The Los Angeles Times reports that the L.A. city council is set to vote this week on a measure that would increase pay for thousands of hotel workers to $15.37 per hour. Labor groups have praised the plan as a way to “pull hotel workers’ families out of poverty and inject more spending into the local economy.” Mayor Eric Garcetti, who also supports an increase in the citywide minimum wage to $13.25 per hour, has promised to sign the law if it is passed by the council.
An arbitrator has ruled in favor of the American Postal Workers Union, deciding that the U.S. Postal Service violated its agreement with the union by filling some reduced-hour positions with part-time employees rather than union members, according to the Washington Post. As a result of the decision, at least 9,000 jobs will become union positions.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the U.S. Department of Labor has sued a Philadelphia-based farm labor contractor for failure to pay minimum wages to 125 temporary agricultural workers. According to the Inquirer, the “Labor Department seeks $146,100 in penalties for willful and repeat violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.”
In international news, the Wall Street Journal reports that 47,000 members of Hyundai’s workforce walked off the job on Tuesday, with further strikes planned later in the week. Wage negotiations broke down in the wake of Hyundai’s decision to spend over $10 billion on a plot of land in Seoul, “three times the property’s assessed value.” A union spokesman sharply criticized the purchase, calling it “ridiculous” that “[t]he company has rejected our demand, saying it will lead to a surge in costs,” while at the same time “spend[ing] an astronomical amount of money on buying a plot of land.”
Daily News & Commentary
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November 27
Amazon wins preliminarily injunction against New York’s private sector bargaining law; ALJs resume decisions; and the CFPB intends to make unilateral changes without bargaining.
November 26
In today’s news and commentary, NLRB lawyers urge the 3rd Circuit to follow recent district court cases that declined to enjoin Board proceedings; the percentage of unemployed Americans with a college degree reaches its highest level since tracking began in 1992; and a member of the House proposes a bill that would require secret ballot […]
November 25
In today’s news and commentary, OSHA fines Taylor Foods, Santa Fe raises their living wage, and a date is set for a Senate committee to consider Trump’s NLRB nominee. OSHA has issued an approximately $1.1 million dollar fine to Taylor Farms New Jersey, a subsidiary of Taylor Fresh Foods, after identifying repeated and serious safety […]
November 24
Labor leaders criticize tariffs; White House cancels jobs report; and student organizers launch chaperone program for noncitizens.
November 23
Workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority vote to authorize a strike; Washington State legislators consider a bill empowering public employees to bargain over workplace AI implementation; and University of California workers engage in a two-day strike.
November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.