OnLabor

Law. Workers. Organizing.

Editorials

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May 4, 2021

Jon Levitan

Jon Levitan is a student at Harvard Law School and a member of the Labor and Employment Lab.

All by Jon

Daily News & Commentary

Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all

October 30

Sweden’s Tesla strike enters its third year; Seattle rideshare drivers protest Waymo’s expansion in the city.

October 29

9th Circuit rejects challenge to NLRB's constitutional structure; preemption challenges to state labor peace statutes

October 28

Two federal unions oppose CBA cancellations, another federal union urges Democrats to end the government shut down, and Paramount plans for mass layoffs

October 27

GM and Rivian announce layoffs; Boeing workers reject contract offer.

October 26

California labor unions back Proposition 50; Harvard University officials challenge a union rally; and workers at Boeing prepare to vote on the company’s fifth contract proposal.

October 24

Amazon Labor Union intervenes in NYS PERB lawsuit; a union engages in shareholder activism; and Meta lays off hundreds of risk auditing workers.

OnLabor In The News

Wired

Hundreds of Video Game Workers Join New Union as Trump Attacks Labor Rights: Prof. Sachs on challenges to union organizing under the second Trump Administration.

Los Angeles Times

Column: How anti-union southern governors may be violating federal law: Ben Sachs quoted in a column about the anti-union governors' letter and the fragmentation of labor law; John Fry's post referenced on the question of whether state level card-check bans are preempted by the NLRA.

Fast Company

Amazon’s Labor Union is divided but closing in on electing leadership: Prof. Sachs on Amazon's use of legal roadblocks to delay negotiations.

Semafor

Unions’ picket power now extends to U.S. boardrooms: Prof. Block on the influence of labor unions on other playing fields.

Bloomberg Law

Boeing Talks Will Test Unions’ Sway as Labor Market Softens: Prof. Block on Boeing's labor negotiations with the International Association of Machinists.

More From OnLabor

What Critics of the “Faster Labor Contracts Act” Get Wrong

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Earlier this month, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA). The bill is virtually identical to the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act’s First Contract Arbitration provision, with one crucial difference: it has a chance of becoming law in today’s Congress. Whereas the PRO Act had […]

Aftershocks of Jarkesy: An Omen for Agency Adjudication

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In July, the Third Circuit ruled that the Department of Labor (DOL) cannot adjudicate certain employment-related claims essential to its mission, citing the landmark 2024 U.S. Supreme Court case, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy. DOL recently requested rehearing en banc. But in the meantime, DOL’s ability to vindicate workers’ rights remains unclear. Sun Valley Orchards and […]

The Sixth Circuit Made It Harder to Hold Employers Liable for Customer Harassment. It Shouldn’t Have.

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Customer harassment of service workers is all too common in the United States. Across industries, workers — especially women — report facing sexual harassment from customers. In addressing this issue, the EEOC and courts have typically applied a negligence standard to determine employer liability for third-party harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sex harassment […]

The Expanding Scope of the Ministerial Exception

Oct 3, 2025 Ryan Zhang

Our nation’s cornerstone workplace discrimination law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from “discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” Since its enactment, Title VII has applied broadly across the American workforce, but its reach has often been contested by religious institutions asserting religious freedom. Addressing […]

Work Therapy or Wage Theft?

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The Salvation Army runs “180-day residential work-therapy programs” that allegedly “provide[] spiritual, social, and emotional assistance to people who have lost the ability to cope with their problems and provide for themselves.” What these centers don’t provide is minimum wages for the 40+ hours per week that participants must work. Individuals performing spurious and historically fraught “work therapy” should […]

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