Divya Nimmagadda is a student at Harvard Law School.
It was announced on Wednesday that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is joining the AFL-CIO, bringing the latter’s membership to nearly 15 million. The AFL-CIO is a federation of more than 50 unions; now that the SEIU is joining in under the umbrella organization, it has become the largest of the member unions. The SEIU is the nation’s second largest labor union, with around 2 million members, and has primarily organized workers in healthcare, property services, and public work. The SEIU was previously part of the AFL-CIO umbrella, but split from the group in 2005 over a rift in strategy – the SEIU and some other unions wanted to increase focus on organizing new members. While both groups have denied that the most recent election was the impetus for this alliance, they have acknowledged that the solidarity between the two groups will enable a stronger defense to any potential threats to labor or to workers from the Trump administration. Liz Schuler, president of AFL-CIO, stated that the unions are “amassing our forces, building our strength and our power before the inauguration…Working people will continue to demand that our voices be heard.”
Also on Wednesday, dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts reached a tentative labor agreement. Back in October, after a brief strike, the port workers and their employers agreed to a 62% raise over six years and aimed to come to agreement on other provisions of the labor agreement by January 15th. One of the most contentious of these topics was that of automation and the introduction of technology that could reduce human jobs. In a joint statement, the two parties stated that: “This agreement protects current I.L.A. jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf Coasts ports.” While the exact points of the agreement are not yet available, it has been reported that the workers got guarantees that introduction of technology would be accompanied by increased port jobs, and the employers had achieved language that would allow them to more easily introduce technology to the port settings.
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April 24
NLRB seeks to compel Amazon to collectively bargain with San Francisco warehouse workers, DoorDash delivery workers and members of Los Deliveristas Unidos rally for pay transparency, and NLRB takes step to drop lawsuit against SpaceX over the firing of employees who criticized Elon Musk.
April 22
DOGE staffers eye NLRB for potential reorganization; attacks on federal workforce impact Trump-supporting areas; Utah governor acknowledges backlash to public-sector union ban
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.