Benjamin Sachs is the Kestnbaum Professor of Labor and Industry at Harvard Law School and a leading expert in the field of labor law and labor relations. He is also faculty director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy. Professor Sachs teaches courses in labor law, employment law, and law and social change, and his writing focuses on union organizing and unions in American politics. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty in 2008, Professor Sachs was the Joseph Goldstein Fellow at Yale Law School. From 2002-2006, he served as Assistant General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, D.C. Professor Sachs graduated from Yale Law School in 1998, and served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His writing has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the New York Times and elsewhere. Professor Sachs received the Yale Law School teaching award in 2007 and in 2013 received the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence at Harvard Law School. He can be reached at [email protected].
Republican Senator Josh Hawley has circulated a document titled “A Pro-Worker Framework for the 119th Congress.” The document, available on Punchbowl News, lays out a set of proposals for labor law reform. The proposals, couched in broad terms and not in legislative language, include: requiring employers to post notices of NLRA rights and to affirmatively notify new employees of their NLRA rights; implementing safety and health reforms particularly for warehouse workers (presumably in line with the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, which Hawley supported in the last Congress); banning captive audience meetings “while protecting free speech rights of business owners”; holding NLRB elections within 20 days (of a petition presumably, though this isn’t specified); requiring that initial contract bargaining begin within 10 days of a successful union election and requiring that unions and employers “execute their agreements within months, not years”; and enhanced remedies with a private right of action in certain cases.
It is unclear whether there is more detail available about Hawley’s ideas (Punchbowl has only the one-page document) and, without more detail, it’s hard to offer anything like a complete assessment of the framework. This document, moreover, is far from a bill and it remains to be seen how much traction Hawley’s proposals will get, including from the incoming Trump Administration. And, even if all were enacted, this slate of reforms would fall far short of what’s required to fix U.S. labor law. But these are proposals for significant changes that may scramble the politics of labor law reform. That too remains to be seen.
Daily News & Commentary
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September 14
NCAA and Big Ten file motion to dismiss in former star player's NIL suit; Seventh Circuit rules against former postal worker in discrimination suit.
September 13
Documents released on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks show that city officials encouraged workers to return to Ground Zero despite knowing the risks of asbestos exposure, and new polls demonstrate continued widespread support for labor unions.
September 10
Amazon workers allege pregnancy discrimination; federal unions challenge USDA reorganization; NYC warns of silicosis risks.
September 9
Wynn Las Vegas employees allege anti-union retaliation; Amazon faces a class action over pregnancy accommodations; H-1B demand plunges following a six-figure visa fee.
September 8
In today’s News and Commentary, workers and unions across America celebrate Labor Day, California’s SEIU Local 1000 prepares for a strike authorization vote, and New York City creates the Office of Worker Power. On Monday, labor unions and workers gathered in cities across the United States in celebration of Labor Day. Parades and rallies took […]
September 7
Eighth Circuit finds DOL order violates Seventh Amendment; 1,300 workers at Encore Boston Harbor go on strike.