What I consider to be a stunning move, California Senator Dianne Feinstein is no longer supporting the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
According to Santa Clarita AM radio station KHTS, Senator Feinstein will not sign on the dotted line:
A delegation from the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, joined by similar groups from around the country, is in Washington to have meetings to express their opposition to the bill. At around 12:00 eastern time this afternoon, the group met with Senator Diane Feinstein.
Feinstein, a major proponent of the Employee Free Choice Act, broke national news when she told the local delegation that she is withdrawing her support. Feinstein, a major proponent of the Employee Free Choice Act, broke national news when she told the local delegation that she is withdrawing her support. “She will not vote for the bill, and she will not support any modification allowing the process to bypass secret ballots, and she believes that now is not the right time for this type of legislation given the downturn in the economy,” said John Shaffery, a local lawyer and vice president for the SCV Chamber Board of Directors, who was in the meeting.
Well knock me over with a feather here. I was sure that this bill was not going to meet too much opposition from California, particularly with Senator Feinstein, who supported the bill in 2007.
The EFCA would essentially eliminate the employers control over how a union is brought into an organization. Under the current rules, the employer can request a secret ballot on the question of unionization. Should the union be elected in, the National Labor Relations Board(NLRB) would need to certify the union so that it may represent the bargaining unit under collective bargaining. According to Wikipedia, the EFCA would change the current rules:
If enacted, the EFCA would change the currently existing procedure to require the NLRB to certify the union as the bargaining representative without directing an election if a majority of employees signed cards. The EFCA would take away employers’ present right to decide whether to use only the card-check process or to hold a secret-ballot election among employees in a particular bargaining unit, and instead give the right to the employees to choose a secret-ballot election in cases where less than a majority of employees has chosen to unionize through card-check. The proposed legislation would still require a secret-ballot election when at least 30% of employees petition for an election.
The proposed legislation would also establish stricter penalties for employers who violate provisions of the NLRA when workers seek to form a union, and set in place new mediation and arbitration procedures for disputes.
The EFCA is truly a divisive issue. Businesses hate it, The Heritage Foundation hates it (there’s a surprise…), stars love it. The President Obama promises to pass it.
And Human Resources professionals are getting dizzy. Either pass it or don’t but please let us know what’s going on.
Thanks to @breakingnewz for the head’s up.
In his speech today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told Californians that “our wallet is empty”.
Our wallet is empty. Our bank is closed. Our credit is dried up.
I know for many of you, these will be the hardest votes you will ever make.
Yes, it’s all over the news. The California Supreme Court upheld the ridiculously discriminatory Prop 8 today.
I can’t believe how ashamed of California I am. My only ray of sunshine, my silver lining is the 2010 ballot, which could possibly give us a chance to reverse Prop 8 and allow marriage for everyone.
I do, however, have to give props to Justice Carlos Moreno who, in his dissenting opinion stated:
It seems that health insurance companies, among other healthcare providers, are going to voluntarily slow their increases 1.5% over the next 10 years in order to allow President Obama’s health care plan to grow into fruition.
From SFGate:
Hospitals, insurance companies, drug makers and doctors planned to tell Obama on Monday they’ll voluntarily slow their rate increases in coming years in a move that government economists say would create breathing room to help provide health insurance to an estimated 50 million Americans who now go without it…
One of the greatest feminist writers in the world, Marilyn French, died on May 2. Her book, “The Women’s Room” changed a number of lives, particularly those of female baby boomers.
I remember that book sitting on my mother’s nightstand, dog eared and battered from it having been read a number of times. Women all over the world read it a number of times. I read it a number of times.
Yes, I admit it, I’m an absolute “Mad Men” fanatic. I love the clothes, I love the hair, I love the fact that fuller figured women are considered sexy. Most of all, I love how it so very accurately portrays women in the workplace circa 1964. Women were not taken seriously nor were they paid fairly. Jump back to 2009 – we’ve come a long way baby – right?
Wrong. BLR reported on the AAUW State by State Gender Pay Gap which noted the best and the worst equity pay in the US. The results really surprised me. The survey compares college educated men and women over the age of 25 years old, working full-time.
Which states fared the best in terms of the earnings gap? Here are the top 10 states, followed by their earnings gap percentage (figures rounded off):
1) Vermont 87%
2) Hawaii 83%
3) Delaware 80%
4) New York 78%
5) Montana 77%
6) Wyoming 77%
7) New Mexico 77%
Wisconsin 76%
9) Oregon 76%
10) Nevada 75%Which states fared the worst? Here are the bottom 10 states in terms of the earnings gap:
42) Utah 69%
43) Michigan 68%
44) Arkansas 68%
45) Iowa 68%
46) New Hampshire 68%
47) Oklahoma 67%
48) Virginia 67%
49) Mississippi 67%
50) West Virginia 67%
51) Louisiana 65%
It’s unbelievable to me that in this day and age, women are still, at best, making 87 cents to a man’s dollar and the fact that the national average shows that women make 71% of what men make really leaves me both angered and puzzled. How could this be? Women are running companies, managing large groups, breaking the glass ceilings and de-gluing sticky floors.
Yet (and believe me I am no fan of this woman) when Sarah Palin made a bid for Vice President, much of the criticism was based on the fact that she was not staying home taking care of her infant who had special needs. Oh, and Hilary evidently rode on Bill’s coattails to get to where she is. Why should we expect equal pay when the same stereotypes keep getting thrown at us?
April 28, 2009 was National Pay Equity Day. I wish I was paying more attention and wrote about this subject on that day. Oh well, better late than never.
And then there’s the Paycheck Fairness Act, which, according to the Women’s National Law Center is defined as:
The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced in both the House (H.R. 12) and the Senate (S. 182) and passed by the House on Jan. 9, 2009, would update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963. The Act would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the EPA and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages. The bill also allows women to receive the same remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subject to discrimination based on race and national origin.
Not surprisingly, the Heritage Foundation has a very pragmatic description of the PFA:
What Is the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA)?
- Under the current Equal Pay Act, once employees have provided prima facie evidence of sex discrimination, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to show that the difference in wages results from “any factor other than sex.”
- The PFA eliminates the “any factor other than sex” defense and replaces it with a “bona fide factor other than sex” defense. Employers can only use this “bona fide factor” defense if they demonstrate that business necessity demands it.
- Such defense shall not apply where the employee demonstrates that an alternative employment practice exists that would serve the same business purpose without producing such differential and that the employer has refused to adopt such alternative practice.
- The PFA makes employers liable for unlimited punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages in cases of sex discrimination.
- The PFA makes it easier to bring class action lawsuits in such cases.
All of the HR organizations decry the passage of the PFA and as an HR professional, I certainly can see why. Yet I also find it very difficult as a woman to oppose it, particularly in light of very disappointing data above. Therein, I guess, lies the rub.
Oh, in case you were curious – California came in just after Nevada at 75%.
I came across the term “bossnapping” the other day while listening to NPR. It seems that frustrated workers across Europe are taking matters into their own hands.
Evidently bossnapping is an old practice that’s been called back from the dead. From The Guardian:
It seems that history has come to repeat itself again and again – Yahoo, facing further declining profits and falling shares in the face of the struggling economy may be making up to 600 layoffs this week. In 2008, Yahoo made close to 2,500 job cuts. Announcement of the job eliminations are expected to be made on Tuesday, April 22 when the company announces its first quarter earnings. Sources at Yahoo are not commenting either way. From Information Week:
Well, it’s been a while since I posted and I thank you all for being patient with me. I decided to take the month of March off from just about everything, including writing. But now I’m back and hopefully better than ever. So, what’s going on?
First off, this week is the week of the dreaded I-9 revision barring any further Federal guidelines. From SHRM:
Okay, I don’t even know what to say about this. Penthouse or not, the type of behavior described here is completely and utterly unacceptable, particularly in the workplace.
Essentially, prior to Penthouse ownership, Friend Finder had been a by-the-book, under wraps type of company. While the product itself was sexually motivated, the workplace was not. One person described it as being “NASA-like”. Once ownership hands changed and Penthouse took over, the workplace became anything but by-the-book. They started by firing their HR Executive:
Yes, another one from ValleyWag (thanks Owen!) and this one’s a doozy.
Evidently, The CEO of Exigen has been accused of the following, “Damages for Sexual Harassment – Quid Pro Quo Harassment, Sexual Harassment – Hostile Work Environment, Sexual Battery, Battery, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Failure to Prevent Sexual Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation, Retaliation, Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy, Wrongful Termination on the Basis of Sex in Violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, and finally, Demand for a Jury Trial.
Well,, it looks like I got out of my previous company just in time. First there was a round of layoffs, now the employees are facing a 47% pay cut for the remainder of Q1 and a subsequent 20% pay cut for all of Q2.
From The Chicago Tribune:
First off, I apologize for the recent lack of posts. I took some time off to go visit my dad in Florida. It was wonderful, but really, really cold. Not cold for Florida, just cold. But it was really, really nice to see my dad. And his puppies.
As I’ve mentioned, my mother died in 2002 of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a horrible disease that destroys the motor neurons that control muscle movement while leaving a person’s cognitive capacity intact (in most cases).
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the I-9 form slated for today, February 2, 2009, has been delayed by 60 days, until April 3, 2009.
Please Note: Use of the new form prior to April 3 may subject employers to civil penalties.
From SHRM:
According to an interim rule published in December 2008, employers were supposed to begin using the revised verification form on Feb. 2, 2009. However, when President Obama took office, the White House issued a directive to all federal agencies asking them to review any regulations introduced by the Bush administration but had not taken effect before Jan. 20, 2009.
USCIS officials stated that the 60-day delay should provide adequate time to complete a full review of the new form and employment verification requirements. A notice announcing the delay was set to appear in The Federal Register. In addition, the USCIS will reopen the public comment period on the new rule for 30 days, until March 4, 2009.
The USCIS update can be found here and here.
The current I-9 form can be found here.
The first ever “Laid Off Camp” is taking place on Tuesday, March 3 at 10 AM and “is an ad-hoc gathering of unemployed & self-employed people (including entrepreneurs and startups) who want to share and interact with each other.”
Some session ideas include:
This is a very scary time in California. First we hear that the state is going broke. Then the UI rate goes up to over 7%. Then the California Budget fails and fails and fails yet again. California companies like Google, Logitech, Intel, AMD, Seagate and Williams-Sonoma layoff a good percentage of their respective staff. The new Yahoo CEO has frozen all salaries.
And now this.
Sigh.
Please, oh please, tell me that someone really didn’t think it was okay to bring this to work.
At least I can be thankful that they don’t work for me.
Thanks to Rear Adm. Monteiro for sending this my way.
This post is dedicated to Robert Scoble.
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