Everest Fang is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary: Port workers meet to discuss potential strike strategy, and AT&T workers enter the third week of their strike.
Delegates representing chapters of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), are meeting today and tomorrow to discuss a proposed contract with the organization’s wage scale committee. The meetings could provide insight into whether the union, which represents tens of thousands of workers at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, will follow through on its threat to strike on October 1st. The meetings are intended to allow members to strategize ahead of the potential strike. ILA’s negotiations with the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents ports ownership, broke down in July. The union announced it canceled talks after discovering that automated technology was being used by APM Terminals and Maersk, the world’s second-largest shipping company and APM Terminals’ parent company, to process trucks at port terminals without union labor. In August, ILA president Harold Daggett said that membership was 100% behind ILA leadership’s decision to strike on October 1 if the union’s demands are not met. ILA’s contract expires at the end of the month.
More than 17,000 AT&T workers in the southeast have entered the third week of their strike in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) have accused the company of unfair labor practices for attempting to further delay bargaining on a new union contract. The workers on strike include technicians, customer service representatives and others who install, maintain and support AT&T’s network. In 2019, the union filed unfair labor practice charges over the company’s delays in bargaining a new contract, resulting in AT&T managers attending bargaining sessions, and a tentative agreement reached shortly thereafter. Despite this history, the same delays seem to be playing out. CWA is seeking wage increases that take inflation into account, and protections that improve their work-life balance.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
March 12
EPA terminates contract with second-largest union; Florida advances bill restricting public sector unions; Trump administration seeks Supreme Court assistance in TPS termination.
March 11
The partial government shutdown results in TSA agents losing their first full paycheck; the Fifth Circuit upholds the certification of a class of former United Airline workers who were placed on unpaid leave for declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons during the pandemic; and an academic group files a lawsuit against the State Department over a policy that revokes and denies visas to noncitizens for their work in fact-checking and content moderation.
March 10
Court rules Kari Lake unlawfully led USAGM, voiding mass layoffs; Florida Senate passes bill tightening union recertification rules; Fifth Circuit revives whistleblower suit against Lockheed Martin.
March 9
6th Circuit rejects Cemex, Board may overrule precedents with two members.
March 8
In today’s news and commentary, a weak jobs report, the NIH decides it will no longer recognize a research fellows’ union, and WNBA contract talks continue to stall as season approaches. On Friday, the Labor Department reported that employers cut 92,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4 percent. A loss […]
March 6
The Harvard Graduate Students Union announces a strike authorization vote.