Jon Weinberg is a student at Harvard Law School.
A major union is mounting a high-profile effort to represent gig economy workers in New York. Crain’s reports that this week, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 delivered union cards signed by 14,000 New York Uber and Lyft drivers to New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. The union also held a rally outside the TLC’s headquarters. Gothamist and the New York Daily News have more.
The ATU’s campaign comes after an IBEW local filed a petition to represent some New York Uber drivers, the Teamsters announced an intent to form an Uber “drivers’ association” in California, and Seattle passed an ordinance allowing independent contractors to unionize. Uber and Lyft drivers are presently classified as independent contractors without collective bargaining rights under the National Labor Relations Act, but the National Labor Relations Board could find that drivers are misclassified and are in fact employees.
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January 29
Texas pauses H-1B hiring; NLRB General Counsel announces new procedures and priorities; Fourth Circuit rejects a teacher's challenge to pronoun policies.
January 28
Over 15,000 New York City nurses continue to strike with support from Mayor Mamdani; a judge grants a preliminary injunction that prevents DHS from ending family reunification parole programs for thousands of family members of U.S. citizens and green-card holders; and decisions in SDNY address whether employees may receive accommodations for telework due to potential exposure to COVID-19 when essential functions cannot be completed at home.
January 27
NYC's new delivery-app tipping law takes effect; 31,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses and healthcare workers go on strike; the NJ Appellate Division revives Atlantic City casino workers’ lawsuit challenging the state’s casino smoking exemption.
January 26
Unions mourn Alex Pretti, EEOC concentrates power, courts decide reach of EFAA.
January 25
Uber and Lyft face class actions against “women preference” matching, Virginia home healthcare workers push for a collective bargaining bill, and the NLRB launches a new intake protocol.
January 22
Hyundai’s labor union warns against the introduction of humanoid robots; Oregon and California trades unions take different paths to advocate for union jobs.