Henry Green is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, multiple unions express support for David Huerta as the Department of Justice brings charges against him, and the NLRB’s acting general counsel says the Board is likely not covered by Humphrey’s Executor.
The Department of Justice has charged SEIU-USWW President David Huerta with conspiracy to impede an officer after Huerta was arrested at a protest over Los Angeles immigration raids last week, per the New York Times. The charge carries a maximum of up to six years in prison. Huerta was briefly hospitalized with a head injury after his arrest. He was released on bond on Monday. The Times reports that Huerta spoke to a crowd of supporters after his release, showing the crowd notes from fellow inmates at the Detention Center. See video of Huerta speaking after his release here.
The Wall Street Journal frames immigration as an area where unions are clashing with the Trump administration, noting that after Huerta’s arrest, multiple prominent unions expressed support for him and for SEIU. On Monday, UNITE HERE members joined an SEIU rally in Los Angeles – “Todos somos Huerta,” an SEIU leader said at the rally. Other unions to speak out in support of Huerta include “regional branches of the Teamsters and United Auto Workers” as well as the national AFL-CIO. The article notes that some of the biggest organizing wins in recent decades have been in the service sector, where undocumented immigrants make up a large share of the workforce. Among these is SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign, which organized janitors in Los Angeles in the 1980s.
NLRB acting general counsel William Cowen said at a conference that the NLRB was likely not covered by Humphrey’s Executor, Bloomberg reports. Humphrey’s is the 90 year old Supreme Court precedent that allows Congress to restrict presidential removal power for independent agencies. “Humphrey’s talks about an agency that doesn’t execute any serious executive power, is multi-membered, and is statutorily balanced. All of those things are not true of the board,” Bloomberg quotes Cowen saying. Cowen also defended the NLRB’s 2026 budget request, which asks for a 4.7% reduction in funding from current levels. “I see hope in all of this,” Cowen said in part. Bloomberg notes that “Cowen’s stance is a sharp break” from Biden NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran’s, who said during her tenure that the agency’s staff was overwhelmed with case filings. The NLRB has received just one budget increase since 2014.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
September 21
In today’s News and Commentary, the Seventh Circuit raises the bar for the NLRB to obtain preliminary injunctions, the California Primary Care Association sues SEIU-UHW for racketeering, and the Seventh Circuit finds that an employer group and think tank do not have standing to challenge an Illinois law banning captive audience meetings. On Friday, the […]
September 20
Culinary Workers Union members protests union leadership; lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft reveal internal concerns about the threat of AI training to human labor.
September 17
Unions push to block Google from buying Spirit Airlines employment records; U.S. Department of Labor sues Oklahoma coffee chain over alleged wage violations.
September 16
Trump nominates Catherine Eschbach as EEOC general counsel; NLRB declines to resolve union work-assignment dispute; Allina Health physicians begin four-day strike.
September 15
Documents reveal the inner workings of Amazon's union avoidance program; Washington state public sector unions reach tentative deals amid a difficult bargaining cycle; hundreds of Nevada Culinary Union members protest their union's health care changes.
September 14
NCAA and Big Ten file motion to dismiss in former star player's NIL suit; Seventh Circuit rules against former postal worker in discrimination suit.