United planes weren’t flying the friendly skies today—at least in terms of labor relations. A majority of the 9,000 mechanics at United Continental Holdings Inc. voted to reject a new labor contract. The Teamsters members turned down the six-and-a-half year deal, which would have increased salaries for top mechanics but created a “B-scale” with different wages and days off for mechanics hired after the contract went into effect. The United mechanics are in good company. According to the Wall Street Journal, pilots at Delta and flight attendants at Southwest also rejected proposals in the last year.
Almost 50 carwash workers in Brooklyn voted to unionize, becoming the largest union in the industry nationwide. SLS Car Wash is the 11th carwash to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, reports New York Daily News. The carwasheros seek a contract with minimum wages, tips, overtime, fair scheduling, paid personal days ad other protections—a far cry from the 80-hour weeks and exposure to dangerous chemicals they endured before the union.
Reporters continue to hypothesize about the future for organized labor without Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court. Charlotte Garden at the Atlantic forecasts the Friedrichs decision, and Justin Miller at the American Prospect imagines how Friedrichs will affect other anti-union cases. Politico asks if organized labor will like President Obama’s next nominee, especially if he chooses frontrunner Sri Srinivasan. But Labor is unlikely to affect the nomination, given the president’s past willingness to break from unions on other major issues.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
July 14
More circuits weigh in on two-step certification; Uber challengers Seattle deactivation ordinance.
July 13
APWU and USPS ratify a new contract, ICE barred from racial profiling in Los Angeles, and the fight continues over the dismantling of NIOSH
July 11
Regional director orders election without Board quorum; 9th Circuit pauses injunction on Executive Order; Driverless car legislation in Massachusetts
July 10
Wisconsin Supreme Court holds UW Health nurses are not covered by Wisconsin’s Labor Peace Act; a district judge denies the request to stay an injunction pending appeal; the NFLPA appeals an arbitration decision.
July 9
the Supreme Court allows Trump to proceed with mass firings; Secretary of Agriculture suggests Medicaid recipients replace deported migrant farmworkers; DHS ends TPS for Nicaragua and Honduras
July 8
In today’s news and commentary, Apple wins at the Fifth Circuit against the NLRB, Florida enacts a noncompete-friendly law, and complications with the No Tax on Tips in the Big Beautiful Bill. Apple won an appeal overturning a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that the company violated labor law by coercively questioning an employee […]