A company whose workers died needlessly died at a poultry plant has is finally getting fined and cited. NPR reports: “OSHA has announced 59 citations and nearly $1 million in penalties after an investigation into a nitrogen leak at a poultry processing plant that killed six workers and injured at least a dozen others earlier this year.…
An analysis by The Washington Post looks at racism faced by Black construction workers in an industry that has a troubled history when it comes to discrimination. The Washington Post reports: “It happens like this: A noose is left at a construction site or office, somewhere it can easily be found. Usually, by a Black…
A law that allows employers to pay workers with disabilities a fraction of the minimum wage could be gone soon. CBS MarketWatch reports: “Democrats in Congress are pushing to abolish part of a New Deal-era labor law that allows businesses to pay workers with disabilities as little as a few dollars an hour, calling the…
Scabby is going nowhere thanks to an NLRB ruling today. New York Magazine reports: “You’ve probably seen him (his snarling mouth and mangy belly are hard to forget): Scabby the Rat, the inflatable rodent at countless picket lines. Since his birth in 1989 or so, his terrible visage has been a sign of defiance by workers…
As the Frito-Lay strike continues, more workers are speaking up to reveal what it’s like to work at the company, especially on the topic of “suicide shifts.” NPR reports: “Hundreds of Frito-Lay workers in Topeka, Kan., are in their third week of a strike, citing so-called ‘suicide shifts’ and poor working conditions at the manufacturing…
It took a tiebreaker vote by the Vice President for a union-side lawyer to secure Senate confirmation as nation’s top NLRB lawyer. Bloomberg Law reports: “The divided U.S. Senate confirmed union lawyer Jennifer Abruzzo to serve as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board on a party-line vote that reflected the deep political and…
Senators who loved Trump’s union-busting labor picks are “very troubled” by Biden’s nominees. Reuters reports: “President Joe Biden’s nominees for seats on the National Labor Relations Board and to head the U.S. Department of Labor office that enforces wage laws at a hearing on Thursday swatted away Republicans’ concerns over their union ties and progressive…
Amazon founder, and now rocketeer, Jeff Bezos, uttered arguably the most tone-deaf statement made by anyone this year. After his return from his ego-driven space flight today, the centibillionaire remarked, “I also want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this.” His statement may have come…
A jury has awarded a former Walmart employee $125 million for suffering discrimination by the company. The New York Times reports: “Marlo Spaeth started working as a sales associate at a Walmart in Manitowoc, Wis., in 1999, folding towels, cleaning aisles, processing returns and greeting customers, her lawyers said. Over the next 15 years, she…
Workers belonging to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 218 in Topeka, Kansas are on strike at one of America’s premier chips makers: Frito-Lay. And the reasons are anything but frivolous. Employees endure 84 hour workweeks and forced overtime “Many of the factory’s more than 800 workers are working seven days a week…