
Michelle Berger is a student at Harvard Law School.
In Today’s News and Commentary: Secretary of Labor nominee Julie Su advances to full Senate vote, a Tennessee bill would end economic innovation grants to companies who agree to conduct elections by card check, and Florida’s anti-union bill heads to DeSantis.
Voting on party lines, the Senate HELP committee advanced Secretary of Labor nominee Julie Su to the full Senate on Wednesday. Su previously served as the California Secretary of Labor and as Deputy Secretary to former Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, who departed the Biden administration last month. Business groups are opposing her nomination, citing in part her support for reclassifying California’s app-based independent contractors as employees. As Julio reported last week, Su noted in her confirmation testimony that she would not have authority to implement any such measures as Secretary of Labor. Her supporters, including labor unions and some members of the Democratic party, have sought to emphasize –– in the words of Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) –– that she is being nominated to “the Department of Labor, not the Department of Labor and Corporations.” Regarding support for Su, The Hill reported yesterday that Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), and Angus King (I-Me.) remain uncommitted. Even assuming all senators are present for her vote (Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) has not returned to the Senate since her hospitalization in March, CNN reported on Monday), Su could only afford a “no” vote from one out of this group.
In the Tennessee State Senate, a bill moving through committees would deny certain state grants to business that allow their workers to unionize by card check. Ongoing efforts to organize Tennessee’s auto workers have set the stage for the legislation:
The UAW led two organizing drives at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga facility in 2014 and 2019. Volkswagen facilities almost everywhere else in the world are unionized, but the campaigns in Chattanooga faced fierce opposition from high-level public officials in the state and, ultimately, failed. These campaigns might have been less protracted –– with less outside interference by public officials –– had the UAW and Volkswagen agreed to a card check agreement, which provides that the employer will recognize a union after it demonstrates majority support based on authorization cards.
Then, in 2021, the Tennessee legislature approved a large spending package that enabled Ford to commit to a $5.6B electric vehicle and battery plant in the rural, western part of the state. The UAW and Ford agreed to conduct future unionization efforts at the facility under the card check framework. To the extent that the state labor movement hopes that other companies taking advantage of state grants to open up in Tennessee would follow suit, this legislation would represent a major hurdle. Depending on how transparently the legislation seeks to implement labor policy in the state, it may face legal challenges under the NLRA’s preemption doctrine if it is enacted.
And finally, the state legislature in Florida has passed an anti-union bill that –– as Elyse reported last month –– threatens to severely weaken public sector unions in the state. In my post last month I discussed the bill’s potential conflict with the Florida state constitution.
Daily News & Commentary
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August 1
The Michigan Supreme Court grants heightened judicial scrutiny over employment contracts that shorten the limitations period for filing civil rights claims; the California Labor Commission gains new enforcement power over tip theft; and a new Florida law further empowers employers issuing noncompete agreements.
July 31
EEOC sued over trans rights enforcement; railroad union opposes railroad merger; suits against NLRB slow down.
July 30
In today’s news and commentary, the First Circuit will hear oral arguments on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) revocation of parole grants for thousands of migrants; United Airlines’ flight attendants vote against a new labor contract; and the AFL-CIO files a complaint against a Trump Administrative Executive Order that strips the collective bargaining rights of the vast majority of federal workers.
July 29
The Trump administration released new guidelines for federal employers regarding religious expression in the workplace; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers is suing former union president for repayment of mismanagement of union funds; Uber has criticized a new proposal requiring delivery workers to carry company-issued identification numbers.
July 28
Lower courts work out meaning of Muldrow; NLRB releases memos on recording and union salts.
July 27
In today’s news and commentary, Trump issues an EO on college sports, a second district court judge blocks the Department of Labor from winding down Job Corps, and Safeway workers in California reach a tentative agreement. On Thursday, President Trump announced an executive order titled “Saving College Sports,” which declared it common sense that “college […]