Jason Vazquez is a staff attorney at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2023. His writing on this blog reflects his personal views and should not be attributed to the Teamsters.
On Monday morning the FDA granted full approval to the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which will activate vaccination mandates for more than a million employees in a range of industries — at hospitals, universities, airlines, and in the military. And the approval is likely to trigger more mandates in the coming weeks. In the wake of the news, New York City announced stricter vaccination requirements for public employees, and oil giant Chevron ordered its field workers to get vaccinated.
In organizing news, the New York City Council Union secured voluntary recognition on Sunday night. The union represents more than 350 legislative aides. It began its organizing efforts in 2019, though significant disaffection among the staffers has been simmering for at least a decade.
Daily News & Commentary
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August 30
Seattle teachers vote to authorize a strike days before the school year begins; BNSF Railway’s AI dispatching system puts workers in danger; and a California court finds that the DOL’s pay cuts for non-citizen farmworkers are unlawful.
August 28
Calls for a “token tax” on AI consumption grow and the number of Amazon workers on federal aid explodes.
August 27
NLRB GC targets Biden-era precedent; Starbucks Workers United calls for boycott; Encore Boston Harbor workers authorize strike
August 26
Trump administration proposes $103,000 H-1B visa fee after court blocks earlier attempt; Illinois governor signs law enabling state investment in AFL-CIO housing trust; Deloitte pays $21.5 million to settle DOJ probe alleging DEI-related discrimination in federal contracts.
August 25
Hyundai workers reach a tentative agreement; Federal-sector unions sue the Trump Administration over OPM rule changes; Federal judge dismisses a teachers’ union free speech suit.
August 24
Boeing engineers and technicians reject contract proposals and authorize a strike; Ninth Circuit holds that unions charged under 8(b)(4)(D) cannot invoke the work-preservation defense to disregard 10(k) determination.