Earlier this week, the National Labor Relations Board filed a petition in the 5th Circuit, asking the court to rehear and reverse its decision in D.R. Horton. The NLRB argued in its petition that the 5th Circuit erred by applying Gilmer v. Interstate and Johnson Lane Corp. According to Bloomberg and Law360, the petition argued that the case neither “addressed nor decided the issue presented here…this case involves the substantive right of employees to band together to seek to enforce their work-related claims as guaranteed by the ‘mutual aid or protection’ clause of Section 7 of the [National Labor Relations Act.]” Prof. Sachs has argued similarly that “arbitrations that employees pursue collectively against their employer… are Section 7-protected activity.” See his full discussion of D.R. Horton here, and the OnLabor explainer of the case here.
A contributor at Forbes argues that “long-term employment is dead,” pointing out that the average tenure for workers between 25-34 is only 3.2 years, compared to an average tenure of 10.3 years for those over 65. The Wall Street Journal also discusses long term labor market trends, discussing how plummeting fertility rates are shrinking labor markets in developed and developing countries.
The New York Times reviews a new book on municipal unions by Richard Steier, Enough Blame to Go Around: The Labor Pains of New York City’s Public Employee Unions.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a new $5 million grant program aimed to improve the Employment and Training (E&T) services supported by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The Nation discusses the challenges faced by workers in the retail labor market, particularly the toll of unstable and unpredictable “on-call” schedules. With such schedules – adopted to fit the “Just-in-Time” retail model – most employees do not know their schedule even a week in advance, and many have found themselves working too few hours to avail themselves of firm benefits such as health insurance or sick leave.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
July 18
Trump names two NLRB nominees; Bernie Sanders introduces guaranteed universal pension plan legislation; the DOL ends its job training program for low-income seniors; and USCIS sunsets DALE.
July 17
EEOC resumes processing transgender workers' complaints; Senate questions Trump's NLRB General Counsel nominee; South Korean unions strike for reforms.
July 16
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lays off thousands of employees; attorneys for the Trump Administration argue against revealing plans to reduce the workforce of federal agencies; and the Fourth Circuit grants an emergency stay on the termination of TPS for thousands of Afghans.
July 15
The Department of Labor announces new guidance around Occupational Safety and Health Administration penalty and debt collection procedures; a Cornell University graduate student challenges graduate student employee-status under the National Labor Relations Act; the Supreme Court clears the way for the Trump administration to move forward with a significant staff reduction at the Department of Education.
July 14
More circuits weigh in on two-step certification; Uber challengers Seattle deactivation ordinance.
July 13
APWU and USPS ratify a new contract, ICE barred from racial profiling in Los Angeles, and the fight continues over the dismantling of NIOSH