United Auto Workers union demand investigation into Trump-Musk call
It was the media event of the week – the delayed, but ultimately lengthy conversation (streamed live on X), between billionaire and freedom of speech champion, Elon Musk, and presidential nominee, Donald Trump. But according to the United Auto Workers union, the chat was a little too freely-flowing, and it has asked the National Labor Relations Board to investigate whether both men interfered with workers who may want to exercise their right to join a union. During the conversation, Trump implied his support for Musk firing workers for going on strike. “You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump told Musk. “I look at what you do. You walk in and say, ‘You want to quit?’ I won’t mention the name of the company but they go on strike and you say, ’That’s OK. You’re all gone.'” Musk said, “Yeah,” and laughed while Trump was talking. The union has called on the NLRB to look into whether this is true or not. According to ABC News Trump praised Musk for firing workers who went on strike. The UAW contends this could intimidate workers for the Trump campaign or at Tesla who might want to join a union. Sanjukta Paul, a law professor at the University of Michigan, said the UAW charges have real substance because the comments from Trump and Musk could “chill” efforts by workers to act collectively, including union organizing, or just getting together to improve working conditions.
Laid off workers being replaced by offshore employees
New research suggests that 30% of companies who have laid staff off are then replacing them with offshore workers. The shocking data – revealed by ResumeBuilder – also finds that 24% of companies with recent layoffs “plan to terminate and replace US employees with offshore workers in 2025.” It claims roles that are being axed internally but then replaced by overseas workers, include those jobs that can easily be managed remotely – such as customer service, tech support, and data entry positions. The most commonly affected specific roles were those in customer service (58%) and tech positions (49%). Some 47% of the offshore-replaced workers were in data entry positions. Digital marketing came in at 41% and manufacturing had 40%. Commenting on the data Stacie Haller, chief career adviser at ResumeBuilder.com, said: “Offshore workers live in countries where they have been working globally for years, so there is an existing experienced workforce in place.” She added: “Historically companies have filled positions offshore due to cost benefits. However, the current trend represents a new level of outsourcing, where layoffs of US employees are being used as a cover for replacing them with a lower-cost workforce abroad.” This approach, she claimed, “raises ethical concerns and can impact employee morale, trust, and the overall perception of the company’s commitment to its domestic workforce.” The data also found that among those companies that replaced laid-off employees with offshore workers, 22% indicated that 1-10% of laid-off employees were replaced. Nearly a third reported that 11-25% were replaced, while 24% said 26-50% were replaced.
US prison worker dies after handling mail saturated with unknown substance
A mailroom worker at a California prison has died after handling post that was “saturated in an unknown substance,” according to the US Federal Bureau of Prisons. The employee – Marc Fischer – worked at Atwater Prison, California, a high-security facility for men that currently houses around 1,200 dangerous felons. Fischer, who worked at the prison for more than 23 years, reportedly began to feel unwell after handling post at the prison, and died shortly after while being rushed to hospital. A second worker, who was also hospitalized, has now been released. A Federal Bureau of Prisons statement said: “Tragically, despite swift response from his co-workers and local emergency medical services, supervisory correctional systems specialist Marc Fischer was pronounced deceased upon arriving at the local hospital.” Visits to the prison have now been suspended until further notice. Reports indicate that law enforcement officials are trying to determine whether the mail may have been saturated in fentanyl, according to the Associated Press. Fischer spent his career at the California prison, working as a correctional officer for three years before being promoted to supervisory correctional systems specialist in 2009. Fischer leaves behind a wife, son, daughter and “countless grieving friends and colleagues,” the agency said.
Two and a half years: the average time it takes an employee to be promoted
The average employee takes 30.4 months – around two and a half years – to be promoted, according to new research released by Standout CV. It analysed the listed career histories of 19,363 employees at some of the largest companies by market capitalization in the UK and US on LinkedIn to determine the time it takes for an employee to climb the next rung on the corporate ladder. After 30 months’ service was the magic point at which most people got their promotions, with the data also finding 43.1% of employees surveyed had experience at least one promotion in their career. By position, the report said interns were most likely to be promoted – after just 8.7 months. Juniors were promoted after 12.9 months; associates after 15.6 months and executives after 17.6 months. Interns are almost twice as likely than junior employees to be promoted while associates are three times more likely than a junior to be promoted. Interestingly, tech companies are the worst companies for promoting people, with Google and Meta coming out on top, at less than a quarter of staff promoted from within the company. When people are promoted, the data found people tended to stay with their employer longer.
Eye practice illegally fired someone for reporting lack of Covid-19 protections
A whistleblowing investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has concluded that a New York eye doctor’s practice illegally fired an employee concerned about the practice’s failure to implement state-mandated protocols to protect employees from Covid-19. Adjudicator’s agreed with the US Department of Labor’s suit that practice boss, Dr David Kwiat, retaliated against the employee based on protected activity. Commenting on the case, OSHA regional administrator, Richard Mendelson, said: “The court’s decision reinforces the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s guarantee that workers have the right to raise safety and health concerns to their employers and file complaints with OSHA and other regulatory agencies without fear of termination and retaliation and the chilling effect such actions have on workers’ coming forward with concerns about health and safety hazards in their workplaces.” The court permanently forbid Kwiat and the practice from future violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s anti-retaliation provisions and required them to prominently post a notice for employees stating that the employers will not discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee for engaging in activities protected by section 11(c) of the OSH Act. A further hearing to determine damages is expected to follow soon.
Amazon says labor charges levied against it violate the constitution
Retail giant, Amazon, has accused the National Labor Relations Board of violating the constitution by bringing forward unfair dismissal charges against it. The National Labor Relations Board initially filed charges against Amazon after finding merit in claims by two Georgia workers that they had faced retaliation, surveillance and interrogation after exercising their right to organize. Amazon, which denies the allegations, is seeking to dismiss the complaint on constitutional grounds. According to Amazon’s attorneys – published in The Guardian – Amazon “should be dismissed because the General Counsel’s interpretation of the Act and requests to the National Labor Relations Board in this case implicates the Major Questions Doctrine and associated principles of non-delegation and therefore violate Article I of the United States Constitution.” The NLRB complaint “should be dismissed”, Amazon added, because the agency’s procedures “violate Article II of the United States Constitution” by involving “the exercise of significant authority by an Officer of the United States who is improperly insulated from the President’s removal power”. A court hearing is now scheduled for October.
Maine workers can now seek damages for missed wages
A new law introduced last Friday gives workers in Maine greater protections against missed wages. The new law gives the state Department of Labor more tools to hold businesses accountable for failure to pay or mistakes in pay – including ordering an employer to pay both the unpaid wages as well as damages equal to twice the amount of those wages with interest. The law has been brought in to protect low-wage workers from lost pay – a figure of around $30 when it was last estimated in 2017 by The Maine Center for Economic Policy. Maine senate president, Troy Jackson, a Democrat, said the new law is for “holding bad actors accountable for wage theft.” Added Maine AFL-CIO vice president and Ironworkers Local 7 member Grant Provost: “This law will finally put some teeth in our labor laws to hold corporate lawbreakers accountable and ensure working Mainers are paid fully for an honest day’s work.” This is the latest law from among Democrat-controlled states to give workers more options to seek compensation for lost wages. California amended its labor laws earlier this year to get more businesses to correct such labor violations.
