House Democrats and the Trump Administration appear on the verge of agreement on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a North American trade deal that President Trump is billing as a NAFTA replacement. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not confirm news of a trade deal last night, but told press that “we made great progress” towards an agreement and that United States Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer is flying to Mexico today in an effort to finalize the deal.
President Trump campaigned on renegotiating NAFTA—but the new agreement maintains is extremely similar to NAFTA, making relatively few changes to the existing law and leaving NAFTA’s most-criticized provisions in place. USMCA does include a few significant changes, including increasing minimum wages for Mexican auto factories, requiring cars to have 75 percent of their components (up from 62.5% under NAFTA) manufactured in North America to qualify for zero tariffs, and increasing the duration patents for “biologics” specialty drugs, protecting BigPharma from competition by more affordable, generic medicine—though House Democrats have demanded the last provision be dropped in exchange for their support for ratification, and the White House signaled this week it might agree to do so.
Instacart workers are escalating their campaign demanding the gig company raise workers’ pay, reports Vice reporter Lauren Gurley. A group of Instacart delivery workers went on strike early last month, asking the company to restore a previous 10% default tip amount on the Instacart app. In 2016, the company replaced 10% tipping fee built into every app order with a service fee collected by the company, rather than delivery workers. Sustained worker pressure has forced the company to raise workers’ minimum pay, but the company has faced ongoing accusations of misappropriating workers’ tips.
Under pressure from survivors of gender-based violence, Uber released internal records that shows that over 3,0000 people were sexually assaulted during Uber ride shares last year. Public attention has focused on passengers who have sued the companies for failing to prevent sexual assault by drivers, but Uber’s internal data shows that 42 percent of reports to the company came from drivers who reported being sexually assaulted on the job.
Donald Trump has appointed more than one-quarter of active Appeals Court judges in the nation. Vox’s Ian Millhiser explores the implications Trump judicial appointees pose for workers’ rights and other progressive causes.
One year after the nationwide prison strike, Kim Kelly covers what’s changed—and what hasn’t— for Teen Vogue.
Daily News & Commentary
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November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.
November 20
Law professors file brief in Slaughter; New York appeals court hears arguments about blog post firing; Senate committee delays consideration of NLRB nominee.
November 19
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel the collective bargaining rights of workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media; Representative Jared Golden secures 218 signatures for a bill that would repeal a Trump administration executive order stripping federal workers of their collective bargaining rights; and Dallas residents sue the City of Dallas in hopes of declaring hundreds of ordinances that ban bias against LGBTQ+ individuals void.
November 18
A federal judge pressed DOJ lawyers to define “illegal” DEI programs; Peco Foods prevails in ERISA challenge over 401(k) forfeitures; D.C. court restores collective bargaining rights for Voice of America workers; Rep. Jared Golden secures House vote on restoring federal workers' union rights.
November 17
Justices receive petition to resolve FLSA circuit split, vaccine religious discrimination plaintiffs lose ground, and NJ sues Amazon over misclassification.
November 16
Boeing workers in St. Louis end a 102-day strike, unionized Starbucks baristas launch a new strike, and Illinois seeks to expand protections for immigrant workers