Liana Wang is a student at Harvard Law School.
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 an injunction against Executive Order 14251 in NTEU v. Trump. The EO threatened to end collective bargaining rights for about 100,000 federal workers at over a dozen agencies on the grounds that they conducted national security work. Two circuit judges held that the union failed to show it would suffer irreparable harm, and the injunction interfered with the President’s autonomy on national security issues. In line with another Trump Administration directive in March, the majority also noted that the union should have posted a financial bond to cover the potential costs of a wrongly issued injunction.
Meanwhile, HHS, DOL, and Treasury have announced they will not enforce another Biden-era regulation as they consider whether to rescind it. The Biden Administration’s mental health parity rule required insurers and employers to make sure that their plans provided the same level of “meaningful benefits” for mental health conditions as for physical ones. The regulation was meant to ensure greater compliance with the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. The ERISA Industry Committee, which represents several Fortune 500 companies, challenged the regulation in January 2025. The pause comes amid other attacks on research and funding for mental health and addiction services.
And, updating Justin’s story from Monday, New Jersey Transit workers and members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen officially went on strike for the first time in 40 years starting Friday. The locomotive engineers are asking for salary raises, arguing that they make 20% less compared to engineers at other regional rail systems. Hours of contract talks Saturday did not produce an agreement. As the strike continues into its third day today, NJ Transit and the union are returning to meet with a mediator in Newark.
Daily News & Commentary
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September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.
September 11
California rideshare deal advances; Boeing reaches tentative agreement with union; FTC scrutinizes healthcare noncompetes.
September 10
A federal judge denies a motion by the Trump Administration to dismiss a lawsuit led by the American Federation of Government Employees against President Trump for his mass layoffs of federal workers; the Supreme Court grants a stay on a federal district court order that originally barred ICE agents from questioning and detaining individuals based on their presence at a particular location, the type of work they do, their race or ethnicity, and their accent while speaking English or Spanish; and a hospital seeks to limit OSHA's ability to cite employers for failing to halt workplace violence without a specific regulation in place.
September 9
Ninth Circuit revives Trader Joe’s lawsuit against employee union; new bill aims to make striking workers eligible for benefits; university lecturer who praised Hitler gets another chance at First Amendment claims.
September 8
DC Circuit to rule on deference to NLRB, more vaccine exemption cases, Senate considers ban on forced arbitration for age discrimination claims.
September 7
Another weak jobs report, the Trump Administration's refusal to arbitrate with federal workers, and a district court judge's order on the constitutionality of the Laken-Riley Act.