months. Boston-based employees of Activision unit Proletariat in January withdrew a petition to have an election.

☆ Starbucks union pressures board members with billboards, posters – and a butter sculpture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Nearly 300 company-owned Starbucks cafes have voted to unionize under Workers United, according to National Labor Relations Board data. Starbucks Workers United is deploying a butter sculpture, brass band, billboard and movie posters to put pressure on the coffee chain's board to accept the union. Beth Ford, chief executive officer of Land O'Lakes Inc. (L), and a butter sculpture of land o'lakes her. In the hopes of speeding up the process, just outside of Minnesota's Twin Cities, Starbucks workers will deliver a butter sculpture of Ford to Land O'Lakes' headquarters. "Community allies" will also take part, according to Starbucks Workers United.

☆ Starbucks fires Alexis Rizzo, the Buffalo union worker who 'ignited a movement' to organize
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Starbucks has fired a Buffalo, New York, worker who “ignited a movement” from one of the first stores in the coffee chain to unionize, Starbucks Workers United said Friday. Alexis Rizzo had been shift supervisor at the Genesee Street store in Buffalo for 7 years, the union said. “This is retaliation at its worst,” a statement from Starbucks Workers United said. Nearly 300 locations have voted to join Starbucks Workers United. “What is outrageous to me is not only Starbucks’ anti-union activities and their willingness to break the law, it is their calculated and intentional efforts to stall, stall and stall,” Sanders said during the hearing.

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