Latest news with #laborrights
Bloomberg
5 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Microsoft's ZeniMax Reaches Contract Deal, Union Says
Microsoft Corp. and the Communications Workers of America have reached a tentative union contract covering around 300 quality assurance staff at the company's gaming subsidiary ZeniMax, the union said Friday. The agreement comes after nearly two years of negotiations and would represent the first union contract at Microsoft in the US, a step forward for organizing efforts at the company.
The Verge
3 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
eBay is cutting more than 200 jobs at TCGplayer
eBay is slashing the jobs of 220 workers at TCGplayer's card authentication center in Syracuse, New York, as reported earlier by local news outlet LocalSyr. eBay will move the online trading card marketplace's operations to a warehouse in Kentucky — a decision TCGplayer's union claims is eBay's attempt to 'evade its bargaining obligations.' eBay acquired TCGplayer for $295 million in 2022 as part of efforts to expand its presence in the trading card industry. The workers at TCGplayer unionized under the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in 2023, which later filed unfair labor charges that accused eBay of refusing to acknowledge the union, failing to provide relevant information related to collective bargaining, and 'surveilling' pro-union employees, among other alleged union-busting tactics. TCGplayer and eBay also canceled their meeting to finalize the union's first contract just days before eBay revealed that it's closing the Syracuse location. The CWA has since filed another unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing eBay of 'terminating the employment' of workers to avoid bargaining. On Monday, the CWA claimed that eBay hired security guards at TCGplayer's Syracuse authentication center that have 'created an oppressive atmosphere by physically and verbally harassing employees.' 'This was a difficult decision. We recognize the near-term impact it will have on our employees, their families and the Syracuse community, and we are dedicated to taking care of our people during this transition,' an eBay spokesperson told LocalSyr. eBay didn't immediately respond to The Verge 's request for comment. 'Deploying security guards to stalk us immediately after letting us know that we would all be losing our jobs is psychological warfare,' Zach Freeman, an eBay worker and TCGunion-CWA Local 1123 member said in a press release. 'By unleashing this brutal surveillance and intimidation campaign, TCGplayer and eBay are doing everything in their power to punish us for exercising our federally-protected rights to organize.'
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Truck drivers in Iran enter sixth day of rare nationwide strike
Truck drivers across Iran were on Tuesday pressing the sixth day of a strike rare in its length and magnitude, seeking better conditions in a sector crucial for the economy in the Islamic Republic. After starting last week in the southwestern port city of Bandar Abbas, the strike action has spread across the country, according to reports by monitoring groups on social media and Persian-language media based outside Iran. The truck drivers are protesting a rise in insurance premiums, poor road security, high fuel prices and low freight rates, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said. It posted images showing what it said were dozens of stationary trucks in the central city of Isfahan and in Shiraz in the south, while reports also indicated similar actions in Tehran province and Kermanshah in the west. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the images. Strikes do take place on occasion in the Islamic Republic, whose labor law does allow for such stoppages. However this strike is unusual in terms of its duration and nationwide scale. The Dadban rights monitor wrote on social media that there had already been instances of security forces attacking the drivers' protests and cited Kamran Mirhaji, the southern Fars province prosecutor, as saying a number of people 'who prevented the movement of trucks' had been arrested. Iran International TV, based outside the country and often critical of the authorities, broadcast videos it said had been sent from inside the country showing roads deserted that would normally have been packed with trucks. Inside Iran, the hardline daily Kayhan meanwhile lashed out at what it described as 'opportunistic elements' attempting to exploit the situation over the 'economic and professional grievances of the country's road freight operators.' Road transport is critical to food supply in the vast country. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was quoted as saying truckers were a 'key link in the production and supply chain' and urging the government to act swiftly.
Bloomberg
23-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Whole Foods Union Certified by Labor Board First for Amazon's Grocer
A union has been certified at a Whole Foods Market store in Philadelphia, marking a US first for the Inc. grocery chain. The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board backed the union, overruling objections from Whole Foods, which, like other parts of Amazon, has campaigned against unionization among its staff. The decision tees up a legal battle.
CNN
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Supreme Court won't reinstate top federal labor officials in a victory for Trump's firing powers
The Supreme Court on Thursday said President Donald Trump doesn't have to rehire senior officials he fired from two independent federal labor agencies that enforce worker protections, while the officials continue fighting in court to reverse their terminations. The officials were already taken off the job in early April when Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative order to temporarily pause their reinstatement while the full Supreme Court reviewed the matter. The latest decision extends their dismissal, perhaps forever, if the lower courts reviewing the matter don't rule again in their favor. This is a significant victory for Trump and his efforts to assert control over federal agencies that Congress designed to be independent from White House meddling. The ruling is temporary but shows that the justices are receptive to Trump's claims of vast presidential power over hiring decisions and may side with him if the case returns to the high court. The Supreme Court's three liberal justices – Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Kentanji Brown Jackson – dissented. The officials are Cathy Harris, former chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board, which reviews federal firings and can reinstate wrongly terminated workers, and Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Both women are Democrats and were appointed by former President Joe Biden to statutory terms that weren't set to expire for years. This story is breaking and will be updated.
