Sanchez was a member of the opening plenary panel of the Summit on Worker Voice held today, October 7, 2015 at the White House.
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Is there an app for labor organizing?
“You’ve got a whole millennial generation who knows they’re not getting a good deal in the workplace, but don’t consider joining unions”, the president said.
But for many in attendance, those apprehensions were allayed.
It’s clear why having a real voice in the workplace is beneficial to workers themselves – but most people don’t realize that the most successful companies are the ones that are doing this right.
Later in the speech, he said “we’ve seen an explosion of American innovation in the workforce”. The shorter time period prevents employers from scheduling meetings to tell workers about the potential disadvantages of union representation.
Vice President Biden delivered the Summit’s closing remarks, heavily promoting organized labor as a way to increase worker protections and quality of life.
“We’ve got to adapt to that, and try to find new ways of bringing people in”, Obama said. Obama called for fixes to labor law that would help independent contractors organize and gain access to benefits normally offered by employers.
Meanwhile, workers in North Carolina will gather at the state Legislative Building in Raleigh for the first “People’s Wage Board.” We need the money to raise our families.
“In recent years, we’ve seen more companies cut costs by hiring contractors and “permatemps” -workers who are laboring side-by-side with full-time employees but don’t earn the same pay and benefits and job security. But the gold standard for communication was still people talking to people”.
“Labor rights are civil rights”, Hathorn said. By reaching out to companies and pitching strong employee relations as a boon for business, the administration believes that “high road” employees can help ease corporate resistance to wage hikes, paid leave, and fair scheduling. Yes, all working people need a voice on the job.
Labor and economic policies have changed dramatically under President Barack Obama.
Later on Wednesday, Obama will participate in a public conversation with workers and organizers co-hosted by Coworker.org. He called on Congress to pass the WAGE Act, recently introduced by Sen.
At the end of the summit’s town hall, one of my favorite moments caught on camera was Allysha Almada, a nurse fired for organizing with the National Nurses United (NNU), handing the president a gift.
Abdi Ali will also speak at the White House summit.
“Despite my work in almost two decades in this industry, I make just $8 an hour working at McDonald’s and Burger King. We should be strengthening our labor laws, not rolling them back”, he said. The workers took the vote to decertify the union in August 2013, but the NLRB in Illinois impounded the ballots and locked them up in Peoria while it addressed the union’s appeal.
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Obama says that in a fast-changing economy, it’s more important than ever to ensure workers have a voice.
