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Tag: RSBI:WORKER-RIGHTS

  • UPS strike could be costliest in US in a century, study says

    UPS strike could be costliest in US in a century, study says

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    July 13 (Reuters) – A threatened U.S. strike at United Parcel Service (UPS.N) could be “one of the costliest in at least a century,” topping $7 billion for a 10-day work stoppage, a think tank specializing in the economic impact of labor actions said on Thursday.

    That estimate from Michigan-based Anderson Economic Group (AEG) includes UPS customer losses of $4 billion and lost direct wages of more than $1 billion. A 15-day UPS strike in 1997 disrupted the supply of goods, cost the world’s biggest parcel delivery firm $850 million and sent some customers to rivals like FedEx (FDX.N).

    Roughly 340,000 union-represented UPS workers handle about a quarter of U.S. parcel deliveries and serve virtually every city and town in the nation. A strike could delay millions of daily deliveries, including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) orders, electronic components and lifesaving prescription drugs, shipping experts warned. They added this also could reignite supply-chain snarls that stoke inflation.

    A strike by roughly 340,000 U.S. workers at the world’s biggest package delivery firm threatens to delay millions of shipments, snarl supply chains and send shipping costs higher.

    Talks are deadlocked between UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union.

    The Teamsters have vowed to strike if a deal is not ratified before the current contract expires at midnight on July 31.

    “Consumers are going to feel this within days,” AEG CEO Patrick Anderson said of a potential strike, adding his analysis does not include the human cost of disruption to shipments of critical and perishable medicines to treat cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

    A sticking point in negotiations is pay increases for part-time workers who account for roughly half the UPS workforce. Tenured part-timers are particularly frustrated because they make just slightly more than new hires whose wages have jumped in a tight labor market.

    Anderson said a UPS employee walkout would be a bigger risk to the U.S. economy than a work stoppage by UAW workers at the “Detroit Three” automakers, who started contract talks on Thursday.

    He noted that the automaker talks cover fewer workers and have a limited geographic impact. In fiscal 2019, GM’s (GM.N) fourth-quarter profit took a $3.6 billion hit from a 40-day UAW strike that shut down its profitable U.S. operations.

    UPS is urging Teamster negotiators to return to the bargaining table, but union officials say UPS needs to sweeten its offer for workers who risked their lives during the pandemic to help the company generate outsized profits.

    UPS faces two unappealing choices, Stifel analyst Bruce Chan said in a recent note: Risk a strike and resulting customer losses or acquiesce to Teamster demands that could worsen the company’s labor cost disadvantage versus nonunion rivals in an inflationary environment.

    “Both situations would create pain for UPS, so it could just be a question of when and how the company wants to take its medicine,” Chan said.

    Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles, additional reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    Lisa Baertlein covers the movement of goods around the world, with emphasis on ocean transport and last-mile delivery. In her free time, you’ll find her sailing, painting or exploring state and national parks.

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  • Strike at Canada’s Pacific ports ends with tentative, 4-year deal

    Strike at Canada’s Pacific ports ends with tentative, 4-year deal

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    [1/5]Union members with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) remove strike signs from a picket line outside the despatch hall in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 13 (Reuters) – Dock workers at ports along Canada’s Pacific coast and their employers accepted a tentative wage deal on Thursday, ending a 13-day strike that disrupted trade at the country’s busiest ports and risked worsening inflation.

    “The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada are pleased to advise that the parties have reached a tentative agreement on a new 4-year deal,” the BCMEA said in a statement.

    The ILWU also said there was an agreement, which must now be ratified by both sides. The union had made demands including wage increases and expansion of their jurisdiction to regular maintenance work on terminals.

    Some 7,500 dock workers represented by the ILWU walked off the job on July 1 after failing to reach a new work contract with the BCMEA representing the companies involved.

    The strike upended operations at two of Canada’s three busiest ports, the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert – key gateways for exporting the country’s natural resources and commodities and bringing in raw materials.

    Economists have warned that the strike could trigger more supply-chain disruptions and fuel inflation while the Bank of Canada tries to cool the economy.

    “The scale of the disruption has been significant,” Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a joint statement.

    “We do not want to be back here again. Deals like this, made between parties at the collective bargaining table, are the best way to prevent that.”

    On Tuesday, O’Regan said the differences between the parties were not sufficient to justify a continued work stoppage.

    He offered terms drafted by a federal mediator and gave the union and employers 24 hours to decide if they were satisfied. The deal was reached at 10:20 am PT (1720 GMT), 10 minutes before the deadline, the ILWU said.

    The parties, with help from federal mediators, had been negotiating a new contract since late April.

    More than half of Canadian small business owners in a survey released on Tuesday said the strike at the Port of Vancouver will affect their operations, according to preliminary results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

    The strike is estimated to have disrupted C$6.5 billion of cargo movement at the ports, based on the industry body Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters’ calculation of about C$500 million in disrupted trade each day.

    Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa, editing by Deepa Babington, Alexandra Hudson

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • As companies bring more jobs to Mexico, US wants labor rights safeguards

    As companies bring more jobs to Mexico, US wants labor rights safeguards

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    MEXICO CITY, July 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. wants Mexico’s government to build strong institutions to protect worker rights as companies aiming to avoid supply chain disruptions in far-off production spots bring more jobs to the country, a top U.S. labor official told Reuters.

    Mexico has begun to benefit from “nearshoring” in which companies seek to move production closer to the U.S. market while maintaining competitive costs.

    The trend is further testing a trade deal known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), in effect since July 2020.

    The pact has tougher labor rules than its 1994 predecessor and underpins new Mexican laws that empower workers to push for better wages and conditions after years of stagnant salaries and pro-business union contracts.

    Three years into the deal, experts say, some workers have begun to benefit but broad impacts are still far off.

    “Hopefully that will ensure that Mexico doesn’t become a dumping ground for companies looking for cheap labor and lax regulations,” said Thea Lee, U.S. Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs who polices USMCA compliance.

    She said in an interview that Mexico was working to fulfill its commitments, backed by leadership keen on helping workers.

    Mexico’s new regulations favor companies taking on higher ethical standards, she said.

    “Maybe 20 years ago it was okay for a multinational corporation to throw up their hands and say, ‘we have no idea what’s in our supply chain, what the labor conditions are,’” she added.

    “That doesn’t seem to be acceptable anymore.”

    Mexico has made progress improving labor courts, resolving worker complaints faster and easing union organization, but needs to do more, Lee said.

    “Our hope is that Mexico will be well-poised to take advantage of nearshoring … if they continue on the path towards really building labor institutions that work, where workers can have confidence.”

    Since 2020, several U.S. labor complaints in Mexico have paved the way for independent unions to land pay raises and even expand. Lee said such examples inspire workers who in the past may have feared threats or dismissals for trying to organize.

    Four more cases are under review: At a garment factory, an auto parts plant, a Goodyear tire plant, and a mine owned by conglomerate Grupo Mexico.

    Yet one employer that faced two USMCA complaints, U.S.-based VU Manufacturing that makes interior car parts in the northern city of Piedras Negras, recently dismissed dozens of employees just months after a new union, La Liga, pressed for better wages. VU did not respond to a request for comment.

    Lee said the company risks penalties if it does not uphold an agreement around worker rights. But La Liga members have already been laid off, and fear the company aims to discourage organizing, said union leader Cristina Ramirez, who lost her job.

    “It’s very disappointing and frustrating,” Ramirez said. “We wanted to fight for things to improve.”

    Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by David Gregorio

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • In victory for labor unions, Michigan governor repeals ‘right-to-work’ law

    In victory for labor unions, Michigan governor repeals ‘right-to-work’ law

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    March 24 (Reuters) – Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Friday signed a package of bills repealing the state’s so-called “right to work” law that allowed workers to opt out of unions, a long-sought victory for labor organizers facing an era of diminished power.

    Whitmer became the first governor since the 1960s to roll back right-to-work legislation. Twenty-six other U.S. states and the territory of Guam still have right-to-work laws on the books, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    “Michigan workers are the most talented and hard-working in the world and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” Whitmer, a two-term Democrat, said in a statement.

    Michigan House Bills 4004 and 4007 and Senate Bill 34 passed the Democratic-controlled state legislature earlier this month. House Bill 4007 requires that contractors hired by the state pay a so-called prevailing wage, the amount used when hiring union workers.

    The Michigan state legislature, controlled at the time by Republicans, in 2012 passed a right-to-work law over the objections of union activists. It was signed into law by then-Governor Rick Snyder, also a Republican.

    Republicans opposed repealing that law this year, arguing that it would hurt businesses and make the state less attractive to companies.

    Union membership has declined sharply in the United States since its peak in the 1950s, when more than a third of workers belonged to a union.

    Membership dropped to an all-time low of 10.1% in 2022 despite a surge in organizing during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released in January by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; editing by Grant McCool

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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