Holt McKeithan is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News & Commentary, how unions can defend immigrant workers in the face of ICE raids, Utah Republicans advance a restrictive labor law, and how to use state and local funds to build worker power.
The Trump administration has begun aggressively raiding worksites to find and deport undocumented immigrants. Based on a survey of collective bargaining agreements compiled by unions and labor activists, Labor Notes released suggestions for defending immigrant workers in union contracts. Suggested provisions include requiring employers to ensure ICE complies with legal requirements before entering the worksite, informing employees if ICE has issued a subpoena for a search to the employer, allowing 90-day absences from work for employees to gain extensions or continuations of lawful residence status, protecting private employee information like immigration status, and more.
Republicans in Utah advanced a bill that would ban collective bargaining for all public sector workers in the state. Teachers see the bill as a direct political attack. ““The harm of the bill will be borne by public school educators living and working in every single legislative district,” said Sara Jones of the Utah Education Association. “It sends a message that educators don’t deserve a collective voice in their profession, don’t deserve input on their salaries or working conditions or benefits, or don’t deserve a say in the policies that impact their classrooms.”
The bill advanced out of the state house committee. It would place Utah alongside North and South Carolina, the two most restrictive states for public sector unions.
Demos has released a report on using state and local funding to build worker power. It highlights ways governments can work within the so-called “market participant” exception to broad federal preemption of state labor regulation, in which a government may impose labor conditions on recipients of public funding, rather than acting as a direct regulator. It suggests a focus on pro-worker provisions in project labor agreements in the construction industry, labor peace agreements in other industries, and community benefits agreements for publicly funded projects.
Daily News & Commentary
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September 17
A union argues the NLRB's quorum rule is unconstitutional; the California Building Trades back a state housing law; and Missouri proposes raising the bar for citizen ballot initiatives
September 16
In today’s news and commentary, the NLRB sues New York, a flight attendant sues United, and the Third Circuit considers the employment status of Uber drivers The NLRB sued New York to block a new law that would grant the state authority over private-sector labor disputes. As reported on recently by Finlay, the law, which […]
September 15
Unemployment claims rise; a federal court hands victory to government employees union; and employers fire workers over social media posts.
September 14
Workers at Boeing reject the company’s third contract proposal; NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen plans to sue New York over the state’s trigger bill; Air Canada flight attendants reject a tentative contract.
September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.
September 11
California rideshare deal advances; Boeing reaches tentative agreement with union; FTC scrutinizes healthcare noncompetes.