In today’s News and Commentary, the third Trump-appointed NLRB Member is sworn in, the Teamsters file a complaint against Amazon in New York, and unions join with college students in suing the Trump administration for restrictions on international students’ admission periods.

On Monday, James Macy was officially sworn in as a Member of the NLRB. Macy joins Chairman James Murphy and Member Scott Mayer as the Board’s third Trump-appointed member. David Prouty, the Board’s only Democratic member, was sworn in as well after being confirmed to a second term. The 3-1 Republican majority means the Board now has the votes required to overturn various Biden-era decisions which were favorable to workers. This includes Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, which created a new framework that made it easier for unions to secure a bargaining obligation, and Amazon.com Services, which banned employers from holding mandatory anti-union “captive audience” meetings. However, even with Macy now on the Board, the NLRB faces a large case backlog and staffing shortages which will make it challenging to move quickly on reversing these decisions. Macy, a Wisconsin native, served previously as Director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs and Acting Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the U.S. Department of Labor.

In New York, the Teamsters have filed a complaint with the state Labor Department, claiming that Amazon and 13 subcontractors violated the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The Act, modeled after the federal statute of the same name, requires businesses to give early warning of closings and layoffs. According to the complaint, Amazon failed to give delivery drivers at least 90 days’ notice of their terminations and thus violated the Act. The Teamsters estimate that over 1,300 workers were affected by the sudden closures of local delivery subcontractors. The complaint was filed on behalf of these former workers, many of whom spoke out about the “devastating” impact of the firings. Amazon has pushed back, saying that the company bore no responsibility for the firings because the drivers were in fact employed by the subcontractors, not directly employed by Amazon. This complaint comes on the heels of a growing campaign in favor of New York City’s Delivery Protection Act, which, as I reported here, would force Amazon to directly hire delivery drivers rather than going through subcontractors.

The United Auto Workers and American Federation of Teachers are joining college groups in suing the Trump administration regarding restrictions on admission periods for international students. This comes following a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule finalized last month which restricts international students to four years in the United States. The challengers argue that this violates the Administrative Procedure Act and seek to block the rule before it takes effect on September 15. A DHS spokesperson responded to the suit, calling it “performative outrage.” On the union side, UAW President Shawn Fain has spoken out, saying that international students “shouldn’t have to navigate an immigration system designed to disrupt their education, research, and lives.” The case, filed in federal court in the District of Massachusetts, represents yet another form of legal pushback against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.