Labor News & Commentary December 9, sanitation contractor is fined for employing children to do dangerous work

https://onlabor.org/december-9-2024/

By Elyse Weissberger

In today’s news and commentary, Teamsters file charges against Costco, a sanitation contractor is fined for employing children to do dangerous work, and workers give VW an ultimatum ahead of the latest negotiation attempts.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters filed unfair labor practice charges against Costco last week. The Union accuses the wholesale giant of disrupting the collective bargaining process. The Teamsters represent over 18,000 Costco workers around the country. Negotiations for the workers’ national master agreement were halted in August, after Costco refused to voluntarily recognize the Union. The Union says that Costco has expelled union representatives, intimidated workers wearing Teamsters pins, torn down Union flyers, and locked the Union bulletin board so that new information could not be posted. Talks are scheduled to resume next week to continue negotiations. The current national agreement will expire on January 31, 2025.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa approved a consent order and judgment under which, sanitation contractor Qvest LLC must pay $171,919 in civil money penalties for child labor in dangerous work. This is the second time in less than a year that the company has been found guilty of this violation. Qvest provides sanitation services to pork processing plant, Seaboard Triumph Foods in Sioux City, Iowa. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, minors may not be employed in dangerous jobs in the meat and poultry industry. The Department of Labor investigation found that the company employed 11 children to use corrosive cleaners in order to clean slaughtering and processing equipment such as head splitters, jaw pullers, and bandsaws. The fine is a small part of the over $15.1 million in penalties for child labor law violations levied against employers this year – 89% higher than in 2023.

VW workers walked off the job for the second time in as many weeks in order to pressure the automaker to meet their demands. As John reported, over 100,000 VW workers went on a two-hour strike last week after management rejected a Union proposal which included lowering dividend payouts and cutting some bonuses. The workers are represented by IG Metall, Germany’s largest union, which is strategizing today’s four-hour strikes at nine Volkswagen factories. Negotiations between union and management have stagnated since the company’s September announcement that it was considering closing some factories in Germany for the first time in company history. The closure plans could impact some 120,000 workers. VW has struggled to keep pace with Chinese carmakers, as European demand for cars decreases and manufacturing costs in Germany remain uncompetitive.