Amazon ignored injuries | Fighting deportation | 2024 for billionaires

Monday, December 16, 2024

STRIKES

► From NBC News 3 — NFL players union shares support for strike at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas — The NFL Players Association released a statement Friday saying it will “not sleep, eat, or drink at Virgin Las Vegas and encourage our fans and fellow athletes to do the same.” Hundreds of Culinary Union members have been on strike at the resort since last month because of unsuccessful bargaining talks. Their previous contract expired in 2023.

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — Patients mourn Virginia Mason Seattle birth center closure — Patel is one of about 100 patients who were impacted by the closure, including several who say they also faced frustrating and chaotic disruptions to their care. The news has, in addition, been painful for local obstetrics providers, who have watched their field suffer tough blows over the last few years as hospitals nationwide, including in more rural Washington counties, have cut their labor and delivery units or scaled back OB-GYN services, often citing unsustainable financial costs.

Previously at The STAND — Vigil at Virginia Mason (November 13. 2024)

► From the Bellingham Herald — Solar energy, new buses lead Bellingham Public Schools’ progress on sustainability goals — Dr. Baker told The Herald that investing in climate action projects can help create local jobs, build strong community connections, conserve natural resources, improve health and support financial savings. The district was awarded a $2.7 million grant last summer from the Washington State Department of Commerce to install solar panels on five of its schools. The DOC Community Decarbonization Grant, as it’s called, will cover the complete cost of the installation at Options High School, Shuksan Middle School and Alderwood, Cordata and Happy Valley elementary schools.

AEROSPACE

► From MSN — Trump Needs a New FAA Boss. What That Means for Musk, Boeing, Delta, and the Airlines. — Musk has been embroiled in a bitter row with the FAA over his rocket company SpaceX. In September, the regulator proposed fining SpaceX $633,009 in civil penalties for allegedly failing to follow license requirements during two rocket launches in 2023. U.S. airlines will also be taking great interest in the hiring process. Major carriers have long complained about air-traffic controller shortages at the FAA and will be keen to see the new boss taking action on the issue.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From FOX Business — Costco rejects union demands as contract deadline looms — The Teamsters on Thursday announced that the company rejected 98% of the contract provisions it proposed, including language on seniority, inclement weather, paid family leave, bereavement policies, sick time and safeguards against surveillance. “Our message is clear: if you are a ‘worker-friendly’ company, it’s time to stop the bullying, intimidation, and harassment. And if you claim to be ‘pro-worker,’ then prove it at the bargaining table. If management does not get serious, we are ready to fight like hell to get the contract that our members deserve,” O’Brien added.

► From the Waterbury Roundabout — Ben & Jerry’s employees lock in their first three-year union contract — More than 300 employees at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream plants in Waterbury and St. Albans recently ratified their first ever union contract. The workers, new members of the UFCW Local 371, voted to accept the contract on Nov. 26, according to union and company officials. Prior to contract negotiations, the employees earlier this year went through the union-recognition process with Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever.

► From the Hill — Amazon union authorizes strike at 2 New York warehouses — “Amazon Teamsters at two New York City facilities — JFK8 and DBK4 — have voted overwhelmingly to authorize strikes following Amazon’s illegal refusal to recognize their union and negotiate a contract addressing the company’s low wages and dangerous working conditions,” Teamsters wrote in a post on the social platform X Friday.

► From Amazon Teamsters:

We are ready to strike to stop Amazon’s unfair labor practices. Amazon is legally required to bargain a union contract that addresses our low pay and unsafe working conditions. We are going to hold this company accountable. Click the link to get started organizing your facility! pic.twitter.com/rENubmm2Tm

— Amazon Teamsters (@amazonteamsters) December 16, 2024

ORGANIZING

► From the LA Times — Amid intimidation claims, Wells Fargo investigators vote to unionize — Wells Fargo employees who review customer complaints and workplace issues have voted to unionize. The move is the latest in a campaign to organize workers at the San Francisco bank, which is notable in an industry that historically has had low rates of unionization. The lead-up to the vote was contentious. After workers announced in early September their intent to hold a vote, bank officials disparaged the union drive in meetings and in emails to employees, current and former members of the conduct management department told The Times in interviews. On Oct. 1, the bank laid off 11 employees in the department.

► From Jacobin — Whole Foods Workers in Philadelphia Are Unionizing — Amazon has gained a reputation as a notoriously anti-union employer as it has faced down a growing swell of unionization efforts from its workforce across the country. Now the corporation is contending with union drives not just among its own warehouse workers and delivery drivers but from its prominent grocery subsidiary as well. Workers at the Philly store say they were driven to organize by low wages and what they describe as worsening conditions since Amazon took over Whole Foods.

READY FOR A VOICE AT WORK? Get more information about how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!

NATIONAL

► From Jacobin — A Working-Class History of Fighting Deportations — Organizers of the past fought deportation threats just as we do today, and their experiences offer valuable insights for our present situation. Not only did they show tremendous perseverance in the face of direct threats to migrants, but these organizers also envisioned a future of greater equality, working-class rights, and social solidarity — and proposed ways to get there. Increased immigration repression has a way of making the bones of the system easier to see and the reasons for changing it abundantly clear.

► From the Washington Post — Deny and delay: The practices fueling anger at U.S. health insurers — Every year, health insurance companies deny tens of millions of patient claims for medical expense reimbursements, and the tide of those denials has been rising, according to surveys of doctors and other health-care providers. Insurers also have been increasingly demanding that doctors obtain approval before providing treatment, similar surveys show, causing delays in patient care that the American Medical Association says are “devastating.” “People are mad because it’s all a big secret,” Benjamin said. “It’s unfair for us as a society, on something that’s so visceral, to trust giant corporations that make money when they deny care. This is why people are so, so very angry.”

► From the AP — Federal Reserve is likely to slow its rate cuts with inflation pressures still elevated — The officials are set to reduce their benchmark rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, by a quarter-point to about 4.3% when their meeting ends Wednesday. At that level, the rate would be a full point below the four-decade high it reached in July 2023. The problem is that while inflation has dropped far below its peak of 9.1% in mid-2022, it remains stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target. As a result, the Fed, led by Chair Jerome Powell, is expected Wednesday to signal a shift to a more gradual approach to rate cuts in 2025.

► From the New York Times — Sudden Loss of Undocumented Workers Threw Tech Supplier Into Upheaval — The upheaval caused the company to fall behind on both existing orders and bids for new business, costing it up to $50 million, according to interviews and allegations in an ongoing lawsuit against the staffing agency. Jabil claimed that the loss of the workers strained its ties with its customer, harming a long-term relationship that had quadrupled in value in recent years. Jabil said it was placed on a new business hold by that customer, and a potential expansion into Taiwan fell apart.

► From Common Dreams — Ghastly Glimpses of America’s Most Rich-People-Friendly Year — Of the world’s 15 largest personal fortunes, 14 currently belong to Americans. All these 14 will be stepping into 2025 with at least $100 billion in personal assets. Amid the ranks of America’s up-and-coming ultra-rich, in other words, $100-billion fortunes have suddenly become eminently imaginable. For the rest of us, a personal fortune of a mere single billion remains utterly unimaginable. An American with a job annually paying $75,000 would have to labor over 13,000 years to amass enough pay stubs to equal that singular billion.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the New York Times — Amazon Disregarded Internal Warnings on Injuries, Senate Investigation Claims — Internal company documents collected by Mr. Sanders’s investigators show that Amazon health and safety personnel recommended relaxing enforcement of the production quotas to lower injury rates, but that senior executives rejected the recommendations apparently because they worried about the effect on the company’s performance. The report also affirmed the findings of investigations undertaken by a union-backed group showing that injury rates at Amazon were almost twice the average for the rest of the industry.

► From CNBC — Senate plans to vote on bill that would increase Social Security benefits for some pensioners — At a Wednesday rally on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, promised to put the bill up for a vote. “I am here to tell you the Senate is going to take action,” Schumer said, prompting cheers from the crowd including fire fighters, police, postal workers, teachers and other government employees, who stood outside the Capitol building in the rain. “I got all my Democrats lined up to support it,” said Schumer, adding they need 15 Republicans.

► From the Guardian — Trump eyes privatizing United States Postal Service during second term — Trump’s specific plans for possibly overhauling the USPS and privatizing it were not immediately clear. But he feuded with the agency during his first presidency, seeking to compel it to turn over key functions – including labor relations, managing relationships with its largest clients, rate-setting and personnel matters – to the federal treasury department.

► From the Washington Post — Elon Musk put $277 million into the election. He’s $200 billion richer this year. — The bulk of the increase, more than $170 billion, has come since Election Day. Trump’s election sent stock in electric-vehicle maker Tesla, a company central to Musk’s wealth and where he is CEO, soaring. Shares were trading at prices about 70 percent higher on Friday than on Election Day.

► From the Olympian — City Council member Cooper expresses frustration with slow movement on $20 minimum wage proposal — He and Finance Committee chair Lisa Parshley, who is vacating her post after being elected to the state Legislature, requested that the council’s conversation on minimum wage and the Bill of Rights during the council’s Jan. 24-25 retreat specifically address next steps for adopting the proposal, and not for it to get lost in the shuffle. The Olympia City Council formally discussed the minimum wage and Workers’ Bill of Rights proposal on Oct. 22. The proposal includes raising the minimum wage to $20.29 with inflation.

► From the Washington State Standard — A guide to understanding the Washington state budget — What is the budget? Well, it’s actually three. Every two years, legislators must write an operating, a transportation and a capital budget to fund government operations and authorize state agencies’ spending.

INTERNATIONAL

► From the AP — Canada Post says operations to resume after nearly a monthlong strike — The federal government moved Friday to end the stoppage after Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon announced referring the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, an independent administrative tribunal that focuses on resolving workplace disputes. However, the board determined late Sunday that negotiations are at an impasse after two days of hearings and ordered the nearly 55,000 workers to return to work. This will also extend the current collective agreement until May 22, 2025.

The Stand posts links to local, national and international labor news weekday mornings. The next edition of The Stand will be January 6, 2025. Subscribe to get daily news in your inbox.