Benjamin Sachs is the Kestnbaum Professor of Labor and Industry at Harvard Law School and a leading expert in the field of labor law and labor relations. He is also faculty director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy. Professor Sachs teaches courses in labor law, employment law, and law and social change, and his writing focuses on union organizing and unions in American politics. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty in 2008, Professor Sachs was the Joseph Goldstein Fellow at Yale Law School. From 2002-2006, he served as Assistant General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, D.C. Professor Sachs graduated from Yale Law School in 1998, and served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His writing has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the New York Times and elsewhere. Professor Sachs received the Yale Law School teaching award in 2007 and in 2013 received the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence at Harvard Law School. He can be reached at [email protected].
There’s an interesting new study, from Wilma Liebman and David Doorey, of student attitudes about labor issues. The study is based on the authors’ poll of undergraduates in Canada and the United States. The sample sizes are, admittedly, small. But the results are intriguing. In my view, the most interesting outcomes were produced by a question on unions. From the survey:
2. Which statement best describes your attitude towards unions:
a. “Unions serve an important role in society and the economy, and they should be encouraged”
Canada: 75% USA: 51%
b. “Unions prevent companies from being competitive and contribute little to the
betterment of society and, therefore, should not be encouraged.”
Canada: 4% USA: 21%
c. “Unions once served an important function, but they are no longer necessary
because employers are now fairer and there are better legal protections for
workers”
Canada: 22% USA: 28%
On his blog, Doorey summarizes other results this way:
Students in both classes were very supportive of minimum wage legislation. A larger segment of American students (13% versus 2%), opposed minimum wage legislation as a harmful interference in the free operation of labor markets.
. . . .
Interestingly, there was a noticeable variance of opinion on income inequality. Close to a third (29%) of American students responded that income inequality is not a cause of concern, and simply reflects the proper functioning of free markets, which reward hard work and skill. Only 11% of Canadian students believed that.
A third of the Canadian students responded that income inequality is a cause for concern,and that governments should promote more collective bargaining to enable workers to bargain higher wages. Only 15% of Americans chose this option. An almost identical amount of students in both countries (57% in the US, 56% in Canada) responded that income inequality is a cause of concern, and that governments should be encouraging a broader distribution of wealth through means other than promoting unionization.
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December 11
In today’s News and Commentary, Biden’s NLRB pick heads to Senate vote, DOL settles a farmworker lawsuit, and a federal judge blocks Albertsons-Kroger merger. Democrats have moved to expedite re-confirmation proceedings for NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran, which would grant her another five years on the Board. If the Democrats succeed in finding 50 Senate votes […]
December 10
In today’s News and Commentary, advocacy groups lay out demands for Lori Chavez-DeRemer at DOL, a German union leader calls for ending the country’s debt brake, Teamsters give Amazon a deadline to agree to bargaining dates, and graduates of coding bootcamps face a labor market reshaped by the rise of AI. Worker advocacy groups have […]
December 9
Teamsters file charges against Costco; a sanitation contractor is fined child labor law violations, and workers give VW an ultimatum ahead of the latest negotiation attempts
December 8
Massachusetts rideshare drivers prepare to unionize; Starbucks and Nestlé supply chains use child labor, report says.
December 6
In today’s news and commentary, DOL attempts to abolish subminimum wage for workers with disabilities, AFGE reaches remote work agreement with SSA, and George Washington University resident doctors vote to strike. This week, the Department of Labor proposed a rule to abolish the Fair Labor Standards Act’s Section 14(c) program, which allows employers to pay […]
December 4
South Korea’s largest labor union began a general strike calling for the President’s removal, a Wisconsin judge reinstated bargaining rights for the state’s public sector workers, and the NLRB issued another ruling against Starbucks for anti-union practices.