Jacqueline Rayfield is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, Los Angeles hotel workers march through downtown on strike for better wages, benefits, and working conditions, the Teamsters’ union announced it has reached a tentative agreement with UPS on three major economic issues, and a pause in negotiations between the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) left $19 billion in goods stranded off of Canada’s west coast.
Unite Here Local 11 hotel workers walked off the job on Sunday and have since been picketing across downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Yesterday, workers marched through the streets of downtown Los Angeles to demand better economic provisions in their contract. The union represents about 15,000 cooks, servers, housekeepers and more in hotels across Southern California, though not all Local 11 hotel workers are part of the strike.
The Teamsters announced over the weekend that they have reached an agreement with UPS on three major economic issues which could affect more than 340,000 employees, including ending forced overtime on days off, establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday, and getting rid of the two-tier wage system. However, a strike is still not off the table as both parties near the July 31st contract expiration. Teamsters previously passed a strike authorization vote with 97% approval.
After four days of negotiations between BCMEA and ILWU Canada, negotiations have been put on pause. In the meantime, $19 billion in trade waits off of 29 ports along Canada’s west coast, and this total continues to rise. Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan called for both parties to return to the bargaining table to allow trade to continue.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
May 23
United Steelworkers union speaks out against proposed steel merger; Goodwin Procter turns over diversity data; Anthropic AI's fair use claim over authors' creative work
May 22
BLS releases statistics on foreign-born workers; courts vacate EEOC protections; SCOTUS considers takings case.
May 21
Supreme Court grants the Trump Administration the ability to end Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan immigrants; a federal judge permits airline customer service agents to pursue litigation rather than arbitration in a wage dispute; and NLRB prosecutors limit when they seek consequential remedies for unfair labor practices.
May 19
Schedule F comment period ends this week; Wilcox's reinstatement case is back before D.C. Circuit; NLRB removal protection case runs into jurisdictional problem; NJ locomotive strike ends in success.
May 18
In today’s news and commentary, the DC Circuit lifts a preliminary injunction on Trump’s collective bargaining ban for federal workers; HHS, DOL and Treasury pause a 2024 mental health parity regulation; and NJ Transit workers continue into the third day of a historic strike. In a 2-1 decision issued on Friday, the D.C. Circuit overturned […]
May 16
Supreme Court hears a case about universal injunctions; Champion of workers' rights announces run for Colorado Attorney General; Sesame Street is officially union!