MUST READ
Biden labor proposal shakes up gig economy that relies on contractors
Reuters
By Daniel Wiessner, Nandita Bose and David Shepardson
Oct. 11, 2022
Liz Shuler, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), said the proposal gives the government the tools to protect workers from the "escalating problem of misclassification."
POLITICS
Biden Proposal Could Lead to Employee Status for Gig Workers
The New York Times
By Noam Scheiber
Oct. 11, 2022
The Labor Department on Tuesday unveiled a proposal that would make it more likely for millions of janitors, home-care and construction workers and gig drivers to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors. Companies are required to provide certain benefits and protections to employees but not to contractors, such as paying a minimum wage, overtime, a portion of a worker’s Social Security taxes and contributions to unemployment insurance.
Labor Department moves to make it harder to misclassify gig workers
The Washington Post
By Rachel Lerman
Oct. 11, 2022
The Department of Labor has proposed a rule that could make it harder to classify gig workers as independent contractors, a move that could have implications for Uber, Lyft and a host of other companies that rely on freelancers. Gig Workers Rising and the AFL-CIO applauded Tuesday’s proposed rule. But some felt it did not go far enough to protect workers.
Labor Department proposes rule to reclassify contractors as employees
The Hill
By Karl Evers-Hillstrom
Oct. 11, 2022
The Labor Department on Tuesday unveiled a proposed rule that would reclassify some independent contractors as company employees, a move that could disrupt the gig economy. The highly anticipated rule takes aim at companies that the Biden administration says “misclassify” their employees as contractors. By becoming employees, those workers would be covered by overtime and minimum wage laws that don’t apply to contractors. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement that the rule will “increase protections and expand benefits to so many working people who have been subjected to corporate work-arounds.”
IN THE STATES
Young leaders fuel a new labor movement reaching across Texas
The Dallas Morning News
By Andrew Little
Oct. 10, 2022
He is part of a young cohort of labor leaders and organizers emerging in Dallas-Fort Worth and around Texas, fueled by a post-pandemic surge in support for unions and organizing activity. Whether young workers’ enthusiasm can reverse the past downward trend in union membership remains to be seen, particularly in states highly resistant to unions such as Texas. “There’s this really spontaneous eruption of folks,” said Rick Levy, president of the Texas AFL-CIO. Much of the burst is being fueled by people in their 20s and 30s, he added.
WSLC makes history with new leadership
The Stand
Oct. 11, 2022
The unions that comprise the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO have made history with their selection of a new leadership team of Black women for the state’s largest union organization. WSLC Secretary Treasurer April Sims will be the first woman and the first person of color to serve as President of the council, and WSLC Political and Strategic Campaigns Director Cherika Carter will become the new Secretary Treasurer.
JOINING TOGETHER
As strike continues, Philadelphia art museum says Matisse exhibit will go on
The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Stephan Salisbury
Oct. 8, 2022
As the opening of its blockbuster Matisse show looms, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is grappling with the first staff-wide strike in its history, complete with picket lines, mounting tension between those on the inside and colleagues on the outside, and the potential for serious institutional damage. Members of the 180-worker PMA Union, an affiliate of AFSCME DC47, walked off the job Sept. 26. Since then, the museum has remained open, with managers and nonunion employees — the remainder of its roughly 350-employee workforce — doing everything from staffing the museum stores to tending the collection. But as the strike continues, staff and management divisions deepen, and the prospect increases that the 140-work Matisse exhibition, which is scheduled to open to the public on Oct. 20, will be badly hurt by the walkout.
'Fed up' TARC union leaders recommend vote to authorize strike amid contract negotiations
Courier Journal
By Caleb Stultz
Oct. 11, 2022
The union representing employees with Louisville's bus system has recommended workers vote to authorize a strike if contract negotiations carry on into November. The ATU Local 1447 statement said workers have pushed to create a "safe workplace" with their next contract, "but TARC continues to disrespect and devalue us." In a previous interview with The Courier Journal, ATU Local 1447 President Lillian Brents said instances have been reported in which bus drivers have had medical emergencies but could not reach TARC's safety department due to broken radios, describing the situation as "unacceptable and dangerous."
Waymo's cafeteria workers are forming a union
Yahoo! Finance
By Mariella Moon
Oct. 11, 2022
The cafeteria workers at Waymo's offices are forming a union, according to NBC News. As the news organization notes, that makes them the latest group of people to organize at one of Silicon Valley's most prominent companies. Waymo's food service personnel are also following in the footsteps of the 4,000 Google cafeteria workers who quietly unionized during the COVID-19 pandemic. The autonomous driving tech company used to be an experimental unit under Google before it became an Alphabet subsidiary. Organizers for the unionization efforts at Waymo told NBC News that they've already gathered signatures from majority of the workers. Sodexo said that it "respects the rights of [its] employees to unionize or not to unionize" but didn't say whether it will voluntarily recognize the union. If it does, the workers will have to file for an NLRB election to be able to join the other Alphabet cafeteria workers at Unite Here.