Adi Kamdar is a student at Harvard Law School.
Graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants at Columbia University successfully voted for union representation. As reported in Bloomberg BNA, the vote (1,602 to 623) will allow working students to be represented by United Auto Workers—a change opposed by the university. Meanwhile, a similar vote at Harvard still has no result after some 1,200 ballots were challenged.
“I believe in justice for everyone,” stated an eleven-year-old in front of a Wendy’s yesterday. A group of fifth graders joined the picket line at the fast food chain in Boston, “urging customers to boycott the fast-food chain unless it agrees to pay a higher price for tomatoes—a move advocates say could boost farm wages,” according to the Boston Globe. This children’s labor protest is an annual tradition for the class at Boston Workmen’s Circle Center for Jewish Culture and Social Justice. After learning the history of labor movements, the class dedicates time to a current labor issue.
Donald Trump’s crusade to keep jobs from moving overseas was expected. But according to the Los Angeles Times, what’s worrying businesspeople is the way he’s going about it: targeting individual companies, getting personally involved, and conducting “backroom deal-making that has analysts concerned about crony capitalism.” Analysts worry that a job boost would merely be short term. Trump’s tariffs would lead to higher prices, fewer exports, and ultimately fewer jobs—worrying even union workers. The Times also point out how Trump’s Carrier deal—millions of dollars in tax breaks in exchange for their keeping several hundred jobs in the United States—is not scalable. Similar deals have been previously tried with other companies, to no avail.
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September 18
Senate Democrats introduce a bill to nullify Trump’s executive orders ending collective bargaining rights for federal employees; the Massachusetts Teachers Association faces backlash; and Loyola Marymount University claims a religious exemption and stops recognizing its faculty union.
September 17
A union argues the NLRB's quorum rule is unconstitutional; the California Building Trades back a state housing law; and Missouri proposes raising the bar for citizen ballot initiatives
September 16
In today’s news and commentary, the NLRB sues New York, a flight attendant sues United, and the Third Circuit considers the employment status of Uber drivers The NLRB sued New York to block a new law that would grant the state authority over private-sector labor disputes. As reported on recently by Finlay, the law, which […]
September 15
Unemployment claims rise; a federal court hands victory to government employees union; and employers fire workers over social media posts.
September 14
Workers at Boeing reject the company’s third contract proposal; NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen plans to sue New York over the state’s trigger bill; Air Canada flight attendants reject a tentative contract.
September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.