| | | | | |  | | By Nick Niedzwiadek | | | | | DISSENT IN THE RANKS: The labor movement is all-in on projecting a unified front as it shifts into gear for the 2024 election cycle. A little over a week ago, the AFL-CIO endorsed President Joe Biden’s reelection. Both federation officials and the president himself pointed to the timing — roughly nine months earlier than fellow Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton received theirs — as a sign that labor unions are in alignment. Organized labor is dear to the president’s political heart and is set to play a major role in next August’s Democratic National Convention, particularly as union considerations were one of the decisive reasons why party leaders chose Chicago to host the event over Atlanta, another finalist. But that rosy depiction, somewhat by design, glosses over the full picture. Not every union — despite what Biden told reporters last Saturday — is behind him. The United Mine Workers of America and United Auto Workers are among the notable holdouts. Their leaders have expressed harsh words about some of the administration’s policy decisions (more on that lower down.) Additionally, the selection of Chicago for the convention reopened old wounds for some union hands, given the heavy involvement of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire heir of the family that controls the Hyatt hotel chain. Over the years Hyatt has had a number of high-profile dustups with UNITE HERE, a major union that represents hundreds of thousands of hotel and restaurant workers, over working conditions and contract terms. “Definitely at that time under the Pritzker group, we thought of them as the worst of the worst,” said Randall Williams, formerly UNITE HERE’s senior strategic campaigner. At times the union has swiped back at members of the Pritzker family, including opposing Penny Pritzker’s nomination to be Obama’s Commerce secretary back in 2013. But such opposition has done little to dent the Pritzker name in Democratic politics. Penny Pritzker was ultimately confirmed 97-1, and JB — who’s never had a leadership or managerial role in the business — has won two gubernatorial elections by healthy margins and is set to be a face of the 2024 convention. “The family has been able to insulate themselves from this criticism because of all the money they donate to the Democratic Party,” said a former UNITE HERE official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I was flabbergasted when I saw the convention was coming to Chicago.” Even still, these critics acknowledged that Atlanta — with its minimal unionized hotel offerings and being located in a right-to-work state — was an unpalatable alternative. (UNITE HERE’s leader, D. Taylor, told POLITICO that the union is “excited it's coming to Chicago. It’s a union town and we’re proud of that.”) Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter, who worked closely with Pritzker to land the convention, said the he’s had a strong labor record as governor and downplayed criticism of his wealth. “Everybody at the end of the day stands on their own two legs,” Reiter said. “I’ve got no complaints about Governor Pritzker.” GOOD MORNING. It’s Monday, June 26. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on labor and employment-related immigration. Send feedback, tips, and exclusives to NNiedzwiadek@politico.com and OOlander@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @nickniedz and @oliviaolanderr.
| | | | A message from UPS: Want the latest updates on UPS-Teamsters negotiations? Learn more here. | | | | | SENATE UNIONIZATION STIRS: A group of Democratic senators have introduced a resolution that would pave the way for staffers to unionize and collectively bargain. The effort, led by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), would need significant Republican support to clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold — an exceedingly unlikely proposition this term. Earlier this year Sen. Ed Markey voluntarily recognized his staff’s unionization campaign, though without a resolution formally authorizing such activity, organizers lack federal labor law protections, our Daniella Diaz and Katherine Tully-McManus report. More hill news: “House Dems fume at Senate over Biden nominations,” from our Nicholas Wu, Daniella Diaz and Burgess Everett.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
| | UAW PEEVED WITH BIDEN: The head of the United Auto Workers upbraided the Biden administration on Friday for granting a multi-billion dollar loan deal to a joint venture between automaker Ford Motor and a South Korea battery supplier. At issue is the lack of key labor assurances — such as wage rates, work conditions and retirement contributions — according to UAW President Sean Fain. “We have been absolutely clear that the switch to electric engine jobs, battery production and other EV manufacturing cannot become a race to the bottom. Not only is the federal government not using its power to turn the tide – they’re actively funding the race to the bottom with billions in public money,” he said in a statement. The broadside came a day after the Energy Department announced up to $9.2 billion in loans to BlueOval SK that, if finalized, would help fund the construction of three manufacturing plants in Tennessee and Kentucky to produce advanced batteries for future Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles. The project aims to create 5,000 new jobs in Kentucky and 2,500 jobs in Tennessee once the manufacturing plants are operational, as well as about 5,000 construction jobs, our Kelsey Tamborino reports for Pros. “The White House said Biden and UAW are working toward the same goal -- "to ensure the future of the auto industry is made here in America, with good-paying, union jobs. ... The president respects the UAW for working hard for the interests of the working people they represent, and the president will keep working hard toward that goal as well," Reuters reported. More union news: “Union official says safety of railroads has been compromised by job cuts and time constraints,” from the Associated Press. Even more: “Starbucks Union Plans to Strike Over Pride Décor and Labor Practices,” from The New York Times.
| | | CFPB WADES INTO WORKPLACE SURVEILLANCE: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it has sufficient legal authority to regulate data brokers’ use of information gleaned from various workplace surveillance tools, Government Executive reports. “The CFPB was already in the midst of its own probe into the data broker economy out of concern that the market is largely unregulated, and covers personal data that is vulnerable to exploitation. The agency is looking to apply the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law that safeguards consumer credit information and regulates reporting practices, to data brokers.”
| | | | A message from UPS:   | | | | | THE HUMAN FACE OF AI: There is a lot of manpower that goes into the behind-the-scenes work fueling recent advancements in artificial technology that have exploded into the public consciousness of late. Some of these workers’ jobs are devoted to rote tasks like annotation to help train these complex systems and build the base of information used to generate content, while others do the nitty-gritty work to keep this technology up and running,” New York Magazine reports. “There are people classifying the emotional content of TikTok videos, new variants of email spam, and the precise sexual provocativeness of online ads. Others are looking at credit-card transactions and figuring out what sort of purchase they relate to or checking e-commerce recommendations and deciding whether that shirt is really something you might like after buying that other shirt.” More workplace news: “Remote work appears to be here to stay, especially for women,” from The Washington Post.
| | | BACK IN BUSINESS: The capital’s intern class has returned to the streets and offices of D.C. after many of these resume-building opportunities were transformed into remote positions during the pandemic, the Washington Post reports. “This summer marks a return to almost normal, employers and internship program administrators say. And they’re relieved; to them, it’s hard to replace the value of an in-person experience for students trying to find a career path or make the contacts essential to landing jobs.” Nevertheless many internships reflect other pandemic-era shifts that have endured, such as a change in expectations about how often to show up to the office versus working from home (or sublet). Additionally paid internships are becoming more commonplace, partly as an effort to draw from a wider group of applicants. More state news: “CT wage theft: Millions stolen from workers since 2019. What you need to know,” from the Hartford Courant. Even more: “NJ Supermarkets Pay $1.8M For OT Violations, DOL Says,” from Law360.
| | | SCOTUS STIFFARMS STATES: The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that states cannot go to federal court to try to force the federal government to challenge deportation and immigration policies, our Josh Gerstein reports. The 8-1 decision could cut down on a flood of lawsuits recent administrations have faced from state attorneys general and governors who disagree with Washington on immigration and crime policy. The high court’s ruling found that Texas and Louisiana lacked standing to pursue litigation challenging immigration enforcement priorities established by President Joe Biden’s administration soon after he took office. More immigration news: “The ultimate score for rich people? “Golden” passports,” from Vox.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | |  | what we're reading | | — “Fake ChatGPT Cases Costs Lawyers $5,000 Plus Embarrassment,” from Bloomberg Law. — “Diners Are Losing Patience With Restaurant Service—and There’s No Quick Fix,” from The Wall Street Journal. — “Nurses Have Had Enough, Threatening Big Gaps in US Health Care,” from Bloomberg. — “Senators try again to weed out past marijuana use as a disqualifier for intelligence jobs,” from the Government Executive. THAT’S ALL FOR SHIFT!
| | | | A message from UPS: UPS is focused on negotiating a new labor contract that provides wins for our employees, the union, UPS and our customers. Today, full- and part-time union employees at UPS receive industry-leading wages, low-to-no-cost health care, pension benefits, tuition assistance and more. For example, UPS full-time delivery drivers receive average total compensation of $145,000 per year. That includes $0 health care premiums, contributions to a defined-benefit pension plan and up to seven weeks of paid vacation, plus paid time off for holidays, sick leave and option days. Learn more about how UPS is approaching these negotiations. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
