Last week, the State of Tennessee signed a five-year, $330 million deal that will lead to one of the largest outsourcing efforts of public jobs in state history. While the state promised that the move wouldn’t affect current employees, labor activists have said a reading of the fine print makes it clear that the state will try to get rid of as many employees as possible.
“I had time to think about my life. Like what am I doing? What am I not doing? How can I make things right. I knew I did not want to come outside of prison being the same person I was going inside prison,” Coonrod told WRCB. “I began to knock on every door. Reach out to elected officials saying hey I need some help. I need you to help me help my community.”
The emails show that Republican State Senator Todd Gardenhire met with top UTC officials on March 20 and urged the firing of Helbert. Following the meeting, UTC Chancellor Steve Angle argued that Helbert should be fired.
“The potential repercussions for the state representative and UTC are HUGE,” wrote Angle in an email obtained by the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. “We could easily lose all funding we are providing to WUTC.”
In 2016, the Obama Administration issued 486 enforcement-related press releases.
However, the Trump Administration has not issued a single press release citing an enforcement action. The silence from the Trump Administration is indicative of the favoritism towards companies at the expense of workplace safety that many observers expect a Trump DOL to take.
So far this month, Payday Senior Labor Reporter Mike Elk has driven over 2,400 miles from Conneautville, Pennsylvania to Canton, Mississippi to Huntsville, Alabama to Nashville to Louisville and now to D.C. Next up, we have Raleigh, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta.
Want Payday to visit your city? Payday Senior Labor Reporter Mike Elk pledges to visit any labor struggle in the South where someone will offer him a couch. Contact [email protected] if you wanna host a labor reporter in your home.
A successful union drive at Duke University could lead to more unionization among graduate student employees throughout the South.
However, sources within the union busting community were quick to tell Payday that they saw passage of the bill as unlikely, as the bill’s passage would require 60 votes to pass the all-but-certain Democratic filibuster.
Payday raised $800 this week toward our winter fundraising goal. We have now raised $2,125 from 52 donors during our winter campaign. With 17 days left to go, help us reach our goal of $5,000.
The Machinists’ latest move coincides with the United Auto Workers’ campaign to organize BMW’s plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. (Volvo is also opening a 2,000 person plant in Berkeley County in 2018, which the UAW is almost certain to go after, as the Swedish automaker enjoys good relationships with unions.) The Machinists’ election could also open the door for more organizing at Boeing’s suppliers.
The IBEW has attempted to organize workers at Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) on five separate occasions throughout the last 40 years. Finally, the union won an election there yesterday by a total of 741 to 610.
“It’s really simple,” says Carlough. “We just aren’t getting people to where we need to get them right now. We need to show them that when they get out of treatment that there is a loving, supportive union family there to help them.”