Anita Alem is a student at Harvard Law School.
The latest Starbucks store successfully voted to unionize 38-27 on Thursday. The store, a flagship Starbucks Reserve Roastery, and the first to open of only six Starbucks Reserve locations worldwide, is located in Starbucks’ hometown of Seattle, Washington. As voting continues across the more than 200 locations that have filed for union elections, Starbucks has filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB alleging that Workers United threatened workers who did not support the union drive. The union has filed several charges against Starbucks, alleging retaliatory firings and other illegal union busting tactics.
Salespeople, technicians, and other workers at an Apple store in Atlanta could form the tech giant’s first unionized retail location. More than 70 percent of the workers signed union authorization cards to join the Communication Workers of America and the workers have filed for a union election with the NLRB. The CWA also represents unionized contractors with Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Apple retail store workers in New York City’s Grand Central location are gathering signatures to unionize with Workers United, the same affiliate of SEIU that is organizing Starbucks locations.
In an 8-1 decision in United States v. Vaello Madero, the Supreme Court announced on Thursday that the federal government’s exclusion of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories from receiving Supplemental Security Income, a benefits program for older, low-income, and disabled individuals, does not violate the Constitution. Justice Sotomayor, the only dissenter, wrote that the majority’s decision “is irrational and antithetical to the very nature of the SSI program and the equal protection of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution.” The SSI program is only one of many federal programs that excludes people in the U.S. territories from accessing benefits that are made available only to the 50 states.
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October 23
Ninth Circuit reaffirms Thryv remedies; unions oppose Elon Musk pay package; more federal workers protected from shutdown-related layoffs.
October 22
Broadway actors and producers reach a tentative labor agreement; workers at four major concert venues in Washington D.C. launch efforts to unionize; and Walmart pauses offers to job candidates requiring H-1B visas.
October 21
Some workers are exempt from Trump’s new $100,000 H1-B visa fee; Amazon driver alleges the EEOC violated mandate by dropping a disparate-impact investigation; Eighth Circuit revived bank employee’s First Amendment retaliation claims over school mask-mandate.
October 20
Supreme Court won't review SpaceX decision, courts uphold worker-friendly interpretation of EFAA, EEOC focuses on opioid-related discrimination.
October 19
DOL issues a new wage rule for H-2A workers, Gov. Newsom vetoes a bill that regulates employers’ use of AI, and Broadway workers and management reach a tentative deal
October 17
Third Circuit denies DOL's en banc rehearing request; Washington AG proposes legislation to protect immigrant workers; UAW files suit challenging government surveillance of non-citizen speech