#national-labor-relations-board

#national-labor-relations-board

After nearly two decades of outrageous burgers served to loud metal and punk music, Kuma's Corner is making some changes at its original location in Avondale and its Fulton Market outpost.At the Avondale location, Kuma's will make more use of its service window to sell frozen desserts.They're calling the operation Voodoobar to sell seasonal selections like mint and strawberry gelato cookie sandwiches, caramel nut fudge and churro gelato bars, and lemon and mango Italian ice.

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day-but your help is essential.If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us.Thanks for your support!Good Morning, Portland!It is gently dusting snow at this very moment.

Jennifer Bates stands for a portrait at the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) office in Birmingham, Alabama on March 26, 2021.PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP via Getty Images Amazon on Friday fired Jennifer Bates, a warehouse worker and lead spokesperson of the unionization campaign in Bessemer, Alabama, without cause.

Cheech Manohar, a writer and actor, strikes with other members of the Writers Guild of America outside of NBC/Universal Studios in Universal City on May 4, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
This story was originally published by Labor Notes.The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Glacier Northwest v. Teamsters Local 174 is outrageous - valuing property over workers' rights.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took aim at GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on Wednesday after Mullin accused the self-proclaimed democratic socialist of making millions of dollars in the free market economy a common jab at Sanders from the right.Mullin went after Sanders during a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in which Sanders grilled former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz over the company's union-busting efforts.

An aerial view shows cars parked at the Tesla Fremont Factory in Fremont, California, on February 10, 2022.Josh Edelson / AFP via Getty Images Tesla workers in Buffalo, New York, are seeking to form the company's first union, the workers announced on Tuesday, with help from leaders of the Starbucks union effort that has seen prodigious success over the past two years.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Schultz has given us no choice but to subpoena him," Sanders said.Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz speaks during the Starbucks annual shareholders meeting March 18, 2015, in Seattle, Washington.Stephen Brashear / Getty Images Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced on Wednesday that he is setting up a vote on subpoenaing Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz after Schultz refused Sanders's request to testify about the company's rampant union busting last month.

Photo courtesy of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
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Employees at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Park Slope are looking to unionize, making them the second New York City branch of the book emporium to organize, they announced Thursday.

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles office of the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint Thursday against USC, the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA, alleging that the three joint employers have maintained unlawful rules by "misclassifying" college athletes in men's and women's basketball and football as "student-athletes" rather than employees who are entitled to protections under the National Labor Relations Act.

Employees at the New York office of architecture firm Snøhetta have announced a bid to unionise the studio, which would make it the second private-sector architecture studio in the United States to do so.Early this week, workers at Snøhetta's New York office announced that they had filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) - a first step in the process to formalise a business place's relationship with a union.

In a sweeping decision, an administrative judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that Starbucks had violated federal labor law dozens of times in responding to a union campaign in the Buffalo area shortly after the campaign began roughly 18 months ago.Michael A. Rosas, a judge for the National Labor Relations Board, concluded that Starbucks had illegally monitored, disciplined and fired employees engaged in union organizing; added workers to stores to dilute support for the union; and promised new benefits to workers in an attempt to defuse support for the union.

Apple will conduct an assessment of its U.S. labor practices under an agreement with a coalition of investors that includes five New York City pension funds.The assessment will focus on whether Apple is complying with its official human rights policy as it relates to workers' freedom of association and collective bargaining rights in the United States, the company said in a filing last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Starbucks violated labor law last summer when it fired a barista who helped organize a union at his Hyde Park coffee shop, a judge for the National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday.The coffee giant also illegally threatened workers at the Hyde Park cafe and another location in Edgewater last year, administrative law judge Geoffrey Carter ruled.

Local tortilleria El Milagro told workers they could lose their jobs if they engaged in collective action, labor board officials alleged in a complaint filed Wednesday.Chicago officials with the National Labor Relations Board found merit to allegations that El Milagro threatened employees with the loss of their jobs, vacations or other benefits if they continued to engage in concerted action, or that tortilla production facilities could close.

Baristas at La Colombe's Gold Coast cafe voted 12-0 to unionize Monday, joining the steady drip of coffee shop unionizations that have taken hold in Chicago over the last year.The Gold Coast baristas are the first La Colombe coffee shop workers in Chicago to unionize; their vote comes after employees at one of the company's D.C. locations voted to unionize in December, according to labor board records.

Following two days of casting ballots - and years of grassroots organizing - Northwestern University graduate students voted Thursday to unionize and will join the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America."On Day 99 of being affiliated with UE, we got our ballot count," said Sara Bowden, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in music theory and cognition and co-chair of Northwestern University Graduate Workers.

Unionization efforts at the 170-year-old California Academy of Sciences have hit a snag with management refusing to voluntarily recognize the union, according to the union's leadership.This will force the union to campaign and win an election from the majority of the museum's 500 workers.In an email received by the CalAcademy Workers United leadership Monday, the museum's senior management also rejected the union's request for "non-interference and neutrality" in the union's campaign, which means managers can attempt to sway workers against the union.

Four former dancers are suing a River North strip club, alleging management regularly allowed customers to physically and sexually assault them at work.The dancers' suit alleges that the strip club, Rick's Cabaret Chicago at 1531 N. Kingsbury St., "knowingly fostered a hostile work environment" by allowing customers to commit "egregious assaults and batteries on female dancers, including grabbing and groping dancers' intimate private areas under their clothing, slapping dancers, exposing their genitals, biting, choking and other outrageous and criminal acts."

More than 600 adjunct professors and lecturers at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago voted to unionize Tuesday, doubling the size of the city's first major museum union.The Art Institute of Chicago Workers United already represents about 600 staff members at both the museum and its affiliated school.

Star Garden, a North Hollywood topless dive bar, violated labor law when it fired three strippers and locked out 15 others for raising concerns about their health and safety, the National Labor Relations Board said.Star Garden and its workers grabbed headlines when dancers began picketing outside the club and dissuading customers from entering by describing conditions they said were unsafe.

Chipotle Mexican Grill will pay a total $240,000 in salary and back pay to the former employees of an Augusta, Maine, restaurant that the company shuttered after the workers tried to unionize.The settlement payouts which are based on pay rates, average hours and seniority will range between $5,800 to more than $21,000 to each of the affected employees.

It was the most sweeping intervention by a court in the 18-month campaign to unionize Starbucks: Last week, a federal judge in Michigan issued an order blocking Starbucks from firing any U.S. worker because they engaged in collective action, like seeking to form a union.Union supporters cheered.Starbucks seemed taken aback, calling the order extraordinary and unwarranted and denying that the company had broken the law.

Schultz was slated to be subpoenaed by a Senate committee led by Sanders this week.CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz sits off stage to listen to soon-to-be Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan at Investor Day in Seattle, Washington, on September 13, 2022.Melina Mara / The Washington Post via Getty Images Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has agreed to testify before the Senate labor committee after committee chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) threatened to subpoena the executive to appear in a hearing on the company's rampant union busting later this month.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has scheduled an April 18 hearing with New Seasons Market in response to filed complaints alleging unfair labor practices, according to the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555, the union that represents New Seasons Market workers.Local 555 filed complaints against New Seasons in July 2022 alleging " coercive statements" were made in the lead-up to the union election at the Orenco Station store, during which workers voted 60-37 in opposition of the union.

Graduate students at the University of Chicago voted overwhelmingly to unionize following a ballot count held Thursday by the National Labor Relations Board, the latest such vote in a swell of organizing at universities across the country.The U. of C. graduate students' vote comes on the heels of a union victory in January at Northwestern University, where graduate students are also represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.

The tech industry has been roiled by waves of layoffs, with tens of thousands of workers losing their jobs in recent months.After Tesla billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter in October, he abruptly slashed nearly half its workforce, then went back for more.But all that upheaval may lead to stronger layoff protections for millions of California workers.

Unionization among Canadian Starbucks employees is starting to gain traction, organizers say, but much like their U.S. counterparts, workers face barriers and alleged anti-union activity by the coffee giant.More than a year before the recent wave of Starbucks unionization in the U.S. began, a store in Victoria unionized with the United Steelworkers in August 2020  and workers across the country took note.

Starbucks announced late Monday that it will soon shutter yet another unionized location - this time the Seattle shop that was the first to unionize in the coffee giant's home city.While Starbucks said in a statement that the planned closure is due to "safety and security" concerns, workers and union representatives characterized the decision as clearly retaliatory given the Broadway East and Denny Way's status as the first organized shop in the city where Starbucks was founded and is currently headquartered.

Workers at a Trader Joe's store in Brooklyn have voted against unionizing, handing a union its first loss at the company after two victories this year.The workers voted 94 to 66 against joining Trader Joe's United, an independent union that represents employees at stores in Western Massachusetts and Minneapolis.

Temple University has cut off striking graduate student workers' health coverage and is demanding they pay tuition by March 9.
"The withdrawal of a tuition waiver is unprecedented," wrote Andrew Crook, an American Federation of Teachers spokesman, in an email.Temple said its records show that more than 80 percent of the graduate student union members weren't striking as of Thursday-the day after it emailed the demand to pay tuition.

Local "If the company won't bargain in good faith, why should we come to work where we are understaffed, underpaid and overworked?"
Starbucks workers at more than 100 U.S. stores say they're going on strike Thursday in what would be the largest labor action since a campaign to unionize the company's stores began late last year.

The union has filed a complaint saying that the firings were retaliation for unionizing.Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands on the construction site of a Tesla factory in Brandenburg, Germany, on May 17, 2021.Christophe Gateau / picture alliance via Getty Images Dozens of Tesla workers in Buffalo, New York, were fired the day after workers announced their unionization campaign, a move that the union says amounts to illegal union busting.

Labor advocates say employers' willingness to break laws in union campaigns suggests labor laws must be strengthened.Amazon Labor Union organizers hold signs outside of the LDJ5 Amazon Sort Center on April 25, 2022, in New York City.Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images Employers are being charged with breaking the law in a huge portion of union elections, a new analysis shows, as union membership hits a record low across the U.S.
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), employers were charged with breaking the law in 39 percent of union elections filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) between 2019 and 2022.

The deal includes minimum salary increases and commitments to expand resources for student wellness.A sign sits in a planter as educators picket at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) on January 20, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.Scott Olson / Getty Images Faculty members at the University of Illinois Chicago suspended their strike on Sunday after reaching a tentative deal with school administrators that includes minimum salary increases for both tenure-track and non-tenure-track staff.

The fact that the number of union members grew points to the growing strength of the labor movement.Members of the Amazon Labor Union and others protest outside of the New York Times DealBook Summit on November 30, 2022, in New York City.Spencer Platt / Getty Images Despite the remarkable successes of the resurging labor movement in recent years, newly released data shows that union membership hit an all-time low in 2022 - demonstrating the dire need for pro-worker reforms in labor laws, advocates say.

Staff at Activision Blizzard-owned video game studio Proletariat - whose name is a term for the working class - announced their intention to form a union in December of last year."Well, what'd you expect?" the Proletariat Workers Alliance wrote on Twitter at the time.Earlier this week, however, Proletariat leadership shared an update: Instead of voluntarily recognizing the union, it will conduct an anonymous vote through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The video game industry in North America just got its biggest labor union, composed of 306 quality assurance workers at Microsoft-owned ZeniMax.The tech giant approved the union following a vote Tuesday, after promising last June that it would respect workers' rights to unionize.Tech is not your friend.

The Supreme Court has issued numerous anti-union rulings in the past few years, in line with its far right shift.A U.S. Supreme Court police officer stands guard on the steps of the court in Washington, D.C. on December 28, 2022.Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case that has the potential to upend the ability of unions to strike without facing retaliatory lawsuits from corporations.

A federal labor official on Wednesday rejected Amazon's attempt to overturn a union victory at a warehouse on Staten Island, removing a key obstacle to contract negotiations between the union and the company.The official, a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, found that there was a lack of evidence to support Amazon's claim of election improprieties and that its objections to the election should be overruled.

This is the first time the NLRB has filed a complaint over the company's refusal to bargain with multiple stores.From left, Kit Kittleson, Josie Serrano and Misha Spencer hold picket signs as they strike in front of a Starbucks in Long Beach on December 16, 2022.Brittany Murray / MediaNews Group / Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images In a new filing issued by federal labor prosecutors this week, the labor board is alleging that Starbucks's refusal to bargain with unionized stores in the Pacific Northwest constitutes illegal anti-union activity in the first of what could be many similar complaints to come.

Organized labor claimed one of its biggest victories at a U.S. tech company on Tuesday, gaining a foothold among about 300 employees at a video game maker owned by Microsoft.The Communications Workers of America, which will represent the employees, announced the result, and Microsoft issued a statement recognizing the outcome.

The union celebrated the funding proposal but said it was the bare minimum to keep the agency afloat.NLRB / Truthout After months of advocacy from pro-labor groups and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) union members, members of Congress have included a modest funding boost for the NLRB in the must-pass omnibus funding bill, which the NLRB union says will help stave off major funding problems in the short term.

The findings suggest that it would be a politically popular move for Congress to act in support of the labor movement.Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images As labor regulators fight for increased funding for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and activists wrap up a watershed year for the labor movement, new polling finds that a majority of voters support the movement's goals and are in favor of upping the agency budget and increasing penalties for employers that violate labor laws.

Apple has been accused of creating its own labor organization to prevent workers from forming an employee-run union, according to a complaint filed on Friday.The Communications Workers of America (CWA) filed a complaint with the federal US National Labor Relations Board charging Apple with unfair labor practices.

The NLRB has ruled that employers who illegally fire workers are on the hook for consequences like credit card debt.The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled this week that companies that illegally fire workers will face an expanded set of penalties for the action, aimed at deterring companies from committing unfair labor practices and helping workers bounce back after being unexpectedly fired.

The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an important memo  that calls for regulators to protect workers against what she described as "unlawful electronic surveillance and automated management practices."The NLRB is the independent federal agency charged with defending the collective bargaining rights of workers.

As of Monday afternoon, workers at more than half of all New Seasons grocery stores in the Portland Metro area have moved to unionize.A New Seasons store in Beaverton's Cedar Hills neighborhood became the tenth to file a petition to hold a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Monday.

Workers at more than 100 U.S. Starbucks stores are on strike Thursday in their largest labour action since a campaign to unionize the company's stores began late last year.The walkouts coincide with Starbucks' annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives free reusable cups to customers who order a holiday drink.

Workers for more than 100 Starbucks locations nationwide are staging a strike on the company's "Red Cup Day" on Thursday in protest of union-busting tactics that the company has relentlessly unleashed on pro-union workers.The "Red Cup Rebellion," as workers have dubbed it, will see more than 2,000 workers on strike , the union says, with 112 stores on strike in dozens of cities from coast to coast .

On Thursday, HarperCollins' unionized workers began an open-ended strike in protest of management's refusal to agree to a fair contract.This open-ended strike comes a few months after a one-day strike the workers held this past July.Employees at one of the world's largest publishing houses have been without a contract since April, and they have also filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic drove a wave of working from home, companies have been relentless in their efforts to digitally police and spy on remote employees by using what's known as "bossware."That's the pejorative name for software that tracks the websites an employee visits, screenshots their computer screens, and even records their faces and voices.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's suggestion to a pro-union worker earlier this year that they should "work somewhere else" constituted an illegal threat, labor officials are alleging.During between Schultz and Long Beach, California, workers in April, Schultz told pro-union worker  Madison Hall, "I'm sensing a lot of anger from you about Starbucks."

Workers at the New York City Starbucks Reserve Roastery in the Meatpacking District have been on strike since the beginning of last week against unsafe work conditions and the multi-billion dollar corporation's refusal to bargain in good faith with the union for a first contract.The striking workers note how managers at one of Starbucks's flagship stores refuse to address work conditions that are proving to be health hazards: the store had a recent outbreak of bedbugs in the break room and there has been black mold in the ice machines for months.