
John Fry is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary, Illinois warehouse quota bill vetoed; Minnesota residents organize; and circuit split on NLRB deference continues.
On Friday, Illinois governor JB Pritzker vetoed a bill that would have limited Amazon’s use of productivity quotas in its warehouses. New York, California, and three other states have passed laws regulating warehouse quotas, following widespread reports of injuries and high employee turnover in Amazon’s logistics supply chain. The company has tried to evade the state laws by claiming that it does not technically use quotas, which state regulators have contested. In December, the Senate HELP Committee published a report linking Amazon’s demanding quotas to unsafe working conditions. The vetoed Illinois bill would have required Amazon to share any quotas in writing with workers and document any discipline or firings related to quota shortfalls.
Medical residents at the University of Minnesota are seeking to unionize with SEIU’s Committee of Interns and Residents, submitting authorization cards from a majority of the proposed bargaining unit on Monday. As a recent Jacobin article highlighted, SEIU has organized nearly 20,000 residents in the past 5 years. By comparison, Starbucks Workers United, which has garnered far more media attention, represents roughly 11,000 baristas. Because the University of Minnesota is a public institution, Minnesota law will allow the residents to join the union if the state’s labor agency can verify that a majority of them have signed valid authorization cards, a process much quicker than election procedures under the National Labor Relations Act.
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied certiorari to a case which presents the question of whether Loper Bright, which ended Chevron deference to federal agencies’ interpretations of federal statutes, requires courts to afford less deference to the NLRB. As Darin has detailed in a four-part article series, judicial deference to the NLRB’s construction of the NLRA predates Chevron, and the NLRA itself requires deference to the Board’s findings of fact. Monday’s denial of certiorari may allow a circuit split to deepen: the Sixth Circuit has suggested that Loper Bright requires an end to NLRB deference on questions of law, while the Ninth Circuit has continued to defer.
Daily News & Commentary
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October 10
California bans algorithmic price-fixing; New York City Council passes pay transparency bills; and FEMA questions staff who signed a whistleblowing letter.
October 9
Equity and the Broadway League resume talks amid a looming strike; federal judge lets alcoholism ADA suit proceed; Philadelphia agrees to pay $40,000 to resolve a First Amendment retaliation case.
October 8
In today’s news and commentary, the Trump administration threatens no back pay for furloughed federal workers; the Second Circuit denies a request from the NFL for an en banc review in the Brian Flores case; and Governor Gavin Newsom signs an agreement to create a pathway for unionization for Uber and Lyft drivers.
October 7
The Supreme Court kicks off its latest term, granting and declining certiorari in several labor-related cases.
October 6
EEOC regains quorum; Second Circuit issues opinion on DEI causing hostile work environment.
October 5
In today’s news and commentary, HELP committee schedules a vote on Trump’s NLRB nominees, the 5th Circuit rejects Amazon’s request for en banc review, and TV production workers win their first union contract. After a nomination hearing on Wednesday, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee scheduled a committee vote on President Trump’s NLRB nominees […]