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
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September 20
Culinary Workers Union members protests union leadership; lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft reveal internal concerns about the threat of AI training to human labor.
September 17
Unions push to block Google from buying Spirit Airlines employment records; U.S. Department of Labor sues Oklahoma coffee chain over alleged wage violations.
September 16
Trump nominates Catherine Eschbach as EEOC general counsel; NLRB declines to resolve union work-assignment dispute; Allina Health physicians begin four-day strike.
September 15
Documents reveal the inner workings of Amazon's union avoidance program; Washington state public sector unions reach tentative deals amid a difficult bargaining cycle; hundreds of Nevada Culinary Union members protest their union's health care changes.
September 14
NCAA and Big Ten file motion to dismiss in former star player's NIL suit; Seventh Circuit rules against former postal worker in discrimination suit.
September 13
Documents released on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks show that city officials encouraged workers to return to Ground Zero despite knowing the risks of asbestos exposure, and new polls demonstrate continued widespread support for labor unions.