Sarah Leadem is a joint degree candidate at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
In today’s News & Commentary, public approval of labor unions has reached a record high and Seattle’s independent contractors have new rights starting this Thursday.
A Gallup poll released on Tuesday reports that 71% of Americans support labor unions—the highest approval rating since 1965. The trend toward union support started with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the same annual poll, public approval rose from 64% pre-pandemic to 68% last year. It continues to rise. Several commentators point to increased labor organizing during the COVID-19 pandemic to explain this boost in public support. In particular, unionization at highly visible U.S. corporations like Starbucks, Amazon, and Chipotle may be the cause of this upswing. The poll yielded other insights. While public support may be on the rise, many nonunion workers are hesitant to join a union. Just over half of nonunion workers (58%) surveyed did not express interest in unionizing, presenting a potential challenge for organized labor. However, those in unions value their union affiliation: 2 out of every 5 union members reported that their union membership is “extremely important.” These findings come from Gallup’s annual Work and Education poll. This phone-based poll was conducted from August 1-23 using a random sample of approximately 1,000 U.S. adults.
This week, independent contractors in Seattle will exercise new rights. Seattle’s Independent Contractor Protection Ordinance takes effect this Thursday. Passed in June of 2021, this ordinance extends new rights related to disclosure and timely compensation to the city’s independent contractors. Starting Thursday, those hiring independent contractors must provide a “pre–work written notice” detailing the terms and conditions of the contract. They must also pay contractors pursuant to the written notice or within 30 days of completing the work and must document payments made to independent contractors. The city of Seattle has released several resources to help the public, including a Fact Sheet on the law, a Notice of Rights for workers, and a sample pre-work written notice.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
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.
March 5
Colorado judge grants AFSCME’s motion to intervene to defend Colorado’s county employee collective bargaining law; Arizona proposes constitutional amendment to ban teachers unions’ use public resources; NLRB unlikely to use rulemaking to overturn precedent.