Holt McKeithan is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, OSHA reaches a settlement with Dollar General over unsafe work conditions, union leaders split over support for Biden, and a report shows the number of Americans making low wages has sharply decreased.
In September, Bloomberg reported a slew of hazardous working conditions at Dollar General stores around the country, including intentionally blocked fire-exits, electrical hazards, and workers stabbed and threatened by customers. Yesterday, OSHA reached a settlement with Dollar General agreeing to significantly reduce store inventory to avert hazards, pay $12 million, create new safety protocols, and potentially pay $100,000 a day if future hazards aren’t fixed. Julie Siu, acting Labor Secretary, said the settlement should “end this practice of constantly finding violations, fining them, and then seeing the violations repeat.”
Yesterday, the presidents of the UAW and Association of Flight Attendants met privately with President Biden’s staff to discuss his campaign. Shawn Fain and Sara Nelson suggested that Americans’ doubts about Biden’s reputation are damaging his ability to do his job. But other leaders have continued to back Biden. As Divya wrote yesterday, the AFL-CIO, Teamsters, and International Brotherhood of Electrial Workers have also continued to back the president.
An Oxfam report shows that the percentage of Americans earning less than $15 an hour has sharply decreased over the last two years. In 2022, 31.9% of Americans earned less than that wage. That percentage is down to 13% in 2024. Even after adjusting for inflation, 23% of Americans are making what Oxfam defines as low wages.
Daily News & Commentary
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November 25
In today’s news and commentary, OSHA fines Taylor Foods, Santa Fe raises their living wage, and a date is set for a Senate committee to consider Trump’s NLRB nominee. OSHA has issued an approximately $1.1 million dollar fine to Taylor Farms New Jersey, a subsidiary of Taylor Fresh Foods, after identifying repeated and serious safety […]
November 24
Labor leaders criticize tariffs; White House cancels jobs report; and student organizers launch chaperone program for noncitizens.
November 23
Workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority vote to authorize a strike; Washington State legislators consider a bill empowering public employees to bargain over workplace AI implementation; and University of California workers engage in a two-day strike.
November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.
November 20
Law professors file brief in Slaughter; New York appeals court hears arguments about blog post firing; Senate committee delays consideration of NLRB nominee.
November 19
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel the collective bargaining rights of workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media; Representative Jared Golden secures 218 signatures for a bill that would repeal a Trump administration executive order stripping federal workers of their collective bargaining rights; and Dallas residents sue the City of Dallas in hopes of declaring hundreds of ordinances that ban bias against LGBTQ+ individuals void.