Mackenzie Bouverat is a student at Harvard Law School.
As Nikita reported this weekend, the federal eviction moratorium has now lapsed. An estimated 11 million renters — a figure which amounts to one in six renters — now stand at risk of eviction. The executive branch is unable to act, per a Supreme Court order that further extensions to the eviction moratorium would require “clear and specific Congressional authorization.” And Congress is not in session.
Last week, both private and public employers have begun to institute vaccine mandates. California was the first, announcing that all state employees must provide proof of vaccination or wear masks and submit to coronavirus testing. On Wednesday, Google, Facebook and Netflix issued vaccine mandates for certain employees. Separately, on Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York’s 130,000 government workers must be vaccinated or face weekly testing. On Thursday, President Biden announced a vaccine mandate for federal workers, “encouraging employers across the private sector to follow this strong model.” Also on Thursday, North Carolina and San Diego County announced a vaccine requirement for its public workforce. And on Friday, Walt Disney Co. and Wal Mart followed suit: all salaried and nonunion hourly Disney employees must be vaccinated within sixty days; all employees at Walmart headquarters, and managers who travel within the United States, must be vaccinated by early October. Wal Mart also doubled its vaccination cash incentive for store and warehouse workers to $150.
California’s SEIU Local 1000 has objected to Governor Newsom’s mandate that all state employees provide proof of vaccination, demanding bargaining on the question of vaccine mandates before the mandate is implemented. Newsom’s order also applies to private-sector health care workers. In New Jersey, health care unions are also demanding bargaining over vaccine mandates issued by private hospitals: mandates are opposed by HPAE, with 14,000 members; 1199SEIU, which represents approximately 8,000 nursing home workers in New Jersey; and JNESO, a professional health workers union of 5,000.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
February 21
In today’s News & Commentary, Trump spending cuts continue to threaten federal workers, and Google AI workers allege violations of labor rights. Trump’s massive federal spending cuts have put millions of workers, both inside and outside the federal government, in jeopardy. Yesterday, thousands of workers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs research office were […]
February 20
President Trump's labor secretary pick retreats from some of her pro-labor stances during Senate confirmation hearing and Lynn Rhinehart discusses implications of NLRB and other agency removals.
February 19
In today’s news and commentary, Lori Chavez-Deremer’s confirmation hearing, striking King Soopers workers return to the bargaining table, and UAW members at Rolls-Royce authorize a strike. Lori Chavez-Deremer, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, faces a Senate confirmation hearing today. Chavez-Deremer may face more No votes from Republicans than other Trump cabinet members. Rand […]
February 18
In today’s news and commentary, an air traffic union examines the impact of federal aviation worker firings, Southwest Airlines lays off 15% of its corporate workforce, and the NLRB’s General Counsel withdraws Biden-era memos Following the Trump Administration’s dismissal of hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), a […]
February 17
President Trump breaks campaign promise to support workers and Utah’s governor signs a law banning public sector collective bargaining
February 16
Unions fight unlawful federal workforce purges; Amazon union push suffers setback in North Carolina.