From Washington to the Midwest, unions are having a rough go of it these days. Residents have taken to the street to help deal with a teachers’ strike in Ohio and the National Labor Relations Board may not get resolved for months…or longer.
It’s Tuesday, March 26th and these are your Union Briefs…
Many Strongsville residents are working to support Strongsville City School District replacement teachers and the students affected by a Strongsville Education Association (SEA) strike now in its fourth week. These efforts in the Cleveland suburb have taken the form of counter-protests, volunteer time in the schools, and online activism.
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Parents in the community have also organized rallies supporting the district and opposing the strike, have held “substitute appreciation days” for replacement teachers, and have delivered breakfast to substitutes and administrative staff over the past three weeks.
And chaos ensues…
The NLRB has announced that it was bypassing its opportunity to have the case reconsidered by the full D.C. Circuit Court and instead is planning to file an appeal to have the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The NLRB’s petition must be filed with the Supreme Court by April 25, 2013, meaning that it will be unlikely for the Supreme Court to hear the case (assuming it grants the NLRB’s petition) before the Court’s next term begins in October. [Emphasis added.]
- Note: If the NLRB case does not go to the Supremes until the Court’s next term, employers, their employees, and union bosses will continue operating under a cloud of uncertainty for months and, quite possibly for years if Obama’s NLRB is ruled to be unconstitutional (again).
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), today approved legislation requiring the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to cease all activity requiring a three member quorum until the legal crisis surrounding the board is appropriately resolved. Introduced by Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Phil Roe (R-TN), the Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations Act (H.R. 1120) was approved by a vote of 23 to 15.
The One-Percenters…
The Ann Arbor city council has approved a new contract with its major labor union, Local 369 of the International Union of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME). The slightly less than five-year deal would go through 2017, and includes a wage increase of at least 1% each year starting in 2014.
Remember the furlough in the public sector union contracts that were passed during the past few years? They are ending for the unionized state workers and MCs which means their paychecks should get a tad bigger next month.
Not so passionate about Perez…
“During his time as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Thomas Perez has shown a glaring inability to tell the truth and dispassionately apply the basic constitutional tenet of ‘equal justice under law.’
Briefly, in the bag…
- “No Closures, No Cuts!” Say Postal Service Workers
- New Jersey Governor Christie Paves Way for Privatizing Camden Schools
- Indiana union membership at lowest level in 24 years
- Damn Yankees: Membership drop sends union advocates into the South
These have been your Union Briefs for Tuesday, March 26, 2013.
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“Truth isn’t mean. It’s truth.”
Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)
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