Henry Green is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary, a class action lawsuit accuses supermarket chains of collusion, residents and physicians in Boston organize, and a Mississippi judge blocks enforcement of a DOL rule aimed at protecting farmworkers.
A worker at a Colorado supermarket is suing Kroger and Albertsons, accusing the supermarket chains of colluding in ways that reduced union bargaining power during a strike at Kroger-owned King Soopers. The proposed class action lawsuit was filed on Monday in Colorado state court and follows a similar lawsuit by the Colorado Attorney General. In 2022, members of UFCW Local 7 struck for ten days at King Soopers stores in Colorado. The complaint accuses Albertsons of agreeing not to hire striking workers or solicit Kroger customers. Kroger and Albertsons are two of the largest grocery companies in the US and are seeking to merge. The Federal Trade Commission has attempted to block the merger.
Residents and physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center filed for an NLRB election on Thursday. The Committee of Interns and Residents, an affiliate of SEIU, would represent the 850-person unit. The Beth Israel election is one of several organizing drives among medical professionals in the Boston area: physicians at Mass General Brigham, clinicians at the Cambridge Health Alliance, and residents and fellows at Brown Medical School affiliated hospitals have all filed for elections in the last month. Residents and fellows at Mass General are currently bargaining their first contract after voting to unionize in June.
A Mississippi federal judge has blocked enforcement of DOL organizing protections for farmworkers on temporary visas. The DOL’s farmworker protection rule, which was finalized in June, extended certain labor protections to workers not covered by the National Labor Relations Act. However, farm industry groups have repeatedly challenged the rule and have now won three injunctions against its enforcement. In August, a federal district court in Georgia issued an injunction blocking the rule’s enforcement in 17 Republican-led states. Earlier this week, the Eastern District of Kentucky blocked the rule in four states and for members of certain farm trade groups.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
March 13
Republican Senators urge changes on OSHA heat standard; OpenAI and building trades announce partnership on data center construction; forced labor investigations could lead to new tariffs
March 12
EPA terminates contract with second-largest union; Florida advances bill restricting public sector unions; Trump administration seeks Supreme Court assistance in TPS termination.
March 11
The partial government shutdown results in TSA agents losing their first full paycheck; the Fifth Circuit upholds the certification of a class of former United Airline workers who were placed on unpaid leave for declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons during the pandemic; and an academic group files a lawsuit against the State Department over a policy that revokes and denies visas to noncitizens for their work in fact-checking and content moderation.
March 10
Court rules Kari Lake unlawfully led USAGM, voiding mass layoffs; Florida Senate passes bill tightening union recertification rules; Fifth Circuit revives whistleblower suit against Lockheed Martin.
March 9
6th Circuit rejects Cemex, Board may overrule precedents with two members.
March 8
In today’s news and commentary, a weak jobs report, the NIH decides it will no longer recognize a research fellows’ union, and WNBA contract talks continue to stall as season approaches. On Friday, the Labor Department reported that employers cut 92,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4 percent. A loss […]