Just Born, Maker of Candy Peeps, Sues Union Over Strike

The Pennsylvania company that makes marshmallow Peeps as well as Mike and Ike candies has filed a federal lawsuit claiming a worker's strike is illegal.

Sep 29th, 2016

Associated Press

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania company that makes marshmallow Peeps as well as Mike and Ike candies has filed a federal lawsuit claiming a worker's strike is illegal.

Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Local 6 workers walked off the job Sept. 7.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday by Just Born Quality Confections says that violates a no-strike provision of a contract that expired June 18. The company says the no-strike clause remained in effect, however, under a contract extension until Sept. 18 that was agreed to while the sides continued negotiating.

Ron Baker, the union's strategic campaign coordinator, says the lawsuit is frivolous and that the no-strike agreement expired with the contract.

The company says the strike was timed to hurt production of Peeps, which are made in the fall for the following Easter.

I Stock 1185520857

Sick on the Job: Meatpacking Plants as COVID-19 Hotspots

Policies that encourage workers to show up sick are legal.

A man walks past a 'Now Hiring' sign on a window at Sherwin Williams store, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, in Woodmere Village, Ohio. Massive fraud in the nation's unemployment system is raising alarms even as President Joe Biden and Congress prepare to pour hundreds of billions more into expanded benefits for those left jobless by the coronavirus pandemic.

Fraud Overwhelms Pandemic-Related Unemployment Programs

The Labor Department inspector general’s office says the fraud has reached "frightening levels."

A sign displayed at Spelman College, Atlanta, Sept. 26, 2018.

Atlanta Center to Train Black Entrepreneurs

The Center for Black Entrepreneurship will provide in-person instruction and an online program available to the general public.

Uber drivers of the ADCU, App Drivers & Couriers Union, celebrate as they listen to the court decision on a tablet outside the Supreme Court in London, Feb. 19, 2021.

Court Gives Uber Drivers Benefits in Landmark Ruling

The decision threatens the company’s business model and has broad implications for the gig economy.

I Stock 875673548

How NEWMA Is Addressing the Skills Shortage in Wisconsin

The Badger State has a workforce problem.

Cristian Cardona, right, an employee at a McDonald's, attends a rally for a $15 an hour minimum wage on Feb. 16 in Orlando, FL.

Is the $15 Minimum Wage a Job Boon or Bust?

The U.S. lags other developed countries in the size of its minimum wage.

In this Jan. 28, 2021 file photo, President Joe Biden signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.

Minimum Wage Hike Commitment Faces Uncertainty with Biden

The effort to raise the minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $15 is facing an unexpected roadblock: Biden himself.

In this Feb. 6, 2021 file photo, a woman walks past a 'Now Hiring' sign displayed at a CD One Price Cleaners in Schaumburg, Ill. In a stark sign of the economic inequality that has marked the pandemic recession and recovery, Americans as a whole are now earning the same amount of wages and salaries that they did before the pandemic struck, even with nearly 9 million fewer people at work.

US Salaries Recover Even as Jobs Haven't

This underscores how disproportionately job losses have afflicted workers in lower-income occupations.

Michael Foster of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union holds a sign outside an Amazon facility where labor is trying to organize workers on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. For Amazon, a successful effort could motivate other workers to organize. But a contract could take years, and Amazon has a history of crushing labor organizing.

Amazon Faces Biggest Union Push in its History

And it’s happening in the unlikeliest of places: Bessemer, Alabama, a state with laws that don’t favor unions.

In this Dec. 10, 2020 file photo, a 'Now Hiring' sign hangs on the front wall of a Harbor Freight Tools store in Manchester, N.H. U.S. employers cut back sharply on hiring in December, particularly in pandemic-hit industries such as restaurants and hotels, as soaring virus infections and government restrictions weakened the economy that month. The number of available jobs rose slightly and layoffs fell, according to the Labor Department’s Tuesday report, known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS.

US Jobless Claims Fall Slightly, Layoffs High

The job market's improvement slowed through the fall and in the past two months has essentially stalled.

Salesforce Transit Center, San Francisco, July 1, 2019.

Salesforce Won't Force Workers to Go into Office Post-COVID

The business software maker is San Francisco's largest private employer.

I Stock 942163690

COVID-19 May Spell End of Unpaid Internships

Asking college students to work for free is problematic.