Morgan Sperry is a student at Harvard Law School and also serves as OnLabor's Social Media Director.
In today’s news and commentary, Shawn Fain takes on Tesla and the New York Times tech workers walk out.
As Tesla confronts its first-ever strike, which is taking place in Sweden, United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain announced this week that the UAW is prepared to take on the electric vehicle giant and its notorious CEO, Elon Musk. “We can beat anybody,” Fain said in an interview last Thursday. While previous UAW-led efforts to unionize Tesla have failed, Fain pointed out that the union is under new, militant leadership: his own.
New York Times tech workers went on strike last week to protest the paper’s return-to-office policies. The Times Tech Guild—which consists of nearly 700 software engineers, data analysts, project managers, product managers and designers, who voted to unionize in March 2022—signed off early and protested outside of The Times’ building, seeking flexible work policies. Last year, the union filed a return-to-office-related complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, which was dropped after the Guild reached a contract deal with the newspaper in May. The Tech Guild has support from the New York Times Guild, which represents that majority of the Times’ newsroom workers.
Daily News & Commentary
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October 13
Chicago hotel workers remain on strike; a coalition of Democratic states sues the Labor Department over canceled unemployment insurance grants; the Federal Labor Relations Authority establishes a new mediation framework for federal worker disputes.
October 12
Workers at the Obama Foundation begin organizing; MLB submits its latest collective bargaining agreement proposal; Brigham & Women's nurses postpone strike.
October 11
UAW President Shawn Fain succeeds in his reelection bid, and Spanish unions call for a general strike.
October 9
DHS proposes a $100k fee for the foreign grad employment program; Trump suspends tech company access to green card program; and private equity perpetuates poor working conditions for home care workers.
October 8
NLRB judge finds UPS unlawfully restricted union insignia; Harvard graduate workers authorize second strike; OSHA orders Union Pacific to pay $300,000 in damages in whistleblower case.
October 7
DOL scraps plan to remove decades-old wage-and-hour guidance from federal regulations; New York enacts personnel records access law; Starbucks loses bid to dismiss Workers United trademark suit.