December 8 Private payrolls fall; NYC Council overrides mayoral veto on pay data; workers sue Starbucks.
December 7 Philadelphia transit workers indicate that a strike is imminent; a federal judge temporarily blocks State Department layoffs; and Virginia lawmakers consider legislation to repeal the state’s “right to work” law.
December 5 Netflix set to acquire Warner Bros., Gen Z men are the most pro-union generation in history, and lawmakers introduce the “No Robot Bosses Act.”
December 4 Unionized journalists win arbitration concerning AI, Starbucks challenges two NLRB rulings in the Fifth Circuit, and Philadelphia transit workers resume contract negotiations.
December 3 The Trump administration seeks to appeal a federal judge’s order that protects the CBAs of employees within the federal workforce; the U.S. Department of Labor launches an initiative to investigate violations of the H-1B visa program; and a union files a petition to form a bargaining unit for employees at the Met.
December 2 Fourth Circuit rejects broad reading of NLRA’s managerial exception; OPM cancels reduced tuition program for federal employees; Starbucks will pay $39 million for violating New York City’s Fair Workweek law; Mamdani and Sanders join striking baristas outside a Brooklyn Starbucks.
Wired Hundreds of Video Game Workers Join New Union as Trump Attacks Labor Rights Prof. Sachs on challenges to union organizing under the second Trump Administration.
Los Angeles Times Column: How anti-union southern governors may be violating federal law Ben Sachs quoted in a column about the anti-union governors' letter and the fragmentation of labor law; John Fry's post referenced on the question of whether state level card-check bans are preempted by the NLRA.
Fast Company Amazon’s Labor Union is divided but closing in on electing leadership Prof. Sachs on Amazon's use of legal roadblocks to delay negotiations.
Semafor Unions’ picket power now extends to U.S. boardrooms Prof. Block on the influence of labor unions on other playing fields.
Bloomberg Law Boeing Talks Will Test Unions’ Sway as Labor Market Softens Prof. Block on Boeing's labor negotiations with the International Association of Machinists.
Should The Captive Audience Doctrine Apply to Captive Audience Meetings? In 2024, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill 399 — the “California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act” — which prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee for declining to attend an “employer-sponsored meeting” that “communicate[s] the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters.” But the day before SB 399 was set to go into effect, the […]
Automation as Retaliation: Technology Adoption During Economic Strikes Recent advances in AI have reshaped a variety of workplaces. This is particularly true among white-collar workers, 27% of whom report regularly using AI at work (as compared to only 9% of blue-collar workers). Granted, extreme predictions about widespread job displacement have yet to come to fruition, as the number of work tasks that AI can fully automate […]
Unions Challenge Loyalty Test in Trump’s Merit Hiring Plan In a prior post, I argued that President Trump’s Merit Hiring Plan may violate the First Amendment. This week, several unions — the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, and the National Association of Government Employees — raised the same concern. As Law360 reports, on November 18, the coalition of unions sought […]
The Loyalty Litmus Test in Federal Hiring President Trump’s second term has been characterized by demands for intense political loyalty, value-laden executive orders, and attacks on the civil service. Consistent with this trend, the Administration in May issued a “Merit Hiring Plan” to federal agencies. It purports to construct “a Federal workforce dedicated to American values.” This post argues that the Plan may instead encourage job applicants […]
The Fight to Protect AI Whistleblowers A growing chorus of AI experts have recently raised concerns about risks from advanced AI models. In June 2024, nine current and former OpenAI employees wrote an open letter criticizing their employer for “recklessly racing” to build artificial general intelligence, or AGI. One of these individuals, Daniel Kokotaljo, spoke out notwithstanding that OpenAI initially conditioned his equity, worth approximately […]
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December 8
Private payrolls fall; NYC Council overrides mayoral veto on pay data; workers sue Starbucks.
December 7
Philadelphia transit workers indicate that a strike is imminent; a federal judge temporarily blocks State Department layoffs; and Virginia lawmakers consider legislation to repeal the state’s “right to work” law.
December 5
Netflix set to acquire Warner Bros., Gen Z men are the most pro-union generation in history, and lawmakers introduce the “No Robot Bosses Act.”
December 4
Unionized journalists win arbitration concerning AI, Starbucks challenges two NLRB rulings in the Fifth Circuit, and Philadelphia transit workers resume contract negotiations.
December 3
The Trump administration seeks to appeal a federal judge’s order that protects the CBAs of employees within the federal workforce; the U.S. Department of Labor launches an initiative to investigate violations of the H-1B visa program; and a union files a petition to form a bargaining unit for employees at the Met.
December 2
Fourth Circuit rejects broad reading of NLRA’s managerial exception; OPM cancels reduced tuition program for federal employees; Starbucks will pay $39 million for violating New York City’s Fair Workweek law; Mamdani and Sanders join striking baristas outside a Brooklyn Starbucks.