Divya Nimmagadda is a student at Harvard Law School.
It was announced on Wednesday that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is joining the AFL-CIO, bringing the latter’s membership to nearly 15 million. The AFL-CIO is a federation of more than 50 unions; now that the SEIU is joining in under the umbrella organization, it has become the largest of the member unions. The SEIU is the nation’s second largest labor union, with around 2 million members, and has primarily organized workers in healthcare, property services, and public work. The SEIU was previously part of the AFL-CIO umbrella, but split from the group in 2005 over a rift in strategy – the SEIU and some other unions wanted to increase focus on organizing new members. While both groups have denied that the most recent election was the impetus for this alliance, they have acknowledged that the solidarity between the two groups will enable a stronger defense to any potential threats to labor or to workers from the Trump administration. Liz Schuler, president of AFL-CIO, stated that the unions are “amassing our forces, building our strength and our power before the inauguration…Working people will continue to demand that our voices be heard.”
Also on Wednesday, dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts reached a tentative labor agreement. Back in October, after a brief strike, the port workers and their employers agreed to a 62% raise over six years and aimed to come to agreement on other provisions of the labor agreement by January 15th. One of the most contentious of these topics was that of automation and the introduction of technology that could reduce human jobs. In a joint statement, the two parties stated that: “This agreement protects current I.L.A. jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf Coasts ports.” While the exact points of the agreement are not yet available, it has been reported that the workers got guarantees that introduction of technology would be accompanied by increased port jobs, and the employers had achieved language that would allow them to more easily introduce technology to the port settings.
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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.
November 20
Law professors file brief in Slaughter; New York appeals court hears arguments about blog post firing; Senate committee delays consideration of NLRB nominee.
November 19
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel the collective bargaining rights of workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media; Representative Jared Golden secures 218 signatures for a bill that would repeal a Trump administration executive order stripping federal workers of their collective bargaining rights; and Dallas residents sue the City of Dallas in hopes of declaring hundreds of ordinances that ban bias against LGBTQ+ individuals void.
November 18
A federal judge pressed DOJ lawyers to define “illegal” DEI programs; Peco Foods prevails in ERISA challenge over 401(k) forfeitures; D.C. court restores collective bargaining rights for Voice of America workers; Rep. Jared Golden secures House vote on restoring federal workers' union rights.
November 17
Justices receive petition to resolve FLSA circuit split, vaccine religious discrimination plaintiffs lose ground, and NJ sues Amazon over misclassification.