More Henry Ford Genesys nurses want to boot the Teamsters:
Last month, we told you about the decertification (RD) petition filed by a group of 80 acute-care registered nurses at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, MI. That news followed the Teamsters strike reaching the one-year mark with no signs of a contract in sight. Those nurses stayed quiet about the petition, but clearly, some of them are more than finished with the union.
Now, a second RD petition covering 385 Henry Ford nurses has been filed with legal aid from the National Right to Work (NRTW) Foundation, and nurse Kristen Cox is publicly leading that effort. The new petition was signed by 264 of those nurses, and the NRTW Foundation is also representing Genesys nurses who filed ULPs against the Teamsters for retaliation if they went back to work. We’ll be watching how these petitions fare, and whether the Teamsters play dirty (as they often do) by filing blocking charges to continue representing nurses who don’t want them.
UAW election results are rolling in, but Shawn Fain has fewer fans near home:
(UPDATE 5:30 EST: Shawn Fain’s campaign has claimed victory in the UAW election.)
Let’s get real… Shawn Fain will almost certainly keep his presidential gig. The union’s officer election results are still being tabulated under the oversight of federal monitor Neil Barofsky, and in some regions, Fain received around 70% of the vote. However, Region 1, based in Warren, MI, doesn’t have as many Fain fans on hand. There, he received a lukewarm 57.7% of the vote, which seems like a telling development to be happening in Solidarity House’s backyard.
So, Fain will probably be blustering for years to come with his general strike plans lingering in the distance. It’s very difficult to oust a sitting union president unless there are criminal charges in the mix, but hey, that could still happen after a grand jury subpoenaed Barofsky over his reports, which are full of allegations against Fain.
Meanwhile, a UAW International official has been terminated for posting an AI-generated image that many considered to be a death threat against Fain rival Will Lehman. Raymond Jensen said goodbye to his $202,000-a-year job, and although Lehman didn’t have much of a chance in the election, at least he had the pleasure of grilling Fain over the image during a debate.
Another state bans so-called “captive audience meetings”:
Delaware joined a list of at least 13 other states that have barred employers from requiring workers to attend meetings that include views on unionization. House Bill 84, which was signed into law by Gov. Matt Meyer, prohibits employers from disciplining or firing employees who don’t attend such meetings.
Delaware’s law does not provide for specific penalties for employers who violate the ban, but other states do. Under Illinois’ law, a $1,000 fine per worker, per violation, is on the table, and Maryland’s law (which went into effect on Oct. 1) authorizes the state labor commissioner to assess $10,000 penalties for first violations and $25,000 for subsequent violations.
Whether these laws survive long term is anyone’s guess, since business groups have been challenging them on First Amendment grounds. Currently, California’s law is blocked by an injunction on free speech and NLRA preemption grounds. That state’s officials have appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
New Jersey’s independent contractor test is now law:
Decades of New Jersey case law on independent contractor classification have been codified, and those controversial regulations took effect on Oct. 1. Officially, the three-pronged ABC test must now be satisfied before workers will be considered independent contractors: workers must be free from an employer’s control, the work they perform must be outside of the employer’s usual course of business, and they must be customarily engaged in an independently established business or occupation.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill has insisted that nothing will change for these workers, and that those who are currently classified as independent contractors will stay that way. Yet some freelancers and business groups question why workers in 2026 are subject to a test that began popping up in judicial opinions in the 1930s. Requests to postpone the law’s effective date went unheeded, and Senate President Nicholas Scutari seeks a fix that can smooth out rough spots.
The Wizards of the Coast Union could be growing:
Only a few months after the first union election at Wizards of the Coast, more groups are following suit to join Communication Workers of America. Two new representation petitions were filed, this time by the company’s Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering workers, who want assurances on the use of generative AI. We’re keeping our eyes on this story.
