Continuing with our State of the Union coverage, Dave Jamieson at the Huffington Post writes about one of President Obama’s most important labor initiatives: defining which workers are entitled to overtime pay. The Department of Labor is likely to release revised rules on overtime next month, the result of a year-long revision process, according to the Post.
Air France has announced that it will cut 800 jobs over the next three years, according to the New York Times. The airline will also reduce salaries over the same timeframe. Air France will explain the details of its plan to its works council at a special meeting on February 5th.
Politico reports that mental health workers represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers are asking Kaiser Permanente to return to the bargaining table. According to NPR, 2,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente have been on strike for the past week. The workers ended this strike this past Monday, before requesting more bargaining.
More locally, the New York Times reports that workers at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market in the Bronx approved a new three-year contract on Wednesday. 97 percent of workers, who are represented by Teamsters local 202, approved the new contract. The new contract would raise wages and would increase the merchant’s contribution to workers’ health plans.
On Wednesday, FedEx announced that the Teamsters lost a “ballot among drivers at a FedEx freight facility” and withdrew another ballot, according to the New York Times. The Teamster’s organizing drive at FedEx’s freight facilities is part of a renewed organizing effort following the Teamster’s first ballot win among FedEx’s freight workers in October. That win came after decades of failed attempts to organize FedEx employees, according to the Times.
Daily News & Commentary
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October 14
Census Bureau layoffs, Amazon holiday hiring, and the final settlement in a meat producer wage-fixing lawsuit.
October 13
Texas hotel workers ratify a contract; Pope Leo visits labor leaders; Kaiser lays off over two hundred workers.
October 12
The Trump Administration fires thousands of federal workers; AFGE files a supplemental motion to pause the Administration’s mass firings; Democratic legislators harden their resolve during the government shutdown.
October 10
California bans algorithmic price-fixing; New York City Council passes pay transparency bills; and FEMA questions staff who signed a whistleblowing letter.
October 9
Equity and the Broadway League resume talks amid a looming strike; federal judge lets alcoholism ADA suit proceed; Philadelphia agrees to pay $40,000 to resolve a First Amendment retaliation case.
October 8
In today’s news and commentary, the Trump administration threatens no back pay for furloughed federal workers; the Second Circuit denies a request from the NFL for an en banc review in the Brian Flores case; and Governor Gavin Newsom signs an agreement to create a pathway for unionization for Uber and Lyft drivers.