A new survey released on Tuesday showed that 83% of restaurant patrons support raising the federal minimum wage and adjusting it annually for inflation. Twelve percent of survey participants said they were business owners, and of that group, 90% supported raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. Reuters reports that raising the minimum wage had “broad backing across age groups and political orientations, including 93 percent of self-described liberals, 87 percent of moderates and 70 percent of conservatives.”
A Wall Street Journal opinion column claims that President Obama’s proposed 40% minimum-wage increase would reduce employment opportunities for those who need them most. As the midterm elections approach, President Obama is calling on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25, but author-slash-restauranteur Andy Puzder believes that “some jobs don’t produce enough economic value to bear the increase.” Drawing upon his experience in the restaurant industry, Puzder thinks that American employers will be forced to cut jobs or raise prices to afford the hike in minimum wage. As an alternative, Puzder encourages creating more middle-income jobs or, if the legislation does pass, mitigate the effect of a minimum wage increase by exempting students or teenagers and considering regional differences in unemployment rates.
The New York Times reports that Facebook’s bus drivers are seeking to unionize, as many say their pay is so low that they can’t afford to live in Silicon Valley and frequently work 15-hour days without respite. The Teamsters have written a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg urging him to pressure Facebook’s shuttle bus contractor to agree to bargain with the union on behalf of the 40 bus drivers. Among other things, the letter states that “It is reminiscent of a time when noblemen were driven around in their coaches by their servants. Frankly, little has changed; except the noblemen are your employees, and the servants are the bus drivers who carry them back and forth each day.” The Teamsters say a majority of the Facebook drivers have signed cards saying they want to be represented by the union.
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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.
September 9
Ninth Circuit revives Trader Joe’s lawsuit against employee union; new bill aims to make striking workers eligible for benefits; university lecturer who praised Hitler gets another chance at First Amendment claims.