News of the Month – November 2019

NewsNovember 25, 2019

McDonalds has agreed to pay $26 million to settle a long-running labor dispute over allegations the fast food giant underpaid some of its U.S. staff. This follows the termination of CEO Steve Easterbrook because of his consensual relationship with an employee. Don’t feel too sorry for him, though – he’s getting an exit package worth almost $42 million.

The president of the United Automobile Workers, Gary Jones, abruptly resigned on November 20 just as union leaders announced they would expel him and another top UAW official in an unfolding corruption scandal. Meanwhile, the ongoing corruption inquiry of UAW executives has spread to its bucolic retreat on Michigan’s Black Lake.

Media conglomerate Hearst is running a classic union-busting campaign, say magazine writers who recently announced their intention to unionize with the Writers Guild of America.  Meanwhile, Google has hired an anti-union consulting firm to advise management as it deals with widespread worker unrest.

Walmart has announced it will be changing its policy on reassigning disabled workers, after agreeing to settle a discrimination lawsuit for $80,000. The retail giant was accused of failing to provide a longtime employee with sufficient options after she developed stenosis of the spine and could no longer perform her role as a sales associate. In a legal win, a district court judge in Ohio ruled that a former Walmart driver’s “stubborn insistence” that he didn’t have sleep apnea and shouldn’t have to use a breathing device to help him sleep wasn’t protected opposition to disability discrimination.