Several major labor groups are pressing corporations over how they expect to benefit from the GOP tax law and use their savings as the unions prepare to bargain new contracts for workers.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Teamsters announced Wednesday that they are pushing to see if Republicans’ promises that the new law will boost middle-class incomes and curb outsourcing are going to come true.
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“President Trump and the Republican Congress promised that billions of dollars in corporate tax giveaways would ultimately raise wages and bring jobs back from overseas, but a union contract is the only way to get that promise in writing,” said CWA president Chris Shelton. “Working people deserve to know how their employers plan to spend their tax savings so they can bargain for a fair share of the windfall and ensure that corporations do more to bring jobs home and improve pay and benefits.”
The unions, which were all critical of the law as it made its way through Congress, are asking for information about the companies’ estimated gains from the tax cuts, the number of outsourced jobs the companies plan to bring back to the U.S., the amount of investments and domestic jobs the companies plan and the amount of stock buybacks the companies plan.
According to a news release from the unions, if the companies don’t disclose the requested information, they could be subject to Unfair Labor Practice complaints under the National Labor Relations Act.
CWA sent letters to American Airlines, AT&T and Nexstar Broadcasting; SEIU sent letters to Consulate Health Care and Genesis HealthCare; AFT sent letters to Carepoint Health, AMR Ambulance, Fresenius Dialysis Clinics and Kindred Hospital; and the Teamsters sent letters to Frito-Lay/PepsiCo and XPO Logistics.