Fran Swanson is a student at Harvard Law School.
A brief filed this week by NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo called for the reinstatement of the Joy Silk doctrine, Bloomberg Law reports. Currently, a bargaining order may only issue in cases where an “employer’s misdeeds are so widespread they make a fair election impossible,” a standard which the brief argues has “failed to deter employers” from interfering with elections. Under a return to Joy Silk, an employer would be ordered to recognize and bargain with a union if the union is supported by a majority of workers in the bargaining unit, even absent an election, unless the employer can show that its refusal to bargain is based on its good faith doubt about the union’s majority status. The brief was filed in an ongoing case with the Teamsters and Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, and argues that the doctrine be reinstated prospectively, rather than calling for a bargaining order in the instant case.
More than 50 gig workers have been killed on the job since 2017 and—by design—their families are left with very few places to turn to for financial support, a new report from Gig Workers Rising finds. Professor Catherine Fisk told NPR that companies “structured their relationships so they’re not responsible for the injuries their drivers experience over the course of employment,” including having workers sign forced arbitration agreements that block families from filing wrongful death suits. When Bella Lewis, a 26-year old who drove for Lyft, was shot and killed by a random passenger, her family said that Lyft would not even pay to clean the blood from the car in which she was killed because it did not meet the $2,500 deductible.
And, in The American Prospect, Jon Hiatt argues for organized labor to develop a Labor Self-Organizing Workers Support Project to support the wave of worker self-organizing happening now across industries. Victories for the Amazon Labor Union and Starbucks Workers United, as well as high levels of public support for unions, present a unique opportunity at a time when union density is low and congressional action has stalled. Organized labor must “supplement[], not supplant[]” self-organizing efforts, offering the institutional support mechanisms like legal assistance to ensure that these initiatives win lasting gains.
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June 20
Three state bills challenge Garmon preemption; Wisconsin passes a bill establishing portable benefits for gig workers; and a sharp increase in workplace ICE raids contribute to a nationwide labor shortage.
June 19
Report finds retaliatory action by UAW President; Senators question Trump's EEOC pick; California considers new bill to address federal labor law failures.
June 18
Companies dispute NLRB regional directors' authority to make rulings while the Board lacks a quorum; the Department of Justice loses 4,500 employees to the Trump Administration's buyout offers; and a judge dismisses Columbia faculty's lawsuit over the institution's funding cuts.
June 17
NLRB finds a reporter's online criticism of the Washington Post was not protected activity under federal labor law; top union leaders leave the Democratic National Committee amid internal strife; Uber reaches a labor peace agreement with Chicago drivers.
June 16
California considers bill requiring human operators inside autonomous delivery vehicles; Eighth Circuit considers challenge to Minnesota misclassification law and whether "having a family to support" is a gendered comment.
June 15
ICE holds back on some work site raids as unions mobilize; a Maryland judge approves a $400M settlement for poultry processing workers in an antitrust case; and an OMB directive pushes federal agencies to use union PLAs.