Peter Morgan is a student at Harvard Law School.
In this weekend’s news: the Minnesota legislature passes a labor bill offering protections for ride-share drivers, Bandcamp employees elect a union, and a gig company in San Francisco settles misclassification suits.
Following the passage of an omnibus labor bill on Tuesday, the Minnesota legislature passed a bill guaranteeing ride-share drivers a minimum wage and other protections. The bill, HF 2369, requires two new floors for driver pay: a per-mile minimum ($1.34, or $1.45 in the Twin Cities), and a per-minute minimum ($0.34). Governor Walz expressed some encouragement for the bill but still indicated he needed to discuss the matter further before signing it. Uber and Lyft responded to the bill’s passage with a statement suggesting it would reduce or shut down its operations in the state.
On Friday, employees at the music platform Bandcamp voted to form a union with OPEIU. Bandcamp, acquired by Epic Games in 2022, has positioned itself as a fan-driven digital music store that gives a greater share of their revenue to artists. The union, Bandcamp United, had cited union busting practices in its contest with Bandcamp and Epic. Upon the election, one of Bandcamp’s co-founders issued a joint statement with the union signaling their intent to work together and negotiate in good faith
Handy Technologies, a gig-working company that offers in-house services through an app, has agreed to pay $6 million to settle allegations that it misclassified its employees as independent contractors in violation of California’s employment classification laws. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office accused Handy of misclassifying approximately 25,000 workers in California between March 2017 and May 2023, depriving them of entitled workplace benefits. Under the settlement filed in San Francisco Superior Court, Handy will pay $4.8 million in restitution to its workers who performed cleaning and handyman services and an additional civil penalty of $1.2 million.
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April 24
NYC unions urge Mamdani to veto anti-protest “buffer zones” bill; 40,000 unionized Samsung workers rally for higher pay; and Labubu Dolls found to contain cotton made by forced labor.
April 23
Trump administration wins in 11th Circuit defending a Biden-era project labor agreement rule; NABTU convenes its annual legislative conference; Meta reported to cut over 10% of its workforce this year.
April 22
Congress introduces a labor rights notification bill; New York's ban on credit checks in hiring takes effect; Harvard's graduate student workers go on strike.
April 21
Trump's labor secretary resigns; NYC doormen avoid a strike; UNITE HERE files complaint over ICE concerns at FIFA World Cup
April 20
Immigrant truckers file federal lawsuit; NLRB rejects UFCW request to preserve victory; NTEU asks federal judge to review CFPB plan to slash staff.
April 19
Chicago Teachers’ Union reach May Day agreement; New York City doormen win tentative deal; MLBPA fires two more executives.