Subject: Unions Take Aim At Beer And Ice Cream Supply Lines While Also Stirring Up More EV Drama: LRI INK

May 5, 2022

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Unions Take Aim At Beer And Ice Cream Supply Lines While Also Stirring Up More EV Drama

by Kimberly Ricci

Unions made no secret of their willingness to take advantage of pandemic-related frustrations by nudging workers towards the picket lines amid contentious contract negotiations. As such, they’ve contributed to ongoing supply chain issues as humanity continues to feel its way back toward normalcy. From groceries to electronics and autos, nearly every industry saw difficulties in staying stocked up over the past few years. 

 

Here’s a new wrinkle: Unions decided to come for ice cream and beer.

  • At the main Kemps ice cream plant (located in Rochester, MN), workers voted to strike after the Teamsters and Dairy Farmers of America (which owns the plant) failed to reach a contract. Notably, the local’s business agent scheduled that vote for International Workers Day (May 1), dubbed as such for the 1886 strikes surrounding demands for the eight-hour workday.

  • At the Molson Coors facility in Quebec, an ongoing Teamsters strike stirred up anxiety among bar owners, who fear that the beer brand’s products will run dry. That’s especially the case in some of Canada’s rural-set bars, which find themselves bound by an exclusive agreement to only serve Molson Coors products. And over in the United Kingdom, Budweiser workers (represented by the GMB Union) are signaling a strike amid a pay dispute, which could very well lead to a “drought” this summer of not only Bud but Stella Artois and more.

In EV land, the UAW continues to grumble about USPS vehicles after previously complaining that a fleet would not be produced (as expected) in Wisconsin by union workers but, instead, by non-union workers in South Carolina. To update the situation, the UAW wants to block the USPS plan for a $2.98 billion order that heavily skews toward gas-powered vehicles. Couple that with Biden snubbing union-free Tesla at his EV summit, and it is clear that the UAW is miffed about not receiving similar preferential treatment by USPS, which they expected to hop on the union-friendly bandwagon.

 

Granted, USPS is still doubling their existing purchase of EVs, but that is not enough for the UAW. The EPA already stepped on the complaint train, as did the White House, which is no surprise, given Biden’s preference toward hefty tax incentives for unionized EV plants. Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin criticized the idea of expanding those tax credits while calling the practice “absolutely ludicrous.” Since Manchin is a congressional swing-vote, that doesn’t bode well for the UAW.

Save the date!  Another virtual Approachable Leadership open enrollment workshop is on the way.  

The three sessions for the workshop are June 28, 29, and 30, starting at 1pm CST each day. 

 

If you’ve hosted the workshop over the last year or so and have new leaders who have not yet experienced the workshop, this is a great opportunity for them to catch up. The cost is $249 per leader. 

If you are considering introducing this Workshop to your team for the first time and would like to give it a test run, please email Stephanie for a complimentary seat. We would love to see you there!

 

Here’s the link for new leaders to enroll: Click Here, and here’s Stephanie’s email:  somalley@lrionline.com

Links

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Union Bailout

 

NLRB General Counsel Promotes Productive Collective Bargaining Through Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Partnership

https://lri.link/3F5kK2p

 

Unions Win Final Passage Of Connecticut ‘Captive Audience’ Ban. Business Leader Calls It ‘Unconstitutional, Anti-Employer Bill’

https://lri.link/37Y7alr

           

U.S. Labor Board Won't Revisit Mail-In Union Election Despite Postal Delays

https://lri.link/375T5St

 

Union's 'Snitch' Label For Worker Was Legal, NLRB Attorneys Say

https://lri.link/3y7ikir

 

Does Current Law Require “Card-Check” Union Recognition?

https://lri.link/3KyYUpg

 

House Lawmakers Demand More Labor Board Funds As Workplace Organizing Spreads

https://lri.link/3y6vTyw

 

As Union Petitions Increase, NLRB General Counsel Wants To Change Rules To Favor Union Organizers

https://lri.link/3KtbRko

 

U.S. Labor Agency Moves To Thwart Intimidation Of Immigrant Workers 

https://lri.link/3ydI9xg

 

‘Whore Board’ Graffiti Case Tests Line Between Labor, Bias Laws

https://lri.link/3ybmjL2

 

Starbucks Store Unionizing Surge Tests Cash-Strapped Labor Board 

https://lri.link/3MGvnLN

 

Amazon And Starbucks Union Workers Could Be Invited To White House

https://lri.link/3vyyC22

 

U.S. Senate Panel To Hold Hearing With Amazon Labor Leader

https://lri.link/3817D6r

 

Amazon To Get Hearing That Could Overturn NY Union Vote, Labor Board Official Says

https://lri.link/3LGB5gr

 

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Organizing

 

Grocery Workers' Union Joins Wave Of Starbucks Organizing Campaigns

https://lri.link/37VtSL9

 

Film Forum Workers File to Unionize With United Auto Workers Local

https://lri.link/3MDB1hM

 

Amazon Workers Vote Against Unionizing Second Warehouse In Setback For Organized Labor

https://lri.link/3ydIuAe

 

Verizon Fires Worker For Union Organizing, CWA Alleges

https://lri.link/3KFeI9O

 

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Healthcare/Covid-19

 

Stanford Resident Physicians Vote To Join Union

https://lri.link/3MMBrCw

 

Health-Care Covid Rule Hearing Highlights Employer-Union Gap

https://lri.link/38K6Jvc

 

Nurses Continue Fight For OSHA Permanent Standard On Covid

https://lri.link/3817H6b 

 

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center workers To Strike

https://lri.link/3vWYAv7

 

Tenet Nurses Alleging Understaffing, High Turnover To Picket

https://lri.link/39ChXCt

 

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Union Corruption

 

NC Rep Virginia Foxx Joins Lawmaker Letter On Unions Illegally Receiving PPP funds

https://lri.link/3F7BI0i

 

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Cannabis

 

Southern CA Teamsters Local Award Scholarships For New Cannabis Training Program 

https://lri.link/3kEr9YU

 

Green Dragon Cannabis Dispensary Cuts Ties With Grow-House Workers For Union Organizing

https://lri.link/3vBC1x0

 

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Education

 

Grinnell College Becomes First Fully Unionized Undergraduate School In U.S. 

https://lri.link/37YmONF

 

UC Academic Workers Block Westwood Intersection To Protest Pay, Policies

https://lri.link/3ksZYQS

 

UM Students, Professors Join Fight For $15 Minimum Wage As Costs Rise

https://lri.link/3OQJQ9H

 

About Labor Relations INK

Labor Relations INK is published weekly and is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up by visiting here.


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Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger, and Kimberly Ricci 


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About Labor Relations Institute

LRI exists to help our clients thrive and become extraordinary workplaces. We improve the lives of working people by strengthening relationships with their leaders and each other. For over 41 years LRI has led the labor and employee relations industry, driven by our core values and our proven process, the LRI Way.

 

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