The ride sharing app Uber is recruiting veterans to work as drivers, the Boston Globe reports. Uber representatives attended a veteran job fair in Boston last week to pitch the company to former service members looking for work. The recruitment effort is part of the company’s new UberMILITARY strategy, an attempt to hire 50,000 new drivers who are affiliated with the armed services. Cities and taxi companies have challenged Uber, and the company remains controversial as On Labor has reported.
Union leaders are calling on the Obama administration to provide greater protections against the Ebola virus for U.S. workers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, asked President Obama to implement mandatory national protection standards and to protect workers who raised health and safety concerns from employer retaliation. The Service Employees International Union, which represents airport employees, has conducted its own safety training for its members.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie said yesterday that he’s “tired of hearing about the minimum wage,” while addressing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s legal reform. Governor Christie went on to say: “I don’t think there’s a mother or father sitting around a kitchen table tonight in America who are saying, “You know, honey, if our son or daughter could just make a higher minimum wage, my God, all our dreams would be realized.” Politico points out that 69% of minimum wage workers are 20 years or older, while 44% are 25 or older.
In South Korea, workers at Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilding company, have endorsed a possible strike. The Wall Street Journal reports that two-thirds of the Hyundai’s employees voted to strike over wage and benefit issues. The unionized members are asking for a 6.5 percent pay increase and a one-time bonus after the company began cutting bonus and overtime pay last year.
Daily News & Commentary
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February 15
The Office of Personnel Management directs federal agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreements, and Indian farmworkers engage in a one-day strike to protest a trade deal with the United States.
February 13
Sex workers in Nevada fight to become the nation’s first to unionize; industry groups push NLRB to establish a more business-friendly test for independent contractor status; and UFCW launches an anti-AI price setting in grocery store campaign.
February 12
Teamsters sue UPS over buyout program; flight attendants and pilots call for leadership change at American Airlines; and Argentina considers major labor reforms despite forceful opposition.
February 11
Hollywood begins negotiations for a new labor agreement with writers and actors; the EEOC launches an investigation into Nike’s DEI programs and potential discrimination against white workers; and Mayor Mamdani circulates a memo regarding the city’s Economic Development Corporation.
February 10
San Francisco teachers walk out; NLRB reverses course on SpaceX; NYC nurses secure tentative agreements.
February 9
FTC argues DEI is anticompetitive collusion, Supreme Court may decide scope of exception to forced arbitration, NJ pauses ABC test rule.