Today’s news and commentary: More auto companies declare wage increases in light of recent UAW victory, Ford production workers in Kentucky vote against union’s interim contract, NLRB challenges joint employer rules Get over it, Starbucks union members are preparing for a nationwide union to go out.
Hyundai announced yesterday that it will raise wages for factory workers at its Alabama plant by 25%, matching the raises the UAW won from the Big Three. As Will reported over the weekend, this comes after other automakers Toyota and Honda announced pay increases for their employees. These wage increases appear to be aimed at discouraging unionization among workers at these companies. UAW Chairman Sean Fein said he intends to expand organizing efforts to include foreign companies and non-union automakers such as Tesla.
In other UAW news, union members continue to vote on a tentative contract signed between the UAW and the Big Three last month. Yesterday, a slim majority (55%) of Ford production workers in Kentucky voted against the UAW contract proposal. This comes after workers at GM’s assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, also narrowly voted against the contract last Friday. Despite this opposition to the interim contract, most union members have so far voted in favor of the contract. However, if any of the Big Three contracts fail to receive a majority vote, the parties will need to return to the negotiating table and restart negotiations.
Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board is beginning to face legal challenges following recent rules expanding joint employer status. Last week, a coalition of restaurant industry groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the NLRB in Texas District Court over the new rules. The lawsuit alleges that the new rules violate the National Labor Relations Act and convey arbitrary and capricious rules that violate the Administrative Procedure Act. Also last week, the Service Employees International Union, which supports the NLRB’s joint employer rule, filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit seeking review of the rule. These two cases are likely to result in a long-running dispute over which courts have jurisdiction to review the NLRB’s rules. If reviewed in the D.C. Circuit, the co-employer rule would benefit from favorable precedent, but both cases would be litigated in parallel without a swift resolution of the jurisdiction issue. There is a possibility that it could proceed. While these cases proceed in court, Congress will also consider a new Congressional Review Act resolution that would overturn the NLRB’s joint employer rule. The resolution, introduced by Sens. Manchin and Cassidy, would need to pass both houses of Congress and be signed by President Biden to effectively overturn the NLRB rules.
Finally, unionized Starbucks workers announced that they are coordinating a nationwide strike by thousands of employees that will take place on Thursday. Starbucks Workers United, which represents employees at more than 350 Starbucks stores, argued that Starbucks did not negotiate in good faith with the union. The strike will take place during Red Cup Day, an annual promotional event where Starbucks gives away free holiday-themed cups.