Sarah Leadem is a joint degree candidate at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
In today’s News and Commentary, an administrative law judge rules that Amazon violated labor law and HuffPost workers announce readiness to strike.
An administrative law judge ruled yesterday that Amazon violated labor law in the build-up to union elections at “JFK8.” Workers at JFK8 Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island voted to join the Amazon Labor Union last April, making it the first union at Amazon. Despite challenges from Amazon against the election results, the NLRB upheld the election as valid earlier this month.
Yesterday, administrative law judge Benjamin W. Green ruled on allegations that Amazon violated labor laws ahead of the election and ruled in favor of the union on two counts. The judge dismissed several other charges. First, Judge Green found that Amazon supervisors illegally threatened to withhold pay and benefit increases to workers if they voted to unionize. Second, Amazon illegally removed a pro-union post on an internal digital messaging board. The judge dismissed several other charges, including allegations that Amazon suggested to employees that pay and other employer-provided benefits would not carry on if workers unionized. Find Judge Green’s decision here. Amazon can appeal the decision to the NLRB.
Workers at HuffPost have vowed to strike if a deal is not reached with parent company, BuzzFeed. The HuffPost Union is affiliated with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE). WGAE made the strike readiness announcement Monday night. In a statement delivered to management at the bargaining table, the HuffPost Union demanded competitive compensation, severance, health and safety provisions in light of the ongoing occupational risk of COVID-19, and improved benefits. The union and Buzzfeed management were set to conclude two-day negotiations last night. HuffPost workers won their union in 2016 and signed their first contract in 2017. The union is now bargaining for its second contract. The HuffPoint Union emerged as part of a record wave of unionization within journalism in the last decade. In the last decade, the industry has seen 200 union drives. One in six journalists are now part of a union.
Daily News & Commentary
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July 22
EDNY strikes down state labor board law; D.C. Circuit applies Loper Bright to NLRB; Joint employer bill reaches the House floor.
July 21
Fifth Circuit transfers an Anheuser-Busch NLRB case to the Eleventh Circuit; a new report makes the case for tripling union membership.
July 20
New York City weighs banning horse carriages despite union opposition; public defenders go on strike; cinema workers stage walkout.
July 17
Canadian wildfires endanger rail workers; 26 Meta employees allege targeted layoffs for those on paid leave; FIFPRO pushes for more rigorous heat protections for players.
July 16
Trump's NLRB nominee set for Senate vote, federal district court grants partial win on WARN Act claims, Brigham and Women's nurses return to work.
July 15
U.S. labor productivity climbs at its fastest pace in decades; a federal judge grants a preliminary injunction to anti-abortion groups challenging Michigan’s civil rights law; and Jackson, Mississippi’s bus workers walk off the job.