In today’s news and commentary, labor rights groups sue local Washington officials, the NYC Council moves to override Mayor Adams’ vetoes, and an NLRB official rebuffs state efforts to adjudicate private labor disputes. 

Last week, UFCW 367, alongside Tacoma for All and the Democratic Socialists of America, sued local Washington officials over their alleged refusal to put a worker’s bill of rights on the November ballot. The measure, Initiative 2, would raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour and require employers to give advance notice for shift schedule changes. The groups argue that the city and county officials of Tacoma and Pierce County are using a “loophole” to illegally delay the initiative until after local elections in November. In the lawsuit, Plaintiffs state that they submitted the necessary filings and signatures to the county auditor on June 24th. However, the county failed to validate this submission until July 7th, two days after the deadline for inclusion on the November ballot. In their complaint, Plaintiffs called this a “fundamentally unfair” effort to deny the initiative ballot access. “This is not in keeping with the spirit of democracy,” said Ann Dorn, chair of Tacoma for All. Pierce County officials declined to comment.”

On Thursday, the New York City Council announced it would move to override Mayor Eric Adams’ vetoes on legislation requiring protections and increased wages for grocery app delivery workers. The measures, Intro. 1133-A and Intro. 1135-A, would guarantee grocery delivery drivers bathroom access, fire safety materials, and higher minimum pay. If enacted, they would effectively reverse a carveout for grocery delivery drivers in the city’s current minimum wage legislation. Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, who co-sponsored the first bill, denounced Mayor Adams’ decision to veto. “For a mayor who claims to champion working-class New Yorkers, vetoing 1133-A and 1135-A is more than disappointing — it’s a betrayal.” Instacart and other companies have funded several of the groups arguing against these bills, citing concerns of increased grocery delivery prices and fees. Mayor Adams also cited these concerns in a statement explaining his veto decision, seemingly contradicting his earlier support of the legislation.  

On Friday, Acting General Counsel for the NLRB William Cowen issued a statement challenging the validity of state efforts to regulate private-sector labor disputes in situations where the federal board cannot. The statement comes after New York lawmakers passed a bill that would allow a board to hear private labor disputes when the NLRB cannot “successfully assert jurisdiction.” In his statement, Cowen said such efforts are likely preempted by the National Labor Relations Act, which vests the NLRB with exclusive jurisdiction in this area. Cowen believes that the NLRB’s current lack of quorum, caused by President Trump’s efforts to fire Gwynne Wilcox, will not create a permanent backlog of cases or severely affect the agency’s operations. Governor Hochul has yet to sign the bill. Similar proposals are pending in California and Massachusetts.