CONTACT: Ori Korin 202-393-1044 x126 or ori@jwj.org Washington, D.C. — Following years of pressure from borrowers, legislators and activists and growing outrage over mishandling of information, the U.S. Department of Education announced late yesterday that it would be terminating its debt collection contracts with five private collection agencies, including Pioneer… Read More»
Archives
Last week, undergraduate students employed as “peer mentors” at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst won the right to form a union. The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board, which oversees labor disputes in the state, ruled in favor of the university employees after UMass-Amherst blocked their petition for an election earlier… Read More»
On February 18, 2015, a federal jury awarded $14 million in damages to five guestworkers from India who, along with the National Guestworker Alliance, launched a nationwide campaign in 2008 to expose forced labor along the Gulf Coast and press for critical reforms of the U.S. guestworker program. Back in late 2006, more than 500… Read More»
Photo: OUR Walmart / Flickr
After facing years of ongoing strikes and protests from its own employees, Walmart announced plans today to give raises to nearly 500,000 of the company’s 1.3 million U.S. employees. In a letter to Walmart associates, CEO Doug McMillon outlined a series of “comprehensive changes” to the company’s “hiring, training, compensation,… Read More»
Image via Wikimedia.
Today, the National Labor Relations Board’s chief prosecutor, General Counsel Richard Griffin, jointly charged McDonald’s and several of its franchisees with multiple violations of federal labor law. According to the NLRB’s press release, the agency will pursue 13 complaints involving 78 charges of alleged wrongdoing, while 71 cases remain under… Read More»
Original photo via Fotopedia
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) made a splash earlier this month by taking action against two student “debt relief” scam companies, banning one from the industry and suing another. While this isn’t the first time this year that these companies have come under fire for their predatory business practices,… Read More»
Photo from Wikimedia Commons/Geraldshields11
On December 12, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced its adoption of a final rule to modernize and streamline the process for resolving union representation disputes. The long overdue rule, taking effect on April 14, 2015, will reduce a number of obstacles working people face when trying to form… Read More»
In a highly anticipated announcement, a federal judge issued its decision against Walmart yesterday for taking illegal action against employees who participated in strikes at two California stores. An administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered the company to stop making unlawful threats against members of… Read More»
Mark Ortiz, a retail worker at Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco, explains how important advance scheduling is to him personally – and how it will lift standards for everyone.
UPDATE: On December 5, 2014, the Retail Workers Bill of Rights officially became law in San Francisco, 10 days after the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the ordinances for the second time. This legislation will go into effect on January 5, 2015. San Francisco will likely soon adopt a landmark… Read More»
Over the past three months, Jobs With Justice, Coworker.org, and part-time faculty who are members of AFT 6161 at Palomar Community College campaigned to get Palomar’s administration to take the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pledge to notify employees about their eligibility in Public Service Loan Forgiveness. On November 13, Palomar… Read More»