Ross Evans is a student at Harvard Law School and a member of the Labor and Employment Lab.
In a Bloomberg opinion article, New York University Law Professor Samuel Estreicher proposes a creative way that unions could withstand a Supreme Court defeat in Janus v. AFSCME: allow workers who object to paying union dues to instead donate an equivalent amount of money to the charity of their choice. Professor Estreicher argues that this approach would make the legal fight underlying Janus “no longer [] about freedom of speech but about the right to ride for free on the benefits unions provide.”
The New York Times explores how the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) has served as a model for female sports teams across the world in fighting for equal pay and improved employment conditions. Two years ago, the USWNT, which has had significantly more success than the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, began their crusade for equal pay–an effort that culminated in the signing of a new collective bargaining agreement one year ago.
Public-school teachers in select North Carolina school districts are being required to use time cards to track their time spent working. The Washington Post analyzes some of the implications of this practice, including the “deprofessionalization of teachers” and the potential “misrepresentation of teachers” (and the hours that they spend working outside of school).
The San Francisco Chronicle outlines pro-labor legislation that unions may lobby for in California should the Supreme Court rule for the plaintiff in Janus v. AFSCME. While organized labor has long held a powerful voice in California, an unfavorable Janus decision could decrease union membership in the state by 125,000 to 750,000 members (an amount equal to 5 to 30 percent of its current 2.5 million union members).
Daily News & Commentary
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September 14
Workers at Boeing reject the company’s third contract proposal; NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen plans to sue New York over the state’s trigger bill; Air Canada flight attendants reject a tentative contract.
September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.
September 11
California rideshare deal advances; Boeing reaches tentative agreement with union; FTC scrutinizes healthcare noncompetes.
September 10
A federal judge denies a motion by the Trump Administration to dismiss a lawsuit led by the American Federation of Government Employees against President Trump for his mass layoffs of federal workers; the Supreme Court grants a stay on a federal district court order that originally barred ICE agents from questioning and detaining individuals based on their presence at a particular location, the type of work they do, their race or ethnicity, and their accent while speaking English or Spanish; and a hospital seeks to limit OSHA's ability to cite employers for failing to halt workplace violence without a specific regulation in place.
September 9
Ninth Circuit revives Trader Joe’s lawsuit against employee union; new bill aims to make striking workers eligible for benefits; university lecturer who praised Hitler gets another chance at First Amendment claims.
September 8
DC Circuit to rule on deference to NLRB, more vaccine exemption cases, Senate considers ban on forced arbitration for age discrimination claims.