Good Jobs Nation, a coalition launched in 2013 to pressure the Obama administration on trade and wage issues, today launches a two-week tour throughout the Midwest. The tour is one of a number of efforts by labor leaders to pressure the Trump White House to deliver on jobs and trade, reports the Washington Post. Although Trump ran on a working-class platform, his administration has undone a number of Obama-era regulations that labor supported and instead teamed up with congressional Republicans to promote business-friendly policies.
This week, the French Labor Ministry will publish part of President Macron’s plan to reinvigorate the French economy, which is the outcome of months of negotiations with union and company representatives. Bloomberg reports that unions and other worker groups are concerned about some of the potential changes, including one that would limit the amount of compensation workers would be able to claim in court and thus make it easier for companies to fire illegally and skip rules to pay more in overtime.
An opinion piece in Monday’s New York Times discusses the harms of alcohol and substance abuse in the restaurant industry. The industry, which is the second-largest private-sector employer in the United States, currently has the highest rates of substance use disorder according to a 2015 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (17 percent of restaurant industry workers). Without union representation, these jobs do not come with sufficient pay, consistent schedules, or medical insurance. Therefore, when substance abuse interferes with job performance, workers can be easily and immediately replaced. The opinion writer advocates for increased education and providing insurance with access to mental health care.
Paul Krugman penned a column arguing that although Trump has suffered a number of legislative failures, administrative policies made by federal agencies have the potential to do significant damage to American workers. “[P]rogressives shouldn’t celebrate too much over Trump’s legislative failures. As long as he’s in office, he retains a lot of power to betray the working people who supported him.”
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March 17
West Virginia passes a bill for gig drivers, the Tenth Circuit rejects an engineer's claims of race and age bias, and a discussion on the spread of judicial curtailment of NLRB authority.
March 16
Starbucks' union negotiations are resurrected; jobs data is released.
March 15
A U.S. District Court issues a preliminary injunction against the Department of Veterans Affairs for terminating its collective bargaining agreement, and SEIU files a lawsuit against DHS for effectively terminating immigrant workers at Boston Logan International Airport.
March 13
Republican Senators urge changes on OSHA heat standard; OpenAI and building trades announce partnership on data center construction; forced labor investigations could lead to new tariffs
March 12
EPA terminates contract with second-largest union; Florida advances bill restricting public sector unions; Trump administration seeks Supreme Court assistance in TPS termination.
March 11
The partial government shutdown results in TSA agents losing their first full paycheck; the Fifth Circuit upholds the certification of a class of former United Airline workers who were placed on unpaid leave for declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons during the pandemic; and an academic group files a lawsuit against the State Department over a policy that revokes and denies visas to noncitizens for their work in fact-checking and content moderation.