Walmart protests this weekend were short and sweet, thanks to a split in worker organizing. The OUR Walmart campaign, launched by the United Food and Commercial Worker Union to agitate for better conditions and higher pay, has drifted from the UFCW. Rather organize Black Friday protests, the UFCW focused on advertisements calling out problems with the company. The Huffington Post noted that, in spite of the relatively few protesters, Walmart’s PR team was outside its Washington, D.C. store, ready to pride Walmart on the benefits and wages it offers.
Native American leaders are lobbying to exempt casinos from the National Labor Relations Act. The National Indian Gaming Association argues casinos provide a crucial part of tribes’ budgets, and those tribes cannot afford labor disputes. The AFL-CIO opposes the measure, seeking the same protections for the 600,000 casino employees as in other workplaces. Unite Here has already reached labor agreements with some individual tribes. According to the Wall Street Journal, President Obama said he would support the measure if tribes were forced to adopt regulations with standards equivalent to the NLRA.
Contractors for the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority are demanding higher wages, writes the New York Times. Employees at a calling center that links people with disabilities to rides from the city’s transit service earn between $9-11 per hour. Although they work for a state agency, as employees of the calling center, they will not receive the $15 minimum wage promised to state workers. In addition to low wages, the workers allege unfair firing of hundreds of workers, discrimination, and sexual harassment. Last year, the workers voted to join Transport Workers Union Local 100.
Thailand’s labor woes continue. Shortly after facing allegations of slavery in the Thai seafood industry, a major Thai poultry producer has been found to violate labor rights. Finnwatch and Swedwatch, two corporate responsibility groups, released a report alleging forced labor, exorbitant recruitment fees, and confiscation of documentation at six poultry processing plants. According to the Associated Press, Thai food manufacturers have preemptively released statements condemning worker exploitation in recent weeks.
Daily News & Commentary
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March 3
In today’s news and commentary, Texas dismantles their contracting program for minorities, NextEra settles an ERISA lawsuit, and Chipotle beats an age discrimination suit. Texas Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock is being sued in state court for allegedly unlawfully dismantling the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program, a 1990s initiative signed by former Governor George W. Bush […]
March 2
Block lays off over 4,000 workers; H-1B fee data is revealed.
March 1
The NLRB officially rescinds the Biden-era standard for determining joint-employer status; the DOL proposes a rule that would rescind the Biden-era standard for determining independent contractor status; and Walmart pays $100 million for deceiving delivery drivers regarding wages and tips.
February 27
The Ninth Circuit allows Trump to dismantle certain government unions based on national security concerns; and the DOL set to focus enforcement on firms with “outsized market power.”
February 26
Workplace AI regulations proposed in Michigan; en banc D.C. Circuit hears oral argument in CFPB case; white police officers sue Philadelphia over DEI policy.
February 25
OSHA workplace inspections significantly drop in 2025; the Court denies a petition for certiorari to review a Minnesota law banning mandatory anti-union meetings at work; and the Court declines two petitions to determine whether Air Force service members should receive backpay as a result of religious challenges to the now-revoked COVID-19 vaccine mandate.