Mackenzie Bouverat is a student at Harvard Law School.
UNITE HERE has released a report describing the workplace conditions of airport Starbucks, operated by food service company HMS Host. The report concludes that an Orlando Starbucks employee, Gabriel Ocasio Mejias, was fired on February 18th in retaliation for union organizing. The report also notes that the median pay for black Starbucks workers was $1.85 less than white Starbucks workers. This report was based on survey responses collected from employees of 27 HMS Host airport locations between February and December 2019. HMS Host denies that Ocasio Mejias was fired for union organizing, and attributes the pay disparity to differences in the cost of living between the cities in which workers are employed.
Germany has ratified a new law aimed at facilitating the immigration of skilled workers. The new law expands the definition of “skilled worker” to include those who hold a vocational training certificate (i.e., rather than only those who possess a university or college degree, as was previously the case). Generally, non-EU applicants are permitted to work in Germany if they have been offered a work contract at a German company. The new law eliminates the requirement that non-EU citizens may only take a job if no EU citizen or German can take the job instead. Per the new law, accepting a job offer guarantees workers four years of residency status (or the duration of their contract). After four years, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
May 29
AFGE argues termination of collective bargaining agreement violates the union’s First Amendment rights; agricultural workers challenge card check laws; and the California Court of Appeal reaffirms San Francisco city workers’ right to strike.
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