Holden Hopkins is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, Teamsters authorize Amazon strikes and House Republicans name the next Education and Workforce Committee chair.
Unionized workers at two New York Amazon warehouses voted to authorize a strike unless their employer comes to the bargaining table. This move comes as one of the first major actions following the merger between the Teamsters and the formerly independent Amazon Labor Union. The two warehouses involved are JFK8 in Staten Island and DBK4 in Queens, where a total of over 5,500 workers are employed.
While Amazon has refused to recognize the union during past walkouts, this potential strike comes amid the holiday season, a particularly busy time for the company. In a statement, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien demanded that Amazon come to the bargaining table or face the strike, saying “[i]f these white-collar criminals want to keep breaking the law, they better get ready for a fight.”
On Thursday, it was announced that Representative Tim Wahlberg (R-MI) would be the next chairperson of the House Education and Workforce Committee. In a statement released by his office, the Representative vowed to “empower parents, incentivize workforce training, improve government efficiency, and unburden American innovators and job creators.” In the past, Wahlberg has introduced legislation to “rein-in” the NLRB, which he has criticized heavily under President Biden. In his fifteen-plus years in office, Wahlberg has been graded by the AFL-CIO to vote with working people twelve percent of the time.
Daily News & Commentary
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November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.
November 20
Law professors file brief in Slaughter; New York appeals court hears arguments about blog post firing; Senate committee delays consideration of NLRB nominee.
November 19
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel the collective bargaining rights of workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media; Representative Jared Golden secures 218 signatures for a bill that would repeal a Trump administration executive order stripping federal workers of their collective bargaining rights; and Dallas residents sue the City of Dallas in hopes of declaring hundreds of ordinances that ban bias against LGBTQ+ individuals void.
November 18
A federal judge pressed DOJ lawyers to define “illegal” DEI programs; Peco Foods prevails in ERISA challenge over 401(k) forfeitures; D.C. court restores collective bargaining rights for Voice of America workers; Rep. Jared Golden secures House vote on restoring federal workers' union rights.
November 17
Justices receive petition to resolve FLSA circuit split, vaccine religious discrimination plaintiffs lose ground, and NJ sues Amazon over misclassification.
November 16
Boeing workers in St. Louis end a 102-day strike, unionized Starbucks baristas launch a new strike, and Illinois seeks to expand protections for immigrant workers