Anita Alem is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, New York becomes the fourth state to mandate salary ranges accompany job postings; Biden’s Senate nominees for the EEOC and DOL are blocked for the year; Crumbl cookies violated child labor regulations across six states; and, at least 100 demands for arbitration have been filed against Twitter. Internationally, in the U.K, tens of thousands of workers, including nurses, ambulance workers, and workers, have gone on strike amid a cost of living crisis, and workers in Iran are likely to continue to have an outsize role in the ongoing uprising.
New York state governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law on Wednesday that will require all job postings to include salary ranges as well, joining Colorado, California, and Washington, which have similar bills. Once the law goes into effect in September 2023, across the four states, more than 20% of the entire U.S. workforce will have legally mandated access to “pay transparency” in job postings. However, the usefulness of these laws is debated, as a Bloomberg analysis found “pay bands that regularly spanned more than $100,000” in postings.
President Biden’s nominations for the DOL wage regulator position and the EEOC’s general counsel were both stalled Wednesday as Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) blocked the unanimous support necessary to further the confirmations. Jessica Looman and Karla Gilbride, nominated respectively to the DOL and the EEOC, will likely not see further progress in their nominations until next year.
The DOL has fined Crumbl Cookies more than $50,000 for violating child labor laws across 11 locations in six states. The violations were a result of employing children for more hours than legally permissible or placing children in positions that were hazardous or prohibited. Violations of child labor laws are up 37% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to the Wage and Hour Division.
Reuters reported that 100 former Twitter employees have filed arbitrations for employment law violations as a result of Elon Muks’s takeover and firings. The alleged violations include sex discrimination and failure to pay severance as a breach of contract. Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan reportedly stated that these employees, because they are subject to arbitration agreements, are likely unable to join the many ongoing employment class actions against Twitter.
Internationally, massive strikes with tens of thousands of workers are ongoing in England and Wales, across ambulance workers, nurses, postal workers, rail workers, and airport immigration officers. The strikes come amid record inflation at 11.1%, with workers raising concerns that wages have not kept up with inflation, along with, especially for healthcare workers, continued exhaustion from the pandemic.
In Iran, as Tascha previously reported, striking workers have continued to support the ongoing uprising initially sparked by the police murder of Mahsa Amini. Thus far, more 18,000 have been arrested, 500 people killed, and two have been executed. On Saturday, oil workers went on strike for improved working conditions and pay, continuing to signal the potential for labor support to play a key role in the uprising.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
March 24
Duke opposing unionizing grad student workers; NLRB prosecutors find merit to ULPs against Amazon; Starbucks investors weighing outside audit of company's labor practices.
March 23
Trader Joe's workers in Oakland file a petition to form a union; a Kenyan court temporarily blocks Meta contractor’s mass layoff of content moderators; and Starbucks workers at more than 100 stores walkout ahead of shareholders’ meeting.
March 22
NLRB's General Counsel issues two memos clarifying priorities and a recent Board decision, LA teachers go on strike, and Bloomberg Law reports higher pay raises from labor contracts
March 20
Residents and fellows at Mass General Brigham hospitals prepare to unionize; divisions in the New York Times NewsGuild union deepens as contract negotiations remain ongoing; the six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike turned violent on Saturday; Los Angeles schools prepare to close this week as workers plan to strike
March 19
Ninth Circuit reinstates Uber's Equal Protection challenge to California's AB5; reduction in SNAP benefits could lead to "hunger cliff" for low-wage workers; Amazon workers start unionizing campaign at Kentucky facility; ex-Google employees ask company to honor parental leave.
March 17
Texas committee considers sweeping legislation limiting municipal power; University of Chicago graduate students unionize; Tennessee Nissan technicians reject a unionizing effort; and protestors in France take to the streets after President Macron activates nuclear option to raise retirement age.