Hannah Finnie is a writer in Washington, D.C. interested in the intersections of work and culture. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
A new piece in the American Prospect hosts a conversation between Professor Benjamin Sachs and Professor Kate Andrias, about a law review article they recently co-authored. The conversation also features Steve Kest and Bob Kuttner dissecting the content of the article. The piece focuses on various ways to use the law to allow for the building of countervailing power, relying on labor law and past social movements to point to future opportunities.
Workers at two Amazon warehouses have announced their intent to unionize with the Amazon Labor Union, an independent union that successfully sprung up to win the unionization drive at the Staten Island Amazon warehouse. Over in New Jersey, Amazon abruptly canceled its plans to build a hub in Newark after advocacy and outcry by local union and other organizations.
At the federal level, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a new policy to try to counteract a tactic employers frequently use to shut down undocumented workers raising workplace issues: threatening their immigration status. The new policy essentially would allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to grant undocumented workers at a workplace where there is a labor dispute immigration relief. That relief could take different forms – from requesting the DOL’s support for a worker’s petition for deferred action or parole to authorizing their employment.
Finally, over in The Nation, labor reporter Kim Kelly wrote a piece about the Biden administration’s Mine Safety and Health Administration’s new policy to reduce silica, which causes black lung in miners. The policy is mostly aimed at requiring mine operators to increase the safety of miners by reducing the effects of silica and using inspections and targeting repeat offenders to be effective. Workers at the Warrior Met coal mine have been on strike for 15 months in their fight to reach a new contract.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
May 28
A proposal to make the NLRB purely adjudicatory; a work stoppage among court-appointed lawyers in Massachusetts; portable benefits laws gain ground
May 27
a judge extends a pause on the Trump Administration’s mass-layoffs, the Fifth Circuit refuses to enforce an NLRB order, and the Texas Supreme court extends workplace discrimination suits to co-workers.
May 26
Federal court blocks mass firings at Department of Education; EPA deploys new AI tool; Chiquita fires thousands of workers.
May 25
United Airlines flight attendants reach tentative agreement; Whole Foods workers secure union certification; One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts $1.1 trillion
May 23
United Steelworkers union speaks out against proposed steel merger; Goodwin Procter turns over diversity data; Anthropic AI's fair use claim over authors' creative work
May 22
BLS releases statistics on foreign-born workers; courts vacate EEOC protections; SCOTUS considers takings case.