
Swap Agrawal is a student at Harvard Law School.
In this weekend’s news and commentary, NLRB staff advocate for increased agency funding from Congress, and an NLRB motion argues that Amazon is violating a recent Section 10(j) injunction.
On December 1, the National Labor Relations Board Union announced a rally at NLRB headquarters in support of staff facing increased caseloads and imminent furloughs. Also on December 1, Karen Cook, the president of the NLRB Professional Association – a separate union of 122 staff attorneys and FOIA specialists at the agency – sent a letter to Congress asking for greater appropriations. “We work on 10-year-old computers with limited legal research tools and outdated electronic case management systems,” wrote Cook. “Ironically, the proposed raise for federal employees, although well-deserved, is no boon to employees of the NLRB. Having already made cuts in spending, the agency has no room to absorb payment of the increase without an increased appropriation. I know of no other federal agency that will be forced to furlough employees in order to raise pay, and no other federal employees whose cost-of-living increases will be clawed back in the form of unpaid, forced furloughs. In these circumstances, we are left to wonder what rational, prospective public servant would sign up for a career defending NLRA rights when Congress has made clear that those civil servants are so disfavored.” Advocacy by staff comes several days after co-chairs of the Congressional Labor Caucus urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer (D-NY) to appropriate additional funds to the NRLB during the lame duck session before Democrats lose control of the House.
On November 30, the NLRB filed a motion in the Eastern District of New York asking the court to clarify an order against Amazon. On November 18, District Judge Diane Gujurati issued a Section 10(j) injunction against Amazon requiring the company to cease and desist from retaliating against employees for union organizing. The decision also directed Amazon to post, distribute, and read the cease-and-desist order to employee’s at JFK8, a Staten Island facility that voted to unionize earlier this year. According to the NLRB’s recent motion, Amazon “made a mockery” this order by planning to show workers a video regarding the order during shift change. However, the order’s language required Amazon to post the order “where [Amazon] customarily posts notices to its employees” and read the order at a meeting “held during working hours” and “scheduled to ensure the widest possible employee attendance.” On December 1, an Amazon spokesperson told Axios that the employer read the order out loud during a meeting. However, emails from Amazon lawyers state that the company is “not inclined to reconsider” where it will be posting notices. This ongoing battle highlights Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act, a tool the NLRB relies upon to prevent employers from interfering with organizing campaigns.
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January 27
Judge rules firing of Whole Foods workers for wearing BLM masks legal; judge stands by order enforcing subpoenas against Starbucks Workers United; Fourth Circuit skeptical of UPS worker's ADA accommodation claim.
January 26
CA law to improve wages and conditions for fast food workers faces a ballot referendum; OK meat processing workers reeling after a coworker is killed by police onsite; Democrats and advocates urge stronger child labor protection; new report on wage theft
January 25
In today’s news and commentary, Biden renominates his pick for head of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division; Walmart announces wage hike; Sanders plans Starbucks hearings as incoming chairman of the Senate HELP Committee; organizing efforts continue in the gaming industry; Amazon fires another union activist; and Harvard Law School launches the Center for Labor […]
January 24
HLS launches the new Center for Labor and a Just Economy, Lawmakers address construction worker deaths, and Local Progress publishes the local government round up on workers' rights.
January 23
Cooling labor market, Amazon investigations, and tech layoffs.
January 22
As Bloomberg detailed on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders, next in line to chair the powerful Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), has not given up on last year’s struggle to secure sick leave for railway workers. According to Bloomberg, Sanders is quietly planning to introduce legislation in the coming months that would require rail carriers […]