News & Commentary March 6, 2023

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/march-6-2023/

By Elyse Weissberger

In today’s News and Commentary, Florida’s legislature considers proposals targeting unions, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is restructuring its Advancement office putting over 100 state jobs in jeopardy, UAW locals and Caterpillar have reached a tentative agreement, and ambulance unions in England suspend strikes to enter negotiations with the government.

On Friday, Republicans in Florida’s House of Representative filed a proposal, which would revise provisions pertaining to public sector union employees. HB 1445 would prevent the deduction of union dues directly from employees’ paychecks. Florida’s Senate will take up its version of this bill, SB 256, this week. SB 256 requires a union to maintain representation of 60% of eligible workers in order to be recognized. Along with Florida’s right-to-work status, these bills threaten unions’ abilities to attract and retain members. Both bills exempt law enforcement and firefighter unions from the proposed changes. Florida’s legislature has considered similar bills in the past, without success, however, Republicans now have a supermajority in the state legislature.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is restructuring its UMass Advancement office, a move that university unions say will result in the privatization of more than 100 state jobs. The university argues that the jobs in question must be reclassified under the UMass Amherst Foundation (UMAF) nonprofit in order to comply with state pension rules. The restructuring will require the elimination of the public positions and their recreation as private UMAF positions, which current employees will then have to apply for. The University Staff Association and the Professional Staff Union have filed charges against UMass with the Department of Labor Relations, claiming the university bargained in bad faith, retaliated against union employees, and engaged in anti-union activity.

FULL story at link above.