
Morgan Sperry is a student at Harvard Law School and also serves as OnLabor's Social Media Director.
In today’s news and commentary, the National Domestic Workers Alliance calls for increased Medicaid rates to compensate care workers, Grindr is union-busting, and Guggenheim Museum employees have secured their first contract.
Yesterday, National Domestic Workers Alliance President Ai-jen Poo, along with Nicole Jorwic, called upon lawmakers to expand access to home and community based services in order to honor the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, Poo and Jorwic are calling upon state legislatures and Congress to increase the dollars they put into the Medicaid program—including by increasing wage rates for care workers, who currently make less than $12 per hour on average. As Poo and Jorwic write, making these changes would ensure that all disabled and aging people can live and thrive while staying in their homes and communities.
Mere weeks after its employees announced their intention to unionize, Grindr has instituted a return-to-work policy that requires workers to either move within 50 miles of the company’s new offices by August 31st or lose their jobs. While the company claims that the plan has “nothing to do with the N.L.R.B. election petition,” workers have noted that Grindr has hired Littler Mendelson, a law firm that specializes in union-busting. The union has filed a ULP charge with the NLRB alleging that the new policy was retaliatory to unionizing workers.
After more than two years of bargaining, the Guggenheim Museum reached an agreement with its workers’ union last week. The contract, which goes into effect immediately, gives workers an average salary increase of 11 percent over two-and-a-half-years. It also offers improved health and retirement benefits and just cause employment protections. With this contract, the Guggenheim workers join a cohort of unionized museum curators, conservators and other employees—including those at the Whitney Museum and the New Museum.
Daily News & Commentary
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September 25
Fenway workers allege retaliation; fired Washington Post columnist files grievance; Trump administration previews mass firings from government shutdown.
September 24
The Trump administration proposes an overhaul to the H-1B process conditioning entry to the United States on a $100,000 fee; Amazon sues the New York State Public Employment Relations Board over a state law that claims authority over private-sector labor disputes; and Mayor Karen Bass signs an agreement with labor unions that protects Los Angeles city workers from layoffs.
September 23
EEOC plans to close pending worker charges based solely on unintentional discrimination claims; NLRB holds that Starbucks violated federal labor law by firing baristas at a Madison, Wisconsin café.
September 22
Missouri lawmakers attack pro-worker ballot initiatives, shortcomings in California rideshare deal, some sexual misconduct claimants prefer arbitration.
September 21
USFS and California seek to improve firefighter safety, Massachusetts pay transparency law to take effect, and Trump adds new hurdles for H-1B visa applicants
September 19
LIRR strike averted; DOJ sues RI over student loan repayment program; University of California employees sue Trump for financial coercion