Skip to main content

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

Rounding out a rather busy month, I wanted to take a moment to look back at two big events that have been evolving over the past few week.  Readers might have seen hazard/hero pay become a major talking point in some circles as local ordinances have recently been passed requiring additional pay for certain front line workers...much to the chagrin of employers.  On the other side of the coin, a union election underway at an Amazon location in Alabama has started to garner attention given the increased scrutiny it has received.  However, the noticeable silence by one major political figure has caught the eye of some observers.

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


Protests Arise Over Long Beach Grocery Store Closures

A few weeks ago, the Long Beach City Council enacted an ordinance that will require large grocery stores in the area to pay their employees an additional $4/hour as a result of working during the coronavirus pandemic.  Around that same time that this ordinance was approved, Krogers announced it would be closing several Long Beach locations.  Despite criticism of the timing of this announcement, Krogers stated the announced closures had nothing to do with the City Council’s ordinance but instead because of the stores being underperforming.  As Crystal Niebla at The Long Beach Post News reports, a few protests have recently started urging customers in the area to boycott these stores on the grounds that they are being closed as a direct result of not wanting to comply with the City Council’s ordinance.


As Alabama Amazon Union Election Gets Underway, White House Stays Relatively Silent

With a union election underway at an Bessemer, Alabama Amazon location, many eyes have turned to how the election will play out given Amazon’s prior successful efforts to keep unions out of its U.S. locations.  As some might recall, despite Amazon’s request to conduct the election in person or to delay it until it was safe to do so, that request was denied and a mail in election was authorized.  Therefore, eligible employees at this Alabama location have a ballot deadline of March 29th to submit their preference on whether to unionize.  While some politicians have voiced their support for unionization efforts, there has been noticeable silence from the White House.  This decision to stay relatively removed from the process has surprised some as President Joe Biden had campaigned on a promise to be a friend to unions if he were elected.  Although there is still time for President Biden to jump into the fray, his decision to stay removed is noticeable.

Comments

Post a Comment

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,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more