OnLabor

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Author:Sharon Block

Sharon Block is a Professor of Practice and the Executive Director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School.

The Uber/Lyft Drivers’ Association, Unionization, and Labor Law Reform

Jun 25, 2019 Sharon Block and Benjamin Sachs

In her second post on the Uber/Lyft drivers’ association, Veena Dubal rightly celebrates the success of the recent Uber/Lyft work stoppages. The example of workers, who have no labor or employment law rights, engaging in the kind of collective action that she describes is inspirational. Dubal also raises some important criticisms of the IDG, criticisms […]

More Epic Fall Out: Your Lawsuit or Your Job

Jun 24, 2019 Sharon Block

Last year, Ben and I flagged concerns about the breadcrumbs that the Supreme Court dropped in its opinion in Epic Systems v. Lewis on the path to narrowing the National Labor Relations Act’s protection for concerted activity. A recent filing by the Board’s General Counsel proves that our caution about the future of Section 7 […]

Questionable Opinion About the Gig Economy

May 8, 2019 Sharon Block

As OnLabor covered last week (here and here), the Department of Labor recently issued an “opinion letter” finding that the workers deriving income from an unnamed “virtual marketplace company” are independent contractors and not employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. This action is significant – it marks the Department’s first articulation of how […]

NLRB Changes Course on Charter Schools

Feb 22, 2019 Sharon Block

Earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board announced that it again would wade into the murky waters of whether charter schools are employers under the National Labor Relations Act. The question that the Board has put before itself this time, however, is different and potentially much more significant than it previously has posed in […]

A Response: Is the New Prime Pill Even More Bitter?

Jan 23, 2019 Sharon Block

Yesterday, Ben and Adrienne sounded a note of caution about the Supreme Court’s opinion in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira, which in many ways constitutes a rare win for workers at the Court. They found a potential long-term problem for Title VII in the originalist-style rule of statutory construction that the Court majority endorsed in […]

Worker Voice Beyond Wages, Hours and Terms and Conditions of Employment

Jan 17, 2019 Sharon Block

This week, United Teachers Los Angeles called their first strike in decades. While the parties are negotiating over wages and staffing, a central issue in the dispute is the much bigger question of underfunding of the public school system. Teachers are asking for smaller class sizes, repairs to crumbling school buildings, and the hiring of […]

Clean Slate Update

Dec 12, 2018 Sharon Block and Benjamin Sachs

Last spring, we promised to share information about the project we’ve launched at Harvard Law School, “Rebalancing Economic and Political Power: A Clean Slate for the Future of Labor Law Reform.” On Labor Day, we laid out our vision for this ambitious project: (1) reimagining collective bargaining; (2) expanding the range of available worker organizations; […]

State and Local Enforcement: Stepping Up and Filling In on Workers’ Rights

Oct 25, 2018 Sharon Block

The picture for robust protection of workers’ rights at the federal level is not a pretty one these days. In the Obama Administration, there were three basic components to our strategy to advance worker protections: (1) promulgate regulations that keep worker protection statutes up to date and relevant in today’s economy; (2) use enforcement resources […]

From the Mines to the Classrooms to the Statehouse: #RedforEd Teacher Walkouts

Sep 25, 2018 Sharon Block

Last week, the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School hosted an event with the National Education Association on the teacher walkouts that spread through red states from January to May 2018. We held this event to learn as much as possible about what motivated tens of thousands of teachers to stand up for […]

Joint Employer NPRM: Hy-Brand Returns

Sep 17, 2018 Sharon Block

Today, the National Labor Relations Board issued a proposed rule to change its joint employer standard. The proposed rule is the latest step in the Trump Board’s tortuous path to achieving its goal of replacing the Obama Board’s Browning Ferris Industries decision with a significantly narrower interpretation of joint employer doctrine. Background: In 2015, the […]

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OnLabor

Law. Workers. Organizing.

OnLabor is a blog devoted to workers, unions, and their politics. We interpret our subject broadly to include the current crisis in the traditional union movement (why union decline is happening and what it means for our society); the new and contested forms of worker organization that are filling the labor union gap; how work ought to be structured and managed; how workers ought to be represented and compensated; and the appropriate role of government — all three branches — in each of these issues.

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The Uber/Lyft Drivers’ Association, Unionization, and Labor Law Reform

More Epic Fall Out: Your Lawsuit or Your Job

Questionable Opinion About the Gig Economy

NLRB Changes Course on Charter Schools

A Response: Is the New Prime Pill Even More Bitter?

Worker Voice Beyond Wages, Hours and Terms and Conditions of Employment

Clean Slate Update

State and Local Enforcement: Stepping Up and Filling In on Workers’ Rights

From the Mines to the Classrooms to the Statehouse: #RedforEd Teacher Walkouts

Joint Employer NPRM: Hy-Brand Returns