Today's News and Commentary — July 30

News outlets around the country have reported on the decision of the NLRB’s general counsel to treat McDonald’s as a joint employer with its franchises.  The Washington Post writes that the decision could have “potentially far-reaching implications for the ability of millions of low-wage workers to join a union.”  The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reports that “McDonald’s vowed to fight the decision.”

In what the Los Angeles Times calls a “stinging defeat” for the administration of Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles Employee Relations Board voted unanimously to order the City Council to rescind a 2012 law reducing pension benefits for new city employees.  A lawyer for the Coalition of L.A. City Unions said that the decision “shows the city could not unilaterally impose changes in pension benefits on its workforce.”

In the midst of the Metropolitan Opera’s “worst labor crisis in years,” the New York Times reports on a history of labor disputes at the Met going back as far as 1906.  The contracts for 15 unions working at the opera expire this week, and the Times reports that “while both sides say they hope to avoid a lockout, the chances of reaching deals by Friday appear to be slim.”

As the start of the college football season approaches, the Washington Post reports that the effort to unionize the Northwestern University football program remains front and center.  Coach Pat Fitzgerald “championed the team’s unity,” even as he discussed the divided opinions on his team regarding the unionization question.