Jon Weinberg is a student at Harvard Law School.
Despite surviving multiple court challenges, the revolutionary Seattle municipal ordinance giving gig economy independent contractors the right to unionize appears to be on hold.
According to Bloomberg BNA, a Seattle city attorney announced the city will delay enforcement of the law in proceedings before the district court hearing the challenge to the ordinance last week. Uber, Lyft and a third ride hailing company had been due to submit driver information today to a union recognized as a “qualified driver representative” pursuant to the ordinance. Seattle will not requite the companies to disclose the driver information until Judge Robert S. Lasnik of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington rules on a motion filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which brought the lawsuit challenging the ordinance.
More per Bloomberg BNA:
The judge said he’d try to reach a decision by Friday, March 31, but that it could come as late as Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week, April 4 or 5, said [Seattle University School of Law Professor Charlotte] Garden, who teaches labor law. A source familiar with the litigation confirmed to Bloomberg BNA the delay in enforcement and the timeline for Lasnik’s ruling.
And with respect to the motion at issue:
Lasnik must find a likelihood of the Chamber’s success down the road in order to grant its request for a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order. The Chamber, Uber, Lyft, and East Side for Hire all contend that federal labor and antitrust laws preempt Seattle’s ordinance.
Daily News & Commentary
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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.