Skip to main content

What I’ve Been Reading This Week


Perhaps this could of been an Amazon dedicated post if not for the first article I highlighted   With that being said, all three articles are worth a read and provide a few different topics were noting.  Whether readers are interested in union elections or workplace coronavirus policies, I would suggest giving all three articles a read.

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


Seattle City Council Passes Resolution Supporting Unionization Efforts at Starbucks

In a resolution that is really nothing more than a symbolic gesture, the Seattle City Council approved a resolution in which it expressed its support for unionization efforts at three Seattle area Starbucks locations.  The resolution passed last Tuesday 6 - 0 although several Councilmembers did not vote.  There was some disagreement among Councilmembers about what role, if any, the City Council should play in matters such as this which impact private businesses and that was not directly city business.  Given that this resolution has no “teeth” and is merely symbolic, I tend to agree with some that have suggested the City Council would have been better served spending time instead addressing crime, homelessness, and the city’s budget, instead of passing this resolution.


Two U.S. Senators Seek Answers on Second Election at Amazon Warehouse

Readers might recall that workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama had previously voted against unionization during a mail in election.  However, after complaints were raised about the first election (namely the argument that Amazon’s decision to set up a mailbox at the workplace to allow workers to drop off their mail in ballots tainted the election), a second election was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board.  In doing so, the second mail in election is currently underway with ballots due no later than March 28th.  However, two U.S. Senators, Tommy Tuberville (from Alabama) and Richard Burr (from North Carolina) have sent a list of questions to the NLRB Regional Director that ordered the second election, seeking to get clarification on the grounds for why the second election was ordered.  With responses to the questions requested back by February 22nd, it will be interesting to see what responses, if any, are provided.


Amazon Amends Coronavirus Related Workplace Policies

In an about face, Amazon announced that effective March 8th, it will no longer provide paid leave for workers that get the coronavirus and need to take time off work, but have not received the coronavirus vaccine.  (Workers that get the coronavirus but have received the vaccine will still qualify for paid leave, however.)  Amazon also announced that starting last Friday, vaccinated workers will no longer be required to wear face masks inside warehouses, so long as local regulations allow.)  I would expect other large scale employers to follow Amazon’s lead and amend their coronavirus related policies in the coming weeks and months.

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, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more

Utah Non-Compete Bill Falters in House

Last month, a non-compete bill sponsored by Representative Brian Greene (Republican from Pleasant Grove) & up for vote in the Utah House failed to make it through the Legislature.  The bill sought to ban enforcement of non-competes if they came after a worker was already employed, given no compensation (such as a bonus or promotion) for signing the non-compete, and laid off within six months.  However, by a 22 - 49 vote, the bill was resoundingly defeated after some business groups lobbied to kill the non-compete bill.  One group in particular, The Free Enterprise Utah coalition, argued that the Utah State Legislature should hold off on any changes to non compete laws in the state until a survey about non competes was done among Utah businesses.  Representative Greene had countered this claim and argued that a survey was not needed to show that the current non compete laws in the states allowed many businesses, including some small high tech companies in the state, to per
Post a Comment
Read more