Jacqueline Rayfield is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, the NLRB general counsel vows not to succumb to pressure from SpaceX, Amazon, and others, the NLRB will seek make-whole remedies for unlawful work rules, and the LA County Federation of Labor joins the call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Attorneys from SpaceX, Amazon, Trader Joe’s and Starbucks all argued in recent months that the NLRB is unconstitutional. NLRB general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, accused these companies of jumping on the bandwagon of challenging the NLRB instead of spending money “improving their workers’ lives and their own workplace operations.” The most serious challenge by SpaceX and others was filed in Texas earlier this year claiming that NLRB adjudication violates SpaceX’s right to a jury trial and administrative law judges (ALJs) should be easier to remove.
Abruzzo issued a memo earlier this week urging the NLRB to seek full remedies for all victims of unlawful conduct. The memo clarifies that victims of unlawful conduct include employees harmed by unlawful work rules or contract terms. Simply removing an unlawful rule is not enough, Abruzzo explains, and does not remedy the chill caused by the rule in the first place. Instead, the board should also seek to expunge any previous discipline under the unlawful rule and provide make-whole relief.
The Los Angeles Federation of Labor released a statement explaining: “The death toll in Gaza has already been unbearable, and it threatens to spiral exponentially if the course of the war is not altered. We cannot bomb our way to peace.” The Federation represents more than 300 unions and labor groups in the LA area and joins other major unions in calling for a ceasefire.
Daily News & Commentary
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September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.
September 11
California rideshare deal advances; Boeing reaches tentative agreement with union; FTC scrutinizes healthcare noncompetes.
September 10
A federal judge denies a motion by the Trump Administration to dismiss a lawsuit led by the American Federation of Government Employees against President Trump for his mass layoffs of federal workers; the Supreme Court grants a stay on a federal district court order that originally barred ICE agents from questioning and detaining individuals based on their presence at a particular location, the type of work they do, their race or ethnicity, and their accent while speaking English or Spanish; and a hospital seeks to limit OSHA's ability to cite employers for failing to halt workplace violence without a specific regulation in place.
September 9
Ninth Circuit revives Trader Joe’s lawsuit against employee union; new bill aims to make striking workers eligible for benefits; university lecturer who praised Hitler gets another chance at First Amendment claims.
September 8
DC Circuit to rule on deference to NLRB, more vaccine exemption cases, Senate considers ban on forced arbitration for age discrimination claims.
September 7
Another weak jobs report, the Trump Administration's refusal to arbitrate with federal workers, and a district court judge's order on the constitutionality of the Laken-Riley Act.