Despite facing opposition from some quarters of the labor movement, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner has won the nomination to serve as the GOP’s candidate in the Illinois gubernatorial race. The Chicago Tribune reports that Mr. Rauner is running on “a decidedly anti-government union theme alleging the state workforce has been featherbedded and overpaid.”
New York City has agreed to settle a long-running legal dispute over claims that the city’s fire department intentionally discriminated against minority applicants. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal explore the background and details of the nearly $100 million settlement.
British retailer Primark will to pay $9 million in long-term compensation to the nearly 580 workers (or their next-of-kin) who made its clothes at Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza factory, which collapsed last year leaving more than 1,100 dead. The Wall Street Journal reports that Primark’s decision has been criticized by workers’ rights groups, who are upset that Primark won’t be anchoring a collective compensation plan. That plan would apply to all 3,000 Rana Plaza workers (or next-of-kin), but won’t kick off until it meets its $40 million target.
Emily Badger of the Washington Post Wonkblog examines how the labor market has changed in the past decade. In what she describes an “unprecedented ‘great age twist’” jobs have become scarcer for those just entering the labor market, while employment rates have increased for those at or near retirement age.
A bond insurer has sought to intervene in the Detroit bankruptcy and is challenging the City’s treatment of a group of creditors that provided $1.4 billion for City pensions. Both the Journal and Times report, with the Times speculating that the filing might lead to a fight to claw back funds from the pension system, “which would throw a wrench into Detroit’s efforts to cushion its workers and retirees from some of the pain as it attempts to resolve its outsized debts.”
Daily News & Commentary
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August 1
The Michigan Supreme Court grants heightened judicial scrutiny over employment contracts that shorten the limitations period for filing civil rights claims; the California Labor Commission gains new enforcement power over tip theft; and a new Florida law further empowers employers issuing noncompete agreements.
July 31
EEOC sued over trans rights enforcement; railroad union opposes railroad merger; suits against NLRB slow down.
July 30
In today’s news and commentary, the First Circuit will hear oral arguments on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) revocation of parole grants for thousands of migrants; United Airlines’ flight attendants vote against a new labor contract; and the AFL-CIO files a complaint against a Trump Administrative Executive Order that strips the collective bargaining rights of the vast majority of federal workers.
July 29
The Trump administration released new guidelines for federal employers regarding religious expression in the workplace; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers is suing former union president for repayment of mismanagement of union funds; Uber has criticized a new proposal requiring delivery workers to carry company-issued identification numbers.
July 28
Lower courts work out meaning of Muldrow; NLRB releases memos on recording and union salts.
July 27
In today’s news and commentary, Trump issues an EO on college sports, a second district court judge blocks the Department of Labor from winding down Job Corps, and Safeway workers in California reach a tentative agreement. On Thursday, President Trump announced an executive order titled “Saving College Sports,” which declared it common sense that “college […]