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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March 12
EPA terminates contract with second-largest union; Florida advances bill restricting public sector unions; Trump administration seeks Supreme Court assistance in TPS termination.
March 11
The partial government shutdown results in TSA agents losing their first full paycheck; the Fifth Circuit upholds the certification of a class of former United Airline workers who were placed on unpaid leave for declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons during the pandemic; and an academic group files a lawsuit against the State Department over a policy that revokes and denies visas to noncitizens for their work in fact-checking and content moderation.
March 10
Court rules Kari Lake unlawfully led USAGM, voiding mass layoffs; Florida Senate passes bill tightening union recertification rules; Fifth Circuit revives whistleblower suit against Lockheed Martin.
March 9
6th Circuit rejects Cemex, Board may overrule precedents with two members.
March 8
In today’s news and commentary, a weak jobs report, the NIH decides it will no longer recognize a research fellows’ union, and WNBA contract talks continue to stall as season approaches. On Friday, the Labor Department reported that employers cut 92,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4 percent. A loss […]
March 6
The Harvard Graduate Students Union announces a strike authorization vote.