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.
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January 19
Department of Education pauses wage garnishment; Valero Energy announces layoffs; Labor Department wins back wages for healthcare workers.
January 18
Met Museum workers unionize; a new report reveals a $0.76 average tip for gig workers in NYC; and U.S. workers receive the smallest share of capital since 1947.
January 16
The NLRB publishes its first decision since regaining a quorum; Minneapolis labor unions call for a general strike in response to the ICE killing of Renee Good; federal workers rally in DC to show support for the Protecting America’s Workforce Act.
January 15
New investigation into the Secretary of Labor; New Jersey bill to protect child content creators; NIOSH reinstates hundreds of employees.
January 14
The Supreme Court will not review its opt-in test in ADEA cases in an age discrimination and federal wage law violation case; the Fifth Circuit rules that a jury will determine whether Enterprise Products unfairly terminated a Black truck driver; and an employee at Berry Global Inc. will receive a trial after being fired for requesting medical leave for a disability-related injury.
January 13
15,000 New York City nurses go on strike; First Circuit rules against ferry employees challenging a COVID-19 vaccine mandate; New York lawmakers propose amendments to Trapped at Work Act.