Melissa Greenberg is a student at Harvard Law School.
The Trump Administration estimates that the first stage of its plan to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico would cost $18 billion over the next ten years. This money would be used to build 316 miles of a new physical barrier and strengthen 407 miles of existing wall between Mexico and the United States by 2027. U.S. Customs and Border Protection submitted this bid to a group of senators, including Senator Richard Durbin, who are getting ready to negotiate an immigration package. In response to President Trump’s announcement, Senator Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Immigration subcommittee, stated, “President Trump has said he may need a good government shutdown to get his wall. With this demand, he seems to be heading in that direction.”
The New York Times published a story examining how NAFTA impacts truck drivers by profiling two truck drivers, one with American citizenship and one with Mexican citizenship. While the American citizen, who emigrated from Mexico, is free to drive long distances in the United States, the Mexican truck driver is confined to driving his truck in the border zone between the United States and Mexico. Even though the Obama Administration finally allowed some Mexican drivers in the United States, very few Mexican truckers were authorized. In the Trump Administration’s renegotiation of NAFTA, the Administration aims to prevent Mexican drivers from using their trucks to deliver products in the middle of the United States, which would severely impact the profitability of the profession for Mexican drivers.
On Friday, the New York Times ran an obituary commemorating labor lawyer Jerome Lefkowitz, who passed away on December 21 in Albany, New York. Leftkowitz assisted in writing and enforcing New York’s Taylor Law, which allows New York’s public employees to organize but does not allow them to go on strike. Read more about Mr. Lefkowitz’s life here.
Finally, tonight celebrities will be wearing black at the Golden Globes as a way to express solidarity with the Time’s Up initiative, which seeks to address sexual harassment in Hollywood and beyond. This protest action comes at a moment when the Me Too movement has faced criticism. Read more here.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
November 27
Amazon wins preliminarily injunction against New York’s private sector bargaining law; ALJs resume decisions; and the CFPB intends to make unilateral changes without bargaining.
November 26
In today’s news and commentary, NLRB lawyers urge the 3rd Circuit to follow recent district court cases that declined to enjoin Board proceedings; the percentage of unemployed Americans with a college degree reaches its highest level since tracking began in 1992; and a member of the House proposes a bill that would require secret ballot […]
November 25
In today’s news and commentary, OSHA fines Taylor Foods, Santa Fe raises their living wage, and a date is set for a Senate committee to consider Trump’s NLRB nominee. OSHA has issued an approximately $1.1 million dollar fine to Taylor Farms New Jersey, a subsidiary of Taylor Fresh Foods, after identifying repeated and serious safety […]
November 24
Labor leaders criticize tariffs; White House cancels jobs report; and student organizers launch chaperone program for noncitizens.
November 23
Workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority vote to authorize a strike; Washington State legislators consider a bill empowering public employees to bargain over workplace AI implementation; and University of California workers engage in a two-day strike.
November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.