Chronology 2017

January 23, 2017: The American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution launch a joint blog project: Paid family leave: an issue whose time has come

February 8, 2017: Newly created group, Pay + Leave USA launches its paid leave campaign targeting Starbucks discriminatory policies.

February 16, 2017: TWA files a petition for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). TAA is a federal program that assists US workers who lose their jobs as a result of foreign trade, like when the worker's firm has shifted provision of services to a foreign country. "This program seeks to provide affected workers with opportunities to obtain the skills, credentials, resources and support necessary to become reemployed."

New charges filed with NLRB against Lionbridge and Microsoft for Unfair Labor Practices and Joint Employment

On December 13, 2016, TWA filed charges with NLRB against Lionbridge and Microsoft for Unfair Labor Practices (bargaining in bad faith) and anti-union (retaliation) and again joint employment. Mentioned is the runaway shop doctrine where a company closes a site to move the work to non-unionized places.
References: Microsoft Corporation Case 19-CA-189881
Microsoft Corporation Case 19-CA-189865
Lionbridge Case 19-CA 189865, 189868

Does the closure of the lab in Bellevue and its relocation out of the US constitute a "Runaway Shop' ?

From the start we have been suspicious about the way Lionbridge and Microsoft decided to close the lab in Bellevue, lay off all its employees and relocate the work in labs out of the US (in Warsaw and Beijing). This decision came hardly two months after a collective bargaining agreement had been signed that included the union abandoning its charge against Microsoft for joint employment.

Lionbridge Technologies to be acquired by HIG Capital

See the press release here.

Geekwire.com: Microsoft supplier Lionbridge lays off all its unionnized workers

Article by Nat levy on Geekwire.com. Read also the interesting comment about arbitration and the NLRB.

Microsoft contractor laying off workers in unionized unit

Article by Matt Day in the Seattle Times. Notice the part about eventually rehiring people? Right... but after the union is gone.

Microsoft/Lionbridge close the lab and lays off all employees

For the record, less than two months after Lionbridge signed a collective bargaining agreement (on July 30) including a clause that temporary Workers of America would withdraw its charge of joint employment against Microsoft, the employees were informed during a stand up meeting on wednesday September 21 , confirmed by an email the next day (see text below) that the lab would close by the end of October with all the 20+ employees but five laid off this coming wednesday. The union was not informed by Lionbridge of this decision. While we are considering our options, they could be very limited due to a very restrictive grievance procedure that privatize any protest with extremely costly arbitration.