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Judge blocks NLRB rule making it easier for unions to…
A Texas judge has blocked a new rule that would have taken effect this week that would have made it easier for millions of workers to form unions. The National Labor Relations Board’s new ruling will expand the definition of “joint employer.” At this time, the term is unclear, meaning that (for example) McDonald’s is not currently classified as a joint employer with its franchisees, although it has a number of conditions in place for those employees, including wages, benefits, hours and schedules. Scheduling, assignment of responsibilities, work rules and recruitment. The National Labor Relations Board claims the change is necessary because current rules make it easy for companies to evade their legal responsibility to bargain with workers. But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups — including the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the International Franchise Association and the National Retail Federation — sued the NLRB in November in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas to block the rule. They argued that the new rules would upend years of precedent and could make companies liable for workers they hire in workplaces they do not own. U.S. District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker concluded in Friday’s ruling that the NLRB’s new rules would “violate the law” and be “arbitrary and capricious” in how it changes existing rules.
…as 600 workers form largest video game union
Approximately 600 employees at Activision Publishing – the company’s manufacturer ‘call of Duty’ Video Games, has formed what is believed to be the largest video game industry alliance. Quality assurance workers have the support of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which helped negotiate the first union agreement with Microsoft following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard last October. Under the terms of the agreement, all Activision Blizzard employees are free to discuss and begin efforts to form a union. As an independent company, Activision Blizzard has resisted attempts by employees to organize, but Microsoft has always agreed to remain neutral on the matter. The new quality assurance worker bargaining unit has Activision Blizzard employees in California, Texas and Minnesota. CWA currently represents more than 1,000 video game employees at Microsoft. The union formation comes as workers in the computer gaming industry have been particularly hard hit by layoffs in recent months. Data shows that more than 8,000 game industry workers have been laid off in the first two months of this year. In fact, Microsoft was one of the biggest contributors to the situation, laying off 1,900 employees in January, mostly from the Activision Blizzard team. Amy Pannoni, vice president and deputy general counsel, Human Resources Legal, Microsoft ) is an Activision Publishing Center quality assurance employee. We look forward to continuing our positive labor relations.”
Mandatory DEI training could violate people’s religious freedom
A prominent religious freedom judge says companies that insist employees take DEI training may be violating their religious freedom rights. Jeremy Dys, special counsel for litigation and communications at religious liberty law firm First Liberty, claimed that DEI training imposes an ideology on people and/or makes them less able to live out their beliefs. “A lot of people have genuine religious beliefs and object to being indoctrinated on these topics,” he said in an interview at the National Conference of Religious Broadcasters. First Liberty represented postal worker Gerald Groff The company made the comments as he sought to take Sunday off to observe the Sabbath. The Postal Service initially denied his exemption, in part because of a previous ruling, TWA v. Hardison. But the Supreme Court later ruled in Grove’s favor. “Now, we recognize that your religious beliefs are at least as important as your job… We’ve reversed the terrible decision, but now there’s a responsibility to really go out and take advantage of those freedoms,” Dyess said. Adding: “Unfortunately, we’re kind of caught in the spell of non-religious freedom.”
February is another healthy recruiting month…
After job growth exceeded expectations in January, new data released showed that the U.S. economy added another 275,000 jobs in February. Last month’s job growth increased from January’s revised 229,000 job openings. Commentators believe the figures reflect the job market’s continued ability to withstand the Commonwealth Bank’s 11 interest rate hikes, making investment more expensive for employers. However, contrary to the employment growth, the unemployment rate rose by two-tenths to 3.9% in February.Although 25 years oldth The unemployment rate has been below 4% for a month in a row, and some believe it may soon breach the 4% level. The data also showed that average hourly earnings rose just 0.1% from January (up 4.3% from a year earlier), while consumer prices rose only 3.1% in January from a year earlier, significantly lower than the 9.1% increase in 2022. Of the 2.4 million people who obtained jobs or started looking for work, foreign-born people accounted for 62%, or 1.5 million people.
…but more jobs will go to immigrants
Despite President Biden’s claim in his March 7 State of the Union address that the United States is creating “American jobs,” new data from the Federal Reserve’s Economic Data (FRED) database shows that between January and February 2024, More than 1.1 million workers born outside the United States have increased their employment opportunities in the United States. In comparison, native-born Americans lost their jobs during this period, and employment levels fell by about 500,000. The FRED data also shows that fewer native-born Americans are employed today than in February 2020, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic tanked the economy—130.3 million people were employed then, compared with 129.3 million today. Over the same period, immigrant employment surged, from 27.7 million in February 2020 to 31 million in February 2024. The data, released shortly after (October 2023), hit record highs in both the raw number (49.5 million) and the relative share (15%) of foreign-born Americans.
Artificial intelligence eliminates worries about job security
Job insecurity continues to rise thanks to artificial intelligence, according to a new survey from Authority Hacker. In a survey of 1,200 employees, 54.58% of full-time employees said they were more concerned about their job security. The data found that men (62.87%) are more likely to worry about their job security than women (47.53%), and (counterintuitively), those who “earn more” are more worried. The study found that people with annual incomes of $150,000 or more are most worried about their job security (72.48%), while those with annual incomes of $50,000 or less are least worried (50.26%). It is generally believed that the more money people make, the more they develop skills (such as critical thinking and experience) that artificial intelligence cannot compete with. However, data shows that more and more junior employees are also worried that their jobs will be replaced. 62.2% of employees aged 25 to 44 are worried that they will be eliminated, while less than 50% of employees over 45 years old are worried that they will be eliminated. People worry. However, employees of small and medium-sized enterprises need not worry. Authority Hacker found that 74.33% of employees at companies with 500 to 1,000 employees were worried about their job security, compared with 45.38% at companies with 25 or fewer employees. . Those most afraid of losing their jobs due to artificial intelligence are IT service and data professionals (89.6%); followed by software developers (74.4%) and advertising professionals (70%).
Boeing whistleblower found dead
John Barnett, a 32-year veteran of Boeing who recently raised concerns about the company’s production standards, has been found dead in an apparent suicide. On January 5, a panel explosion occurred on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in mid-air. Barnett had been interviewed by many media. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the airline, which is now facing multiple government investigations following the allegations, now needs to make a “major transformation” around its safety and manufacturing quality. The 62-year-old man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Charleston County Coroner’s Office in South Carolina. The coroner’s office also said Charleston police are investigating, but did not release any other details. Since 2010, Barnett has served as quality manager at the North Charleston facility building the 787 Dreamliner, a state-of-the-art passenger aircraft primarily used on long-haul routes. As early as 2017, Barnett began accusing Boeing of pressuring workers to install substandard parts on its production lines. The company denied this.
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