
Morgan Sperry is a student at Harvard Law School and also serves as OnLabor's Social Media Director.
In today’s news and commentary, the Yellow trucking company has shut down, laying off 22,000 Teamsters, and Senator Fetterman has introduced legislation that would extend SNAP benefits to striking workers.
Yellow, one of the largest freight trucking companies in the United States, has shut down and laid off all of its employees only three years after the Trump Administration gave it a $700 million pandemic bailout. Yellow employed 22,000 Teamsters and had been negotiating a new contract—focused on increased wages and improved health care and pension benefits—with the union. (At one point, Yellow’s management went so far as to ask a federal judge to intervene against the union to prevent a strike.)
Senator Fetterman (D-PA) is introducing legislation to extend SNAP benefits to striking workers. Currently, workers on strike are ineligible for SNAP benefits unless they collected food stamps prior to striking. The Food Secure Strikers Act of 2023 would repeal a restriction on striking workers receiving SNAP benefits, protect food stamp eligibility for public-sector workers fired for striking, and clarify that any income-eligible household can receive SNAP benefits even if a member of that household is on strike. This summer’s strikes have resurfaced the issue of food insecurity as many workers have struggled to access strike funds and other mutual aid.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
June 17
NLRB finds a reporter's online criticism of the Washington Post was not protected activity under federal labor law; top union leaders leave the Democratic National Committee amid internal strife; Uber reaches a labor peace agreement with Chicago drivers.
June 16
California considers bill requiring human operators inside autonomous delivery vehicles; Eighth Circuit considers challenge to Minnesota misclassification law and whether "having a family to support" is a gendered comment.
June 15
ICE holds back on some work site raids as unions mobilize; a Maryland judge approves a $400M settlement for poultry processing workers in an antitrust case; and an OMB directive pushes federal agencies to use union PLAs.
June 13
Termination of grants promoting labor standards abroad at the District Court; Supreme Court agrees to hear case about forced labor; more states pass legislation to benefit striking workers
June 12
An administrative law judge holds that Yapp USA violated the NLRA; oral arguments for two labor cases before the Eighth Circuit.
June 11
DOJ charges David Huerta; unions clash with the administration on immigration; general counsel says Humphrey's Executor doesn't apply to the NLRB.