Skip to main content

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A development the past few weeks in regard to a potential union forming at a newspaper in Dallas is worth an in depth read.  In a right to work state like Texas (which is not overly unionized), this potential formation of a union at The Dallas Morning News is worth watching closely.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Union Brewing at Dallas’ Largest Newspaper 

A few weeks ago, it was announced that a union was forming at Dallas’ largest newspaper, The Dallas Morning News.   This potential union, a combination of 100 employees from The Dallas Morning News and Al Día Dallas, have several grievances including a claim that their employer failed to provide them personal protective equipment quickly enough which resulted in employees being exposed to tear gas while covering stories the past few months.  According to these employees, workers at other news outlets were provided this equipment.  While The Dallas Morning Mews has previously fought back against a union forming before, it will be interesting to see what comes of this particular effort.


Following the Longest Lag in a Minimum Wage Hike, Is Now the Time?

Aimee Picchi at CBS News wrote an article earlier this week noting that since the last minimum wage hike eleven years ago, perhaps now is the time for an increase.  Of note, this is the longest “break” in hikes to the federal minimum wage rate, since the minimum wage rate was bumped up to $7.25/hour back in July of 2009.  With a report out earlier this week that Austin, Texas is the least affordable city to live in (on a minimum wage salary), Picchi suggests that notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic, perhaps now is the time to increase the federal minimum wage rate.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo

Happening Tomorrow: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Increases

For those employers and employees alike in Connecticut, mark your calendars as tomorrow, the minimum wage rate increases in the state from $13/hour to $14/hour. This wage hike comes after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had signed Public Act 19-4 into law in 2019 which progressively raised the state’s hourly minimum wage rate every year for five years.  In fact, next year, the hourly wage rate will top out at $15/hour.  Beginning in January of 2024, the hourly wage rate will be indexed to the employment cost index. For additional information:   https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Reminds-Residents-That-Minimum-Wage-Is-Scheduled-To-Increase-on-Friday

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa