Pay cuts

The New York Times reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics total weekly pay for production worker's index (representing about 80% of the workforce) has declined for the ninth straight month. In the 44 year history (1965) of the weekly pay calculation, the previous record of months of decline was 2. The point is even those who have jobs are earning less.

Chicago enjoined over private labor dispute

A federal court in Chicago has found the City of Chicago and one of its Alderman violated the National Labor Relations Act by conditioning the permitting of a sidewalk cafe on the hotel employer resolving a lengthy strike in favor of a union. This case shows the risk associated when public officials interject themselves into labor disputes. The court relied upon Golden State Transit Corp. v. City of L.A, 475 U.S. 608, 619 (1986) (stating that conditioning the receipt of government benefits on an employer’s settlement of a labor dispute impermissibly intrudes into the collective-bargaining process and interferes with the policy underlying the NLRA). Our previous post on public officials enjoined for their involvement in an employers union free campaign is posted here.

Union financial disclosure rule rescinded

Unions with annual revenues exceeding $250,000 are required to file a detailed financial disclosure document, the LM-2, annually. The document requires disclosure of information on income and disbursements, including salaries and expenses paid to union officers and employees. The prior administration had promulgated a rule requiring changes to the form mandating more detailed disclosure. The current administration rescinded the new rule. The lengthy and interesting explanation for the rescission is here.

Union official accused of accepting bribe

A union official is accused of soliciting and accepting a bribe from an attorney. The payment allegedly was made to keep the attorney on the list of union approved personal injury attorneys. It seems the unnamed attorney was slated to be removed from the approved list due to alleged ethical violations. The attorney notified the Department of Labor and cooperated in the investigation.

Politics of card check

We have noted multiple times on this blog EFCA, with card check, is a dead issue. There will be labor reform, but removing the secret ballot election from the representation process is not going to be a part of the final law. Opponents of card check are beating a dead horse. Not only is this wasteful of resources, it makes "quickie" secret ballot elections an increasingly viable alternative. By continuing to rally against card check, opponents of labor reform make it easier for politicians seeking cover to say "I did not support card check, I stood up for secret ballot elections." Elections five or ten days after a petition is filed seem reasonable to the public. Having won the card check battle, opponents of reform should confront the real problem of an uninformed workforce voting on an issue deserving serious debate. Union allegations of worker intimidation and unlawful conduct during traditional election campaigns are correctly addressed by stiffer penalties for existing unlawful conduct, not quick elections. Labor ties employer intimidation to the length of time between petition and election. There really is no direct correlation except the duration of opportunity. Labor muddles lawful effective employer persuasion with unlawful threats. The former educates, the latter intimidates. Both can persuade employees to reject union representation, but lawful persuasion with legitimate facts and argument has a place in the debate. Labor's goal is to shut the employer out of the debate on selection of a representative. Only those who believe Labor's interests are congruent with all employees' interests can, with intellectual honesty, but still incorrectly believe shutting down employers' side of the debate is a good idea. Even mandated union access to company property and employees is less of an actual threat than elections being conducted so quickly as to preclude robust discussion of the adverse consequences of unionization.

ACORN ousts longtime local leader

Executive Director of Louisiana ACORN, Beth Butler, who also is reported to be the long time "companion" to ACORN founder Wade Rathke, was fired today. Butler had worked for ACORN for 37 years. Details here.

Survey - Why employees quit

Interesting survey on why employees say they leave a job, as compared to what employers think is the reason. Inadequate compensation tops the list. (Employees 56%, Employers 46%). Second and third highest reasons - inadequate professional development opportunity and, insufficient recognition. More after the jump.
Biggest gap - 38% of employers say poor relations with managers, but only 22% of employees specify that reason. Similarly 28% of employers believe stress and unfair treatment are reasons for quitting, while only 22% of employees say thats a reason. This is interesting. The results differ dramatically from the surveys on reasons employees seek unionization. Wage/benefit issues are usually low on those surveys with treatment by supervisors normally stated as the number one reason for seeking a union.  Is the explanation rooted in the personality of employees seeking more as compared with the less adventuresome seeking to insulate the status quo from unwanted management intrusion?

Unemployed!

Businessweek reports the unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds is a whopping 18%. A cover story entitled "The Lost Generation" notes only 46% of 16-24 year olds were employed last month.

PLA's discriminate

A Louisiana Weekly article makes a compelling case that Project Labor Agreements discriminate against Black owned construction companies which are 98% non-union. The article also explains the reason for the non-union status of those businesses. If unionized, they likely would be pressured into hiring employees from predominantly white union hiring halls.

Searcher finds nut

Someone has noticed the Louisiana Secretary of State's searchable corporation data base is useful. In addition to the information on Wade and Dale Rathke, a search for the term "ACORN" returns 4 pages of business organizations, many of which relate to ACORN's activities. A similar search for SEIU and Service Employees International Union turned up empty. But then there is a reason for that  . . . .

Unions snatching bodies anywhere

The Chicago Tribune has an interesting piece about the Teamsters moving beyond its traditional truck driving membership and the Steelworkers organizing healthcare facilities. Referenced in the article is the Oak Brook library we discussed here.

Labor fairing well in recession?

Reuters has an interesting article about how unions are weathering the economic slump. It says unions "represent" 17.8 million workers, 13.7% of the nation's workforce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the latest figures on union "membership" at 12.4% and 16.1 Million. The quoted numbers include the estimated 1.7 million employees who do not belong to a union even though it is their representative. The Reuters piece also quotes the BLS as its source for its claim that so far in 2009, there have been only 3 strikes involving over 1000 workers as compared to 15 in 2008 and 29 in 2001. First year wage increases were at 2.5%, down from last year's 3.7% increase.

Hospital hit for doctor's sexual harassment

A JDSupra poster has commented on a case tried in state court in New York involving sexual harassment. The jury returned a $15 million verdict against a hospital ( $8 million for past emotional distress, $5.5 Million for future emotional distress and $1.5 Million in punitive damages). Despite the doctor's persistent bad conduct, the trial judge reduced the award to $750,000 for past emotional distress.  Bianco v. Flushing Hospital Medical Center (Supreme Court, Queens County, Index # 18702/04).

Gross out

The SCOTUS opinion in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., No. 08-441, U.S. Supreme Court (June 18, 2009) is the subject of a new bill filed by Senators Harkin (D-IA), Leahy (D-Vt), and Congressman George Miller (D-CA). Their bill is patterned after the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The Act makes clear that when a victim shows age discrimination was a “motivating factor” behind a decision, the burden is on the employer to show it complied with the law.

AFL-CIO claims public sector victory

AFL-CIO blog claims "The 2010 Defense authorization congressional conference committee yesterday repealed the anti-worker National Security Personnel System (NSPS)." The blog claims the Bush era NSPS was "anti-worker," and "highly flawed."

NLRB announces . . . .

The NLRB's General Counsel's office has issued two Operations Management memorandum. The first sets the interest rate on back pay awards at 4%. The second announces a digital video for the public "that dramatically portrays representation case processing." This ought to be helpful in basic labor law courses. Doubtless it also is designed to counter some of the anecdotal criticism focusing on long delays favoring employers in representation matters.  With EFCA looming will version 2.0 be necessary soon?

Unions asked for concessions

Survival of the nations 15th largest newspaper (based on circulation) the Chicago Sun Times depends upon concessions from its unions.

Labor economists hate EFCA?

When I first saw the post on a survey of labor economists on the anti-union, anti EFCA site Unionfacts.com I read it as a "dog bites man" piece. But looking at the questions and the survey methodology (e-mail) something more remarkable than the touted results appears.
It is amazing that 36% of those surveyed favored card check and only 47% opposed federally appointed arbitrators imposing binding contracts covering wages, benefits and other issues. Granted labor economists might have a more nuanced view of EFCA, but this support is surprisingly high compared to surveys of the general public.

What is a majority?

The Hill reports (scroll down on the link) on labor activity anticipated as President Obama's team takes charge of the government. One of the interesting changes discussed is a change in election procedures under the Railway Labor Act which governs labor relations for railroads and airlines. In representation elections eligible voters who do not vote are counted as votes against unionization. To win an election a union must get a majority of the eligible voters to affirmatively vote for it. This makes some sense because a union's majority status is  the basis for permitting it to become the representative of the entire bargaining unit including those who object to representation. The interesting thing is elections under the NLRA are determined by the majority of the actual votes cast. It is fair to say the latter method seems to be the one embraced in most political contests and private majority rule contexts. More here.

In case you missed it - September

Its all the Rathkes' fault

ACORN's CEO Bertha Lewis claims Attorney General Buddy Caldwell's investigation and subpoena for information concerning an alleged missing $5 million dollars is based upon false information from two former ACORN board members. Ms. Lewis also says the organization is busy cleaning up the mess left by Wade Rathke, ACORN's founder and the $5 million dollar figure is based upon the estimate that it will cost that much over the next 2 years for lawyers, accountants and expenses associated with the clean up of the mess she inherited.

First PLA project announced

The Washington Times reports the announcement of a $35M New Hampshire federal construction project, the first under a PLA since the Clinton Administration.

PLA's fail stated goal

While campaigning last year, President Obama stated “we need to make sure the government uses project labor agreements to encourage completion of projects on time and on budget." Suffolk University economics professor David G. Tuerck penned an opinion piece in the Boston Globe which characterizes Project Labor Agreements [PLA's] as an Obama administration reward to labor. Key points: 1) PLA's have added 12 to 18 percent to school construction costs in Massachusetts and Connecticut, 2) during the PLA-free Bush administration no delays or cost overruns were reported to have occurred due to the absence of PLA's, 3) its "easy to find" delays or cost overruns on PLA projects. While this is not an apples to apples comparison it does make a point that PLA's don't assist the timely, on-budget completion of public construction projects.

UAW sabotaged Saturn

A Detroit News editorial blames both General Motors and the United Auto Workers for the pending demise of Saturn.

FTC issues endorsement rules for bloggers

The Federal Trade Commission has issued rules requiring bloggers to disclose the receipt of cash or in kind contributions from the subject of their reviews or endorsements. From the FTC release and the connection to unions after the jump:

"The revised guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement," the FTC said in a release. "Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

The new rules also require advertisers who use research studies they fund to disclose the funding. Two points here. First neither Nola Employers' Blog nor its blogger has received anything of value for this labor of love. Second, the big push to use Web 2.0 tools in union avoidance likely will be covered by the regulation. Blog "endorsements" supported by employers or unions for campaign purposes will be required to disclose any "material connections."