On Thursday, an NLRB judge ruled that Wal-Mart acted illegally in firing workers that objected to poor working conditions by participating in the “Ride for Respect” protest. Sixteen employees were reinstated.
Perhaps not unrelatedly, the Wall Street Journal reports that Wal-Mart plans to give nearly all of its store employees in the U.S. at least a 2% wage increase. Nearly 1.2 million employees will benefit from the increase. Wal-Mart hopes this move will ultimately help the company reduce the rate at which the company loses store workers (currently about half a million employees per year) and avoid the attendant costs of hiring and training new employees.
According to the New York Times, older workers are attracted to the supplemental income and flexibility that comes with being an Uber driver. According to a 2014-2015 survey, almost one fourth of Uber drivers are aged 50 or above. Older drivers are increasingly signing up to work for the ridesharing company looking to augment their income after retirement in an economy that makes it difficult to find full-time employment. Uber has partnered with AARP and Life Reimagined in an effort to recruit more drivers. While the extra cash and the ability to shape their own employment terms is attractive, many drivers complain that working for Uber as a full-time gig forces them to work upwards 0f 50 hours/week just to earn a living wage.
Daily News & Commentary
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June 6
In today’s news and commentary, Governor Jared Polis directs Colorado’s labor agency to share information with ICE; and the Supreme Court issues two unanimous rulings including exempting a Catholic charity from paying unemployment compensation taxes and striking down the heightened standard for plaintiffs belonging to a majority group to prove a Title VII employment discrimination […]
June 5
Nail technicians challenge California classification; oral arguments in challenge to LGBTQ hiring protections; judge blocks Job Corps shutdown.
June 4
Federal agencies violate federal court order pausing mass layoffs; Walmart terminates some jobs in Florida following Supreme Court rulings on the legal status of migrants; and LA firefighters receive a $9.5 million settlement for failure to pay firefighters during shift changes.
June 3
Federal judge blocks Trump's attack on TSA collective bargaining rights; NLRB argues that Grindr's Return-to-Office policy was union busting; International Trade Union Confederation report highlights global decline in workers' rights.
June 2
Proposed budgets for DOL and NLRB show cuts on the horizon; Oregon law requiring LPAs in cannabis dispensaries struck down.
June 1
In today’s news and commentary, the Ninth Circuit upholds a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration, a federal judge vacates parts of the EEOC’s pregnancy accommodation rules, and video game workers reach a tentative agreement with Microsoft. In a 2-1 decision issued on Friday, the Ninth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration […]