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Remembrance of John Sweeney, Former SEIU and AFL-CIO President

Feb 9, 2021 Jon Hiatt

The announcement of John Sweeney’s death last week has sparked an outpouring of tributes and memorials. I deeply respected and admired John Sweeney. He was as kind and decent a man, not to mention labor leader, as I’ve known. He had a profound impact on my career, and my life. I was incredibly fortunate to […]

A Letter of Gratitude from Sharon Block

Jan 25, 2021 Sharon Block

Dear Friends: Almost four years ago, I came to the Labor and Worklife Program here at Harvard Law School, after eight years in the Obama-Biden Administration. Last week, I left LWP to join the Biden-Harris Administration. In 2017, I thought I knew something of the magnitude of the challenges that were facing American workers. I […]

Amy Coney Barrett and the Overconfidence and False Modesty of Textualism

Oct 23, 2020 Jenny Hunter

Last week’s confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett contained all the elements you probably put on your 2020 SCOTUS hearing bingo card, if you were in to that sort of thing. The Republican senators talked a lot about Judge Barrett’s seven children. The Democratic Senators talked about the life and death consequences if the […]

Moving Beyond App Drivers: Exotic Dancers, a Gig Worker Success Story

Oct 5, 2020 Kate Griffith and Emma LoMastro

The U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule to expand the number of workers who businesses can classify as independent contractors represents the agency’s latest attempt to reduce company accountability for employment conditions. The rule further fuels the ongoing debate about the exemption of employment protections for “independent contractors.” When it comes to the independent contractor […]

The Pitfalls of Uber and Lyft as Franchisors

Aug 19, 2020 Veena Dubal

Uber and Lyft are in the early stages of discussions to possibly turn many of their California drivers into employees. However, rather than become employees of the companies, the drivers would likely become employees of other businesses. In considering this move, Uber and Lyft have assessed how FedEx Ground Package Systems responded to a 2014 […]

A New Moment for Wrongful Discharge Law

Jul 16, 2020 Jared Odessky

At-will employment is out of favor. In recent polling from Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Data for Progress, and the Omidyar Network, a striking 68% of respondents said that employers should be limited in their discretion to fire workers, rejecting the default rule of near-unfettered control. In line with public opinion, momentum to replace the at-will rule is […]

A Union Default for the U.S.

Jul 15, 2020 Mark Harcourt, Gregor Gall and Margaret Wilson

Unions have traditionally had a strong levelling effect on incomes, transferring money from capital to labour, particularly to the low-waged. Thus, falling union membership and collective bargaining coverage over the last 40 years have been strongly linked to widening disparities, particularly in the US, Britain, and New Zealand. Yet, approximately half the workforce in these […]

The Classification of “Gig” Workers in Canadian Work Law

Jul 7, 2020 David Doorey

The central legal conundrum for labor law when it encounters platform or ‘gig’ work is one of legal classification. The distinction between ‘employee’ and ‘independent contractor’ is as old as labor law itself, and it is based on presumptions that fit uneasily when applied to forms of work other than that which labor law scholars […]

Sectoral Bargaining and Pandemics: Lessons from Uruguay

May 27, 2020 César Rosado

The U.S. meatpacking industry is providing some unfortunate lessons in how not to deal with a pandemic. For example, to address the emerging crisis in the industry, the White House and the state of Iowa ignored the voices of workers and instead consulted only with industry chiefs. The result was unsurprising, if tragic: policies compelling […]

Temp Workers Face Greater Risk and Insecurity in COVID-19 Crisis

Apr 13, 2020 Jane Flanagan and Laura Padin

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, some of our most essential workers are temp workers. The warehouse workers who fulfill and package online orders often don’t work for Amazon but for temporary staffing agencies that contract with Amazon. The nurses brought in to alleviate dire staffing shortages at hospitals are likely not hired directly […]

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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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Remembrance of John Sweeney, Former SEIU and AFL-CIO President

A Letter of Gratitude from Sharon Block

Amy Coney Barrett and the Overconfidence and False Modesty of Textualism

Moving Beyond App Drivers: Exotic Dancers, a Gig Worker Success Story

The Pitfalls of Uber and Lyft as Franchisors

A New Moment for Wrongful Discharge Law

A Union Default for the U.S.

The Classification of “Gig” Workers in Canadian Work Law

Sectoral Bargaining and Pandemics: Lessons from Uruguay

Temp Workers Face Greater Risk and Insecurity in COVID-19 Crisis