Peter Morgan is a student at Harvard Law School.
Today’s News and Commentary: UAW secures a new agreement with Caterpillar Inc., Duke declares legal opposition to its grad student union, and the Ohio Senate passes a bill relaxing restriction on child labor laws.
UAW ratified a new contract with Caterpillar Inc. across four locals in Illinois and Pennsylvania. The vote, which occurred over the weekend, covers 7,000 UAW members and brings them a $6,000 ratification bonus, wage increases, a higher 401(k) match, and other benefits. The new contract will last six years.
Duke University announced it would challenge the legal status of their grad student unions by disputing that Ph.D. students are employees. Chris Simmons, current Vice President of Public Affairs and Government Relations, wrote that Ph.D. students had a “fundamentally different” relationship to the university “from that of employer to employee.” In doing so, Duke signaled its intent to challenge the NLRB’s decision in Columbia University, a 2016 case in which the Board found that graduate students were employees. The Duke Grad Union criticized Duke on Twitter, calling this a “transparent delay tactic” and “union-busting.”
After Arkansas passed a law making it easier for businesses in the state to employ teenage workers last week, Ohio’s legislature has embarked on a similar effort. Citing a workforce shortage, the Ohio Senate passed a bill allowing 14- and 15-year-old workers to work between the hours of 7 and 9 p.m. If passed by the House and signed by the governor, the law would not change how many hours children can work in a given week, even as it would change when they could work those hours.
Daily News & Commentary
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March 24
Duke opposing unionizing grad student workers; NLRB prosecutors find merit to ULPs against Amazon; Starbucks investors weighing outside audit of company's labor practices.
March 23
Trader Joe's workers in Oakland file a petition to form a union; a Kenyan court temporarily blocks Meta contractor’s mass layoff of content moderators; and Starbucks workers at more than 100 stores walkout ahead of shareholders’ meeting.
March 22
NLRB's General Counsel issues two memos clarifying priorities and a recent Board decision, LA teachers go on strike, and Bloomberg Law reports higher pay raises from labor contracts
March 20
Residents and fellows at Mass General Brigham hospitals prepare to unionize; divisions in the New York Times NewsGuild union deepens as contract negotiations remain ongoing; the six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike turned violent on Saturday; Los Angeles schools prepare to close this week as workers plan to strike
March 19
Ninth Circuit reinstates Uber's Equal Protection challenge to California's AB5; reduction in SNAP benefits could lead to "hunger cliff" for low-wage workers; Amazon workers start unionizing campaign at Kentucky facility; ex-Google employees ask company to honor parental leave.
March 17
Texas committee considers sweeping legislation limiting municipal power; University of Chicago graduate students unionize; Tennessee Nissan technicians reject a unionizing effort; and protestors in France take to the streets after President Macron activates nuclear option to raise retirement age.