
Gilbert Placeres is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News & Commentary, two novel attempts to protect rideshare drivers and Stellantis and UAW spar over capital investment commitments.
New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander is advocating for new regulations to eliminate app lockouts used by Uber and Lyft, which he claims exploit a loophole in the city’ first-in-the-nation rideshare driver minimum pay rule. Lockouts prevent drivers from accessing the apps and thus from working during the time they do not have passengers. Lander argues they evade the intent of the law, which was for the companies to manage driver onboarding to increase the time spent with passengers. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is lobbying the Taxi and Limousine Commission for the new rules along with Lander and Commissioner David Do has expressed sharing their concerns.
In another novel attempt to protect rideshare drivers, a former driver has filed a suit against Lyft under Nevada’s False Claims Act. The Act makes it illegal to “knowingly” conceal or avoid obligations to pay the government. To be successful, the plaintiff will have the to prove Lyft was aware that their drivers should be classified as employees under state law but still deemed them contractors, thus avoiding unemployment taxes. The claim could be used in other states with similar acts and strict worker classification rules, representing a new potential liability to companies such as Lyft, Uber, and DoorDash.
Capital investment commitments in last year’s landmark autoworkers’ collective bargaining agreement have become a point of contention. Stellantis, facing a decline in electric vehicle demand, has delayed reopening a plant in Belvidere, Illinois and altered the production plan of another, prompting the United Auto Workers to file grievances and unfair labor practice charges. Two UAW locals, in California and Colorado, have authorized the union to call a strike over the dispute. Stellantis, in response, says the investment commitments are contingent on other factors and has deemed the grievances a sham, invoked the contract’s no-strike clause, and filed lawsuits against the union. The growing conflict could have an impact on the use of capital investment commitments in other labor contracts.
Daily News & Commentary
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May 9
Philadelphia City Council unanimously passes the POWER Act; thousands of federal worker layoffs at the Department of Interior expected; the University of Oregon student workers union reach a tentative agreement, ending 10-day strike
May 8
Court upholds DOL farmworker protections; Fifth Circuit rejects Amazon appeal; NJTransit navigates negotiations and potential strike.
May 7
U.S. Department of Labor announces termination of mental health and child care benefits for its employees; SEIU pursues challenge of NLRB's 2020 joint employer rule in the D.C. Circuit; Columbia University lays off 180 researchers
May 6
HHS canceled a scheduled bargaining session with the FDA's largest workers union; members of 1199SEIU voted out longtime union president George Gresham in rare leadership upset.
May 5
Unemployment rates for Black women go up under Trump; NLRB argues Amazon lacks standing to challenge captive audience meeting rule; Teamsters use Wilcox's reinstatement orders to argue against injunction.
May 4
In today’s news and commentary, DOL pauses the 2024 gig worker rule, a coalition of unions, cities, and nonprofits sues to stop DOGE, and the Chicago Teachers Union reaches a remarkable deal. On May 1, the Department of Labor announced it would pause enforcement of the Biden Administration’s independent contractor classification rule. Under the January […]