News & Commentary

February 28, 2017

Jon Weinberg

Jon Weinberg is a student at Harvard Law School.

The fate of several of President Obama’s signature labor and employment policies could soon hang in the balance.  The Hill reports that “President Trump is facing pressure to roll back union-friendly policy changes made by the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board” from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  In particular, the Chamber urged Trump to target “policies that hold companies accountable for labor violations committed by their partners, speed up union elections, and allow small groups of workers to organize multiple unions inside a single company.”  Meanwhile, a Washington Post columnist notes that the Republican Congress is targeting President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workforces” executive order aimed at ensuring the compliance of federal government contractors with labor laws.

As President Trump acts, Americans work confidently while those without or about to lose work struggle.  USA Today highlights data from payroll company ADP which shows that American workers are increasingly “shifting into new sectors, such as a marketing manager who leaves retail for finance.”  Notably, “in eight of the 10 major industries tracked by ADP, the share of job-switchers who came from a different industry increased from late 2014 to late 2016 while the share swapping jobs within the same industry fell.  That’s up from seven of 10 sectors that met that criteria in the third quarter.”  ADP attributes such shifts to a tight labor market and worker confidence.  Many workers are, of course, struggling.  USA Today also features the story of John Feltner, an Indiana machinist whose union job is being outsourced to Mexico.  Feltner “is left to wonder how Middle America will endure in the age of offshoring moves such as the one [his employer] is executing.”

The reports of sexual harassment of female engineers at Uber continue to make headlines.  According to The New York Times, “the company dismissed the head of its engineering efforts for failing to disclose a sexual harassment claim from his previous job.”  If Americans are surprised by the allegations, many female engineers are not.  The CBC interviewed women in the tech world who note the commonality of harassment and misogyny in the industry.

Across the pond, Uber is working against “London rules that require drivers to have basic English skills, telling a court that 40 percent of its chauffeurs would fail the exams.”  Bloomberg reports that Uber has attacked the proposal with court filings.

Finally, some inspiring news from Philadelphia unions in response to ugly antisemitism.  According to JTA, “two Philadelphia unions said they will provide free services to help repair and secure the Mt. Carmel Cemetery,” the Jewish cemetery where “more than 100 gravestones were toppled and damaged” over the weekend.  The “Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council offered to replace the toppled headstones and that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Local 98 offered to install additional lighting and security cameras.”

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