Employees at Boeing’s South Carolina plant voted against unionization yesterday.  The company stated that 74 percent of employees who cast votes in the election voted against the union.  The International Association of Machinists’ lead organizer, Mike Evans, released a Facebook video statement saying that the workers had determined that “at this time they don’t need representation.”  The New York Times situated this loss for the machinists in the context of other union losses in the South.  Read more here.

As reported yesterday at OnLabor, Andrew Puzder has withdrawn his nomination to be the next secretary of labor.  In the aftermath, commentators are wondering what this means and who will be nominated in Puzder’s place.  Benjamin Wallace-Wells at the New Yorker suggests that Andrew Puzder’s nomination made Donald Trump’s populism “less credible” by “[giving] Democratic populists not just villainy but a villain.”  At Slate, Jordan Weissmann cautions Democrats that their victory may not be much cause for celebration.  He states, “[i]n the end, Puzder’s nomination seems to have been sunk by the combined weight of his flaws, but it’s hard to shake the sense that immigration was the decisive issue.”  Weissmann also notes that the next nominee will likely be as bad as Puzder on labor rights and worse on immigration issues.  In particular, he points to Peter Kirsanow as a likely contender.  Yesterday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer refused to discuss who would replace Puzder.

The Washington Post reports that immigrant workers in D.C. and around the country are planning “A Day without Immigrants” boycott to demonstrate the importance of immigrants in the American economy and protest President Donald Trump’s policies in this area.  Immigrants are being called on “not to attend work, open their businesses, spend money or even send their children to school.”  Trump’s recent immigration actions include an executive order released on January 25, 2017.  The order greatly increases the categories of immigrants deemed a deportation priority.  Following this executive order, there have been reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests of more than 600 people across the country.  Yesterday, the New York Times highlighted the detention of Daniel Ramirez Medina, who received a work visa through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).  Medina’s detention has inflamed fears among immigrants and immigrant rights activists because President Trump has given mixed signals regarding the future of the DACA program.  While Medina has yet to be released, other DACA recipients were released shortly after their initial arrests.  Read more here.

In international news, the South African government is exploring instituting a minimum wage. Last year, a governmental panel studying the issue suggested a minimum wage of approximately $1.50 an hour, which would result in earnings of roughly $250 a month.  While this sum seems small, it is close to the median income in South Africa, a country with an unemployment rate of 27 percent.  Proponents of the measure argue that the minimum wage is a much needed step to reduce income inequality while opponents fear that it will create job loss.  Read more here.