Sarah Leadem is a joint degree candidate at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
In today’s News and Commentary, the Department of Homeland Security announced an enhanced deferred action process for noncitizen workers subject to labor abuse; Microsoft announced 10,000 layoffs, adding to growing tech layoffs; and Apple will audit its U.S. labor practices.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced an enhanced process for undocumented workers to qualify for “deferred action” when they have been a victim of or witness to a labor rights violation. “Deferred action” refers to protection from deportation when a worker participates in a labor rights investigation or enforcement action. This “streamlined and expedited deferred action request process” includes new guidance for labor agencies and, most notably, a centralized intake system for deferred action requests for labor agencies conducting investigations or other enforcement activities. The expedited process is intended to encourage noncitizen workers to participate in labor right enforcement in light of widespread fear of employer retaliation based on immigration status. DHS will continue to evaluate deferred action requests on a discretionary, case-by-case basis.
Today, Microsoft announced plans to lay off 10,000 employees, adding to a wave of layoffs in the tech industry. This comes on the heels of several other major layoffs in tech companies in the last several months: In November, Meta (formerly Facebook) laid off 11,000 employees. Last week, Amazon announced its plan to cut 18,000 jobs.
Apple has agreed to audit its U.S. labor practices. This audit is the result of an agreement with a coalition of investors, including New York pension funds, following a shareholder proposal presented by the coalition last September. The company will contract a third party firm to assess its compliance with its own internal “human rights policy” particularly as it relates to employees’ right to unionize and collectively bargain. Apple announced its plans to conduct this “Workers’ Rights Assessment” in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week (See pages 14, 25, and 103).
Daily News & Commentary
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July 11
Regional director orders election without Board quorum; 9th Circuit pauses injunction on Executive Order; Driverless car legislation in Massachusetts
July 10
Wisconsin Supreme Court holds UW Health nurses are not covered by Wisconsin’s Labor Peace Act; a district judge denies the request to stay an injunction pending appeal; the NFLPA appeals an arbitration decision.
July 9
the Supreme Court allows Trump to proceed with mass firings; Secretary of Agriculture suggests Medicaid recipients replace deported migrant farmworkers; DHS ends TPS for Nicaragua and Honduras
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.