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IAM’s powerful contract | Equity in the WNBA | Discrimination at Amazon

Friday, December 13, 2024

 

STRIKES

► From Culinary Union (UNITE HERE 226):

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — Amazon gender discrimination lawsuit will proceed, judge rules — U.S. District Court Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle denied Amazon’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, writing that the e-commerce giant’s efforts to drop the complaint were “premature.” The case should proceed to the fact-finding discovery process, Whitehead ruled. The lawsuit, filed in November 2023, accused Amazon of systemically underpaying women by slotting them into lower job classifications than their male colleagues with similar qualifications and job descriptions. That meant female employees had a lower ceiling for the salary they could hope to achieve, the lawsuit alleged. The women, who are all from King County, according to court records, said they have since faced retaliation, including demotions and, in one case, termination.

► From the Seattle Times — Upper Columbia River in Northeast WA listed as a Superfund site — For a company operating outside the U.S., the answer to who pays for cleanup is a bit murkier. The Superfund listing marks another chapter in what has been a long, bitter battle to hold an international company accountable for pollution in the waters of the U.S. It also comes at a time when mining is ramping up in North America as minerals are needed to meet growing electricity demand and clean-power goals.

► From KIRO 7 — State fines insurance companies for violations of state laws — Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued a total of $576,500 in fines to insurance companies, agents, brokers, and unlicensed entities for violating state insurance laws and regulations in October and November 2024. Among the largest fines were $100,000 levied against PacificSource Health Plans for improperly processing claims, $130,000 against Delta Dental and its healthcare benefits manager, Wyssta, for improper claim denials, and $100,000 against Lemonade Insurance Company for using an incorrect base loss cost in property policies.

► From the Seattle Times — Here’s how Microsoft is tracking in-office work — Microsoft uses the data from badge swipes for its BELT system, according to internal memos viewed by The Seattle Times. BELT is a loose acronym for “Best Eight (Weeks) in Last Twelve (Weeks).” The system tracks employees two ways: by how many days someone visits their assigned office, and by how often they’re on campus. The BELT system doesn’t account for how many hours an employee spends in an office. Boeing recently canceled its workplace occupancy-monitoring program. The company was installing camera sensors in its offices to track how many people were coming in and how often they used specific spaces. Boeing paused and then canceled the program after The Seattle Times reported on it.

 

AEROSPACE

► From the Machinists — IAM Union’s Recent Contract Ratification at Boeing Helps Boost Pay and Benefits for Boeing South Carolina Workers — “Workers at other Boeing facilities deserve the same opportunity to improve their lives that the IAM Union has brought us,” said IAM District 751 President and Directing Business Representative Jon Holden.“Imagine the powerful changes we can achieve together: strengthening our work lives, ensuring fair treatment, and making Boeing successful by upholding the highest quality and safety standards. Joining the IAM Union means joining a united voice that fights for a better future for everyone. A future where every Boeing worker is treated with dignity and respect.”

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From Sports Illustrated — WNBA Players Aiming for Equity-Based Model in CBA Negotiations With League — “The union said it was hoping for a new economic model that transforms the current system, which imposes arbitrary and restrictive caps on the value and benefits of players. The players want an equity-based model that grows and evolves with the league’s increased business success. Other areas that the union would like to see improved include salaries, retirement benefits, better child care and family planning benefits.”

► From TAG 24 — New York Times reaches tentative agreement with tech workers union after Election Week strike — The New York Times Tech Guild – which represents around 600 data analysts, software engineers, product managers, designers, and more – announced the three-year tentative agreement on X [Twitter]. The union shared that major provisions of the deal include wage increases of up to 8.25%, just cause protections against termination, flexible hybrid work schedules, and protections for members on work visas.

► From MSN — Volkswagen offers 14% wage hike to Chattanooga workers amid union talks — “We’ve been bargaining for months, and VW is still not taking our demands seriously. With the record profits they’ve made and the dividend schemes they’ve used to pad the pockets of shareholders, there’s more than enough money for a record contract. The days of bargain-basement wages that exploit Chattanooga workers are over. The sooner VW realizes that, the sooner we can reach an agreement.” After a six-week strike in late 2023, the UAW achieved significant improvements for Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis employees, including a 25% wage increase and cost-of-living adjustments.

► From Teamsters:

NATIONAL

► From the Hollywood Reporter — Writers Guild Calls on Studios to Take “Immediate Legal Action” Against AI Companies — Leaders of the WGA West and East demanded that companies take “immediate legal action” against any firms that have used writers’ work to train AI tools in a letter sent to the chief executives of Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Paramount Global, NBCUniversal, Sony, Netflix and Amazon MGM Studios on Wednesday. “It’s time for the studios to come off the sidelines,” the letter stated. “After this industry has spent decades fighting piracy, it cannot stand idly by while tech companies steal full libraries of content for their own financial gain.”

► From the AP — Bank groups sue the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over a proposed cap on overdraft fees — The finalized rule applies to banks and credit unions that have more than $10 billion in assets, which includes the nation’s largest banks. Banks have previously sued the CFPB over these rules and caps on credit card late fees. Congress also has the ability to challenge or overturn the rule.

► From the LA Times — Column: Trump-friendly billionaires are taking aim at the federal agencies that protect workers and consumers — “If the law is against you, talk about the evidence. If the evidence is against you, talk about the law, and, … if the law and the evidence are both against you, then pound on the table and yell like hell.” Thus the poet Carl Sandburg’s version of an ancient lawyer’s adage in his epic poem, “The People, Yes.” It isn’t his fault that his rendering is incomplete, since he was writing in 1936 and the modern legal mind has cooked up a further advisory, applicable when the entity against you is a government agency: If pounding the table and yelling won’t succeed, then get your adversary declared unconstitutional. That’s the weapon being wielded at this moment against the National Labor Relations Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

► From Variety — IATSE Appoints Two Firearms Experts In the Wake of ‘Rust’ — The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has named Larry Zanoff, a longtime member of IATSE Local 44, who will serve as the firearms expert representing the Basic Agreement; and Brook Yeaton, prop master, armorer, and president of IATSE Local 478, who will serve in the same capacity but instead representing the Area Standards Agreement.

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the New York Times — Trump Backs Dockworkers Union Amid Risk of New Port Strike — Writing on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said that he had met with I.L.A. leaders and was sympathetic to their concerns. “I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it,” he wrote. “The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen.” The I.L.A. believes ports are using automation to reduce the number of workers needed to handle cargo.

► From the New York Times — I Traded My News Apps for Rumble, the Right-Wing YouTube. Here’s What I Saw. — As soon as President-elect Donald J. Trump won the presidential race, influencers on Rumble, the right-wing alternative to YouTube, flooded the platform with a simple catchphrase: “We are the media now.” After only one day, I could feel my perspective shifting. When I described to my wife what I was hearing on Rumble, she said I was right to feel uneasy because the world I was immersing myself in sounded genuinely awful. Hour by hour, Rumble’s hosts stoked fears about nearly everything: culture wars, transgender Americans and even a potential World War III.

► From KIMA — Washington State Senate Discusses Wildfire Prevention and Response — [Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz] stressed the importance of investing in firefighters to ensure they have the resources and support they need to fight these increasingly dangerous fires. “Invest in our firefighters, invest in our firefighters, invest in our firefighters. These are the men and women who are putting their lives on the line for complete strangers, and right now, we need them at the local, state, and federal level, and we need to not only be taking care of their physical health, but their mental health and investing in the resources they need,” Franz said.

 

INTERNATIONAL

► From ABC News — Canadian government asks labor board to intervene in Canada Post strike as Christmas nears — Canada’s labor minister announced Friday he is asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order about 55,000 striking Canada Post employees back to work after a four week work stoppage that disrupted mail service during the busy holiday season. Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon said if the board agrees the two sides are at an impasse, union members will be told to return to work until May, while an inquiry is launched to determine why the two sides cannot come to an agreement.

 

JOLT OF JOY

Today I’m sharing one of my favorite poems in honor of poet, activist, and educator Nikki Giovanni, who passed this week. A friend shared it with me during my first dark, cold winter in Seattle, a struggle season for girl from California.

Rest in power, Nikki Giovanni.

 

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