Employment

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal court in Lubbock ruled Tuesday that proxy voting in Congress doesn’t count toward a quorum, weakening a law to protect pregnant workers that was passed with proxy votes. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration last year over a massive government funding package that passed largely by proxy votes because of the …

USA Today reports: Hiring picked up sharply in January as employers added a booming 353,000 jobs, highlighting a labor market that continues to defy high interest rates and household financial strains. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated that 185,000 jobs were added last month. The January totals were …

The Washington Post reports: The United Auto Workers endorsed President Biden at its annual legislative conference Wednesday in Washington, signaling union support in auto-making swing states, where former president Trump is also popular. The endorsement is a political victory for the self-proclaimed “most pro-union president” who has gone to great lengths to appeal to union members, including auto workers. The …

CNBC reports: The U.S. labor market closed out 2023 in strong shape as the pace of hiring was even more powerful than expected, the Labor Department reported Friday. December’s jobs report showed employers added 216,000 jobs for the month while the unemployment rate held at 3.7%. Payroll growth showed a sizeable gain from November’s downwardly revised 173,000. Economists surveyed by …

The Messenger reports: Target’s new self-checkout policy has been met with criticism online, as customers complain that the 10-items-or-less limit is creating problems due to the store’s lack of staff. When this new policy was introduced in late November, John Mulligan, chief operations officer at Target, said it was meant to create shorter wait times for customers. However, for some, …

Yahoo Finance reports: The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in November, reflecting signs that the labor market may not be cooling as quickly as many had initially thought. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Friday the unemployment rate was 3.7% down from 3.9% in October, while US economy added 199,000 jobs. The largest jobs increases in Friday’s report were …

Reuters reports: Some employees at CVS Health Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance’s U.S. pharmacies launched a three-day walkout starting Monday to get the companies to improve working conditions and recruit more people, among other issues. The walkout, which the organizers have dubbed “Pharmageddon”, is the third strike by pharmacists in a little over one month. Shane Jerominski, one of the …

CNBC reports: The United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor have reached a tentative agreement that will end a nearly six-week strike at the automaker, the union announced Wednesday night. The tentative agreement, which was first reported earlier by CNBC, includes 25% pay increases over the terms of the agreement and will cumulatively raise the top wage to more than …

CNBC reports: Job growth was stronger than expected in September, a sign that the U.S. economy is hanging tough despite higher interest rates, labor strife and dysfunction in Washington. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 336,000 for the month, better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 170,000, the Labor Department said Friday in a much-anticipated report. The unemployment rate was 3.8%, …

CNBC reports: More than 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente — the nation’s largest health-care nonprofit organization — went on strike Wednesday at hospitals and medical offices in five states after the company and labor negotiators failed to resolve a dispute over staffing levels. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions has described the work stoppage as the largest strike of health-care …

The Guardian reports: Joe Biden will make a rare presidential appearance on a picket line in Michigan on Tuesday to show solidarity with striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union locked in an escalating dispute with America’s three biggest carmakers. Biden will offer his backing to strikers at a plant in the Detroit area as part of an …

The Associated Press reports: The president of the United Auto Workers said Friday the union will expand its strike against major automakers by walking out of 38 General Motors and Stellantis plants in 20 states. Ford was spared additional strikes because the company has met some of the union’s demands during negotiations over the past week, said UAW President Shawn …

The Intercept reports: After invoking the legacy of Ronald Reagan to suggest that striking United Auto Workers members should be fired for demanding higher wages, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., may soon find himself before the National Labor Relations Board. On Thursday, Shawn Fain, the president of UAW, filed a complaint claiming that Scott’s utterance violated federal labor law. Under the …

Yahoo News reports: Florida House Republican Representative Linda Chaney (R-St. Pete Beach) filed Monday House Bill 49 (HB 49) which aims to lift existing restrictions on the working hours and time of day that 16 and 17-year-olds can work within the state. Rep. Chaney introduced HB 49 on Monday, marking the start of what promises to be a contentious debate …

The New York Times reports: Members of the United Auto Workers began a strike Friday at three plants in the Midwest, walking out amid a contract dispute over pay, pensions and work hours at the three Detroit automakers. The strike of each of the three Detroit automakers is not a full-scale walkout by the union’s roughly 150,000 members, but a …

The Hill reports: President Biden on Monday bashed former President Trump to mark Labor Day, criticizing jobs and benefits under the previous administration. “The guy who held this job before me was just one of two presidents in history … left office with fewer jobs in America than when he got elected office,” Biden said at the annual Tri-State Labor …

CNBC reports: The U.S. added more jobs than expected in August, a sign of resilience for a labor market under pressure from Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. Nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 187,000 for the month, above the Dow Jones estimate for 170,000, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. However, the unemployment rate was 3.8%, up …

Yahoo Finance reports: The US economy created 187,000 new jobs in July while the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. Economists had expected job gains to total 200,000 with the unemployment remaining unchanged at 3.6%. Wages, a closely watched indicator of how much leverage workers are exerting in the labor market, rose more than …

CNBC reports: UPS and the union representing more than 300,000 workers at the package carrier reached a preliminary labor deal, narrowly avoiding a strike that was set to start in the coming days if the two sides failed to strike a deal. “Together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees and …

The Associated Press reports: The head of the Teamsters said Sunday that he has asked the White House not to intervene if unionized UPS workers end up going on strike. Negotiations between the delivery company and the union representing 340,000 of its workers have been at a standstill for more than a week with a July 31 deadline for a …