| | | | |  | | By Eleanor Mueller | With help from Ximena Bustillo
| | | FIRST IN SHIFT:A group of House Democrats plan to introduce legislation Wednesday blocking employers from cutting off striking workers' health care benefits. Rep. Cindy Axne will lead the effort along with Reps. Steve Cohen, Linda Sanchez, Bill Pascrell, Brian Higgins, Jim McGovern and Nikema Williams. Axne represents the Iowa district in which John Deere workers were on strike last year; Cohen, the Tennessee district in which Kellogg workers were also on strike. In both labor disputes, the employees reportedly lost access (or almost lost access) to health care and other benefits while participating in the work stoppages. "Exercising your right to fight for a better contract shouldn't mean risking your ability to get essential health coverage for yourself or your family," Axne said in a statement to Morning Shift. "This is a basic measure, one born of the unfortunate reality that employers use termination of health coverage to break strikes and force employees to accept a subpar contract." "If a corporation claims to care about their workers, they should already be renouncing this cruel tactic — but we should update our laws to ensure we're not just relying on companies to do the right thing." John Deere and Kellogg did not respond to requests for comment. The lawmakers are still gathering cosponsors and endorsements, but they have already won backing from several national unions, including UAW, SEIU, CWA, Bakery, Confectionery, Bakery Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union, International Association of Iron Workers and United Steelworkers. The bill would make it illegal for employers to cut or alter workers' health insurance while they are on strike. Employers who commit this violation would be subject to civil monetary penalties capped at more than $50,000 for each violation. The NLRB would be able to double the civil penalty to not exceed more than $100,000 in situations where an employer in the previous 5 years has committed the same violations and where the unfair labor practice involves the discharge of an employee. GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, Jan. 31. Welcome back to Weekly Shift, your go-to tipsheet on employment and immigration news. Send feedback, tips and exclusives to emueller@politico.com. Follow me on Twitter at @eleanor_mueller.
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| | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | MORE PROOF THAT WAGES ARE, INDEED, UP:Employers spent 4 percent more on wages and benefits last year, according to the U.S. employment cost index out Friday. It's proof that "workers received larger pay raises in a tight labor market, rebounding economy and period of accelerating inflation, marking an increase not seen since 2001," The Wall Street Journal's Gabriel T. Rubin reports. "Rising pay and benefits are putting more money in workers' pockets — average hourly wages rose 4.7 percent in December from a year earlier — but not enough to keep pace with rising prices. Inflation recently hit its fastest pace in nearly four decades amid supply and demand imbalances for both goods and labor related to the Covid-19 pandemic." "Separate economic figures showed that the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, the core personal-consumption expenditures price index, accelerated to 4.9 percent in December 2021 over the prior year. And household spending fell 0.6 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday, as consumers pulled back on shopping for goods during the last month of the holiday season." "Economists caution that there are numerous factors contributing to high inflation during the pandemic, especially an overwhelmed supply chain." RELATED:" The race between inflation and wage growth," from Axios AND: "Wages Are Surging in Miami, But Just So-So in Atlanta as the Rebound Diverges," from Bloomberg
| | | CALLING FOR H-2A FLEXIBILITY AT THE BORDER:A dozen lawmakers sent a letter on Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking the department to allow H-2A employers to vaccinate workers upon their arrival and work with industry to offer vaccination clinics at U.S. embassies and consular offices in the employee's home country. The bipartisan letter comes after DHS published a final rule last week that temporarily requires proof of vaccination against Covid-19 to enter the U.S. through any land or sea ports. Unlike similar restrictions in the past, the new move doesn't include an exception for essential travel. "Growth in the number of H-2A employees coming to the United States, coupled with the need to replace employees who leave through general attrition, means that the number of employees who are either unvaccinated or have received unapproved vaccines will be substantial," the lawmakers write. Worst case scenario,they say: Even a few days of delay in performing critical, time-sensitive tasks can affect the size and quality of the crop, and the rule could prevent some employees from being able to travel to the U.S. to work at all this season. The American Farm Bureau Federation raised concern over the rule last week as well. The new regulations took effect Jan. 22 and are set to expire on April 21, unless amended or rescinded. MORE HILL NEWS: " Congressional committee to hold roundtable with former WFT employees on toxic workplace," from The Washington Post
| | | DOL FORGES AHEAD ON PERMANENT HEALTH CARE RULE:The Labor Department is still working to create a permanent set of coronavirus safety rules for health care facilities after previous attempts expired or were knocked down in federal court, The Washington Post's Eli Rosenberg reports. "The news emerged in a court filing that the agency issued while battling a lawsuit filed against it by a group of unions including National Nurses United, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations federation, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The unions charge that the agency unlawfully let the temporary health-care rule expire — and that legally it should remain in effect." Unions and congressional Democrats have been extremely vocal in their disappointment with DOL allowing the regulation to lapse. Because it was issued on an emergency basis, it expired in December — six months after it was issued. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told your host last week that "OSHA is working towards a permanent regulatory solution." "Some folks were upset with our actions, but our actions were our actions because we had six months," he added. "I don't have a timeline. But it's coming." Looking at you, Congress: "If Congress is able to extend it six months longer, I'd be able to do it," he said. "But it's six months."
| | | NONPROFIT TAKES AIM AT CORPORATE VALUES CONFLICTS: Nonprofit Rhia Ventures is targeting companies whose stated values appear to conflict with the politicians and other causes to which they contribute, by partnering with investors to send so-called shareholder proposals. "After the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, numerous companies vowed to reassess their political giving criteria," Rhia said in a statement announcing the move. "Still, numerous companies that pledged to discontinue support for members of Congress who challenged the election results have backtracked on their promises." One of the proposals, of which Rhode Island Treasurer Seth Magaziner is a co-filer, targets The Home Depot. The company contributed $7.5 million to politicians and political organizations working to restrict access to abortion in the 2016-2020 election cycles — as well as support for lawmakers who voted to overturn the 2020 election, according to the proposal. "Our associate-funded PAC supports candidates on both sides of the aisle who champion pro-business, pro-retail positions that create jobs and economic growth," a spokesperson for Home Depot said in a statement to Morning Shift. "As always, it evaluates donations against a number of factors." Other targets: The rest are aimed at Abbvie, Amgen, AT&T, Charter Communications, Handlery Hotels, Cigna, Clean Yield Asset Management, FedEx, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer and UnitedHealth Group. "That's really leveraging the power of frankly, ownership, to say: 'Hey, you're moving in a way that is not aligned with your values and not aligned with our intentions for who we invest in as well," Rhia Ventures CEO Erika Seth Davies told Morning Shift. If "gender equity or racial justice are very clearly priorities for a company, then supporting legislation or supporting politicians that are bringing forth legislation that is harmful to women and to Black people and to Black women — you're not going to honor those values," she added. MORE WORKPLACE NEWS: "Airlines Anxiously Await Road Warrior Return to Office, Air," from Bloomberg AND:" You'll Soon Get to See Pay on NYC Job Postings ," from The Wall Street Journal
| | | COURT GREENLIGHTS 'MIDTERM BARGAINING' FOR FEDERAL UNIONS: An appeals court ruled Friday that unions representing federal government workers have the right to demand that agencies bargain with them in the middle of a contract term, Reuters' Daniel Wiessner reports. Reversing Trump-era precedent: "A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the fact that federal civil service law is silent about so-called 'midterm bargaining' does not mean it should be treated any differently than requests to bargain for a new contract when an existing one is expiring, striking down Trump-era precedent from the Federal Labor Relations Authority." Big picture: "Friday's ruling means that unions whose requests for midterm bargaining are turned down by federal agencies can go to arbitration and eventually court rather than taking cases to an 'impasse panel' within the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which can impose contract terms over a union's objections." MORE UNION NEWS: " Union rejects pay offer in U.S. refinery worker contract talks," from Reuters AND: "Four Michigan Starbucks locations file petitions to organize unions," from Michigan Radio
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — Opinion: " When Your Office Decides the Pandemic Is Over," from The New York Times — " With fewer office workers and some major retailers closed, what's next for downtown Chicago?" from the Chicago Tribune — " Hollywood Basic Crafts Unions Announce Tentative Agreement ," from Variety — " 'Just wear a mask and don't tell anyone': Workplaces fill up with sick employees," from the Los Angeles Times — " New Lawsuit Argues Tipped Minimum Wage Violates Workers' Civil Rights," from Eater — " T-Mobile to terminate corporate employees who aren't vaccinated by April," from Reuters — Opinion: " Public safety unions are fighting Mayor Wu over vaccine mandates. But it's a proxy war," from The Boston Globe — " These are the 4 best U.S. cities to work in this year, according to Glassdoor," from CNBC — " How your gig work income could take a hit with new tax rules for payment apps," from NPR THAT'S ALL FOR WEEKLY SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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