
Sarah Leadem is a joint degree candidate at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
In today’s News and Commentary, University of California academic workers reached a tentative labor agreement and Congress proposed a $25 million increase to the NLRB budget.
Last Friday, academic student workers at the University of California reached a tentative agreement with the university. This comes on the heels of a five-week strike initiated by the 36,000 academic workers across 10 university campuses. The strike was the largest strike of academic workers in the nation. The tentative agreements would cover two separate bargaining units of academic workers: 19,000 teaching assistants represented by UAW 2865 and 17,000 academic student researchers represented by SRU-UAW. The bargaining team reported that the tentative contract included wage increases, expanded supports for student parents, stronger protections for international students, and improved transit benefits. Some union leaders, however, oppose the tentative contract and are urging members to vote against ratification this week. They highlight that the contract does not include wage increases tied to housing costs which was a priority of the strike. The ratification vote is happening this week through Friday and requires a simple majority of each union’s membership. If the members vote no, the strike will continue.
The NLRB staff union celebrated the inclusion of a $25 million budget increase for the National Labor Relations Board in Congress’s omnibus budget bill. This increase is part of the $1.7 trillion federal omnibus spending bill announced by the Senate yesterday. This is significant for the NLRB which has seen chronic underfunding for years. As reported by Neil Davey, despite an increased workload due to the upswing in national union activity, the NLRB has not had a funding increase since 2014. The omnibus bill would fund the government through September 2023 and avoid a potential government shutdown.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
July 8
In today’s news and commentary, Apple wins at the Fifth Circuit against the NLRB, Florida enacts a noncompete-friendly law, and complications with the No Tax on Tips in the Big Beautiful Bill. Apple won an appeal overturning a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that the company violated labor law by coercively questioning an employee […]
July 7
LA economy deals with fallout from ICE raids; a new appeal challenges the NCAA antitrust settlement; and the EPA places dissenting employees on leave.
July 6
Municipal workers in Philadelphia continue to strike; Zohran Mamdani collects union endorsements; UFCW grocery workers in California and Colorado reach tentative agreements.
July 4
The DOL scraps a Biden-era proposed rule to end subminimum wages for disabled workers; millions will lose access to Medicaid and SNAP due to new proof of work requirements; and states step up in the noncompete policy space.
July 3
California compromises with unions on housing; 11th Circuit rules against transgender teacher; Harvard removes hundreds from grad student union.
July 2
Block, Nanda, and Nayak argue that the NLRA is under attack, harming democracy; the EEOC files a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former EEOC Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels; and SEIU Local 1000 strikes an agreement with the State of California to delay the state's return-to-office executive order for state workers.