Tag:

Workers' Rights

Danbury, CT
News
Employees At Starbucks In Danbury Move To Unionize Store Employees At Starbucks In Danbury Move To Unionize Store
Employees At Starbucks In Danbury Move To Unionize Store If employees at one Fairfield County Starbucks have their way, pretty soon they will be serving up your latte as a unionized worker. Workers at the store at 67 Newtown Road in Danbury, announced on Friday, May 19, they have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize with Starbucks Workers United, the national campaign to unionize the coffee giant.  This is the fourth Starbucks store in Connecticut to file for unionization. The Danbury workers are standing in solidarity with over 300 union stores and more than 8,000 baristas organizing for better working condi…

SHARE

by Kathy Reakes
Marlton-Evesham, NJ
News
Special Education Teacher Fired After Complaining About Understaffing In South Jersey: Lawsuit Special Education Teacher Fired After Complaining About Understaffing In South Jersey: Lawsuit
Special Education Teacher Fired After Complaining About Understaffing In South Jersey: Lawsuit A special education teacher has sued a South Jersey school district for firing her after she complained about understaffing. Bryanna Mostak, 30, of Hamilton, was fired after taking a medical leave due to stress and anxiety. Mostak claims her supervisors failed to respond to her complaints as an elementary school teacher in the Bordentown Regional School District. Mostak began the 2021 school year with seven special education students  "who often had very aggressive or violent tendencies and suffered from numerous physical, emotional, behavioral, and psychological challenges," the laws…

SHARE

by Jon Craig
Dorchester, MA
News
New Year, New Minimum Wage For Massachusetts Workers: AG New Year, New Minimum Wage For Massachusetts Workers: AG
New Year, New Minimum Wage For Massachusetts Workers: AG Minimum wage workers will make get a pay increase to start off the New Year, according to the state's Attorney General. Massachusetts will require employers to pay workers a minimum of $15 beginning January 1, 2023, Attorney General Maura Healey's office said in a reminder sent out on Friday, Dec 30. This raise is the final installment of a law made in 2018 that increased the minimum wage each year until it reached $15. Tipped employees also get a boost, making a minimum of $6.75 per hour as long as tips compensate to make their hourly wage at least $15. If not, employers must make up …

SHARE

by Morgan Gonzales
Dorchester, MA
News
Mass AG Hits NY-Based Cleaning Company With $65,000 In Labor Law Violations Mass AG Hits NY-Based Cleaning Company With $65,000 In Labor Law Violations
Mass AG Hits Ny-based Cleaning Company With $65,000 In Labor Law Violations A New-York based cleaning company with Massachusetts ties is facing $65,000 in citations for labor law violations, Attorney General Maura Healy announced on Monday, Sept. 26. An investigation by the Fair Labor Division determined MP Star Professionals, which operates Cleaning Pros, and its owner Christian Perez violated several labor laws in the Bay State. These violations include failing to pay employees, not allowing employees to earn and use sick time, not paying employees overtime and failing to reimburse workers for cleaning supplies. MP Star also wrongly classified their employees …

SHARE

by David Cifarelli
Albany, NY
News
Former NY Restaurant Owner Retaliated Against Workers For Filing Wage Lawsuit, Feds Say Former NY Restaurant Owner Retaliated Against Workers For Filing Wage Lawsuit, Feds Say
Former NY Restaurant Owner Retaliated Against Workers For Filing Wage Lawsuit, Feds Say The US Department of Labor is suing a former New York restaurant owner for allegedly retaliating against employees who filed a class action lawsuit over wage theft. David Ip, the former owner and operator of Ichiban restaurant in Albany, tried to intimidate three workers and prevent them from participating in the lawsuit, the department alleges in a suit filed Thursday, Aug. 25 in federal court in Albany. The lawsuit claims that Ip shared personal and other sensitive information about the three workers with a Rensselaer County sheriff’s deputy who worked for his security business when off d…

SHARE

by Michael Mashburn
Cherry Hill, NJ
News
Amazon Workers 'Treated Like Machinery' Strike At NJ Facility: Report Amazon Workers 'Treated Like Machinery' Strike At NJ Facility: Report
Amazon Workers 'Treated Like Machinery' Strike At NJ Facility: Report Some New Jersey Amazon workers upset by an imminent job site closing walked out in solidarity Wednesday, June 1. One Bellmawr worker told Eyewitness News he felt he was being treated like "warehouse machinery," not people. Amazon is reportedly closing the Camden County facility and forcing them to take shifts at a warehouse further away, the outlet said. But an Amazon spokeswoman said that Bellmawr's employees are being offered opportunities to work at five different sites that are as close as nine miles from their current location. "We’ll be closing one of our facilities in Bellmawr and …

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Lancaster, PA
News
PA Union Gains International Support PA Union Gains International Support
PA Union Gains International Support As the national Kellogg's employee strike for fair wages continues, one Pennsylvania union has launched a GoFundMe campaign page to help members survive the strike. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers union in Lancaster, Pennsylvania launched the campaign as a strike fund. The union has received donations from over 1,200 members of the community, with donations amounts ranging from $5 to $3,000. The BCTGM Local 374G is "fundraising for Local 374G members that are striking for a fair contract for future employees. This money would go towards supplies for the membe…

SHARE

by Jillian Pikora
Bristol, PA
News
AFL-CIO President, Pennsylvania Native Richard Trumka Dies At 72 AFL-CIO President, Pennsylvania Native Richard Trumka Dies At 72
Afl-cio President, Pennsylvania Native Richard Trumka Dies At 72 Longtime AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has died at 72, reports say. Born in Nemacolin, PA, the attorney, and organized labor leader was remembered as a "relentless champion of workers' rights, workplace safety, worker-centered trade, democracy and so much more,” according to a statement released Thursday by AFL-CIO Communications Director Tim Schlittner. Statement from AFL-CIO Communications Director Tim Schlittner on the passing of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Posted by AFL-CIO on Thursday, August 5, 2021 His cause of death was not made public, however, sources knowledgeable o…

SHARE

by Nicole Acosta
Hartford, CT
Business
McDonald's CT Highway Plaza Employees Fired For Unionizing, Labor Board Says McDonald's CT Highway Plaza Employees Fired For Unionizing, Labor Board Says
McDonald's CT Highway Plaza Employees Fired For Unionizing, Labor Board Says Federal labor officials agree with Connecticut McDonald’s employees who say they were fired for attempting to organize a union. Representing the workers, Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ filed charges with the state against the international fast-food company, according to the CT Post. The SEIU L32BJ has been working with McDonald’s employees at service plazas along Connecticut's highways to organize. The SEIU said there are hundreds of employees who could potentially join a McDonald’s union. The complaint filed with the Connecticut National Labor Relations Board accused M…

SHARE

by Kristin Palpini
Fort Lee, NJ
News
Women's Rights Champion Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies At 87 Women's Rights Champion Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies At 87
Women's Rights Champion Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies At 87 It wasn't a stretch to call Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg a rock star. A private interment service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery for the petite but fiery champion of gender equality, who died Friday in Washington, D.C. Her family was with Ginsburg, who died of complications from metastatic pancreas cancer, the court said. She was 87. "Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature," Chief Justice John Roberts said "We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Worcester, MA
Business
COVID-19: Sex-Toy Shop Employees Demand 'Hazard' Pay, Safer Work Space COVID-19: Sex-Toy Shop Employees Demand 'Hazard' Pay, Safer Work Space
Covid-19: Sex-Toy Shop Employees Demand 'Hazard' Pay, Safer Work Space Employees of sex-toy shop in Massachusetts are protesting what they call “unsafe” working conditions amid the COVID-19 outbreak. On Saturday, Aug. 22, 1:30-4:30 p.m., Good Vibrations employees will picket outside the adult novelties and sexual enhancement store.  On a list of pointed improvements, Good Vibrations of Brookline employees are asking for the removal of all floor models in the store. If a customer wants to see an item, an employee can get it for them on an as-needed basis. If this demand isn’t met, employees want to get “hazard” pay. The protest is being organized by the S…

SHARE

by Kristin Palpini
Elizabeth, NJ
News
Workers At Elizabeth Car Wash Paid Below Minimum Wage, No OT Pay: Lawsuit Workers At Elizabeth Car Wash Paid Below Minimum Wage, No OT Pay: Lawsuit
Workers At Elizabeth Car Wash Paid Below Minimum Wage, No OT Pay: Lawsuit A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the workers at an Elizabeth car wash who were allegedly forced to work for significantly less than the minimum age and did not receive overtime pay despite working up to 70 hours a week or more. The state’s minimum wage was $8.60 an hour in 2018. Attorney Steven Arenson told WPIX 11 that workers at Caribbean Hand Car Wash would face retaliation if they complained about working conditions, including deportation. One of the longtime workers at the business, Carlos Pedronzo, was paid just $5 an hour and suffered two strokes on the job, incl…

SHARE

by Paul Milo