Senior reporter covering DOGE and the federal workforce for Bloomberg @blaw @bgov @tax. Board of Governors, National Press Club. Call me, beep me, don't DM me.
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🚨BREAKING: Largest railway union rejects Biden-backed labor agreement, reviving the threat of a nationwide strike. Story TK.
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BREAKING: Another union, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, rejects Biden admin's deal with freight rail carriers
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A staffer for @ChicagosMayor just physically shoved me for trying to ask the mayor a question.
1st time in 15 years as a reporter I’ve had anything like this happen. Unbelievable.
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The Senate HELP Committee is on the verge of a literal brawl-- @SenMullin stood up at the dais to FIGHT @TeamsterSOB before Bernie Sanders intervened
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NEW: US union membership rate falls to historic low of 10.1%, Bureau of Labor Statistics reports
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NEW: Union membership fell to 10.3% in 2021, a loss of 241,000 workers, according to BLS.
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NEW: New Teamsters president Sean O'Brien takes over tomorrow—and the transition has been a nasty one, his top aide says. 1/
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BMWED President Tony Cardwell, who leads one of the unions that voted no, says he'll stand against any legislation that doesn't include paid sick days.
"If we're not going to get it, then they shouldn't intervene," he said.
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SMART-TD rejected the pact while the second-largest railway union, BLET, ratified it. That means SMART could strike Dec. 9 if no deal is reached.
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The @MachinistsUnion prevailed by a 2 to 1 margin — sending a shot across the bow of Apple and the rest of Silicon Valley.
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Note: IBB is small, but a walkout from ANY of the 12 railroad unions could trigger a strike by forcing the others not to cross a picket line. So far, three unions have voted down the agreement.
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More here: news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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The number of overall union members *rose* by 273,000 — but it wasn't enough to keep pace with nonunion job growth.
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NEW: Jose Andres has agreed to voluntarily recognize a union at The Bazaar in Washington, D.C.
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As I say in the story, this doesn't necessarily mean there *will* be a strike. If worse comes to worse Congress could step in and force a deal, which would reaaalllly anger unions of all stripes. But politically it might be better than a shutdown before Christmas.
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Scoop!🚨🚨: Apple store workers in Atlanta will become the first in the U.S. to file for a union election today, setting up a battle between organized labor and the Silicon Valley titan. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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Pelosi is playing to unions on the floor, saying it's "outrageous" that workers don't have paid sick leave -- while also saying that the consequences of a shutdown would be catastrophic.
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Some labor news: starting next week I’ll be a White House correspondent for Bloomberg, covering policy for BGov, Tax, Law, etc.
I’m honored to have the chance to cover seismic changes in store under Trump 47 and can’t wait to get started. See y’all @ 1600.
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Just in: Talks between Kaiser Permanente and its employee union have collapsed, according to the union
The largest-ever US health care strike will likely continue until Saturday, and there could be more strikes later.
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100% true. Even the union leaders I spoke with who were in the room say this is not over.
All I would ask is that people wait until rail workers have seen details of the deal before praising the administration.
A PR cycle saying “it’s over, workers won!” Is not helpful if rail workers can’t live with the actual agreement, reject it, and want to strike.
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It was a close one, but looks like Sanders cooled things down. Committee has moved on to questions from other members.
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JUST NOW: Three Starbucks stores win union elections, bringing the total of unionized corporate-owned stores to 6.
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The past year has been a blur of hospital trips, chemo sickness, fatigue, radiation burns and too many blood samples to count.
Starting Monday, I'm taking a few weeks off for surgery. Time to depose cancer for good.
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JUST IN: Apple workers in OKC reached a collective bargaining agreement with the company. Both unionized stores now have contracts.
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One thing's for sure: This will juice unions' argument that federal labor law is in need of an overhaul. The chances that Democrats will take up the PRO Act before the midterms? Slim to none.
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“We got stopped at the door and told, ‘No, this isn’t a good day,’” Rainville said. “Basically, ‘You can come back on Tuesday when you take over.’”
“Everything that we’ve experienced has just been incredibly petty." 3/
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Hoffa's inner circle has stonewalled O'Brien's team at every turn, O'Brien's chief of staff Brian Rainville told me. Things boiled over last week when he and the incoming secretary-treasurer were unceremoniously denied access to the president's office at Teamsters HQ. 2/
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New: Deirdre O’Brien, Apple VP for retail + people, just did an unannounced walkthrough at the Towson, Md. store where workers are trying to unionize.
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Despite high-profile strikes and organizing campaigns at Amazon, Starbucks, John Deere and others, unions haven't reversed the steady decline … Last year, 6.1% of private-sector workers belonged to a union, lower than in 2020.
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Are you a rail worker who wants your voice heard? Reach me at ikullgren@bloombergindustry.com
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“On Tuesday, we’re going to parachute in there—all of a sudden we’re going to magically appear like we’re in Star Trek,” Rainville said. “It’s like, I don’t even know where the pencils are because we haven’t been allowed in the office.” news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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But a senior Teamsters official backed up Rainville's account. In recent weeks, the official said, Hoffa cut off all communication with staffers he saw as too accommodating to O’Brien and has refused to speak to the incoming president directly. 6/
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Scoop: The head of an Amazon delivery contractor says he was retaliated against for voluntarily recognizing his workers' union news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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In LA, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien says — again — that Biden shouldn’t intervene in a potential strike with UPS.
“In the neighborhood that I grew up in, when two people are fighting in the street, you got nothing to do with it, you keep walking.”
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Hoffa's folks didn't take kindly to Rainville's criticisms. John Murphy, a Teamsters international vice president under Hoffa, suggested he was either lying or suffering early memory loss. Murphy said both sides had agreed to transition protocol, including Covid restrictions. 4/
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Just in: @ShawnFainUAW says the UAW will strike ALL 3 Detroit auto companies for the first time in history starting at midnight
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Biden mixes up Taylor Swift and Britney Spears at the turkey pardoning ceremony: "You could say even that's harder than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour or, or, or for Britney's tour. She's down in—it's kinda warm in Brazil right now."
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I gave $50 to the @KyivIndependent to support brave, independent journalism for Ukraine. Who's with me? gofundme.com/f/kyivindepende…
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Just now: AFL-CIO delegates elect @LizShuler president the next four years, the first woman to hold the job
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Rainville also said staffers coming on board were confined to a single conference room and were only allowed to talk to union staff in the presence of the Teamsters’ in-house counsel, giving what were intended to be casual conversations the feeling of a deposition. 7/
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Back in the saddle and ~hopefully~ cancer free! One more surgery to go, then I'll be chillin in remission ✌️
Until then hit me up with tips, tea and story ideas. ikullgren [at] bloombergindustry [dot] com
The past year has been a blur of hospital trips, chemo sickness, fatigue, radiation burns and too many blood samples to count.
Starting Monday, I'm taking a few weeks off for surgery. Time to depose cancer for good.
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“I am just bewildered why they are asserting these things to the press,” Murphy said in an interview. “What’s their motivation? Is it to paint a negative impression as the Jim Hoffa administration winds down? I don’t know, but it’s just bizarre.” 5/
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NEW: UAW files an unfair labor practice charge against Trump and Musk for disparaging comments about striking workers
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JUST IN: Sean O'Brien prevails in the race for @Teamsters president, sending a sharp rebuke to the Hoffa dynasty. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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.@SenSanders is now going to bat for the unions, highlighting workers’ lack of sick time and bigger freight rail profits during the pandemic.
Sen. Burr says on the floor that Democrats only need to provide about a dozen votes to pre-empt a nationwide rail strike.
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Context: Even though Hoffa wasn't on the ballot last year, O'Brien made the election a referendum on his leadership. It was a *huge* embarrassment when O'Brien got 67% of the vote, trouncing Hoffa's candidate in every region except for Canada.
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Hours later, Apple announced it would raise base pay to $22 an hour. wsj.com/articles/apple-boost…
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Just ran into Santa at a SE Michigan rest stop. When asked him why the reindeer weren’t working, he said:
“They’re in a union. I only get one them day a year under the collective bargaining agreement. That’s it.”
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Here at Netflix headquarters in LA, where @RepAdamSchiff showed up to walk the picket line.
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Yesterday @LaurenKGurley reported on Apple's anti-union talking points for managers, including claims that a union could limit opportunities and merit-based promotions. vice.com/en/article/m7v8qp/l…
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NEW: Machinists REJECT tentative agreement with rail carriers. goiam.org/news/departments/h…
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Sean O'Brien has a commanding lead in the race for @Teamsters president, leading Hoffa loyalist Steve Varima by a margain of more than 2 to 1.
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Steve Vairma concedes the race for Teamsters president: "With all the votes now counted, it has become clear that we will not have the opportunity to lead the Teamsters in the role we had envisioned."
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JUST IN: Starbucks will have to bargain with first-ever union in Buffalo news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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Wow. Harris is completely under water with Teamsters, according to internal data. Not even close.
TEAMSTERS RELEASE PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT POLLING DATA
“For the past year, the Teamsters Union has pledged to conduct the most inclusive, democratic, and transparent Presidential endorsement process in the history of our 121-year-old organization—and today we are delivering on that promise to our members,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Our members are the union, and their voices and opinions must be at the forefront of everything the Teamsters do. Our final decision around a possible Presidential endorsement will not be made lightly, but you can be sure it will be driven directly by our diverse membership.”
The Teamsters have not yet endorsed any candidate for U.S. President. The union’s General Executive Board expects to announce a decision on Wednesday.
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When I was 15, a kid shot his girlfriend and killed himself 20 yards away from where I was sitting in the cafeteria. I didn't realize how much it haunted me until years later when I covered a mass shooting and saw a version of myself in every survivor.
I’ve written for years now about the ripple of gun violence. It’s not just the wounded and the dead, the kids who thought they would die, the teachers and staff, the first-responders or all those people’s families and friends. These events traumatize hundreds, often thousands.
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🚨🚨🚨 First group of Amazon drivers join the Teamsters. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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Lastly, shout out to @kmascia for writing this article that inspired me to get checked out before it was too late.
Journalism saves lives. It really does. menshealth.com/health/a28401…
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This trend started wayyy before Covid. A lot of it centers on the decline of heavily unionized industries — manufacturing, coal, etc.
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When my mom worked at Walmart she was routinely scheduled for 30-39 hours, making her ineligible for benefits. Important story from @noamscheiber. nytimes.com/2022/02/01/busin…
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How are unions supporting the importation of cheap foreign labor? Honest question — I've never heard that argument.
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Reminder: it's illegal for employers to retaliate against workers for supporting a union, or speaking out collectively about any workplace issue, really. nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-w…
I would totally fucking start a union at my Walmart if I wasn’t going to get fired for trying to unionize
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New: Workers at The Bazaar in DC have asked @joseandrescg to recognize a union news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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NEW: Confirming WaPo scoop, a source close to the White House says that Biden will ask Congress to step in to avert a nationwide rail strike.
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My question to @PressSec
REPORTER: There are more 150k disabled Americans working today. POTUS talked about hiring the best and the brightest. Does he believe disabled people have a place working in the federal govt?
LEAVITT: The president has made it clear that this is a common sense solution.
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The renewed railroad strike threat is already straining Biden's relationship with unions.
“It’s a vice of the Democratic Party’s own making,” one activist leader told me.
My latest: news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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Scoop: Bernie Sanders plans to re-introduce paid sick leave legislation for rail workers news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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I kept working through most of treatment because I believe in journalism, and specifically good coverage of the American workforce, which is so needed right now.
So don't get too comfortable — I'll be back before you know it.
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A SMART-TD official told me he genuinely doesn't know whether there will be a rail strike in the next few weeks. “I have not experienced anything like this" in nearly 20 years, he said. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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The union wants to raise starting wages to $28 an hour, the minimum it says is needed for a single employee to afford a one-bedroom apartment it Atlanta.
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Employees were inspired by Amazon workers in Bessemer, Ala., said Derrick Bowles, a Genius Bar worker.
“Somebody has got to be the first to do something,” he said. “Being first doesn’t matter to us—doing it is what matters to us. And if we have to be first we will be first.”
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Inbox: @Andy_Levin's new staff union has reached a TA that provides $76k salary for junior staff—a $10k raise, according to @Congress_Union
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a wildcat strike, I daresay
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Hi Twitter - I'm back from a month of medical leave and ready to get back on the labor beat! Hmu with thoughts, tips and missives.
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NEW: The Teamsters say a strike is "imminent" after walking away from negotiations with UPS this afternoon news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-…
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