Peter Morgan is a student at Harvard Law School.
In Today’s News and Commentary: Howard Schultz denied violating labor law, Florida’s anti-union bill passes the Senate, and screenwriters and journalists call for fair wages.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz testified at a Senate HELP committee hearing on Wednesday morning, as Jacqueline reported. HELP committee chairman Senator Bernie Sanders questioned Shultz about the hundreds of unfair labor practice charges that Starbucks employees have filed over the past 18 months. Schultz maintained that Starbucks has not broken the law. After a short recess the HELP committee reconvened in the afternoon to hear from a panel. The panel included a former and current Starbucks barista as well as HLS Professor of Practice and OnLabor Senior Contributor Sharon Block, who remarked that it is a “bedrock of our democracy that the law applies to everyone.”
Also on Wednesday, the Florida state senate passed a bill that could weaken public sector unions in the state. As Elyse and Michelle reported earlier this month, key provisions of the bill would require unions to maintain 60% membership levels and would end direct deduction of union dues. According to a 2017 analysis, Florida has a higher public sector union density as compared to the states of the neighboring Deep South.
Writers across the country and in two different industries are demanding fair wages. As Forbes reported earlier this month, the Writers Guild of America contract with the major Hollywood production companies will expire on May 1st. The Guild intends to secure screenwriters’ compensation that keeps up with industry changes. And on the East Coast, members of the New York Times’ workers’ union disrupted the Times’ newsroom to protest the second anniversary of their contract expiring. Per Times writer Liam Stack on Twitter, staff have not received a raise in three years.
Daily News & Commentary
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June 27
Labor's role in Zohran Mamdani's victory; DHS funding amendment aims to expand guest worker programs; COSELL submission deadline rapidly approaching
June 26
A district judge issues a preliminary injunction blocking agencies from implementing Trump’s executive order eliminating collective bargaining for federal workers; workers organize for the reinstatement of two doctors who were put on administrative leave after union activity; and Lamont vetoes unemployment benefits for striking workers.
June 25
Some circuits show less deference to NLRB; 3d Cir. affirms return to broader concerted activity definition; changes to federal workforce excluded from One Big Beautiful Bill.
June 24
In today’s news and commentary, the DOL proposes new wage and hour rules, Ford warns of EV battery manufacturing trouble, and California reaches an agreement to delay an in-person work mandate for state employees. The Trump Administration’s Department of Labor has advanced a series of proposals to update federal wage and hour rules. First, the […]
June 23
Supreme Court interprets ADA; Department of Labor effectively kills Biden-era regulation; NYC announces new wages for rideshare drivers.
June 22
California lawmakers challenge Garmon preemption in the absence of an NLRB quorum and Utah organizers successfully secure a ballot referendum to overturn HB 267.