
Will Ebeler is a student at Harvard Law School.
In this weekend’s news and commentary, EEOC accuses Tesla of racial discrimination; more than 75,000 health care workers poised to go on strike at Kaiser Permanente facilities throughout the country; Unite Here Local 11 reaches tentative agreement with one Los Angeles hotel; and SAG-AFTRA plans to resume contract negotiations with movie and television studios.
On Thursday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Tesla, accusing it of discriminating against Black employees at its factory in Fremont, California. According to the complaint, racist graffiti was written on desks, in bathrooms and elevators, and even in cars coming off the assembly line. And employees who complained were given unpleasant work assignments or fired. According to the EEOC, the lawsuit was filed only after the agency tried unsuccessfully to work out a plan with Tesla to address the discrimination. The EEOC’s lawsuit is the latest to accuse Tesla of discrimination at its Fremont factory. Earlier this year, a jury awarded $3.2 million to a Black man who alleged that Tesla had ignored racial abuse that he experienced while working as a contractor; a group of 240 Black men and women have filed a class action against the company alleging employment discrimination; and California’s Civil Rights Department has alleged that Black workers are “severely underrepresented” in management positions.
More than 75,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente could go on strike as soon as Wednesday. A coalition of unions representing Kaiser workers has notified the company that it will begin a three-day strike on October 4 at facilities in California, Oregon, Colorado, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia. The workers’ previous collective bargaining agreement expired last night. If the workers do go on strike, it will be the largest health care strike in U.S. history. The unions have asked Kaiser to hire at least 10,000 more workers by the end of the year and rejected a company proposal offering annual pay increases between 2 and 4 percent.
On Friday, Unite Here Local 11 announced that it had reached a tentative agreement with one Los Angeles area hotel. The union represents hotel workers throughout Southern California and has been engaging in sporadic strikes at dozens of hotels since July. In a statement, the union said the agreement will give the hotel’s 300 workers “unprecedented wage increases that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing.” The agreement also improves healthcare, addresses employee staffing concerns, improves pension benefits, and establishes a hiring process that is more inclusive towards formerly incarcerated individuals and undocumented immigrants.
Finally, SAG-AFTRA will resume contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Monday. The parties announced the resumed negotiations one day after industry writers ended their strike with a new tentative agreement.
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September 29
Starbucks announces layoffs and branch closures; the EEOC sues Walmart.
September 28
Canadian postal workers go on strike, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons cancels a collective bargaining agreement covering over 30,000 workers.
September 26
Trump’s DOL seeks to roll back a rule granting FLSA protections to domestic care workers; the Second Circuit allows a claim of hostile work environment created by DEI trainings to proceed; and a GAO report finds alarming levels of sexual abuse in high school Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs.
September 25
Fenway workers allege retaliation; fired Washington Post columnist files grievance; Trump administration previews mass firings from government shutdown.
September 24
The Trump administration proposes an overhaul to the H-1B process conditioning entry to the United States on a $100,000 fee; Amazon sues the New York State Public Employment Relations Board over a state law that claims authority over private-sector labor disputes; and Mayor Karen Bass signs an agreement with labor unions that protects Los Angeles city workers from layoffs.
September 23
EEOC plans to close pending worker charges based solely on unintentional discrimination claims; NLRB holds that Starbucks violated federal labor law by firing baristas at a Madison, Wisconsin café.