Fred Wang is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary, San Francisco airport workers approve a new contract after a 3-day strike, while new research reveals how unpaid labor affects women’s and men’s mental health differently.
After a thousand fast-food workers at San Francisco International Airport ended a three-day strike on Thursday, they’ve voted — by 99.5% — to approve a new contract that will, among other things, raise wages, provide family health insurance, and protect jobs when outlets change operator. The victory comes over nine months of negotiations with employers and after years without a raise.
Unpaid labor — think housework and childcare — hurts women’s mental health more than it does men’s, according to new research covered in the New York Times’s Upshot section. A recent literature review in the Lancet — a peer-reviewed medical journal — took a look at studies examining the relationship between unpaid labor and mental health in employed adults.
The review found “substantial gender differences in exposure to unpaid labour,” concluding that unpaid labor “is associated with poorer mental health in women.” That’s likely driven by the unequal volume of unpaid labor performed by men and women. Women tend to do much more housework and child care than men. But the difference in the kind of unpaid work that men and women do may matter too. Men, the Times piece notes, typically perform “less time-sensitive and more enjoyable, or at least more tolerable,” work. A chore like lawn mowing, for instance, is “done less often and on a more flexible schedule.” Cooking and cleaning, on the other hand, “need to be done at certain times.”
Daily News & Commentary
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January 25
Uber and Lyft face class actions against “women preference” matching, Virginia home healthcare workers push for a collective bargaining bill, and the NLRB launches a new intake protocol.
January 22
Hyundai’s labor union warns against the introduction of humanoid robots; Oregon and California trades unions take different paths to advocate for union jobs.
January 20
In today’s news and commentary, SEIU advocates for a wealth tax, the DOL gets a budget increase, and the NLRB struggles with its workforce. The SEIU United Healthcare Workers West is advancing a California ballot initiative to impose a one-time 5% tax on personal wealth above $1 billion, aiming to raise funds for the state’s […]
January 19
Department of Education pauses wage garnishment; Valero Energy announces layoffs; Labor Department wins back wages for healthcare workers.
January 18
Met Museum workers unionize; a new report reveals a $0.76 average tip for gig workers in NYC; and U.S. workers receive the smallest share of capital since 1947.
January 16
The NLRB publishes its first decision since regaining a quorum; Minneapolis labor unions call for a general strike in response to the ICE killing of Renee Good; federal workers rally in DC to show support for the Protecting America’s Workforce Act.