Morgan Sperry is a student at Harvard Law School and also serves as OnLabor's Social Media Director.
In today’s news and commentary, the National Domestic Workers Alliance calls for increased Medicaid rates to compensate care workers, Grindr is union-busting, and Guggenheim Museum employees have secured their first contract.
Yesterday, National Domestic Workers Alliance President Ai-jen Poo, along with Nicole Jorwic, called upon lawmakers to expand access to home and community based services in order to honor the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, Poo and Jorwic are calling upon state legislatures and Congress to increase the dollars they put into the Medicaid program—including by increasing wage rates for care workers, who currently make less than $12 per hour on average. As Poo and Jorwic write, making these changes would ensure that all disabled and aging people can live and thrive while staying in their homes and communities.
Mere weeks after its employees announced their intention to unionize, Grindr has instituted a return-to-work policy that requires workers to either move within 50 miles of the company’s new offices by August 31st or lose their jobs. While the company claims that the plan has “nothing to do with the N.L.R.B. election petition,” workers have noted that Grindr has hired Littler Mendelson, a law firm that specializes in union-busting. The union has filed a ULP charge with the NLRB alleging that the new policy was retaliatory to unionizing workers.
After more than two years of bargaining, the Guggenheim Museum reached an agreement with its workers’ union last week. The contract, which goes into effect immediately, gives workers an average salary increase of 11 percent over two-and-a-half-years. It also offers improved health and retirement benefits and just cause employment protections. With this contract, the Guggenheim workers join a cohort of unionized museum curators, conservators and other employees—including those at the Whitney Museum and the New Museum.
Daily News & Commentary
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August 17
Tensions rise between New York City's teachers' union and City Hall; NLRB judge finds Brooklyn hospital violated labor law.
August 16
New documents show that federal surveillance operations targeted Minnesota labor unions during the ICE surge, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission denies halting federal class discrimination complaints.
August 14
Hollywood unions diverge in response to the Paramount-Warner merger saga; Tesla defeats a years-long strike in Sweden, and labor scholars advocate for state sectoral bargaining policy innovation.
August 13
EEOC complaint process expected to harm federal workers; former UAW leaders endorse Fain challenger; Xbox employees protest layoffs.
August 12
Third Circuit affirms dismissal of driver’s bias and retaliation claims against CBS and Teamsters; employment litigation surges in Washington state; MIT Sloan professor argues the rise of “disposable workers” is transforming American employment.
August 11
Rideshare drivers nearing union certification in California; UFCW campaigns against electronic shelf labels; Teamsters support NYC delivery driver bill.