
Nicholas Anway is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary: auto workers at Rivian Automotive filed safety violation complaints against the electric vehicle manufacturer; members of New York’s first farm-worker union and supporters protested outside of Pindar Vinyards on Long Island; and temporary staffing agencies have ramped up lobbying efforts to stop a temp worker protection bill from passing in the New Jersey State Senate.
At least a dozen auto workers employed by Rivian Automotive Inc. filed complaints with federal regulators detailing safety violations at its Illinois production facility, Fortune reported yesterday. The complaints allege that the electric vehicle manufacturer ignored hazards and deprioritized safety resources, leaving some workers to “share respirators needed during the manufacturing process” and others to injury, “including a crushed hand, a broken foot, a sliced ear and broken ribs.” According to Fortune’s analysis, “the filings depict an automaker that cut corners as it scaled rapidly to keep pace in the competitive electric-vehicle space.” In statements to Bloomberg News, a Rivian spokesperson disputed workers’ allegations.
Members of New York’s first farm-worker union and supporters protested outside of Pindar Vinyards on Long Island over the weekend to pressure the winery’s owners to negotiate a contract, according to WSHU Public Radio. A year after the union was certified by the state to represent Pindar Vinyards farm workers, the winery’s owners are “not willing to come to the table[] and negotiate a fair contract for the worker,” said Noemi Berrera, an organizer with Local 338. “Unfortunately, they’re not negotiating in good faith,” another organizer explained. Union organizers are pushing for health insurance, better wages and benefits, and improved access to overtime. A third party could be assigned to mediate if the negotiations continue to stall.
Finally, the Gothamist reported that temporary staffing agencies operating in New Jersey have ramped up lobbying efforts to stop a temp worker protection bill from passing in the State Senate today. Staffing agencies are lobbying hard against the bill, which would ban temp agencies from making unitemized paycheck deductions that lower workers’ pay below minimum wage. The bill would also require temp agencies to compensate workers who are taken to job sites but sent home without work, to pay their workers the same as permanent employees at a work site, and to tell workers where they are going to work and how much they will be paid. “This legislation doesn’t push the envelope. These are very basic worker protections. I mean, who would ever think that wage theft needed to be legislated?” said Eric Richard, the legislative director for the New Jersey state AFL-CIO, which supports the bill. “This is another model by which . . . some employers seek to increase their bottom line on the backs of workers.”
Daily News & Commentary
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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
August 22
Musk and X move to settle a $500 million severance case; the Ninth Circuit stays an order postponing Temporary Protection Status terminations for migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal; the Sixth Circuit clarifies that an FMLA “estimate” doesn’t hard-cap unforeseeable intermittent leave.