The New York Times reports that, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Unite Here Local 355 v. Mulhall. The piece quotes Professor Sachs, who has observed that Mulhall is potentially “the most significant labor case in a generation.” OnLabor will have more coverage of the Mulhall case this week.
In international news, the Washington Post describes the continuing struggles of garment workers in Bangladesh. Today, thousands of workers demanding better wages threw rocks and sticks at clothing factories. Police clashed with the protestors, and ultimately used tear gas against them. At least 30 people were injured.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that violence erupted yesterday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as police arrested hundreds undocumented foreign workers. The arrests were part of a larger government plan to overhaul the Saudi labor market. Two people were killed and at least 68 were injured.
The Los Angeles Times discusses the conditions faced by workers on tomato farms in Sinaloa, Mexico. Many of these workers were recruited from villages in Mexico’s poorest states, and had few other options for employment. Critics of the farming operations say that the laborers work under conditions that are tantamount to indentured servitude.
On the opinion pages, Gen. James Jones and Dan Goldenberg of the Los Angeles Times observe that post-9/11 veterans face a grim employment picture: those ages 20 to 24 are 81% more likely to be unemployed than their non-veteran peers, while those ages 25 to 29 are 71% more likely to be unemployed than non-veterans. The piece suggests that we can improve veterans’ chances of obtaining meaningful civilian employment by working to debunk the “stubborn and misleading narrative that persists in the minds of many Americans: Every veteran is either a hero or damaged.”
Frank Keating of the Los Angeles Times explains that, from his perspective as a “Reagan Republican,” Americans should support immigration reform. He contends that the Senate’s immigration reform bill promises economic benefits and an opportunity to stand behind the American principle that it is “unconscionable to leave a class of neighbors who share our values in perpetual second-class status.”
Finally, in the Wall Street Journal, Peter Cappelli suggests that it may be unwise for students to obtain a highly technical college degree that prepares them for a narrow class of jobs. He explains that “nobody can predict where the jobs will be—not the employers, not the schools, not the government officials who are making such loud calls for vocational training.” As a result, students who develop job-specific skill sets run the risk that, in the future, their skills will not be in demand.
Daily News & Commentary
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March 15
A U.S. District Court issues a preliminary injunction against the Department of Veterans Affairs for terminating its collective bargaining agreement, and SEIU files a lawsuit against DHS for effectively terminating immigrant workers at Boston Logan International Airport.
March 13
Republican Senators urge changes on OSHA heat standard; OpenAI and building trades announce partnership on data center construction; forced labor investigations could lead to new tariffs
March 12
EPA terminates contract with second-largest union; Florida advances bill restricting public sector unions; Trump administration seeks Supreme Court assistance in TPS termination.
March 11
The partial government shutdown results in TSA agents losing their first full paycheck; the Fifth Circuit upholds the certification of a class of former United Airline workers who were placed on unpaid leave for declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons during the pandemic; and an academic group files a lawsuit against the State Department over a policy that revokes and denies visas to noncitizens for their work in fact-checking and content moderation.
March 10
Court rules Kari Lake unlawfully led USAGM, voiding mass layoffs; Florida Senate passes bill tightening union recertification rules; Fifth Circuit revives whistleblower suit against Lockheed Martin.
March 9
6th Circuit rejects Cemex, Board may overrule precedents with two members.