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Category:From Benjamin Sachs

Is the Impending HGSU Strike Protected?

Oct 23, 2026 Sharon Block, Benjamin Sachs and Laura Weinrib

In anticipation of a strike by the Harvard Graduate Students Union, the University’s director of Labor and Employee Relations published the following message on the the University’s public website: October 02, 2026 Dear HGSU-UAW, I am aware that HGSU has opened up voting regarding authorization for another strike. As I am sure you know, federal […]

Should Labor Support Labor Preemption?

Oct 5, 2026 Benjamin Sachs

We recently ran Lynn’s excellent piece on sectoral bargaining, and in that piece, she raises some important concerns about reforming (or ending) labor preemption. I agree with almost everything Lynn says. She is right that “[c]hanging the rules on preemption might open the door to pro-worker reforms in Blue states, but it would also open […]

States, Sectoral Bargaining, and a Way Forward for Labor Law

Aug 21, 2026 Benjamin Sachs

In advance of Labor Day, Sharon and I have a short piece up at Time laying out the case for state labor law reforms to facilitate sectoral bargaining. The op-ed also reports on some of the work we’ve been doing at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy, including our new model state sectoral […]

SCOTUS Decides Flowers Foods: A Fourth Consecutive Win for Workers

May 28, 2026 Benjamin Sachs

In a brief and straightforward opinion, the Supreme Court today held that a delivery driver who operates solely within state borders, neither crossing state lines nor interacting with vehicles that do, was nonetheless engaged in interstate commerce. Because the driver transported goods for a segment of their interstate journey from the place where they were […]

Building Worker Power in a Precarious Federal Landscape: Sectoral Strategies and Worker Democracy

Dec 22, 2025 Sharon Block, Seema Nanda, Rajesh Nayak and Benjamin Sachs

This post launches a new series exploring how states and cities can expand worker power in the United States. The series is grounded in a set of working papers and policy briefs that offer creative approaches for state and local action in a time when the federal labor law framework is increasingly unreliable. Each post […]

Law, Organizing (and Philanthropy) in the Radical Fund

Oct 22, 2025 Benjamin Sachs

I had the opportunity to participate in a recent symposium on John Witt’s new book, The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America, hosted by Balkinization. This is my contribution to the symposium. I highly recommend the book, and the symposium as a whole – both are certainly relevant to OnLabor readers. For […]

Dear Congress: If you’re serious about the right to unionize…

Sep 1, 2025 Sharon Block and Benjamin Sachs

Here’s our Labor Day op-ed fom MSNBC.

The HGSU Bargaining Unit

Jul 15, 2025 Sharon Block, Benjamin Sachs and Laura Weinrib

On July 2nd, Harvard announced that it had decided to remove a significant number of graduate students from the bargaining unit represented by HGSU. The University said that it would no longer “include any students in the bargaining unit receiving stipends to pursue research toward their degrees.” The explanation for this decision was brief. The […]

Going, Garmon, Gone: Why States May Now Be Free to Redesign Labor Law

Jun 4, 2025 Benjamin Sachs

When President Trump removed Gwynne Wilcox from her seat on the National Labor Relations Board, he left the Board without a quorum. Since that time, the Board has been legally incapacitated: it cannot fulfill its statutory function of adjudicating unfair labor practice cases. At the time of Wilcox’ removal, I argued that by incapacitating the […]

What Unionization Could Offer Law Firm Associates: Protection and Voice

Apr 14, 2025 Benjamin Sachs

How labor law could protect associates who oppose their firms' deals with Trump.

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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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Is the Impending HGSU Strike Protected?

Should Labor Support Labor Preemption?

States, Sectoral Bargaining, and a Way Forward for Labor Law

SCOTUS Decides Flowers Foods: A Fourth Consecutive Win for Workers

Building Worker Power in a Precarious Federal Landscape: Sectoral Strategies and Worker Democracy

Law, Organizing (and Philanthropy) in the Radical Fund

Dear Congress: If you’re serious about the right to unionize…

The HGSU Bargaining Unit

Going, Garmon, Gone: Why States May Now Be Free to Redesign Labor Law

What Unionization Could Offer Law Firm Associates: Protection and Voice