The Supreme Court has been asked to reconsider whether arrangements requiring non-union employees in the public sector to pay fair share or agency fees violate the First Amendment of the Constitution. Yesterday, Mark Janus, an Illinois state employee, petitio... More »
Last week, Senator Mark Warner and Rep. Suzan DelBene introduced the Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act. The Act would authorize $20 million for competitive grants to states, local governments and nonprofits to fund pilot projects aro... More »
Uber and Lyft returned to Austin, TX on Monday after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 100 into law, eliminating Austin’s fingerprint requirements for drivers. As the LA Times describes, the bill designates the state, not local, government as the regulator... More »
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) introduced legislation on Thursday to promote innovative ways to offer portable benefits to workers engaged in temporary, contract, or on-demand work. The Portable Benefits for Independent Work... More »
The New York Times reports that Canada’s technology sector may benefit from the Trump Administration’s efforts to restrict immigration and immigration’s increased centrality in the American political debate. After the travel ban was announced, Canada re... More »
Congress may be open to revisiting the classification of gig economy workers as employees or independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Per Bloomberg BNA, “the head of the House workforce committee May 3 told an audience of innovators t... More »
Last week, The National Law Journal published an update on state legislation and lawsuits regarding the classification of gig economy workers as independent contractors. First, the article noted that the Florida Legislature has passed a bill, expected to be si... More »
Happy May Day! Also known as International Workers’ Day (or Labour Day in many countries outside the U.S.), May 1st is celebrated by workers and unions around the world in honor of the Haymarket affair. As we noted yesterday, the tradition will continue in for... More »
Recently, following swift and widespread backlash, Pepsi pulled an advertisement that was accused of co-opting imagery from Black Lives Matter protests and other social movements. The advertisement’s storyline centered on model Kendall Jenner abandoning a phot... More »
Judge Robert S. Lasnik of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has enjoined enforcement of Seattle’s first-in-the-nation ordinance giving gig economy independent contractors the right to unionize (the “Ordinance”.) ... More »
Despite surviving multiple court challenges, the revolutionary Seattle municipal ordinance giving gig economy independent contractors the right to unionize appears to be on hold. According to Bloomberg BNA, a Seattle city attorney announced the city will delay... More »
The New York Times has a thorough feature about how Uber is using “psychological tricks” to subtly control the drivers who use the service. The article focuses on how the company “solves” the problem of how it cannot exert too much control over its drivers—cur... More »