Alexa Kissinger is a student at Harvard Law School.
This morning Senators Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray along with 21 Democratic members of Congress came together to support a $15 minimum wage. The Raise the Wage Act would gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, jumping to $9.20 an hour upon passage and adding around dollar a year until it reaches $15 in 2024. The minimum wage would rise automatically after that with the country’s median wages. The bill as proposed would also gradually do away with the tipped minimum wage.
According to POLITICO, Minneapolis attorney Doug Seaton, described as an an anti-union executive, is on President Trump’s shortlist to fill one of the two empty seats on the NLRB. Reports say none of the three candidates is pro-union, but Seaton — who calls himself a “lawyer for employers” — stands apart.
The New York Times reported that eleven current and former Fox News employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the network, accusing it of “abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination.” The lawsuits claim that Fox News employees repeatedly complained about racial discrimination to current network executives but that no action was taken and that the discriminatory behavior continued. This lawsuit comes on the heels of a spate of employee complaints of sexual harassment and the public ousting of Bill O’Reilly.
The New York Times published a January study from the Department of Energy showing that the clean energy industry employed more Americans than the coal industry last year. In 2016, 1.9 million Americans were employed in electric power jobs, 373,000 in solar energy, and only 160,000 in coal.
Daily News & Commentary
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October 19
FDA reverses course on policy prohibiting off-duty union activity; FAA and NATCA reach deal to secure pay increase for air traffic controllers.
October 18
Federal judge again halts cancellation of the Bureau of Prisons’ CBA; tabletop gaming workers face roadblocks in union recognition.
October 16
Department of Labor reduces wage-and-hour enforcement at unionized workplaces; Fain's victory poses question of federal monitor's extension.
October 15
New reporting examines the rollback of child labor protections; California tries to block a strike; NLRB charges Wisconsin mental health provider with firing workers during union drive.
October 14
Eleventh Circuit overturns ERISA exhaustion rule; DHS finalizes removal of automatic renewal for work permits; AFGE challenges SSA over flexible scheduling policy.
October 13
Chicago hotel workers remain on strike; a coalition of Democratic states sues the Labor Department over canceled unemployment insurance grants; the Federal Labor Relations Authority establishes a new mediation framework for federal worker disputes.