Miriam Li is a student at Harvard Law School and a member of the Labor and Employment Lab.
In today’s news and commentary, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) canceled a scheduled bargaining session with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) largest workers union, and members of 1199SEIU voted out longtime union president George Gresham in a rare leadership upset.
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) called off a bargaining session with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), according to a Reuters report published today. NTEU, the largest union representing FDA workers, covers nearly 9,000 agency employees. The cancellation came days after a federal judge issued an injunction blocking Trump’s executive order that sought to exclude certain federal agencies, including the FDA, from collective bargaining obligations due to their national security functions. The canceled session would have addressed mass layoffs at the FDA ordered by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in March. Although the union’s contract requires bargaining over the impact and implementation of layoffs, NTEU says it had no opportunity to negotiate before the April 1 layoffs.
Meanwhile, in New York, members of 1199SEIU—one of the largest and most influential health care unions in the country—voted to oust longtime president George Gresham, electing challenger Yvonne Armstrong and her running mate Veronica Turner-Biggs. Armstrong leads the union’s long-term care division and ran on a reform platform promising transparency and member-led governance. The upset is particularly notable in New York, where it is rare for union leaders to lose internal elections given labor’s entrenched political power. Armstrong and Turner-Biggs will assume leadership amid an internal audit of Gresham’s spending and a federal investigation prompted by allegations that he misused union funds for personal and political gain. In a statement following the victory, the Members First Unity Slate thanked members for their “courage” and pledged to usher in “a new chapter” for the union.
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August 5
Clash over potential change to Canada’s labor code; Harvard’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy releases model sectoral bargaining laws; NJ sues Amazon for antitrust violations.
August 4
WestJet reaches a deal to end a flight attendant strike; the NLRB rules Whole Foods legally banned Black Lives Matter display; a commentary argues college athletes should have the right to collectively bargain.
August 3
Queens College faculty stage protest; UAW holds presidential debate; the Protect College Sports Act gets new life.
August 2
WestJet flight attendants go on strike, and the American Federation of Government Employees challenges another VA attempt to terminate its collective bargaining agreement.
July 31
Legislators move to end mandatory arbitration in employment contracts; NYC tip laws result in greater pay for delivery workers; women's college basketball players seek to unionize.
July 30
Supreme Court denies Cemex's bid to pause bargaining order; employers remain exposed to Title VII suits over English-only rules; Texas judge declines to enjoin NLRB proceeding despite unconstitutional removal protections.