John Fry is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary, a new tentative agreement is announced at Boeing; the FTC abandons one labor initiative but revives another; and Starbucks stores continue to unionize amid national bargaining talks.
Boeing and its workers’ union have reached a new tentative agreement to end the five-week strike at the company. The deal would give workers a 35% raise over four years. The union has been demanding a 40% increase, and the company’s previous highest offer was 30%. The tentative agreement does not reinstate pensions at Boeing, but it would increase the company’s contributions to employees’ retirement accounts. The union’s members will vote to either ratify or reject the deal on Wednesday. Workers rejected an earlier tentative agreement in mid-September, leading to the current strike. Labor Secretary Julie Su helped broker the newly announced compromise.
The Federal Trade Commission has abandoned its effort to require new labor-related disclosures from merging companies. While the agency has scrutinized the labor impacts of mergers and acquisitions more closely under the leadership of Chair Lina Khan, the new requirements were dropped from a recently promulgated rule as part of a bipartisan compromise among the FTC’s five commissioners. However, the agency did announce last week that it will attempt to revive its ban on most noncompete agreements. A Texas court issued a universal injunction against the ban in August, and the agency filed its appeal on Friday.
Starbucks workers continue to unionize with Starbucks Workers United, as the union and the company attempt to make progress on the issues facing the workforce. Over 500 Starbucks stores have now unionized, including one in Oklahoma where workers chose the union by a 12-1 margin on Thursday. Relations between Starbucks and the union warmed significantly when the parties announced a new framework for collective bargaining in February, as Jacqueline covered, and 150 bargaining delegates from unionized stores recently attended a joint bargaining session with the company in Atlanta. One priority issue is understaffing, with workers decrying “skeleton” staffing at stores and new Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol promising to address the problem.
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November 27
Amazon wins preliminarily injunction against New York’s private sector bargaining law; ALJs resume decisions; and the CFPB intends to make unilateral changes without bargaining.
November 26
In today’s news and commentary, NLRB lawyers urge the 3rd Circuit to follow recent district court cases that declined to enjoin Board proceedings; the percentage of unemployed Americans with a college degree reaches its highest level since tracking began in 1992; and a member of the House proposes a bill that would require secret ballot […]
November 25
In today’s news and commentary, OSHA fines Taylor Foods, Santa Fe raises their living wage, and a date is set for a Senate committee to consider Trump’s NLRB nominee. OSHA has issued an approximately $1.1 million dollar fine to Taylor Farms New Jersey, a subsidiary of Taylor Fresh Foods, after identifying repeated and serious safety […]
November 24
Labor leaders criticize tariffs; White House cancels jobs report; and student organizers launch chaperone program for noncitizens.
November 23
Workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority vote to authorize a strike; Washington State legislators consider a bill empowering public employees to bargain over workplace AI implementation; and University of California workers engage in a two-day strike.
November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.