Esther Ritchin is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news, the holiday season strikes against Amazon and Starbucks both conclude, and Amazon mandates a full-time return to office for its corporate employees.
The strike against Amazon, held at warehouses in the five days leading up to Christmas Eve, ended as scheduled. The strike was officially held at nine different warehouses, but there were protests and demonstrations at at least 200 locations throughout the strike period. While the strike has concluded, the Teamsters “will never let up and workers will never stop fighting for their rights at Amazon.” The complaints that brought workers to strike, including safety violations and unjust pay, continue. Starbucks workers also concluded their strike as scheduled at the end of the holiday season.
In related news, yesterday, the first workday of the new year, marked Amazon’s new mandatory return-to-office policy, five days a week, for its corporate employees. Many employees are frustrated by the policy, especially after inconsistent messaging from leadership on remote work and rumors of Amazon using this policy as a way to lower their number of corporate employees without having to lay people off.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
October 24
Amazon Labor Union intervenes in NYS PERB lawsuit; a union engages in shareholder activism; and Meta lays off hundreds of risk auditing workers.
October 23
Ninth Circuit reaffirms Thryv remedies; unions oppose Elon Musk pay package; more federal workers protected from shutdown-related layoffs.
October 22
Broadway actors and producers reach a tentative labor agreement; workers at four major concert venues in Washington D.C. launch efforts to unionize; and Walmart pauses offers to job candidates requiring H-1B visas.
October 21
Some workers are exempt from Trump’s new $100,000 H1-B visa fee; Amazon driver alleges the EEOC violated mandate by dropping a disparate-impact investigation; Eighth Circuit revived bank employee’s First Amendment retaliation claims over school mask-mandate.
October 20
Supreme Court won't review SpaceX decision, courts uphold worker-friendly interpretation of EFAA, EEOC focuses on opioid-related discrimination.
October 19
DOL issues a new wage rule for H-2A workers, Gov. Newsom vetoes a bill that regulates employers’ use of AI, and Broadway workers and management reach a tentative deal