Michelle Berger is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary: The UAW endorsed President Biden, gig platforms asked the Fifth Circuit to revive their old challenge to Biden’s worker classification law, and the Florida state legislature may respond to the challenging implementation of the state’s new anti-union law.
The UAW endorsed President Biden for president last week. In the days since, UAW President Shawn Fain has emphatically supported President Biden in public remarks on CBS and Fox. To Fox viewers, Fain made the case that “nowhere in history has Donald Trump ever stood with the American worker.” He cited examples ranging in time from Trump’s blaming the Great Recession on workers to Trump’s silence during the 40-day GM strike in 2019.
The Biden Department of Labor and a coalition of business groups are in a procedural battle in the Fifth Circuit over the groups’ challenge to the administration’s new worker classification rule. As Linh reported, the DOL published a final rule earlier this month that makes it more difficult for employers to classify workers as independent contractors. Days later, a coalition of business groups that represent employers including Uber and DoorDash filed a motion in the Fifth Circuit. The Fifth Circuit decided in 2022 that the DOL violated the APA when it rescinded the Trump Administration’s worker classification rule, but stayed its decision to wait for the final rule. Now that the final rule has been announced, the business groups want the Fifth Circuit to revive the case in the original district court — even though that litigation challenged a different DOL rule. The Biden Administration is arguing that the original case is now moot.
Last spring, Florida’s state legislature enacted a law that will make it much harder for public sector unions in the state to survive. But the law’s roll-out has been bumpy, with legal challenges and confusion about the law’s requirements. The law even came to receive ire from some police unions — unions which the law exempted in an attempt to support — when it became evident that 911 dispatchers’ unions were affected. Now, Republicans in the Florida state legislature are considering implementing some fixes to the law that Democrat lawmakers championed in the first place.
Daily News & Commentary
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April 21
Bryan Johnson’s ULP saga before the NLRB continues; top law firms opt to appease the EEOC in its anti-DEI demands.
April 20
In today’s news and commentary, the Supreme Court rules for Cornell employees in an ERISA suit, the Sixth Circuit addresses whether the EFAA applies to a sexual harassment claim, and DOGE gains access to sensitive labor data on immigrants. On Thursday, the Supreme Court made it easier for employees to bring ERISA suits when their […]
April 18
Two major New York City unions endorse Cuomo for mayor; Committee on Education and the Workforce requests an investigation into a major healthcare union’s spending; Unions launch a national pro bono legal network for federal workers.
April 17
Utahns sign a petition supporting referendum to repeal law prohibiting public sector collective bargaining; the US District Court for the District of Columbia declines to dismiss claims filed by the AFL-CIO against several government agencies; and the DOGE faces reports that staffers of the agency accessed the NLRB’s sensitive case files.
April 16
7th Circuit questions the relevance of NLRB precedent after Loper Bright, unions seek to defend silica rule, and Abrego Garcia's union speaks out.
April 15
In today’s news and commentary, SAG-AFTRA reaches a tentative agreement, AFT sues the Trump Administration, and California offers its mediation services to make up for federal cuts. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing approximately 133,000 commercial actors and singers, has reached a tentative agreement with advertisers and advertising agencies. These companies were represented in contract negotiations by […]