One Texas lawyer is helping companies opt out of workers’ compensation and write their own rules. What does it mean for injured workers? (more…)
LabCorp Workers Vote Union Yes
LabCorp workers at labs across San Diego and Los Angeles County voted union Yes this week to join UFCW Local 135 and UFCW Local 770. The workers join a growing movement of phlebotamists and lab technicians who have come together from the Northwest to the Southwest to raise standards in the health-care industry. (more…)
Lab Co. To Pay $256M To Settle FCA, Kickback Charges
By Jacob Batchelor — Law360, New York (October 19, 2015, 3:33 PM ET) — Millennium Health, a California-based laboratory testing business for years besieged by False Claims Act and kickback allegations, agreed Monday to pay the federal government $256 million to resolve numerous lawsuits claiming it bilked Medicare, Medicaid and other programs while engaging in a referral scheme.
The $256 million settlement will resolve FCA claims that Millennium systematically cheated federal health care programs by billing for excessive and unnecessary urine drug tests from January 2008 to May 2015, as well as for false billings related to genetic testing, according.
Read more: www.law360.com
LabCorp Workers in LA & San Diego Vote UNION YES
Prior to our union vote, LabCorp made promises that they would give me a raise to keep up with industry standards. But in my three years with the company, Corporate kept finding ways to deny this raise until all of us in Southern California came together through union organizing.
All of us coming together as one big force is giving us the ability to revolutionize the lab industry from the inside out, and to have what is fair for the important work we do as professionals.
Andre Hernandez, LabCorp Arcadia (more…)
Poll of Workers Who Make Less Than $15 Shows 72% Support for Unions
Seventy-two percent of underpaid workers approve of labor unions, and 75 percent support a $15 minimum wage and a union according to the first-ever poll of workers paid less than $15 an hour. (more…)
11 Important Facts About Latinos in the U.S. Workforce to Keep in Mind During Hispanic Heritage Month
Sep 29, 2015 – In a new report released this week, Latino Workers and Unions: A Strategic Partnership for America’s Progress, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement details the work environment for Latinos in the U.S. workforce. (more…)
Target pharmacy workers form union, first in company’s history
Sep 16, 2015 – A group of pharmacy workers within Target Corp’s store in Brooklyn, New York, have won a vote to form a microunion, making it the first unionized store at the retailer since its inception in 1902. (more…)
Gallup Poll: ‘Americans Want Unions’
Six out of every 10 Americans now supports labor unions – a phenomenal five-point jump over the previous year. That’s the latest from a Gallup poll released this week showing that during the past year, Americans’ approval of unions skyrocketed to its highest point in seven years.
Americans are seeing the connection between unions and balancing the economy, allowing workers to come together to build a better life for their families. Overall, Gallup found that support for labor unions is now at an impressive 58 percent, a rise of 5 percentage points since 2008. A Business Insider headline Tuesday put it simply: ‘Americans want unions.’
Read more: www.afscme.org
Union, Yes: Unions Help Kids in Our Communities
Sep 14, 2015 – A new study shows yet another benefit of unions you may not be aware of: The New York Times this week wrote about a study that “suggests that unions may also help children move up the economic ladder.”
The paper–written by researchers at Harvard, Wellesley and the Center for American Progress–essentially finds that children born into low-income families have a greater chance of ascending “to higher incomes in metropolitan areas where union membership is higher.”
The Times article points out that it seems that no other link to upward mobility is as strong as the one found in the study. It’s also another reason why the decline in union membership is so troubling.
Read more: www.ufcw.org
When Bosses Schedule Hours That Just Don’t Work
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD – SEPT. 1, 2015 — Gap announced last week that it would soon end the practice of on-call scheduling, which requires workers to call in before a shift to see if they are needed. By the beginning of next year, the company’s five brands — Athleta, Banana Republic, Gap, Intermix and Old Navy — will give employees at least 10 to 14 days’ notice of their schedules. (more…)
