As Democrats scramble to rescue the Build Back Better Act, a Virginia labor leader said some provisions in the bill are necessary to bolster support for workers.

Lawmakers are rethinking parts of the proposal, which includes social spending key to working people, like family leave, the Child Tax Credit and labor reforms.

Char Lewis, shop steward for the Communications Workers of America Local 2201 in Richmond, said she and fellow employees need the leave guarantees the bill would provide, especially with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on the rise.

"We all want to make sure that when we do need to care for our family, that we're not going to be penalized," Lewis explained. "With COVID and everything that's been going on, sometimes we have to care for our loved ones, especially our seniors. It's really important for me to have time off to care for them."

The U.S. House passed the Build Back Better Act in November, but it faced a major setback in the Senate when Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said last week he cannot support it. He cited the bill's price tag and called it "irresponsible" to spend nearly $2 trillion on domestic spending with inflation driving up Americans' cost of living.

Lewis pointed out the bill has important provisions to support unions and their members. It would provide $350 million for the National Labor Relations Board, which carries out U.S. labor-law for protections. It also would offer a tax deduction for union dues.

Lewis said the changes to help workers are especially important because she thinks unions give workers a much-needed voice.

"Sometimes when companies think of a union, they think that the workers are just going to be against them the whole time. That's not what it's about," Lewis contended. "It's about the employees having a voice. Because a lot of times, the higher-ups really don't know what it takes to do the job safely, efficiently, and to also love your job."

The bill also includes a proposal for fines on employers who illegally retaliate against workers trying to form or join a union.

A person's work personnel file can be important to review, but some Washingtonians are finding them hard to obtain.

A bill in Olympia would ensure they get them in a timely manner. The legislation would require businesses to release workers' personnel files within 14 days or pay statutory damages to the worker.

Such files can contain key information on an employee's termination for workers' compensation cases or unemployment benefits.

Rep. Julia Reed, D-Seattle, said some companies withhold files for long periods of time or hand them over heavily redacted.

"If you're trying to get unemployment you don't have a month to wait for your employer to say that they found your file," Reed contended. "I think it's reasonable to ask employers to find things within two weeks."

Opponents of the bill said it will be hard for businesses to accommodate requests in the bill's 14-day time period, especially for small businesses. The legislation has passed the House and is scheduled for executive session in the Senate Committee on Labor and Commerce today.

Jesse Wing, a trial lawyer in Seattle, said the bill puts teeth in the current law when it comes to handing over personnel files. He is critical of businesses opposed to the measure.

"It all seems like an effort to shut down kind of a due process of an employee to know what's going on with their employment, and I think it just emphasizes the need for this bill," Wing asserted.

Reed added the goal of the bill is to help workers.

"This bill just basically tries to balance the scales a little bit and say that this information that your employer keeps on you is your information, and you should have a right to see it," Reed stressed.


get more stories like this via email

Nevada now supports 1.5 million jobs, according to a new report.

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation's January 2023 economic report showed the number of jobs in the state is up 6% over the past year.

David Schmidt, chief economist for the department, said the state has continued to recover from the COVID-19 recession and is continuing to add jobs across various sectors. He noted the only exception is the leisure and hospitality industry, which is sitting at about 85% of the employment level it was pre-pandemic.

"We have also seen a shift in where jobs are," Schmidt pointed out. "We are growing in areas like transportation, warehousing and utilities. We are growing in the manufacturing industry. We are growing in construction and professional business services."

Schmidt emphasized the report also showed the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.5%, the highest unemployment rate of any state. Schmidt stated the high jobless rate and large number of available jobs reflects what he called an ongoing tight labor market.

Schmidt explained the report tells two stories: It shows the state's employment growth is strong, with the highest employment growth in the country over the last year, about one percentage point higher than Texas, which came in at 5%. Schmidt added many times unemployment is associated with a bad economy, but he thinks in Nevada's case it means people are engaged with the labor market and looking for the right gig.

"Nationally there is also this very high number of job openings relative to the number of people who are unemployed overall," Schmidt observed. "In Nevada that ratio is a little bit better than in most states. We only have about 20,000 more job openings than people looking for work."

Schmidt also pointed to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed in both Nevada and the U.S., more people are quitting their jobs versus being laid off.

He said the ratio between separations has never been so high, which tells him workers have more power and more ability to go after preferred wages, benefits and working conditions.


get more stories like this via email

Tacoma Art Museum workers are rallying Thursday outside the museum while the Board of Trustees meets, to call for recognition of their union from the Board of Trustees, again.

Workers went public with their union in October but could not include security workers in the union unless the museum voluntarily recognized them.

Carrie Morton, store manager at the museum, said the union is necessary because workers have not been involved in decision-making.

"We all deserve to have a safe place to work, we all deserve to have transparency in our workplace, and we all deserve to feel safe and protected and not have to worry about being punished for speaking out," Morton argued.

The Board of Trustees initially said it refused recognition because the museum is searching for a new executive director. Board members also say the union should be split in two because conditions for security workers are different from the rest of the museum.

Stephen Rue, lead preparator for the museum, said the security workers would be excluded from the union because of a section of the National Labor Relations Act passed in 1935. He pointed out the exclusion has its roots in a racist practice from the era.

"As a small museum with not that many workers, having one union to represent all is not only more efficient, but it's more equitable," Rue contended.

If the union is certified, it would be the first representing all workers in a museum in Washington state.


get more stories like this via email