Fran Swanson is a student at Harvard Law School.
Approximately 47,000 grocery store workers in central and southern California have voted to authorize a strike should bargaining with employers break down again after talks resume this week, NPR reports. A three-year contract covering hundreds of Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions stores expired on March 6th. Forbes reports that employees’ calls for a $5/hour raise over three years were met with a proposed $1.80 raise. 75% of Kroger workers report struggling to feed their families, at a time when the company raked in a record $4 billion profit and its CEO made $20 million. They are also calling for better schedules for part-time workers and safer conditions in the midst of a pandemic that has killed hundreds of grocery workers.
The Biden Administration would support an increase in NLRB funding over the $319.4 million in the White House’s FY 2023 budget request, Bloomberg Law reports. In testimony before the House Budget Committee, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young described the NLRB’s $45 million requested increase in the White House’s budget as the beginning of a “rebuild.” It represents the first increase in requested NLRB funding since FY 2014. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky emphasized that more was needed for “the NLRB to really do its job.”
Finally, 350 Condé Nast employees are requesting that the publishing giant voluntarily recognize a union that would cover over 500 editorial, production video workers, the Washington Post reports. It follows the successful voluntary recognition campaign waged by New Yorker employees. Both groups of employees have emphasized that the prestige associated with these jobs—ones that “a million girls would kill for,” as one pro-union employee quoting The Devil Wears Prada put it—does not make up for the long hours, culture of burnout, and meager pay. Pro-union employees have called for greater job security, better pay, and more transparency about salary and diversity.
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August 29
Trump fires regulator in charge of reviewing railroad mergers; fired Fed Governor sues Trump asserting unlawful termination; and Trump attacks more federal sector unions.
August 28
contested election for UAW at Kentucky battery plant; NLRB down to one member; public approval of unions remains high.
August 27
The U.S. Department of Justice welcomes new hires and forces reassignments in the Civil Rights Division; the Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments in Brown v. Alaska Airlines Inc.; and Amazon violates federal labor law at its air cargo facility in Kentucky.
August 26
Park employees at Yosemite vote to unionize; Philadelphia teachers reach tentative three-year agreement; a new report finds California’s union coverage remains steady even as national union density declines.
August 25
Consequences of SpaceX decision, AI may undermine white-collar overtime exemptions, Sixth Circuit heightens standard for client harassment.
August 24
HHS cancels union contracts, the California Supreme Court rules on minimum wage violations, and jobless claims rise