Latest news with #laborrights
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
DHL stops deliveries in Canada amid strike, new law banning replacement workers
DHL Express Canada stopped delivery service across the country Friday as workers continue to strike and new federal legislation banning replacement workers comes into effect. More than 2,000 DHL workers represented by Unifor — including truck drivers, couriers and warehouse and call centre employees — have been on strike since June 8 after the German-owned delivery company locked them out following a breakdown in negotiations with the union. DHL has tied the shutdown to the stalled negotiations as well as a new federal law barring replacement workers from filling the role of federally regulated employees who are on strike or locked out. Unifor has said its bargaining priorities with DHL revolve around wages, working conditions and surveillance and automation in the workplace. Unifor representative Balkar Bains, who was on the picket line in Brampton Friday, said the new legislation has "empowered unions to be able to have fair bargaining." "Unfortunately, DHL is disregarding that." DHL, whose 50,000 customers in Canada include Lululemon, Shein and Siemens, continued operations for the first dozen days of the work stoppage but began to wind down earlier this week as the legislation loomed. Unifor president Lana Payne says the company had brought in replacement workers — a claim DHL has not denied — in a move she says was legal at the time but undermined negotiations for fair wages. Earlier this week, DHL wrote to Ottawa, asking the federal government to allow the company to continue operating despite the ban, arguing the company provides an essential service. In response, Unifor wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney, asking that the federal government not intervene, saying it would remove the employer's incentive to negotiate and settle a fair contract. DHL has not responded to CBC's request for comment. Stoppage affecting business, customers The DHL delivery stoppage comes at a time of turmoil for parcel delivery in Canada, as Canada Post remains at loggerheads with the union that represents 55,000 of its workers. That, along with the ongoing trade war between the United States and Canada, has been costly for Holly Rockbrune, who owns an antique store in Pickering, Ont. She says about 70 per cent of her clients are American. "We're constantly having to update how we handle things," Rockbrune said this week. "All of these shipping issues combined really just make things very difficult to run a business." She says she's had to start using smaller, private shipping companies that are sometimes twice as costly as DHL in order to keep her customers. "Our orders are down, our order numbers are down, the values are down," she said. The DHL strike and shutdown has also already caused problems for customers, like Prateek Mahajan, who says he and his fiancée were supposed to get their wedding clothes delivered Friday. He was at the company's Brampton warehouse in the morning in hopes they'd arrived, but he says DHL wouldn't help him.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Under Pressure, Officials in Western India Move Against Abuse in Sugar Fields
Authorities in western India are taking steps to improve labor conditions for sugar cane cutters after a court ruling and an investigation by The New York Times and The Fuller Project highlighted serious abuses of workers. Journalists revealed last year that women in the Indian state of Maharashtra were pushed to get unnecessary hysterectomies as a way to keep them working in sweltering sugar fields, unencumbered by menstruation or gynecological ailments. The sugar cane-cutting system also has used child labor, pushes young girls into marriage and locks families into debt bondage. The sugar industry is overwhelmingly controlled by the state's political leadership. And major Western brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsico have profited from the system. Government officials, regulators and companies have for years done little or nothing to address these abuses. Politicians say that changing the labor system would cut into sugar profits and make it impossible for factories to compete. The Bombay High Court ruled in March that government must address these problems. And though the court has no direct enforcement power in this case, labor-rights groups say the ruling is important because it is the first official acknowledgment that the system in Maharashtra must change. The court ruled that migrant workers and the middleman contractors who hire them must be registered as a standard employee-employer relationship. That would close a loophole that has allowed sugar companies to deny any responsibility for the workers who cut their cane. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
UAW President Retaliated Against Union Official, Monitor Alleges
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain retaliated against one of his own top lieutenants, according to a report by a court-appointed monitor assigned to watch the union's governance after years of corruption. Fain, a bombastic leader who railed against how automakers treated their workers during a 2023 strike, wrongly stripped duties from the union's Treasury-Secretary Margaret Mock after she refused to approve certain expenses, according to the latest report by the monitor, Neil Barofsky, an attorney with Jenner & Block.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico union files charges against Albertsons, Smith's for colluding despite failed merger
Jun. 13—A New Mexico union representing thousands of food workers on Friday announced it filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against regional food chains Smith's and Albertsons. The union, in contract negotiations with both companies, alleges the grocery store owners are not bargaining in good faith, a development that could lead to strikes this month. Taking it a step further, the charges state Smith's and Albertsons have worked together in the bargaining process, despite the two being completely separate entities. In late 2024, state and federal courts rejected a merger request by Kroger, which owns Smith's, and Albertsons. The companies have since sued each other over how the deal fell apart and whose fault it was. But New Mexico's United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1564 — which represents more than 2,500 Smith's employees and around 1,200 Albertsons workers — doesn't think the failed merger stopped the companies from working together. The union's charges, filed earlier this week, state Smith's and Albertsons have "engaged in collusion ... on bargaining proposals, effectively creating a multi-employer bargaining unit without the union's consent." The charges also allege both companies have failed to provide the union with requested information needed to bargain and have refused to arbitrate grievances. "I've been dealing with both companies for many years, and they appear to be more united now than ... any time before," said Greg Frazier, president of the local union. Smith's denies conducting any unfair labor practices. Spokesperson Tina Murray said, "The path to a fair and peaceful resolution is at the bargaining table," urging the local union to work with the company in finding common ground. "We're focused on reaching a balanced agreement — one that increases wages for our associates while keeping groceries affordable for New Mexico families," she said. Albertsons didn't respond to a Journal request for comment Friday. UFCW Local 1564 has been in negotiations with Albertsons and Smith's on contracts since May, Frazier said. The current contracts would've expired this weekend, but the union and companies agreed to extend them through June 28. Unionized Smith's and Albertsons employees around the state are voting next week about whether to strike over the alleged unfair bargaining practices. Each chain has dozens of stores in New Mexico. The union would announce the start and length of any potential strikes, and participating union employees would get paid up to $100 a day, according to UFCW. "We don't feel that we can bargain efficiently with what's going on around us," Frazier said. Frazier pointed out that other states have also filed charges against the grocery store chains. Just this month, multiple UFCW branches filed charges with the NLRB against Albertsons and Kroger stores, including branches in California, Texas and Oregon, according to NLRB's docket. "This behavior is not giving those workers the opportunity to make a fair living," Frazier said. "We're hoping the behavior changes and that we can start making progress in negotiations."
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico union files charges against Albertsons, Smith's for colluding despite failed merger
Jun. 13—A New Mexico union representing thousands of food workers on Friday announced it filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against regional food chains Smith's and Albertsons. The union, in contract negotiations with both companies, alleges the grocery store owners are not bargaining in good faith, a development that could lead to strikes this month. Taking it a step further, the charges state Smith's and Albertsons have worked together in the bargaining process, despite the two being completely separate entities. In late 2024, state and federal courts rejected a merger request by Kroger, which owns Smith's, and Albertsons. The companies have since sued each other over how the deal fell apart and whose fault it was. But New Mexico's United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1564 — which represents more than 2,500 Smith's employees and around 1,200 Albertsons workers — doesn't think the failed merger stopped the companies from working together. The union's charges, filed earlier this week, state Smith's and Albertsons have "engaged in collusion ... on bargaining proposals, effectively creating a multi-employer bargaining unit without the union's consent." The charges also allege both companies have failed to provide the union with requested information needed to bargain and have refused to arbitrate grievances. "I've been dealing with both companies for many years, and they appear to be more united now than ... any time before," said Greg Frazier, president of the local union. Smith's denies conducting any unfair labor practices. Spokesperson Tina Murray said, "The path to a fair and peaceful resolution is at the bargaining table," urging the local union to work with the company in finding common ground. "We're focused on reaching a balanced agreement — one that increases wages for our associates while keeping groceries affordable for New Mexico families," she said. Albertsons didn't respond to a Journal request for comment Friday. UFCW Local 1564 has been in negotiations with Albertsons and Smith's on contracts since May, Frazier said. The current contracts would've expired this weekend, but the union and companies agreed to extend them through June 28. Unionized Smith's and Albertsons employees around the state are voting next week about whether to strike over the alleged unfair bargaining practices. Each chain has dozens of stores in New Mexico. The union would announce the start and length of any potential strikes, and participating union employees would get paid up to $100 a day, according to UFCW. "We don't feel that we can bargain efficiently with what's going on around us," Frazier said. Frazier pointed out that other states have also filed charges against the grocery store chains. Just this month, multiple UFCW branches filed charges with the NLRB against Albertsons and Kroger stores, including branches in California, Texas and Oregon, according to NLRB's docket. "This behavior is not giving those workers the opportunity to make a fair living," Frazier said. "We're hoping the behavior changes and that we can start making progress in negotiations."
