Jon Weinberg is a student at Harvard Law School.
As the debate over the proposed settlement in O’Connor v. Uber continues, some advocates have focused on how deference to arbitration agreements is a fundamental problem. Katherine V.W. Stone writes for the Economic Policy Institute that “it is now more clear than ever that everyone who cares about employment rights and the fair treatment of workers should support federal legislation to end mandatory arbitration in employment and put workers and corporations on a more equal footing.” Stone reviews the Uber litigation in the context of developments with respect to arbitration, and concludes that ” Uber’s use of arbitration clauses could effectively wipe out all the class actions brought by drivers in all 50 states. Even if some judges adopt Judge Chen’s reasoning and invalidate the 2013 and 2014 arbitration agreements, Uber can and will modify their arbitration agreements to address any issues a court finds problematic going forward and require as a condition of continued employment that its drivers agree to give them retroactive application.”
The Verizon strike has entered its second month, and it’s clear Verizon has heard the strike’s effects. CNN Money reports that Verizon shares have lost 5% of their value since the strike began, while Motherboard notes that Verizon is urgently seeking temporary replacement workers to perform necessary work.
Unions continue to wrestle with the appeal of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to their constituencies. According to USA Today, the AFL-CIO is launching a major anti-Trump campaign in Rust Belt states in the coming weeks which “will include digital ad buys, door knocking and phone banking and is expected to reach between 5 million and 6 million voters in key swing states.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg investigates differing union positions on the Democratic primary and how “the split amid an unexpectedly contentious Democratic primary season has exposed contrasting agendas in organized labor. Trade unionists are exercised by international deals, which they blame for the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. Service workers less affected by globalization advocate collective-bargaining rights and wage protection.”
Daily News & Commentary
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September 16
In today’s news and commentary, the NLRB sues New York, a flight attendant sues United, and the Third Circuit considers the employment status of Uber drivers The NLRB sued New York to block a new law that would grant the state authority over private-sector labor disputes. As reported on recently by Finlay, the law, which […]
September 15
Unemployment claims rise; a federal court hands victory to government employees union; and employers fire workers over social media posts.
September 14
Workers at Boeing reject the company’s third contract proposal; NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen plans to sue New York over the state’s trigger bill; Air Canada flight attendants reject a tentative contract.
September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.
September 11
California rideshare deal advances; Boeing reaches tentative agreement with union; FTC scrutinizes healthcare noncompetes.
September 10
A federal judge denies a motion by the Trump Administration to dismiss a lawsuit led by the American Federation of Government Employees against President Trump for his mass layoffs of federal workers; the Supreme Court grants a stay on a federal district court order that originally barred ICE agents from questioning and detaining individuals based on their presence at a particular location, the type of work they do, their race or ethnicity, and their accent while speaking English or Spanish; and a hospital seeks to limit OSHA's ability to cite employers for failing to halt workplace violence without a specific regulation in place.