Holt McKeithan is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News & Commentary, dockworkers headline strikes across the United States, student unions file labor complaints related to campus activism, and the firefighters union declines to issue an endorsement in the presidential election.
Dockworkers reached a tentative agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance yesterday. The workers won a 62% wage increase over the next six years and agreed to suspend the strike until January 15. The 45,000 workers struck for three days over wages. President Biden commented on the deal: “Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract. I congratulate the dockworkers from the ILA, who deserve a strong contract after sacrificing so much to keep our ports open during the pandemic. And I applaud the port operators and carriers who are members of the US Maritime Alliance for working hard and putting a strong offer on the table.”
Employees elsewhere in the country are striking. Teamsters are striking against Bigfoot Beverages, a soft drink and alcohol distributor in four cities in Oregon. The workers are striking over the company’s decision to replace a pension plan with a 401K. “We weren’t born yesterday, and we know a scam when we see one. This is a pay cut, and this company won’t be able to go back to business as usual until it comes to its senses and negotiates a fair contract,” said Geoff Stewart, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 206. Additionally, 43 Machinists are striking the Molson Coors brewing company in Milwaukee after failed contract negotiations.
Student unions across the country are bringing renewed labor claims related to college protests. At Columbia, the teaching assistants union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB, alleging that university officials were unlawfully denying workers their right to a union representative during conduct hearings following the pro-Palestine demonstrations. Unions at Cornell and NYU are set to follow suit. The Columbia ULP charge alleges the school denied the workers Weingarten rights to have a union representative in any meeting that could result in disciplinary action.
Finally, the International Association of Fire Fighters announced it would not endorse a presidential candidate.
Daily News & Commentary
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September 16
In today’s news and commentary, the NLRB sues New York, a flight attendant sues United, and the Third Circuit considers the employment status of Uber drivers The NLRB sued New York to block a new law that would grant the state authority over private-sector labor disputes. As reported on recently by Finlay, the law, which […]
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.